Howland: 'We’ve got our hands full'

Bruin Coach Ben Howland spoke with reporters after Memphis defeated Texas to advance to the Final Four and play Memphis next Saturday at 3:07 p.m. Pacific time. He knows the Bruins will be in a struggle with a team that’s even more talented that the one UCLA defeated, 50-45, two years ago in the West Region final:

"They’re better because they have [Derrick] Rose. Rose is really a special talent. At the end of the day, when you look at it, you’ve got to say that Derrick Rose and Kevin Love are the two best freshmen in the country along with [Michael] Beasley, in terms of how they’ve performed; [O.J.] Mayo is in that group. Bottom line is, Derrick Rose is great, man, is he a good player and he has really improved as the season progressed. He’s a great point guard.

"Chris Douglas-Roberts, I think he was a freshman the first time we played the first time [2006 West Region final]; he’s a first-team All-American. I mean, he’s great. Antonio Anderson has now been in the program now for three or four years, he’s terrific. So they’re better. Joey Dorsey’s still there; he was a big, strong physical player then and he’s still there. He has 127 offensive rebounds; that’s a lot of offensive rebounds."

That said, he has not begun his preparations yet. "I haven’t watched them at all. I saw them against USC in Madison Square Garden early in the season. I did see the Tennessee game in its entirety; that was a very good game and that’s the only two games I’ve seen.

"[Today,] I went to church. I have plenty of time to watch a lot of tape. We don’t play until Saturday and I actually had to do a CBS thing this morning at 10:25 [a.m.], and then I got a ride to church and I went to church and my mom’s still here and then I came home and did a little exercise."

>> Howland noted that the 2006 West Region final game was a long time ago and the Tigers are a different team now: "The main things with them are not getting killed in transition; they’re so good at putting pressure on you with their fast break and they create a lot of their offense with their defense; they’re really a good defensive team. Look for example, they’re holding their opponents on the year to 38% from the field. They’re out-boarding their opponents by about seven a game. They force a lot of steals; they have 319 steals on the year, which is a lot of steals. To put that in perspective, we have 279, so that’s actually closer than I thought. But they’re a very good offensive rebounding team, they really get on the glass and do a great job that way. They’re just a really, really good team and we’ve got our hands full and we know it.

"They’ve got a lot of guys that can really play, they’ve got a lot of depth. Andre Allen is playing 14 minutes a game; he’s a senior. They have a lot of guys. They play nine guys at least 14 minutes a game and no one is averaging more than 28. I guess against Texas today, some guys played more minutes: Dorsey played 36, Antonio Anderson played 38, Roberts and Rose played 34, so those four guys played super minutes. It looks like [Robert] Dozier was in foul trouble because he fouled out. Chris Douglas-Roberts got to the line today 17 times, that’s a lot of free throws.

"I mean, think about it, Michigan State, they had down, 50-20, at the half. I’d say that’s an impressive score. Because Michigan State was really, really hard for us, we crushed them by one. They had them down 30 in a half. That’s saying something. I haven’t seen that game; I can’t wait to watch it because I can’t believe it." For the record, the Bruins actually beat Michigan State 68-63 back on November 20 and without Darren Collison, but who’s counting?

>> On Memphis’ star freshman Rose: "Where I think he’s really improved is his ability to shoot the three. He’s a very effective three-point shooter. They’ve done a great job developing that; he’s shooting with a lot of confidence. He’s really playing well now in the NCAA Tournament, I do know that. He’s averaging 17.2 [points] a game in the last five games; Chris Douglas-Roberts is averaging 21 [plus] Antonio Anderson, so you look at those perimeter players, those three guys, they have size and they are athletic.

"Derrick Rose is going to be drafted when he does come out, whenever that may be, in the top five in the country. He’s a great player. He’s 6-3, really, really strong, very, very athletic. He’s just really, really good. He’s arguably the best point guard in the country. It’s a great challenge [for Darren Collison] because he’s so good. So I’m sure that Darren will be pumped up and wanting to play well.

"Joey’s the main guy that I look at because he’s a senior, he’s experienced, he’s built like Hulk. He’s so strong, so athletic, so tough, I really like him. He’s older, he’s got to be at least 23 by now. I think Dozier is really athletic and long; when you look at their blocked shots, Dozier’s got 64 blocks, Dorsey has 70; they have 235 blocks. That’s a lot more blocks than we have. They block shots."

