DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Forward
Jason Kapono attempts a layup at Pauley Pavilion.
Kapono has been heavily guarded this month.
By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Jason Kapono isn’t seeing the shots he saw back in
November.
He’s been running just as hard to get open, but it seems
he’s getting less and less space each game. Even screens set
for him by his teammates, he’s noticed, aren’t giving
him enough room to shoot.
“They’re guarding me differently,” Kapono
said. “They pressure me as tight as possible. Teams are
obviously watching film. They’re trying to take away all my
catch-and-shoot, all the easy stuff.”
It isn’t a problem now, since the UCLA men’s
basketball team is winning, but it can be one in the future.
In the eight games the Bruins have played since Dec. 20, when
they opened conference competition against Washington, Kapono has
scored just 14.6 points per game. Prior to that contest, he was
averaging 22.0.
It’s not that he’s shooting significantly less
““ before Dec. 20, he was taking 13.0 shots per contest; since
then he’s taken an average of 11.1.
His field goal percentage, however, has taken a sharp drop.
Shooting just 40.6 percent in the Bruins’ six Pacific 10
games, Kapono has had his field goal percentage drop from 53.8
percent to 47.8 percent since the game in Washington.
Yet UCLA, currently ranked ninth in the country, has won seven
of its last eight and is 5-1 in the Pac-10.
Kapono, who has logged plenty of minutes at point guard instead
of his natural small forward position, says he isn’t looking
for his shot as much. Instead, he’s trying to get the ball to
forward Matt Barnes and shooting guard Billy Knight, who are
averaging 18.5 and 18.2 points, respectively, in conference
games.
“Having to play point guard, I’ve gotten into the
mode of thinking pass first,” he said. “Matt’s
been playing so well, and he’s taking the shots that
I’d usually be taking. That’s a good sign that
I’m not scoring and we’re still beating teams like
Kansas and Georgetown.”
Kapono’s dwindling scoring totals and shooting percentage
haven’t discouraged him from shooting, he says.
“Oh, definitely still have confidence,” he said.
“I still feel I have the touch.”
Bruin head coach Steve Lavin agrees that winning without Kapono
scoring is, in some ways, a positive development.
“It’s a sign we have a deep team,” Lavin said.
“We have tremendous talent. It’s the old Coach Wooden
philosophy that balance is best, and that’s what we’ve
got.”
And, Lavin adds, Kapono has increased his production in other
facets of the game, noting that the junior All-American’s
rebounding and assist figures are up.
That being said, Lavin understands that he may need Kapono, the
team’s proven go-to-guy, to start scoring again later in the
year. He said he’ll do what he can to get Kapono more shots,
but will do so cautiously.
“When we’re playing the way we are, you don’t
want to tinker too much,” Lavin said. “But we have to
make a concerted effort to get him some looks. Other teams are
locking up on him. We’ll look into running set plays for
him.”
Kapono said he would welcome the set plays, but didn’t
think it was necessary.
“That’s good. It’ll help me, but we
don’t have to go for that,” Kapono said. “I just
have to do a better job of creating my own shot. I have to get my
game up to speed.”