CHRIS BACKLEY Junior guard Ray Young
passes the ball in an exhibition game earlier this month.
By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
There is no better way to start the college basketball
season.
Tonight, the preseason No. 19 UCLA men’s basketball team
opens the 2000 regular season at the IKON Coaches vs. Cancer
Classic against the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks at Madison Square Garden
in New York.
The four-team tournament will also pit the Kentucky Wildcats
against the St. John’s Red Storm in the second game on
Thursday, 30 minutes after the UCLA-Kansas contest.
The Bruins return the triumvirate of senior co-captain Earl
Watson, junior center Dan Gadzuric, and sophomore forward Jason
Kapono to the starting lineup. Head coach Steve Lavin might opt to
go with a bigger starting lineup against the Kansas frontline of
Eric Chenowith, Nick Collison and Drew Gooden, all listed at
heights over 6-foot-10.
“We are already preparing for them,” Lavin said.
“They are quick in the low post and can be difficult with the
size they have up front. We are going to have a lot to contend with
in terms of their firepower and experience on the glass.”
Both squads enter the contest with quality returners and
thrilling finishes to tumultuous seasons.
UCLA had to deal with the 24-game suspension of JaRon Rush and
limited minutes for Gadzuric due to knee tendonitis. Kansas,
meanwhile, coped with Chenowith’s ineffectiveness, a young
frontline, and a mysterious ailment to forward Luke Axtell.
“We’re anxious to start playing games ““ maybe
the players more so than I am,” Kansas head coach Roy
Williams said. “The two question marks that I think could be
the most important part in determining the success of our team are
Eric and Luke. We do have five starters back, but it doesn’t
mean that much because both Collison and Gooden could move into
those spots.”
Lavin says he has been able to focus on the upcoming campaign
with on-and-off court problems few and far between in 2000.
“This has been the calmest beginning to a season in the 10
years I have been here at UCLA,” Lavin said. “This
(year) is as smooth sailing as it gets.”
But for both the Jayhawks and the Bruins, the offseason provided
tidal waves that could have capsized both programs.
The buzz around Westwood at the end of last season was the
departure of Jason Kapono to “test the waters” of the
NBA, following the announcements of Rush and Jerome Moiso to do the
same.
Likewise in Lawrence, Williams was the subject of controversy
when rumors of his leaving Kansas to become head coach at his alma
mater North Carolina broke out. Fortunately for both schools, both
big names stayed put.
Now the early talk is again of lofty expectations and national
title dreams.
Seedings for the Big Dance rest strongly on strength of
schedule, which adds incentive to starting the season with a
“W.”
“The big question mark is our play last year,”
Collison said. “We didn’t play as well as we should
have or up to the expectations. Now we just have to wait and see if
we can play as a team and put it together to meet those
expectations that people have placed upon us.”
For the Bruins, Thursday night will be the opening act for the
team.
“Injuries are a little bit of a concern with Josiah
(Johnson), Rico (Hines), and Todd (Ramasar),” Lavin said.
“But Gadzuric has showed more patience and poise in practice
on both ends of the floor. I think Earl has mastered (the point) as
far as the decision-making and the leadership after playing combo
guard his first two years here.
“We were inconsistent at times last year,” Lavin
continued. “But our maturity is something that gives the
coaching staff a lot of optimism.”
UCLA is 8-2 lifetime against Kansas, but has lost the last two
in the series. The Bruins last played the Jayhawks in 1997 ““
a 96-83 UCLA loss in Pauley Pavilion.
The game is being televised live from Madison Square Garden at
3:30 p.m. Pacific on ESPN2.