Bruins going farther by going faster

   
Bruins going farther by going faster     


BY RYAN KARTJE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 9, 2013 5:10 p.m.



LOS ANGELES – The Ben Howland formula is one of the more defined in college basketball, akin to certain program-specific nuances that have come to define the traditions of the game itself, like the Jim Boeheim-led Syracuse zone defense or the North Carolina fastbreak.


Howland's formula is why he was lured out west and hired by UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero back in 2003. It's the reason he has won 220 games in a decade in Westwood – the most of any UCLA basketball coach not named John Wooden.

But for the first time since Howland's second year at UCLA, that original formula — at least on offense — just won't work with the Bruins' current roster. And with Howland's job potentially on the line in his 10th season, UCLA's relatively unfamiliar-looking offense this season might just be what keeps its coach in Westwood.

Howland is known for his patented slow, half-court offense – his UCLA teams before this season averaged 65.8 possessions per game, according to KenPom.com. That's about as slow as any NCAA offense has played over the course of the past decade.

But this season, the Bruins have looked painfully ineffective at times when trying to employ Howland's preferred half-court offense. Without an effective weapon in the post or especially good 3-point shooters – only 18 percent of UCLA's points have come from behind the arc this season – the Bruins are at their best when they're playing exactly the opposite.

"The team we have," Shabazz Muhammad said, "we can just run all day."

And run, they have.


In winning 12 of their first 15 games this season – their best start since opening 13-2 in 2008-09 – the Bruins are 66th nationally in adjusted offensive tempo at 69.8. Without adjusting for schedule, UCLA has averaged seven more possessions per game in 2012-13 than it did last season.

That change in offensive philosophy, according to his players, is something Howland saw coming before his vaunted recruiting class made it to campus. For Muhammad and Anderson, those adjustments to the Howland formula were a part of the pitch to come to UCLA.

"He let us know from the door that this was a new style we're going to play with," Anderson said. "And we have to make it work."

Muhammad has been a key factor in that new transition-heavy offense succeeding so quickly, as he's undoubtedly already one of the nation's best players in transition, given his motor and ability to penetrate with near-unrivaled authority.

Perhaps most important in UCLA's new transition attack, though, has been the play of point guard Larry Drew II, who is no stranger to running a blindingly fast offense. At North Carolina, Drew II was schooled in transition offense by Roy Williams, whose reputation was built on his teams' ability to run, run, and run some more.

But with the Bruins, Drew II has keyed UCLA's new offense as its fastest player and most effective at not turning the ball over – an underappreciated aspect of running a free-flowing transition offense. The Bruins are sixth in turnover percentage this season, as just 15.7 percent of their possessions end in turnovers – a credit to Drew's snap decision-making.

Drew II knew Howland's formula well before he came to Westwood via Chapel Hill. But this season, Drew II has also seen flashes of his old coach in Howland, as UCLA's headman has encouraged his Bruins' players to run to the best of their ability on offense.

"If we're not pushing the ball as hard as he wants us to," Drew II said, "he'll make it a point to let us know: Push the ball harder. Run. Pick it up. ... He definitely knows what he wants out of this team. We're trying our best to get acclimated to that."

Does that mean UCLA's coach has turned over a new leaf on offense?

Howland has brushed off any suggestion that he's drastically changed his formula, citing his time at Northern Arizona, when the Lumberjacks led their conference in scoring offense, as evidence that he's had a team like this before. But nine seasons of evidence in Westwood unequivocally show this year's UCLA offense is unlike any Howland has had at least in the past decade.

It's a credit to Howland's willingness to change on offense that his 2012-13 Bruins are the fastest-playing and highest-scoring team in the Pac-12 so far this season, making up for their deficiencies on defense.

And if Muhammad, Drew and the rest of UCLA's talented transition offense can continue to keep the Bruins afloat, that change – whether he'd agree or not – may just keep Howland in Southern California for another season.