Monday, February 3, 1997
M. HOOPS:
Point guard’s success not only in play, but in easing tensionBy
Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
Corvallis, Ore. — In Saturday’s 74-68 win against Oregon State,
UCLA point guard Cameron Dollar posted some impressive numbers, not
all of which will appear on the box score. His line: six points,
five rebounds, five steals, five assists and, last but certainly
not the least, one giant bear hug administered on the referee.
With roughly three minutes remaining in the game with the score
in the Bruins’ favor by five points, center Jelani McCoy was called
for a holding foul inside the key on OSU’s Terrill Woods.
Responding to the sophomore’s vociferous displeasure with the call,
the referee was giving McCoy the stink eye and his hands were ready
to make a "T" formation.
That’s when Dollar arrived at the crisis situation with
Superman-like promptness, preventing the referee’s wrath from
falling on McCoy and his teammates. Dollar wrapped his arms around
the referee with the bear hug (the style not unlike teenage bullies
pestering their younger brothers), whispered some sweet words into
the official’s ears, and just like that, the Bruins were able to
avoid the possible catastrophe.
All in a day’s work for Dollarman, UCLA’s saving grace on
Saturday afternoon.
"I was telling (the referee), ‘I got him, he’s alright,’" said
Dollar of his persuasion efforts. "(McCoy) didn’t say anything bad.
He just emotionally said something and then he was about to get the
T."
A technical foul at that point would have given OSU a possible
five-point possession, which would have narrowed UCLA’s lead to a
single point with three minutes remaining on the clock.
Furthermore, it could have sent McCoy to the bench to cool down,
forcing the Bruins to forfeit McCoy’s subsequent contributions that
were stellar on both sides of the court.
McCoy went on to add a dunk and a lay-up, along with two
defensive rebounds and a key blocked shot of Sasa Petrovic’s
three-point try with 33 seconds remaining.
"(Dollar) definitely saved me today," McCoy said. "He’s done
that a lot of times."
After the game, Dollar attributed his ability to deal with the
referees to his concerted effort for diplomacy on a regular
basis.
"I try to have a good rapport with the refs," Dollar said. "It
starts when we first meet in person during warm ups and continues
on throughout the game and throughout the year. In that situation,
it helped.
"I’m not necessarily looking for them to give us something, but
you just don’t want them to give us something that will hurt us. I
just try to talk to them and they talk to us, and they just want
that. They don’t want you to think that you’re better than them or
feel like you’re lower than them  like they’re holding a whip
or something. They just want to be able to relate and be
friendly."
As far as McCoy’s on-court antics are concerned, coach Steve
Lavin believes the sophomore center has come a long way from his
trash-talking days last year.
"Jelani, on the most part, has made an unbelievable concerted
effort to (cut down) on the animation, trash-talking and all that
stuff," Lavin said. "Still room to grow, but we’re making
progress."
UCLA Sports Info
Cameron Dollar