Published: March 22, 2014 Updated: 9:00 p.m
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JEFF GROSS, GETTY IMAGES
UCLA vs. Stephen F. Austin
Sunday, 4:10 p.m.
TBS
SAN DIEGO -- It was halftime of UCLA’s NCAA Tournament opener against Tulsa, and Norman Powell sat on a folding chair in the locker room at Viejas Arena, furiously replaying segments of the game’s first 20 minutes.
He knew all week that his task would be to guard James Woodard, Tulsa’s best player. So Powell studied him, breaking down every detail, sniffing out every weakness, just like he had with every other best player he’s guarded this season. But in the first half, Woodard had gotten the best of him.
Powell had lost him for only a moment, given him just an inch. But on each occasion, each slight slip-up, Woodard took advantage. By the half, he had 10 points. UCLA’s coaches reminded Powell not to lose sight of him. Powell needed no reminder.
“It’s about pride,” Powell said. “When your guy scores on you, you take it personally. … When you have to stop a team’s best player, it’s about proving yourself. It’s about showing that you belong.”
For UCLA’s best defender, this entire season has been a stage on which to prove himself. Before Steve Alford was hired, Powell mulled a transfer to San Diego State. (Powell was an all-state performer at San Diego’s Lincoln High.) But Alford and his staff have trusted and relied on Powell, and in return he has given them the best season of his three-year collegiate career. Powell has become the unsung hero of a team just one victory away -- against Stephen F. Austin on Sunday afternoon -- from its first Sweet 16 bid since 2008.
That steady improvement started with a challenge. They often do with Powell, who thrives most when given something to chase.
When UCLA’s coaches took note of Powell’s athleticism and defensive prowess, they told him to forget about focusing on offense, where he had floundered at times. Through two months of the season, his 3-point accuracy was less than 20 percent. Elsewhere, he fought inconsistency. But he was their defensive stopper, the coaches told him, and there was plenty of pride to be had in that.
“That’s been part of his maturity,” UCLA assistant Duane Broussard said. “Your game isn’t predicated on how your jump shot is falling. All that is going to come. Your game is predicated on making us very good defensively, and when you do that, guess what happens? Everything falls into place.”
For stretches this season, Powell’s intensity on defense has produced as promised, sparking his game on the offensive end. UCLA is 18-3 when Powell scores in double figures.
But in the past two weeks, Powell’s superb work on defense has energized his game and the Bruins more than ever before. Since the start of the Pac-12 Tournament, Powell is shooting 54 percent – the best mark on the team in that span – and averaging more than 15 points per game. And with his defense more aggressive and his confidence rising, his work in transition has become nearly unstoppable.
“When we play defense, Norm can really get off,” teammate Tony Parker said. “There’s no one stopping Norm in transition. He’s like a freight train. Either you move out the way, or you foul him.”
As Powell emerged from the locker room at halftime Friday, upset about his first-half defense and with UCLA up just five on Tulsa, there was no thought of his 1-of-5 shooting, his five points, or the hometown crowd eager to watch him perform. This half was all about Woodard. And pride.
The whistle blew, and Powell clamped down harder, shadowing Woodard wherever he went. Powell was re-energized, and the results were apparent immediately. Tulsa’s leading scorer fell off the map, missing all five of his second-half shots and managing just a single point.
Powell’s shutdown effort gave way to an explosion on offense, as he scored 10 points and dominated in transition.
But it was in the game’s final moments, when the lights were brightest, that Powell delivered his coup de grace. With the Golden Hurricane down five, Powell stole an inbounds pass, charged the length of the court, laid the ball in and drew a foul. Seven seconds later, he stole the ball again, setting up a Jordan Adams 3-pointer that put the game out of reach.
“The competitiveness of a situation rises, and he does, too,” Broussard said. “He’s built for that.”
On Sunday, when UCLA takes the court against Stephen F. Austin, Powell again will be tasked with shutting down one of his opponents’ best players. He’s come to expect it now. The stage is crowded at UCLA, with Adams and Kyle Anderson receiving most of the fanfare. But he knows, as they know, that the Bruins’ defense starts with him.
“There’s a lot on your shoulders, guarding a team’s best player,” Powell said. “It’s just about pride. Defense is pride.
“And I have a lot of it.”
Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com
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