>> The Bruins will have a busy schedule in San Antonio, as Howland noted: "Today’s off, tomorrow they’ll come in and lift and they’ll also do a bike -– get a cardiovascular [workout] in. Tuesday, we’ll practice normal time -– 3 o’clock or 3:15 or whatever it is; Wednesday, we’ll practice; we’re planning on noon right now because we’re trying to fly out at 5 o’clock on Wednesday, tentatively. Then we’ll practice there on Thursday afternoon, we have a salute dinner for all four teams that the NCAA [puts on] Thursday night that all teams go to. It’s really been a nice event; they started it our first year in the Final Four two years ago. It’s a great event; it was hosted by Jim Nantz the last couple years. Really nice, everyone gets a beautiful watch and a beautiful box that it comes in, so it’s a special night.

"Then Friday we have the unbelievable requirement from 10:45 in the morning until 1:30 between the required practice and all the media events, on the front end and the back end. I think our media requirements start at 10:45 a.m., we go until 11:50, then we practice -– required -– 12 to 12:50 and then we come back off and have more media until 1:30.

"The thing is, there’s so much required of us that it goes by quickly because there are so many things that is required for the guys to do, so it doesn’t seem like it’s long at all."

>> About his All-American freshman Love, Howland was asked if it was difficult to have him fit in when he came to UCLA last fall. "We didn’t balance any of the attention [on him], we have nothing to do with controlling that, that’s been off the hook from day one. Bottom line is, guys earn their minutes and we started practice with everybody have a right to start and it’s figured out based on who performs."

Howland also noted that the Bruin players were happy to have someone who could help them achieve their goals. "In their mind, they’re the kind of guys who [think], ‘here’s a guy who can help us finish what we’ve almost done two years in a row.’ They’re all about winning. You look at Josh [Shipp], he’s a great example of that. Luc [Richard Mbah A Moute], those guys are doing whatever they’ve got to do to. People are being critical of them in the paper, but at the end of the day, they are genuinely, authentically happy that this team is doing so well and winning. And they’re doing whatever they’ve got to do to help their team win. That’s so gratifying to see that, to see guys that are selfless, care about the team first. This is a quote now -– ‘It’s amazing what you can do when no one cares about who gets the credit’ –- it’s a paraphrase. Any guess? [John Wooden was the response] That’s right; I was reading that last night.

"This is really my first experience, with a veteran group of returning guys that have been to Final Fours one and two years and adding the best high school player in the nation. I hope this becomes a habit because that’s a good habit to have, but I’m not speaking from a lot of experience here.

"[Kevin is] pretty confident and what I think has happened is they’ve really jelled. All the guys genuinely respect Kevin as a player and like him as a person and know he’s about winning too. I mean he’s very, very unselfish. You saw some of the passes last night; the outlet pass to Russell [Westbrook] when they made a little run at us, the little dive and then a great pass to Josh. He’s a great passer; he honestly gets joy like a Magic Johnson or a [Larry] Bird out of making a great pass, which for me as a coach -– how much I love the game -– that’s so neat to see. It’s so great. He totally gets it. There’s no such thing as a selfish rebounder either. I think they short-handed him on the rebounds; I’ve got to watch it again or have someone do it, but I think he had more than 10."

When did Love’s role on the team solidify? "I think it took a little while, I would say around December. And that’s part of the guys getting to know each other and playing together and being a group. They’re all pretty good leaders, though, in their own way. They really are: Russell, Luc, Josh, Darren, him, obviously those five guys that start have leadership qualities that are evident."

>> About Mbah A Moute’s health, the Bruin coach said: "He saw Carrie [Rubertino], our trainer, today, but I’m assuming no news is good news. Boy, he played good yesterday, that was fun. He has a little bit of swelling, but he seems to be doing OK."

>> Asked about what he remembered from the 2006 game, Howland said: "I thought we did a good job early in the game. We attacked their press, they were pressing early and we scored a couple quick baskets and I thought that helped us get off to a good start. We did a good job slowing the ball down, but we didn’t have to face Derrick Rose two years ago either. He’s a difference maker."

The Bruin coach was also asked about whether he planned to change any of the team’s preparations from the last two years. "No," he said, adding, "Any suggestions? If there’s something you can tell me to do that’s going to make we win, I am happy to hear it."

Comments

[Nookie Farley]

Suggestion? How about putting big posters of Joakim Noah around the gym for inspiring the veterans?

[jaded]

The Tigers need to be throttled just for that stupid "poor hated us" shtick.