There is a reason UCLA has been to two consecutive Final Four appearances and are poised for a run at three in a row. All the right things are being said from the players and coaches about the importance of defense. Not only are they talking about it, they are putting it into action: Here is some from an L.A. Times article this morning:
Don't ask Ben Howland about the way his team lit up the scoreboard.Don't ask about the dunks and the fastbreak layups, the three-point shots.
The UCLA coach would rather talk about something else.
"I know it's boring -- I apologize -- but it's the truth," Howland said. "It all starts with our defense." (This is after UCLA put up 97 points)
The 97 points Saturday were the most scored by a Howland team in a Pacific 10 Conference game, yet even the players talked about finally understanding the effort their coach wants at the other end of the court.
"To be honest, there's no magic trick to what we've been doing the last two games," guard Darren Collison said. "We just raised our level of intensity on the defensive end."
They believe a simple equation -- turnovers equal easy baskets -- has pushed the Bruins (17-4 overall) back into a tie for first in the Pac-10 standings with a record of 7-2.
If nothing else, two big wins has brought life to a team that was licking its wounds after a loss at Washington only a week ago.
"After the Washington game, Coach told us we had to have the best practice we've ever had," center Alfred Aboya said. "That's what we did. After that, he said we had to keep it up every day."
"Everything that we tried in past games when we weren't winning or were winning by five, 10 points, we weren't getting enough stops," Collison said. "When we get a lot of stops, we get a lot of good things."
