Only in an exhibition game could a 32-point blowout serve to
articulate the weaknesses of a team rather than show off its
strengths.
The Bruins, carried by stellar shooting from the backcourt
combination of Arron Afflalo, Brian Morrison, and Jordan Farmar,
routed Monterrey Tech 80-48 Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. But
there were causes for concern despite the convincing victory.
Although enjoying enormous size advantages over their defenders,
juniors Ryan Hollins and Michael Fey struggled inside. And although
the final statistics made UCLA look fantastic on paper, coach Ben
Howland was the first to point out that the Bruins looked anything
but fantastic.
“The team we played tonight wasn’t a real
representative of what we’re going to see during the regular
season, so that was unfortunate,” Howland said.
Hollins appeared uncomfortable, and the time he had to take off
recuperating from offseason knee surgery has hampered his progress.
He did not take a shot in 14 minutes of action and scored only one
point on a free throw.
“My knee isn’t all the way back yet, but I feel good
about it,” said Hollins, who did collect six rebounds on the
night. “I can’t do everything I’m used to doing,
but I still have my explosiveness. I can still jump.”
At center, Fey seemed dormant inside his big body. Towering over
his 6-foot-7-inch defender, Fey missed a number of easy layups and
said he grew angry with himself. He shot only 2 of 8 from the floor
and 5 of 9 from the line. Though he snatched 7 rebounds in 19
minutes, he fouled out for the second straight game.
“I thought that he was hurrying sometimes instead of just
slowing down when he got the ball,” Howland said. “The
John Wooden quote that he needs to listen to the most is, “˜Be
quick, but don’t hurry.’ But I’m not going to go
away from Mike, so he’s going to get comfortable one way or
another because he’s going to get plenty of opportunities
this year.”
Although the win may be a boost to the team’s confidence,
dismantling Monterrey Tech didn’t do much to prepare UCLA for
its upcoming season. Monterrey Tech, a college team from Mexico,
vacillated between adequate and eye-gougingly awful all night. The
game served mostly to prove that man for man, the Bruins are indeed
more talented than Monterrey Tech.
Senior Dijon Thompson led all rebounders with nine boards in his
24 minutes on the floor. However, he struggled with his shooting,
going only 5-for-14 from the field and 1 of 5 from behind the arc.
But a freshman and a senior combined to score the bulk of
UCLA’s points. Afflalo shot 6-for-10, knocking down 3
three-pointers en route to leading the team with 17 points.
Morrison shot 6 of 9 and nailed 2 three-pointers for his 16
points.
“I trust in the offense,” Afflalo said.
“You’re going to get your shots if you don’t
force anything, and I was lucky enough to knock down some open
shots.”