Thursday, February 26, 1998
The Toby constant
M. HOOPS: In spite of ups and downs in game play, Toby Bailey
stands as a guiding leader and player who keeps the team
together
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
Toby Bailey has seen a little bit of everything in his four-year
career as a Bruin – everything, that is, except stability.
In his freshman season he helped win a national championship,
and the next year he played a key role in the first-round loss to
Princeton.
He’s played four different positions throughout his career –
under the watchful eyes of two vastly different head coaches.
At times he has played phenomenally. And at other times he has
been horrible.
But one thing has remained constant for Bailey. He has always
played, and he has always started. Always.
Until last Wednesday.
For the first time in 100 games, the Bruins took the court
without their iron man.
For the first time since Feb. 21, 1995, Bailey started the game
sitting down.
And though it may have ruined an impressive streak, at the same
time it may have saved the season – both for Bailey and the
team.
"I think not starting that game was a wake-up call," the
6-foot-5-inch senior guard said. "It made me look at the game from
a different perspective. I know that at the game I was sitting on
the bench watching them play, and I wanted to be out there."
It had always been a foregone conclusion that when the game
started, Bailey would be on the floor – like he will be tonight
when the Bruins (20-6, 10-4 Pac-10) take on Washington State (9-17,
2-13) at Friel Court in Pullman, Wash.
He always found a way to avoid the game of musical chairs that
the rest of the UCLA starting lineup had become.
He and Earl Watson were the only players to start every game
this year. Last year only Bailey and Charles O’Bannon started every
contest, and in his sophomore year only he and Jelani McCoy began
each game on the court.
But perhaps more importantly, over that time span he has
averaged over 35 minutes a game – far and away more than any other
Bruin. And with a team that has only five players that are proven
contributors, every extra minute becomes extremely important.
"To me, Toby Bailey is the Cal Ripken of UCLA basketball," head
coach Steve Lavin said – alluding to the sports world’s ultimate
iron man. "What I mean by that is it’s his toughness and durability
over his career which has made him so valuable to the program."
There was just never a reason for him to be benched.
Disciplinary problems? Not for the son of a parole officer.
Injuries? Bailey is as well conditioned as any athlete on the
floor. Lack of effort? The coaches say he gives it his all every
time he’s on the court.
That’s what made Wednesday’s benching against USC so
surprising.
Bailey was removed from the starting lineup because he lost both
his temper and his aggressiveness in the practice prior to the
Bruins’ 82-75 overtime win at the Sports Arena.
"He has set a very high level of expectation, and he wasn’t
living up to it," Lavin said. "He wasn’t practicing at a high
enough intensity level, and my job as coach is to hold him
accountable to that level."
There were no arguments from Bailey. In fact, he knew that he
deserved to get kicked out of practice for the first time in his
life as well as the subsequent benching.
"It was a little out of character," Bailey said. "I wasn’t
practicing like Toby Bailey."
The suspension came at the end of a week that would rank among
the worst of Bailey’s UCLA career.
On Feb. 12, Bailey finished off a 7-for-19 shooting night
(including 0-for-6 from three-point range) by committing two
turnovers in the final minute of the Bruins’ 84-81 loss to
Stanford.
With six seconds left and UCLA trailing by two, Bailey fell in
the key with the ball, effectively ending any chance for a Bruin
victory.
"That Stanford game took a lot out of me after falling down," he
said. "I was thinking about that every night when I was going to
sleep."
It didn’t get any better two days later. Though UCLA beat
California, 87-84, Bailey shot 2-of-9 from the field, got
season-low marks with seven points and two rebounds, while
committing a season-high eight turnovers.
"That’s when I sensed he was struggling – the California game,"
Lavin game. "I could tell he was down about the Cal and Stanford
games. He’s a competitor, and because he’s a senior I think he may
have been pressing a little bit in trying to step up his game."
Bailey concurs.
"I was just mentally drained," he said. "I think that Stanford
game took a lot out of me after slipping. I was thinking about that
every night going to sleep. I think it took (the benching) and
doing something a little bit out of my character and I just blew
off a little steam.
