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SoCal College Game Review

UCLA Beats Silute Lithuania 92-80--(November 13, 1997)

Well, the Lithuanians were big. And slow. And not especially good on defense or offense. Which doesn't say very much about the Bruins win. Halftime score: Bruins 48, Lithuania 41--only seven points. End of Game, less than double that lead, 12 points.

Talk about a scary starting five: Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Toby Bailey, Brandon Loyd and J.R. Henderson. Four guards and a forward. Hell, on some teams, it would be five guards.

Toby started off erratically, airballing a shot, and then doing what he does best, elevating above the rim to slam it home. Baron running the point, penetrating, dishing, being everywhere and nowhere, and then everywhere again. Watson playing good, solid defense and using good court sense on his passes and getting some nice assists. Brandon not even shooting (or at least not scoring) in the entire first half--actually I don't remember him scoring, but then I didn't keep stats.

Thank god for Billy Knight and Baron Davis. Without them, UCLA would just be a bunch of fast, not overly-tall guys looking for a game. With them in, they were fast on offense and defense, and deadly in shooting, with Knight's 17 points, including 4 three pointers where he just rocked the baby into the hoop with one of the sweetest, most effortless looking j's around. And Davis. . . what do you say about a kid who may yet turn out to be a one-year wonder (we hope he stays to play some with Ray Young), someone who'd have no trouble starting on most any NBA team now? He made a few spectacular drives, some nice no look passes, and one truly monumental coast-to-coast dribble-drive penetration spin, elevate-then-slam dunk that brought the usually jaded pre-season exhibition game crowd to its feet. Baron, you've got game.

Actually its a good thing also that the Bruins have Earl Watson. When Baron got into foul trouble, he made some really nice defensive moves and covered the point very well when Baron was not in, which was half of the first half and most of the second half after picking up his fourth foul about 4 minutes into the second period. Rico Hines and Daley played well, but I'm not certain what their point total was. Adequate, but not spectacular.

J.R. Henderson proved he might be able to cover the center position against a bigger player who has absolutely no inside game. But in all fairness, J.R. really did very well from what should have been the power forward spot, which he knows quite well; now if he could just learn to finish a little better inside he'd have a complete game. Toby still needs to look for the open man earlier, and use some better judgment. One particular drive comes to mind from the second half: Toby steals ball from a Lithuanian on a great defensive play in the backcourt. . .he brings the ball up court on the right side very quickly. . .ahead of him is Knight in the right corner, wide open and waving for the ball (he'd already made two threes from that spot). . . instead of passing to him, Toby keeps pushing the ball up, and, unbelievably, tries to pass through the key, past two defenders looking to connect with . . . Brandon Loyd.

What was Toby thinking? That Loyd's going to dunk over 6'-8" Raimondas Leikus? Give the ball to 'da man, Toby--Knight was on fire.

Actually, we don't want to be unfair to Toby because other than that move, he played very well, usually completely in control, and even hit a few outside J's, not to mention two really impressive slam dunks. And Brandon too played great defense and put an amazing block on Robertas Kuncaitis' shot that led to a turnover by the Lithuanians and a score by UCLA.

Actually, if the Lithuanian guys (the natives) could shoot or play defense, this game would've been much closer, and UCLA might not have gotten off so easy. As it was, Dion Cross and Shawn Myers gave everybody fits, and Myers proved he was a threat from well beyond the three point line and from in low. Now if the Lithuanians could only get cool shoes like those phat Reboks the Bruins are wearing this year, maybe they'd really have a chance.

One thing is clear: UCLA is not going to have any real height this year, and will certainly be in a lot of trouble against bigger teams like Stanford and Washington, and UNC in the opener, and will really be in trouble when Baron either needs a rest or if he gets into foul trouble, which is likely given his all out style of play. When Baron is in the game, the Bruins can move the ball; when he's not, they seem flat, in need of direction and energy. His game is so clearly above the rest, that when he's in, it tends to bring the others' games up a notch. He's the spark. Now if only Jelani and Kris will come back to give the team some much needed height. . . Only time will tell.

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