UCLA v. USC Basketball Preview

UCLA DAILY BRUIN

UCLA V. USC BASKETBALL PREVIEW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012

SMITH STRUGGLES

CLOSE TEACHES CHARACTER First-year coach Cori Close wants her players to become well-rounded in all aspects of life, not just basketball.

USC is walking distance from UCLA’s home court this year. Regardless, the Trojans are struggling to win.

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Sophomore center Joshua Smith has been inconsistent for UCLA this season, struggling with his conditioning.

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DAILY BRUIN | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | sports | dailybruin.com/sports

An up-and-down season Sophomore center Joshua Smith has had a season of fluctuating weight, performance

BY RYAN MENEZES Bruin Sports senior staff rmenezes@media.ucla.edu During games he tugs at his jersey constantly, as if it’s holding back the enormous amount of potential inside.

For better or worse, that uniform remains snug on Joshua Smith.

T he UC L A s ophomor e’s greatest asset is his size, giving him the ability to overpower opponents. Teammates swear that there’s no player in the country that can guard him one-on-one, which is why the 6-foot-10-inch center frequently sees double teams.

The numbers don’t suggest that he would be the focal point of a defensive game plan. Smith is UCLA’s third-leading scorer, barely averaging double figures in points, attempting the sixthmost shots on the team.

But on Saturday, Smith was once again harassed by California’s extra defenders.

That’s where that tight-fitting jersey begins to tell a different story.

His weight was once listed at 330 pounds before quickly bei ng amended to 305, the number Smith has remained l isted at i n two seasons at UCLA. That figure – in both senses of the word – has been far from constant. Smith’s weight, and more importantly his fitness, remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside a UCLA jersey.

Consider these juxtaposing sound bites from early December.

From UCLA coach Ben Howland: “I think his conditioning is way behind where he was last year at the end of the season.”

From Smith, on the same day: “Honestly, how I feel right now, I feel like I was in better shape now than I was last year.”

With UCLA’s inside-out style of play, Smith always has a chance to leave a major imprint on the Bruins’ games.

For someone touted as a superstar, Smith averages the minutes of a sixth man. His

BLAINE OHIGASHI/ DA I LY

B R U I N S E N I O R STA F F

Sophomore center Joshua Smith has had an up-and-down season but will look to stay consistent with the postseason fast approaching.

ti me on the court is dow n, much like most of his stats from a year ago, to just 18.4 minutes per game – not even half a regulation contest.

W hen he first arrived on UCLA’s campus in the summer of 2010, Smith dedicated himself getting in shape, to the point when he wasn’t even focusing on basketball.

His conditioning remained a work in progress, though by the end of the year he was averaging almost 27 minutes over his last 10 games and wreaking havoc in the post during the Bruins’ two-game cameo in the NCAA Tournament.

The summer of 2011 was different. Smith worked out at UCLA and took classes during Summer Session A, then went back home to Washington for Session C, while most of the Bruins were going up against NBA competition in the Student Activities Center gym.

Howland set a goal for Smith to cut his frame down to 12 percent body fat by the start of his sophomore season. At the team’s media day, just before the first official practice, Howland declined to reveal Smith’s body fat percentage.

Howland’s “no com ment” spoke volumes, but not like Smith’s play did. UCLA’s key cog was expected to have a sophomore surge, but instead regressed.

Meanwhile, Smith hung his head, with one sloppy play and a bad result begetting another.

“It’s just in my body language,” Smith said. “I’m just one of those guys, when the game’s not going that well, I get down on myself. I don’t like to lose.”

Along the way, Smith has show n only glimpses of the

SMITH | Page 3

dailybruin.com/sports | sports | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | DAILY BRUIN

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SMITH | Goal is to sustain effort, stay on the court in order to play to his potential from page 2 player he was touted to be.

A winter break devoted to trimming his body resulted in what Howland said was his lowest weight of the season to date. And, not so coincidentally, a dunk-filled 18-point outburst against Arizona State.

“For him, it’s a six-month process,” Howl a nd sa id of Smith’s conditioning. “It’s not a two- or three-month thing.”