"It has definitely been frustrating. We were losing games that
we should have won, and I’m just trying to keep a positive
attitude."
When Bailey finally did enter the USC game about five minutes
in, he never came out and eventually led the Bruins to their
comeback victory in overtime.
Though shooting poorly for most of the game, he scored the
Bruins’ final four points to send the game into the extra period,
then added four more points, three rebounds and two assists to seal
the win.
Then, in the blowout loss against Duke, while shooting poorly
from the field once against (5-of-16), he lead all players with
nine rebounds – including seven offensive boards.
In his past four games, he has made only 19 of 61 field goal
attempts – but since the suspension, his attitude and other aspects
of his game have improved.
"In the USC game he missed his shots," Lavin said. "But I was
pleased with his aggressiveness and his rebounding. And in the Duke
game, his shots weren’t going in, but what I was pleased with was
the way he rebounded the ball and ran the floor – doing the things
to help us win – other than just shooting the ball."
And while, Bailey’s reputation is built on his scoring. – if his
shots don’t fall, many consider him a disappointment – those other
aspects often get lost.
Perhaps the high expectations stem from Bailey’s 26 points in
the NCAA championship game three years ago. Since then he has only
surpassed that point total once, and has averaged "only" 13.9
points per game.
"I think people have assumed that if I get 26 points in the
championship game, I’m supposed to get 26 points every game," he
said. "It just doesn’t happen. Not at UCLA, there are too many good
players to spread the ball around to.
"I just got more solid all around, I’m actually more consistent
now. I might not score 26 points a game, but I’ll get five, six,
seven boards a game."
Beyond ranking among the Bruin career leaders in points (10th
with 1,695) and three-pointers, he is among the top 10 in assists
(7th with 431), is only being out-rebounded this year by J. R.
Henderson, and if they somehow make it to the Final Four, Bailey
will have played in more games than any Bruin in school
history.
But, he’s missed 17 of his last 20 three-pointers, and his field
goal percentage has fallen from last year; and thus, those outside
the "Bruin basketball family" say he is struggling.
"I think that’s the standard that a lot of people hold to Toby
Bailey – is that he is superhuman and that he is an invincible
person," senior forward Kris Johnson said. "But, he’s a human
being. He’s done very well dealing with it – he’s been dealing with
a lot of things.
"It’s like the USC game where he was missing a lot of shots and
the crowd was on him, but he stayed in the game and made some key
plays down the stretch to bring us back into the game and win
it."
But, despite the rebounds, assists and three-pointers, perhaps
Bailey’s most important asset is his stability, and that is why
last Wednesday’s punishment was so important in the scope of the
season – to get Bailey re-focused.
When Johnson and Jelani McCoy were suspended earlier in the
season, Bailey was there to take over a leadership role, and when
McCoy left the team last week, Bailey took more responsibility on
his shoulders.
Due to the ever-changing roster, Bailey has found himself at
point guard, shooting guard, and both small forward and power
forward.
"This year he has been stepping up – given the fact that I was
suspended," Johnson said. "We all had big aspirations and dreams
for this year, but after me and (McCoy) got suspended, Toby was
kind of disappointed in us, and I think he and Henderson did a
great job as serving as leaders.
"I think Toby has done that this year by sacrificing his
position. He is turning into a very unselfish player."
In essence, he has served as the glue that has kept the team
together.
As a result, if the Bruins lose Bailey’s concentration and
composure again, whatever hope UCLA has of making a tourney run,
would be wiped away. And Bailey knows it.
"We’ve set our goals to get to the Final Four again, and we have
our work cut out for us," he said. "But, if we do everything right,
I definitely feel that we could get back to the Final Four."
The chances of ending his career the same way he started it –
with a national title – may be slim, but one thing remains for
sure.
Come tourney time, if Bailey is sitting out at tip-off, any
wake-up call would be much too late.
And the nightmare season would only continue. But for just one
more game.
Jeff Kmiotek, Daily Bruin Contributor, assisted with this
report.
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
If the Bruins make it to the Final Four, Toby Bailey will break
the record for number of career games played for UCLA.