With Heat On, UCLA Gains Steam

The gray-haired man in the green sweater walked slowly up the aisle, past fans wearing 1995 commemorative T-shirts, past fans stopping him to spin memories of Ed and Cameron and Toby.

Stopping, finally, at a middle-aged guy holding a tiny baby named Tyus.

“What a pretty name,” said Jim Harrick with a grin.

He took a few more steps, then turned to face the Staples Center floor, where, 11 years after he led the Bruins to their last national championship, another UCLA basketball team is making him smile.

“Well-coached, great defense, tough kids,” he said.

Next week?

“Great shape,” he said.

How far?

“Sweet Sixteen,” he said.

So the bar has been set, by a guy who should know, Harrick saying what most UCLA fans are surely thinking.

The kid Bruins are no longer kids.

The remodeling job that should be completed next season is getting electricity now.

In next week’s NCAA tournament, it’s two rounds or bust.

To which Coach Ben Howland, in typical red-faced fashion, reacted Thursday with an emotion best described in three words.

Bring. It. On.

“These guys have been around the pressure all year long,” he said after their 79-47 victory over Oregon State in the quarterfinals of the Pacific 10 Conference tournament here. “They thrive on pressure. The bigger the game, the bigger we are. We love it.”

At least we know now they can win the little ones, their first postseason victory in three years under Howland coming against a Beaver team missing three injured starters.

“It stinks playing a team that’s short-handed,” said Jordan Farmar. “We were hoping it would be closer.”

Yeah, Howland’s right, these kids like it hot, and they pretended it was, outscoring the Beavers, 12-2, to start the game, then 11-0 to begin the second half and end it early.

Thirteen guys played, all but two scored, Lorenzo Mata hobbled off the bench for his first game in two months. It was that rare UCLA postseason blowout that should have been a blowout.

“We know we’re a team that can win every game or lose every game,” said Arron Afflalo. “So we have to come out hard every night.”

In other words, expect no Princetons or Detroit Mercies next week, this being a team that should win the games it’s supposed to win.

That would mean a victory in tonight’s semifinals against short-handed Arizona, leading to Saturday’s tourney championship game against probably Washington, leading to the question of the spring: Can this team win the games it hasn’t been able to win?

The Bruins are 1-4 against top 25 teams this season, and, with the Pac-10 so weak this year, they have only won a couple of truly tough matches.

They won at California, they won at Arizona, they won at Michigan, they beat Nevada in Anaheim, but that’s it.

They’ve lost to Washington twice, lost to West Virginia, lost to Memphis, and you wonder.

This late in the season, has there ever been a 13th-ranked team with so little on its resume?

“Oh, but I’m guessing those kids don’t think they haven’t played anybody,” said Harrick.

He’s right, they don’t.

“I don’t care what people say, until you go into Cal, until you go into Arizona, until you go into Washington State, you just don’t know about tough games,” said Farmar. “We know what we’ve done.”

If he sounds defensive, well, it comes natural to all of them now.

“The way this team plays is all about their defense,” said Harrick.

They do, indeed, play it until the game is slow and the shots are mechanical and everything looks contorted and uncomfortable.

Everything but the UCLA bulbs on the scoreboard.

“Sometimes you feel you have more opportunities out there,” said Farmar. “But, you know, we’re winning games.”

Winning by holding a well-coached team such as Oregon State to 32% shooting.

Winning by outscoring Oregon State by 32 points despite taking exactly the same number of shots (53).

“It doesn’t matter what anybody feels or sees,” said Farmar. “We’re winning games. And if it’s not broke, we’re not going to fix it.”

It is this defense that can help them survive the furious underdog runs that surely await them next week.

“It always is,” said Harrick.

It is Farmar and Afflalo who can get them enough points.

“That’s the most important thing to have this time of year, two good guards, and they’ve got it,” said Harrick.

It is the inside play, again, still, that worries them the most.

Despite all this talk about a resurgent Ryan Hollins, their most vital player may be the power forward who presents the toughest matchup, both physically and linguistically.

“The key to their chances is Luc Richard Mbah a Moute,” said Harrick, the Denver Nugget scout and Fox analyst saying it perfectly. “If he can stay tough inside, this team will do something.”

This team, of course, has already done something.

For one of the few times since Harrick walked the sidelines, the Bruins are entering the middle of March as a team with backbone.

It may be boring, but it’s backbone, it’s bruising, it’s Howland, and it could work.

If not now, well, certainly next year, when these kids could enter the season as one of the top five teams in the country and ...

“No, no, no, not next year,” Howland said, scowling into March badness. “This is about now.”