Then came a triumphant return to Smith’s home state: 43 points and 14 rebounds over two games, including a careerbest 24-point performance in Seattle, a short distance away from his hometown of Kent, Wash.

“For me to be the player I know I can be, it’s just going to have to be a sustained effort,” Smith said after UCLA won its first road game at Washington State. “Last year was the same.

I would have big games where I scored 19 against a team, then I scored six.”

His statement was almost prophetic.

Smith couldn’t sustain his effort and followed his home-

coming with a sloppy seven- him operate. point showing against Stanford “He was on the court,” Jones during which he played just 13 said of the Washington game. minutes because of four fouls, “He played good defense, and all charges on offensive moves he wasn’t in that much foul in the post. trouble early. So we were able UCLA won despite Smith, to keep him out there.” but couldn’t do the same two Maybe the biggest positive days later against Cal when that came out of UCLA’s loss Smith once again had four fouls to Cal was Smith playing a seaand was frequently targeted by son-high 29 minutes, though the Bears’ pick-andHowla nd sa id h is roll offense. center looked “tired “Our design was For me to and spent.” to get Josh Smith Through the into foul trouble,” be the player I b at t er y of q ue s said Cal coach Mike know I can be, tions related to his Montgomery, echo- it’s ... a sustained w ei g ht a nd con ing the sentiments ditioning and the effort.” of many an opposconstant naggi ng i n g coach. Sm ith

by Howland and the Joshua Smith support staff, Smith ha s averaged 3.2 Sophomore center has slowly slimmed fouls per game over his UCLA career. dow n this season A ske d w h at t he Br u i n s while trying to keep his level needed to do to get Smith to of play up. build on his play in Washing“Now he’s seen if I’m not ton, senior guard Lazeric Jones doing that, I’m not playing to instead pointed to something my potential,” Howland said.

Smith did, and will need to con“We all know what his potentinue to do: Stay on the court. tial is, but what if?”

If he does that, there’s not Howland stopped short of much the Bruins have to do continuing his question, leavap a r t f r om get t i n g S m it h ing it as limitless as the potentouches and clearing out to let tial his talented center has.

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B R U I N S E N I O R STA F F

UCLA men’s basketball team stands for the national anthem before a game at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The arena was previously the USC Trojan’s home court for almost 50 years until moving to the Galen Center.

Bruins host at Sports Arena UCLA’s men’s basketball team to face USC in Trojan territory as Pauley Pavilion nears reopening

BY SAM STRONG Bruin Sports senior staff sstrong@media.ucla.edu

tion.’”

Smith has since softened his stance on the cavernous, 53-year-old venue as historic UCL A sophomore center Pauley Pavilion nears reopenJoshua Smith didn’t feel wel- ing. come the first time he laid eyes “The Sports Arena has been on the Los Angeles Memorial OK, but it’s on to bigger and betSports Arena, the Bruins’ tem- ter things,” he said. porary home this season while Before the Bruins (14-11, 7-6 Pauley Pavilion is renovated.

Pac-12) move back to campus, A week prior they have th ree to UCLA’s season ga mes rema i n i n g opener, a game it downtown, the first We’re not would lose to Loyola of wh ich comes M a r y mou nt t h a t playing to see how ton ight agai nst a many consider to be many fans go to d ismal USC team the beginning of the (6-20, 1-12). the game, we’re end for this year’s The Trojans have u n d e r a c h i e v i n g playing to win.” lost almost as many tea m, the Br u i ns players to seasonTyler Lamb e n d i n g i n j u r i e s made the 15-mile trek to the Sports Sophomore guard (five) as it has active Arena. scholarship players Sm it h s aw a nu mber of on its roster (six). things he didn’t like, comparAlthough the Sports Arena ing it to “the set for a ‘Hoosiers’ now boasts a “Welcome UCLA movie or something like in the basketball” banner in place of 1980s” and complaining about the USC one, the actual “home dust and dirt coming off the team” is in question. chairs in the locker room.

