Remember this week, Bruin fans.
The basketball team’s win Sunday over Arizona marked the seventh straight victory for the Bruins in what is supposed to be the conference’s biggest basketball rivalry game. The Bruins more or less rule the conference ““ at least for this week.
The win also pushed UCLA’s record to 14-2 in the Pac-10 while improving the team’s ranking to No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll.
What else could a UCLA fan ask for?
Right now the Bruins are flying as high as a team can in early March.
It looks as if the Bruins are once again on a path that must lead to the Final Four. This team has the trademark Ben Howland defense and an offensive machine that, when running, is the best Howland has ever had at UCLA. All but one of the Bruin starters has ample NCAA Tournament experience, and that one exception is freshman phenom Kevin Love. Pundits across the country have already picked the Bruins to win it all, including Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn.
Maybe to UCLA fans this seems like business as usual, what with the Final Four trips Howland led in 2006 and 2007.
Trust me, it’s not.
This is a week for basketball fans to cherish. This is the feeling sports fans need to grab on to and remember. Next year might bring more success (the recruiting class is stacked), but we’ll never see this year’s group of players again.
This is the last regular season weekend of Lorenzo Mata-Real’s UCLA career. If there is any player who has earned the right to wear the UCLA jersey, it’s Mata-Real. He’s always brought energy, good defense and enthusiasm to the court. He plays every game as if it’s his last, as if he knows how lucky he is just to be on the court.
I feel like I should say this next point in a whisper: Mata-Real is not the only Bruin who will play his last game at Pauley this weekend.
There are at least four players on the UCLA roster who could contribute to an NBA team next season. ESPN’s Chad Ford thinks that sophomore Russell Westbrook could be a top-10 pick in the June draft. I agree.
Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will hear their names called on draft night, too, if they choose to leave UCLA.
I’m not a negative guy. I don’t want to bring up the draft issue prematurely. But I’ll never question a player’s reason to leave school early ““ they’re looking at millions of dollars and a chance to fulfill a dream. I think UCLA fans should know that these guys are definitely going to be faced with that decision just one month from now.
That should set the stage for Thursday’s showdown against No. 7 Stanford. It will be a battle for the conference title, and it may be the second-to-last time the Bruin faithful see Love, Collison, Mbah a Moute and Westbrook play at Pauley. If the Bruins win, they’ll seal their second consecutive Pac-10 crown.
A Pac-10 title will lead to more big things: maybe a No. 1 seed, maybe a Final Four, maybe a 12th national title banner at Pauley Pavilion.
But for now, UCLA fans should just try to remember how lucky they are to have had this remarkable team.
E-mail Allen at [email protected].