UCLA Hoops: The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

It could be a long year for Bruins basketball fans.

By KURT HELIN

Updated 12:45 PM PDT, Tue, Nov 17, 2009

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Usually, when UCLA’s football team is struggling, the school’s supporters are quick to say, “wait until basketball season.”

This season that may be no relief.

UCLA dropped its opener to Cal State Fullerton in double overtime, 68-65. It was a stunning loss. The Bruins fell because they shot a dismal 31% from the floor, 17% from three point range, and maybe worst of all they shot just 47% from the free throw line — with nobody guarding them.

While Fullerton has some athletes — like Jacques Streeter — the Titans were picked in a media poll to finish seventh in the Big West. This is not a powerhouse. They are not top ranked Kansas or Notre Dame, both of whom are on the Bruins schedule in the coming weeks. They are not even up-and-coming Pepperdine, who UCLA faces next Monday.

There are a lot of questions around this year’s Bruins team: Can Michael Lee, who lived in the shadow of Russell Westbrook, step into the limelight? He was 7 of 23 from the floor as the primary playmaker Monday. Senior shooting specialist Michael Roll is finally healthy, but he went 6 for 15 shooting. From there it gets worse with questions about how good the Bruins will be with their big men.

Throughout the Ben Howland era at UCLA, the Bruins have used a stifling defense to keep them in games. And when they had good offensive players like Jordan Farmar and Kevin Love, they could score enough to win games. Enough games to get to the Final Four in back to back years.

UCLA fans thought that the defense, the evolution of Lee and freshman like Mike Moser would mean 20 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth for their team this year. That is the expectation now in Westwood. It might be a rebuilding year, but things were not THAT bad. Tuesday morning they realized they needed to adjust those perceptions.

The question is, can UCLA play well enough, and can Howland recruit well enough, to turn this around in the next couple of years? Right now, a lot of top recruits are heading to traditional powers with more open offensive systems than the Bruins. The most recent example was Harrison Barnes, the nation’s top ranked player, who visited UCLA and got a dinner at Howland’s house and a chance to sit down one-on-one with John Wooden. Then he chose North Carolina as his home next year. He is one example of the growing trend.

If that trend continues, the Bruins fans “wait for basketball season” refrain could be on hold for a few years.

Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles where he is runs the NBA/Lakers blog Forum Blue & Gold (which you can also follow in twitter).