T he T roja n s cou ld e a s What Smith really took issue ily walk the 1.2-mile stretch of with most had nothing to do Figueroa Street between their with the antiquated interior of campus and the Sports Arena the Sports Arena. while the Bruins will be bussed He compla i ned of a USC in after classes as they have banner that hung on the side of all year. the arena facing the Los AngeTrojan fans are no strangles Memorial Coliseum where ers to the venue either as USC the Trojans play their football played its home games there for games. almost 50 years until the 2007 “I knew it was close, but I season when the Galen Center didn’t know it was that close was opened. to their campus,” Smith said in “I do want to see if we’re November. going to have more fans than “We were pulling up and I them,” senior guard Lazeric was like, the Coliseum is right Jones said of the peculiar situthere, where are we going? And ation. then it’s like the Los Angeles Sophomore g u a rd T yler Sports Arena right there. I’m Lamb was less interested. like, ‘OK, this is a nice loca“I’m not concerned at all,”

Men’s basketball USC Today, 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Sports Arena Prime Ticket The Bruins host the Trojans at the Sports Arena, looking to sweep the season series.

he said. “We’re not playing to see how many fans go to the game, we’re playing to win.

We love when our fans come to the game and support us, but if they can’t make it to the game, that’s fine too.”

In the first meeting this season between the rivals, UCLA prevailed easily in a 66-47 win at the Galen Center that left little question as to who ruled Los Angeles’ college basketball scene, but that was when the Trojans still had seven-footer Dewayne Dedmon.

A loss to the Trojans in their current state would surely be damaging for coach Ben Howland’s team in an already mediocre season.

The Bruins’ season goals have sh i fted from w i n n i ng the conference and securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament to finishing in the Pac-12’s top four in order to secure a first-round bye in the conference tournament, their only chance at making the big dance.

The ninth-year coach, true to form, isn’t taking the Trojans lightly.

“Bottom l i ne is i f USC beats us tomorrow, that will really be a feather in their cap with everything they’ve gone through,” he said.

“We have to go out and play really hard. Just like the first time we played them, it’s like you throw out all the records.”

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BLAINE OHIGASHI/ DA I LY

B R U I N S E N I O R STA F F

Joshua Smith toys with Washington State fans as he pretends to sit down after fouling out of the game. Smith scored 19 points to lead the Bruins to their first road win of the season, a 63-60 victory over the Cougars.

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DAILY BRUIN | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | sports | dailybruin.com/sports

Women’s basketball coach Cori Close focuses her teachings on the growth of the team, both on the court and off of it

BY LEE WITBECK Bruin Sports reporter lwitbeck@media.ucla.edu

TIM BR AD BU RY/ DA I LY B R U I N

For coach Cori Close, success or failure in the game of basketball comes down to a simple choice. Either you give everything needed to succeed, or you watch somebody else celebrate.

This is the message that Close is delivering to the UCLA women’s basketball team.

It’s why Close is on the road, recruiting, right now. It’s why she’s the last one at practice, cleaning up trash, putting equipment away.

“We want to cure the disease of ‘me,’ and we want to produce givers and not takers,” Close said.

It’s a message of unselfish play, of passing the ball, helping your teammates, giving your all. But that’s not exactly the full story.

For Close, the story here isn’t one simply of basketball – it’s a story of life and of character, of being a complete person.

“I just don’t believe excellence and giving and self-sacrificing is a trait that you turn on and off,” Close said.

“It’s a character thing that’s inside you, and the more we build that from the inside, it comes out. And thankfully, it comes out on the basketball court as well as other areas of their lives.”

In the world of college sports, a coach whose focus is wider than winning is a bit of a rarity. And that is exactly the way Close and her staff want it to be.

“Our theme is being uncommon,” Close said. “I want to build this program by making uncommon choices with uncommon women and yielding an uncommon result.”

So often, Division I athletics is a busi-

ness, an industry of wins, championships and money. Modern college football and basketball are the standard bearers of this trend, and the Olympic sports follow suit.

By those standards, UCLA is the picture of success, currently pacing the field with 108 NCAA championships.

