UCLA Needs a Short Leash

Arron Afflalo couldn’t wait.

He wanted to see what all the fuss was about. He wanted to know if Adam Morrison was really another Larry Bird, as he had been described, wanted to know how the Gonzaga star and college player-of-the-year candidate had managed to average 28.2 points a game this season, wanted to see where Morrison liked to set up on the court, which direction he liked to move, and how many different shots he had in his arsenal.

“I wanted to get a feel for him,” the Bruins’ defensive stopper said, “so I did something I’ve never done before.”

Afflalo, who was supposed to use days off basketball Sunday and Monday to study for finals, instead got tapes of two Gonzaga games and zoomed in on the player he expects to be guarding much of tonight when the Bruins (29-6) and Bulldogs (29-3) meet in an NCAA tournament regional semifinal.

Afflalo, who normally waits until Tuesday for Coach Ben Howland to preview a Thursday opponent, hopes that by increasing his preparation time he will increase his effectiveness against the Gonzaga sharpshooter.

But Afflalo is under no illusion. If stopping Morrison was UCLA’s only worry, it would be tough enough. But if Afflalo, forward Cedric Bozeman and the others called upon focus too much on Morrison, he can slip the ball inside to J.P. Batista, a 6-foot-9, 269-pound center who is averaging 19.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.

“The games in which we are successful,” Morrison said, “it starts with J.P. first, then it opens up for everybody else.”

It’s the Bruins who are accustomed to setting the tone, dictating the pace with a sometimes impenetrable defense. Normally, it has been opposing offenses that have had to rewind game tapes over and over, looking for routes to the basket against UCLA.

Very few have found reliable options. The Bruins give up an average of 58.7 points and take the court tonight with a nine-game winning streak in which Oregon State was the only team to reach 60 points.

In Gonzaga, UCLA will face a team that scored as few as 60 points only once -- and won that game, 60-57, over St. Louis.

The Bulldogs, averaging 80.4 points, are on a run of their own, having won 20 in a row.

“You can’t keep Morrison down,” Afflalo said. “He’s scoring 28 a night, so there’s not just one thing he likes to do. All you can do is to make it as tough as possible for him. You have to try to take his comfort zone away, find what’s most uncomfortable for him and try to force him into that situation.”

It’s unlikely Afflalo, for all his defensive skill, will be asked to handle the job alone. At 6-5, Afflalo gives away three inches to Morrison.

“When I faced guys shorter than I was, I would go to the free-throw line 17 times. Or go over the top on the guy,” said Don MacLean, the leading scorer in UCLA history and now a team broadcaster.

Bozeman is expected to help out on Morrison, as will others. That would leave 7-foot senior center Ryan Hollins and 6-7 freshman forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to shoulder much of the defensive load on Batista.

Asked what he expects the Bruins to throw at him, Morrison said there are all sorts of possibilities.

“I’ve seen triangle two, box and one, face guard, beat the ... out of me. I’ve seen everything,” he said. “Nothing really surprises me anymore.

“When teams do that stuff, it opens it up for everybody else. That’s the way I look at it. It’s not just about me. I don’t care how many points I score in this tournament. I just want to win.”

Howland showed little sympathy when told Morrison talked about being beaten up by opposing defenses.

“He gets away with a lot himself,” the UCLA coach said. “He’ll grab onto a guy, then act like he’s being fouled. He’s a smart player. That’s what smart players do.”

Morrison has scored more than 40 points five times this season. Asked what the likelihood is that he would do so against the Bruins, UCLA guard Jordan Farmar smiled.

“Teams in general haven’t been scoring 60 points against us,” Farmar said. “For one man to go for 40 would be an extraordinary performance.

“We’re not going to let that happen.”