CHRIS BACKLEY Senior point guard Earl
Watson dribbles past a swarm of Team Concept players in
UCLA’s 118-64 exhibition win Wednesday night.
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin admitted there’s not much his
coaching staff can learn from a blowout game like the one his squad
had on Wednesday night.
Nevertheless, UCLA’s 118-64 exhibition victory over Team
Concept gave the team an opportunity to get the jitters out of the
way before the regular season starts on Nov. 8.
“You probably learn more from some of our
scrimmages,” Lavin said. “I think the value of this is
to turn the lights on, have people in the seats and for the first
time go through the jitters.”
The Bruins better hope all the jitters are out of the way
because they will start the season against the highly-regarded
Kansas Jayhawks in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New
York.
Wednesday night, the Bruins had their way with the heavily
undermanned Team Concept, a team of former college stars.
The Bruins started the contest by scoring the first 25 points of
the game on an array of fast breaks and open three pointers.
Team Concept finally got on the scoreboard six minutes into the
game when forward Duray Thirdgill hit a fall away jumper over
center Dan Gadzuric.
The shot received a sarcastic cheer from the crowd.
Bruin point guard Earl Watson looked particularly impressive
running the offense. The senior routinely found players open on the
break, conjuring up memories of last year’s blowout victory
over Maryland.
When he wasn’t throwing lobs, he was knocking down the
open jumper. Watson finished with 21 points and 11 assists.
“We can still score points despite not having JaRon Rush
and Jerome Moiso, which everyone thought we were going to slack
from this year,” Watson said.
“We have the offensive skills now. As far as defense, we
obviously have to do a better job, but it’s going to come
along.”
UCLA’s heralded freshman TJ Cummings, who is expected to
see considerable playing time this season, should also come
along.
The 6-foot-8 forward from Illinois had a tough night in his
first Bruin game.
Cummings came out overly aggressive when he entered the game in
the first half and was whistled for four fouls in just six minutes
that half.
“I think I came out mentally not ready,” he said.
“I wasn’t playing smart. I was trying to go out and
grab everything instead of trying to get the easy plays.
That’s definitely something I’m going to work
on.”
Cummings was able to settle down in the second half as he
knocked down two turnaround jumpers.
But just as he was getting into the flow of the game, he picked
up his fifth foul with under six minutes left and his night was
done.
“I told TJ, “˜You got this one out of your
system,'” Lavin said. “That’s why we have
exhibition games like this, so you can get ready for the next
one.”
The Bruins’ next one will be against Kansas.
“I think this team is ready,” Watson said.
“It’s hard to say because Kansas is in the same
predicament as we are. Who knows who’s ready for who, we just
know what we have to do to get better.”