Howland’s bold decision to play foul-troubled Josh Smith a game-changer

Photo courtesy of www.uclabruins.com


Howland’s bold decision to play foul-troubled Josh Smith a game-changer

By RYAN MENEZES
The Daily Bruin
Published December 18, 2010 in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: December 18, 2010, 10:17 PM


ANAHEIM — With the lead slipping away from UCLA, coach Ben Howland played Russian Roulette. And won.

A little over 10 minutes remained in the game. Three Bruins had four fouls each and were perilously close to fouling out: sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt, junior guard Lazeric Jones and freshman center Joshua Smith.

But when BYU senior guard Jackson Emery made three free throws to bring the Cougars within two at 61-59, Howland chose to put all three of his foul-troubled players back in the game.

“I knew I was going to come back, but I didn’t think it was going to be that quick,” Smith said.

The decision almost backfired immediately when BYU guard Jimmer Fredette attacked the basket and collided with Smith, drawing a whistle and sending both players to the floor.

Only this time, the whistle wasn’t for Smith’s fifth foul – it was for Fredette’s fourth. UCLA’s freshman force stayed in, while BYU’s senior star headed to the bench.

“It was kind of the turning point,” Fredette admitted after the game.

Maybe it was the lack of depth that the Bruins are faced with, down to only nine scholarship players. Maybe it was the fact that Smith was terrorizing the Cougars in the paint. Whatever the reason, Howland felt the need to gamble, and it paid off; BYU didn’t get any closer to tying the game, and the three Bruins all avoided picking up their fifth.

The Cougars tried their best to get Smith to foul out, but to no avail. The 6-foot-10-inch, 310-pound freshman deftly retreated on a couple of plays in the post, which resulted in some easy points for BYU, but his presence on offense was key for UCLA delivering its biggest win of the year so far.

“I kind of got down on myself because I knew … I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to be, because I knew the ref was down there calling it tight on both sides,” said Smith, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. “But I was just out there trying to make plays for my team.”

Memories of Wooden hold strong

In the first edition of the John R. Wooden Classic in which the legendary coach was not present, the Bruins acknowledged that playing in honor of Wooden was on their minds all week.

“We played for coach today,” Howland said. “I didn’t want that to be something that was out there before the game, but we really talked about that a lot. We wanted him to be proud of this team, and I know he is.”

“Last year we didn’t play very well here, and it was the last time coach (Wooden) got to see the game that is named after him,” added sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, reflecting on UCLA’s 19-point loss to Mississippi State in last year’s edition of the Classic. “This time, coach (Howland) made it clear that everything was dedicated to (Wooden).”

Video tributes were shown throughout the day at the Honda Center. The last one came during the final media timeout, and received a long standing ovation from both the BYU and UCLA fans in the crowd.

RPI on the rise

The win over a ranked BYU team was key for UCLA as it tries to build a resume for the NCAA Tournament, but another key factor that will likely improve after the win is UCLA’s ranking in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

The Bruins came in at No. 183 in the country in the statistic that the NCAA Selection Committee considers when choosing teams, while the Cougars were No. 5.

“That’s why this win is satisfying,” Howland said. “We beat a team that’s definitely going to be in the NCAA Tournament, that’s going to be a high seed, that’s going to win a lot of games.”