PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Matt
Barnes is blocked by Shawn Daniels as
T.J. Cumming looks on. Barnes and Jason Kapono
didn’t start on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the
Bruins from defeating Utah State by 25 points.
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin doesn’t care if
his team is playing an exhibition game or if they’re in the Final
Four. If a player breaks a team rule he will be penalized.
Lavin proved that point once again at the beginning of the No. 4
seeded Bruins’ NCAA tournament’s second round win over No. 12
seeded Utah State.
With his team’s season on the line, the fifth-year coach decided
to bench starters Matt Barnes and Jason Kapono after the players
didn’t attend part of the team’s study hall Friday afternoon.
The players attended the first 45 minutes of the two-hour study
session but then left unexcused to go to their rooms to make phone
calls.
Numerous coaches around the nation in the Bruin coaches position
wouldn’t have sat out the duo, arguably two of the best players on
the team. But Lavin, a stickler for academics, stuck to his
guns.
"One of things I promised parents when I recruit
student-athletes to UCLA is they are going to be held accountable
academically," Lavin said. "The No. 1 priority as a basketball
coach at UCLA is to ensure these kids are making progress toward
their degrees.
"We’re only a week away from finals," he added. "We can’t afford
to be missing any more study time that we are already missing
because we’re in the tournament."
While UCLA players are required to go to study hall on the road,
they are often excused if they inform academic counselor Mike
Casillas ahead of time that they will be late or need to miss a
portion of it. Both Barnes and Kapono went to their rooms without
notifying their counselor.
"We left and we didn’t tell the counselor so it just looked like
we ditched," Kapono said.
Guard Ryan Bailey and forward TJ Cummings started in the duo’s
place. Barnes, who averages 12 points a game, and Kapono, who
averages 17 points a game, made their first appearance at the 15:07
mark with UCLA down 9-8.
When they entered the contest, they seemed focused on fixing
their mistake. Just 30 seconds after checking into the game, Barnes
threw an 80-foot inbounds pass to Bailey who promptly swung the
ball to an open Kapono.
The sophomore sharpshooter buried the three-pointer to put UCLA
ahead, a lead they would not relinquish. The points were the
beginning of a 15-0 Bruin run.
Barnes finished with nine points and five boards in 27 minutes.
Kapono finished with a game-high 19 points, including five
three-pointers, in 32 minutes.
After the game, an apologetic Kapono expressed his
disappointment for putting an extra stress on the team at a time
they were battling for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
"It was such a big game and to throw things off like I did, I
feel really bad about it," he said. "I was just being a dumb
college student. It doesn’t make any sense."
This is not the first time Lavin has disciplined players for
breaking team rules. Before the season, he suspended senior guard
Rico Hines for two games after Hines hit Barnes over the head with
a stool in a preseason pickup game.
In December, Lavin decided to sit Cummings – who had been told
he would start – after the freshman was late for a shootaround.
Despite the impression of Lavin as a strict disciplinarian,
shooting guard Ray Young said his coach is really easy to get along
with.
"Coach is no sergeant general or anything like that," he said.
"He lays out rules and if you break them there are repercussions
and consequences.
"He’s pretty easy going as long as you communicate with him,"
Young added. "If he feels the situation is OK for you to leave
(study hall) or do something else, it’s OK."
Lavin said one of the best ways to encourage players is to take
away their playing time.
"Coach (John) Wooden used to always say, the greatest motivation
is the bench," he said. "I hope these kids learn from it."
Barnes has had some struggles juggling academics and basketball
during his UCLA career. Last season, he missed five games after he
was deemed academically ineligible for the fall 1999 quarter.
But hearing Barnes talk after the Utah State game, you get the
feeling he’s finally grasped the importantance of academics.
"School is the No. 1 thing," he said. "Everybody loves
basketball but you have to put stuff in perspective. You got to
take care of school and then you can think clearly about
basketball."