But UCLA has another standard of success, one set by the great John Wooden. Every coach who works at UCLA answers to his legacy, which is considerable – Wooden won 10 championships at the helm of UCLA basketball.

Yet, when his players speak, it is not of the banners and wins; it’s about the man they are because of Coach.

“John Vallely comes into my office.

He says, ‘I’m a better husband because of what coach Wooden taught me; I’ve started several successful businesses because of what coach Wooden taught me,’” Close said.

“Yes, he was a point guard on championship teams, yes he played in the NBA. But he never mentioned that one time.

He talked about the man he was. ... Really, at my core, that’s what I want people to say about our program in 10 years.”

It’s the style of basketball, of coaching, that Close has learned all the way up the ladder, starting in her playing days. Her coaches, and then her bosses, and even Wooden himself, all believed in and taught her this brand of basketball.

It’s a philosophy that has been formed deep within the center of Close’s personality.

But when programs start talking about building better people, about creating student-athletes, about personal development and growth, the naysayers are quick to rush in.

It’s an excuse for lack of wins, they

Fina

Women’s basketb end of conferenc

BY MANSI SHETH Bruin Sports senior st msheth@media.ucla

CHARLIE WANG/DAILY BRUIN

The UCLA women’s basketball team huddles up before its home match against USC on Jan. 14. The Bruins lost that game 47-43, struggling to grab rebounds during the second half of the game. USC had 13 offensive boards in the second half, allowing the Trojans to surge ahead in the final 20 minutes. UCLA looks to avenge its loss to USC this Sunday when the Bruins face the Trojans at the Galen Center.

After a rough roa Bay Area last weekend off a month of playing week, the UCLA wome team returned home o some much needed re “The biggest thin that we need to get t off their legs,” coach Close said. “The rea is that at this point in season where they h been log g i n g so m minutes, we need to them some rest. And on ly physic a l rest mental rest.”

W it h t he i r r e m a a ga i n st USC not u Sunday, the Bruins h a full week to catch t breath before tackling last five games in th conference schedule.

And UCLA’s final st crucial for the team.

Five wins would m place conference finis a favorable seed in the nament and a chance the NCAA tournament “ We especi a l ly w aga i nst ’SC but the games are key if we w the tou r na ment,” s Rebekah Gardner sai

dailybruin.com/sports | sports | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | DAILY BRUIN

A N N IK

say. A diversion from the lack of on-court But they’re getting there, the coaches success, they cry. say, and the players are beginning to see With Close, though, it’s exceeding- how the off-court philosophy translates ly clear that her talk of character and into on-court details. integrity is no false front. It’s simply who “It has to do with us having each othshe is. The character of giving and self- ers’ back, she talks about that a lot,” said sacrifice is not some curriculum she has sophomore guard Thea Lemberger. devised to present to her team.

“Us playing as a team, doing stuff As the players are quick to acknowl- for each other and making the right edge, Close puts these principles on choices. She thinks that making the display every day. right choices off the court “I think any coach who directly correlates to making expects something from the right choices on the court.

She wants That would be going the extra their team has to demonstrate it themselves, and I the team to be mile to help your teammate think coach Cori has done about each other, out when you’re exhausted, a great job of that,” said they’re exhausted, but doing senior guard Rebekah Gard- that’s the biggest it for them.” ner.

This season has not gone thing.”

Freshman forward Kacy as smooth ly as a l l par ties Swain had similar feelings.

Shannon Perry involved would like, by any “She always tells us, ‘Be Assistant coach stretch of the imagination. thankful, clean up after The season started with a pair you r s el f, b e p o s it i ve,’ ” of devastating injuries.

Swain said.

Senior forward Jasmine Dixon, done “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day for the season before it even began; her where she’s not in practice smiling and replacement, redshirt junior forward just being positive towards everyone, Atonye Nyingifa, went out with an ACL trying to make everyone better.” tear in December, before conference Assistant coach Shannon Perry is play began. quick to point out as well, that a focus The team is currently floating at .500 on character growth does not preclude and has only the slimmest of hopes of excellent basketball coaching. In fact, making the NCAA tournament.

Perry said, the two go hand in hand.

Adding to all that, this is a new staff.

“She wants the team to be about each After former coach Nikki Caldwell other, that’s the biggest thing,” Perry took the same position at LSU last April, said.

UCLA had to rebuild its staff. And when“The key message is work hard all the ever a new coach comes in, there is an time and be there for each other. Every- adjustment period. thing she’s saying is all bound up in that.

But that’s alright. This isn’t a dream ... It’s a team sport, so her philosophy season, no. enters the court. It is about the court, at But Close is okay with that, as long as the end of the day.” there is growth, both on the court and It hasn’t been an instant transforma- off the court. tion for this team. The team hasn’t sudIf she can get her team to make the denly become a group of utterly selfless choice to give everything they possess individuals who have no thoughts of self, to those around them, then it won’t just only of team. be a story of winning basketball.

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M A HAM ERSC H L AG / D A I LY BRUI N

al stretch to determine fate in future tourneys

ball needs consistent play entering the ce schedule to reach a five-win mark

would give us some momentum going into the Pac-12 tournament.”

Having already faced the two toughest Pac-12 teams on the road d trip to the this past week in Cal and Stanford, d that capped the team believes it can come away g two games a with victories against the rest of its en’s basketball schedule if the Bruins play consison Sunday to tently for an entire game. est.

“We just need to be able to put ng is together 40 -m i nute hem games. That has been Cori a struggle for us this ality We ... want entire season,” sophon the more guard Thea Lemhave to win against ’SC berger said. m a ny but these last five “We showed some o get games are key if go o d s p a rk s (S u n d not of how we should we want to make day) but be play i n g but we the tournament.” couldn’t put it togethatch er for the whole game Rebekah Gardner a n d t h a t i s w h e n u nt i l have Senior guard S t a n ford ex ploit e d their us. Against these top g the teams, we can’t have heir grueling lapses.”

The first obstacle toward reachtretch will be ing that five-win mark comes in the form of rival USC, who UCLA will mean a third face Sunday. sh along with The Women of Troy are coming e Pac-12 tour- off a thrilling 76-75 overtime win at playing in against Cal. After the Golden Bears t come March. hit a three-point buzzer beater to w a nt to w i n tie the game, USC freshman Ariya ese last f ive Crook took control of the game in want to make extra minutes. Crook dug her team en ior guard out of a seven-point hole, scoring all id. “And wins 11 points in overtime.

taff a.edu

CHARLIE WANG/ DA I LY

BRUIN

Senior guard Rebekah Gardner shoots a free throw against USC earlier in the season. Gardner and UCLA will travel to the Galen Center to play USC on Sunday.

Short-term momentum may be on the side of USC, but the Women of Troy have struggled against conference team in the second half of their season. After starting 5-2 in the Pac-12, USC has lost four of its last six conference games.

The Bruins have taken a very different route to get the same overall results. UCLA started Pac12 play shaky, standing at 3-4 at the halfway point of the conference season. The Bruins then went on a four-game winning streak and currently sit one game above .500 at 7-6 like the Women of Troy.

“I think we are a different basketball team now,” Close said of the team’s improvement this season.

“The final score may not always show that but I see it in the possessions and the way we were handling the ball and attacking the basket.”

USC got the upper hand on UCLA the first time the two teams met this year, winning 47-43 at the John Wooden Center. UCLA struggled to grab rebounds after halftime, giving up 13 offensive boards to USC, a statistic Close believes was the difference in the game.

“The game was lost last time on offensive rebounds so it is important that we make sure to rebound for two halves and that we have a relentlessness about us,” she said.

“That is going to be a key to getting the victory at the Galen Center.”

TIM BRADBURY/ DA I LY

B R U I N STA F F

Junior guard Markel Walker battles for the ball against an Oregon player as senior forward Rebekah Gardner looks on. Walker leads UCLA in rebounds, averaging 10.5 a game.

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DAILY BRUIN | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | sports | dailybruin.com/sports

Chances at NCAA dependent on Pac-12 play National Invitation Tournament still a viable option for Bruins if they miss out on the Big Dance

BY RYAN MENEZES Bruin Sports senior staff rmenezes@media.ucla.edu

more.

“What we’re going to have to do to make the (NCA A) tournament is win the Pac-12 After its rivalry game, the tournament,” UCLA coach Ben UCLA men’s basketball team Howland said in early January. will hop on a plane headed to “That’s very clear.”

New York City before taking on The “bust” could very well St. John’s on Saturday at one be the NIT. of the most historic arenas in No one strives to make the organized basketball: Madison NIT, no one talks about it, no Square Garden. one wa nts to shout “We’re Plenty of top-notch basket- No. 65!” for winning it. But it ball is played in front of fans at remains a consolation prize for the Garden, though one event those that miss out on the Big remains overshadowed: the Dance.

National Invitation TournaUCLA currently sits at 14-11 ment, whose semion the yea r w ith finals and final are at least six games held on the court mor e t o go. N I T We’re right invites are usually decorated in orange and blue. The Bru- here ... and we can extended to teams ins, national cham- still break out and t h a t f i n i s h w i t h pions 11 times over, w i n n i n g record s are more familiar hit first place.” that don’t make the w ith the NCA A NCAA Tournament.

Anthony Stover The Bruins have Tou r na ment. But Redshirt sophomore never been to the the NIT is a another postseason fate center N I T u nder HowUCL A cou ld be la nd, either w i nreassociated w ith ning enough games after a long absence. to make the NCAA Tournament The beauty of college basket- or finishing with a losing record ball is that every team is given in each of his eight seasons at a chance to make the NCAA the helm.

Tournament, courtesy of the In fact, the Bruins have kept automatic bid given to each their distance from the secondconference tournament cham- tier tournament for much lonpion. ger than that, as many teams of The Bruins don’t play coy UCLA’s multiple-championship about their chances to make pedigree have. the NCAA Tournament. It’s a The Bruins last went to the win in the Pac-12 Tournament NIT in the 1985-86 season, losor bust. ing to UC Irvine in a first-round That fact has remained true home game at Pauley Pavilion. since early in the season, when The previous season, led by an the Bruins came up empty at adequate sharp-shooter named the Maui Invitational and sud- Reggie Miller, the Bruins rolled denly didn’t have a chance to all the way to New York City and notch a resume-boosting any- won the NIT in Madison Square

Garden. Miller was named MVP. That banner won’t be found in Pauley Pavilion.

(It once hung in the rafters, before being removed for the NCAA championship banner UCLA won 10 years later.)

Not working in UCLA’s favor is the fact that the Pac-12 has been in such a slump, which left UCLA with few chances to make a case for an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament.

No con ference tea m has beaten an A P Top 25 team (0-for-11). No conference team is ranked (California received votes). Only Cal is in the top 40 of the Ratings Percentage Index. And the standings have constantly been in flux.

The last point is one that UCLA can draw inspiration on.

“It still gives us some hope,” redsh ir t sophomore center Anthony Stover said of watching the ever-changing conference leaderboard. “Every day when I talk to my teammates we say we’re right here, we’re still in the middle of the pack, and we can still break out and hit first place.”

The Brui ns currently sit in a tie for sixth place, two games out of fourth place. A top-four finish would help their already slim chances of getting to the tournament. If not, they wouldn’t get the benefit of a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament and would have to win four games in four days to avoid a spot in the NIT. “I guess it’s a little tough (to look ahead to the conference tournament),” senior guard Jerime Anderson said. “Like I said, we’ve just got to be focused and play the game that’s at hand.

That’s something that’s in the future and that’s not what we’re worried about.”

DAILY BRUIN FILE PHOTO

Coach Ben Howland and the Bruins’ chances at making the NCAA Tournament are dependent on a first-place finish in the Pac-12 Tournament. If the Bruins aren’t invited to the Big Dance, the NIT Tournament remains a viable option.

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UCLA-USC opposition overshadowed by NBA rivalry The Bruin-Trojan animosity has deteriorated over the years, trumped by the Lakers and Clippers RYAN ESHOFF

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The chart below shows the win percentages over time for the UCLA, USC, Lakers and Clippers basketball teams.

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Not when you’re playing the same sport in the same city ESH PRINTS as one of the most fascinating is the season developing rivalries in all of for couples, sports, that of the Lakers and and you the Clippers. either love or hate Valentine’s The lull in the college basketDay for it. Tuesday’s holiday ball landscape in this city has exists almost exclusively to been absolutely trumped by the celebrate a particular relationburgeoning enmity between ship status, which is awesome L.A.’s two NBA franchises, for those who have someone sentiments that began this special and not necessarily offseason when star point guard anything super special for those Chris Paul appeared on his way who don’t. to joining the Lakers before “Good things come in pairs” ending up with the Clippers. is a popular cliché, one you’d Partnering with the pogo-stick most likely find on a candy Blake Griffin, Paul has helped heart if the little only-goodrevitalize the much-maligned one-day-a-year buggers were franchise. big enough to fit more text than “When you hear the Clip“Fax Me.” pers, it’s not going to be a joke I’ll let you argue over anymore,” Griffin said. “I guarwhether or not being a part of antee that.” a relational pair is really worth A sport thrives in times of celebrating with a special day, rivalry, when opposing teams but for some things there’s no create a perfect pair of nemeses denying that two is better than and foils. It’s why the mecca of one. college basketball is the 15-mile Peanut butter and jelly. Penn Tobacco Road that connects and Teller. Pride Duke to North and Prejudice.

Carolina.

Lasagna and rice.

The two schools Rivalries Starsky and Hutch. do more than just between two An English degree treat each other like teams or schools the Montagues and and an unemployment check. Some Capulets; they’re unquestionably things just make also two of the most change the dyperfect couples, and successful programs namic of sports, in the country, year that idea certainly carries over into after year. for all parties. sports.

Equally high Rivalries success, equally between two teams or schools high contempt for one another. unquestionably change the That’s the recipe for an ideal dynamic of sports, for all rivalry. UCLA and USC have parties. Coaches can find more had it in the past. The Lakers ways to motivate, players can and Clippers have it now. perform with more pride, fans This season, the matchup can loathe and prank and wager between the two college and trash-talk, the media get programs feels a lot like a JV ample story lines, everybody game and has taken a backseat wins. to what’s going on between the Basketball fans in Los Angetwo NBA teams in the Staples les are pretty spoiled in this Center (they play in the same regard. The UCLA-USC hoops building! Take that, Tobacco hostility, after all, dates back to Road). the early-to-mid 20th century.

“It’s there, you don’t want to In those days, John Wooden say it’s not a rivalry,” Clippers matched his considerable wits forward Ryan Gomes said. with renowned USC coach The Lakers and Clippers are Forrest Twogood.

Hollywood’s new power couple.

Although UCLA tends to be Heck, they probably dislike Big Brother when it comes to each other as much as some basketball, the rivalry has still real Hollywood couples. had its moments. These days?

But this is about the fans, Not so much. Not when UCLA and that’s who’s benefitting is in rebuilding and retooling the most. Basketball in L.A. mode, and not when USC is has become a viewer’s delight: fielding a team that on some dunks, jump shots, blocked nights would lose to the five shots, all other sorts of highmembers of my apartment. flying acrobatics. Love is in the Generally, the lack of any air. real buzz surrounding UCLA or USC basketball might be If you think his columns should be frustrating for a local basketball printed on candy hearts, email fan of either of the two schools.

Eshoff at These days? Not so much. reshoff@media.ucla.edu.

MEN’S BASKETBALL WINNING PERCENTAGES

40

20 ’01-’02

’03-’04

’05-’06

’07-’08

SOURCES: Graphic reporting by Mansi Sheth, Bruin Senior Staff. Graphic by Justine Buckley, Bruin contributor.

’09-’10

’11-’12

8

DAILY BRUIN | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 | sports | dailybruin.com/sports