Published: March 23, 2014 Updated: 9:51 p.m.
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MICHAEL GOULDING, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SAN DIEGO – Adolph Rupp wouldn’t use the word. He called it the “hyperbolic paraboloid.”
Bob Knight used the word, but only between several other four-letter words.
Rollie Massimino called it “Hands Up Harry.” Jerry Tarkanian called it the “amoeba.”
Mike Krzyzewski never liked it. Ben Howland doesn’t like it. John Wooden wasn’t necessarily a fan.
To them, it was and is not merely a defensive stratagem. It is a repudiation of basketball’s most primal principle: You against me, one-on-one on the blacktop, times five.
It is the zone defense, outlawed until 2001 in the NBA. If you can’t guard people, zone ‘em.
But, with all due respect to those coaching colossi, there are others who believe that walking and chewing gum can be done simultaneously, that it takes more than one “system” to win.
An example is Steve Alford, Knight’s former National Player of the Year, now that UCLA is 28-8 and headed to the NCAA regionals.
On Sunday the Bruins faced Stephen F. Austin, a team of limited physical gifts but startling efficiency.
“They run their man-to-man offense about as well as any team in the country,” said Bryce Alford, Steve’s freshman son. “They’re a dribble-drive team. When you make an offense like that go up against a zone, it can cause some problems.”
That offense was finding its usual gaps and sweet spots against UCLA in the Round of 32 game, and then UCLA rolled out its 2-3 zone.
It did not just stand there like a 7-11 attendant at gunpoint. It moved and slid and anticipated, the way the best zone teams do, and a 14-12 UCLA lead went to 20-12 and just gradually swelled into the 77-60 margin.
The best thing UCLA did here was pay attention. It continually found SFA’s 5-foot-9 Trey Pinkney, took him down low and scored on him. It gummed up SFA’s passing lanes, and held Southland MVP Jacob Parker to five points and 1-for-7 shooting.
This is UCLA’s deepest penetration into the tournament since 2008, the third of Howland’s Final Four teams. Waiting is Florida, which eliminated the Bruins in ’06, ’07 and’11, and, incidentally, is ranked No. 1 in the nation and hasn’t lost since Dec. 2.
So the Bruins go from pie-chart puzzles to advanced geometry, but they bring the hyperbolic paraboloid with them, if not the hype.
“We haven’t been a great defensive team most of the season,” Steve Alford said. “I think we’ve been adequate. Since that Washington State game (a 73-55 loss at regular season’s end) we’ve really defended well.
“We mix it in the zone a lot, try to mix it with sub patterns. We held this team to 35 percent shooting and 60 points.”
Stephen F. Austin shot 46.4 coming in and averaged 76 points.
But what would The General think?
Alford laughed.
“Coach probably isn’t too thrilled about as much zone as we played,” he said. “But I would say this: He’s a big believer in however you defend, do it well.”
When the Bruins are connected like marionettes, they can compress the court impressively. Kyle Anderson is 6-foot-9 with Inspector Gadget arms, the Wear brothers are each 6-foot-10, Zach LaVine is a lengthy 6-5, and Norman Powell (6-4) and Jordan Adams (6-5) take up space, too.
“When we got together before the season we thought it might be an option,” said assistant coach Ed Schilling. “We’re not necessarily super-fast, but we’re very, very long. It’s a pretty good changeup, instead of throwing all fastballs. I think we took this team tonight out of its rhythm.”
When Wright State knocked off a Michigan State team that ultimately won the 2000 NCAA title, Schilling was its coach. He also assisted John Calipari at Massachusetts and Memphis.
But he coached Park Tudor High in Indianapolis the past four years. That team played zone.
“And won two state (2-A) titles,” he said.
Alford made Schilling his defensive coordinator, of sorts. “People were throwing things at me early in the season,” Schilling said, laughing. “But Steve let me run with it. He’s very secure in who he is.”
Indeed, Alford has softened the stress that normally envelops Westwood like the marine layer.
“He’s been playing music at our practices,” Bryce said. “It’s a little bit of rap, little bit of everything. And, no, we don’t let him pick the music.”
The coach flushed the tape of the Washington State game, preferring to show a tape of UCLA’s regular-season aerial feats. After the Bruins won the Pac-12 tournament, he showed them a highlight tape of that.
Now they hustle and flow into Memphis on Thursday, pretty clear on the order of events: Action first, lights and camera later.
Contact the writer: mwhicker@ocregister.com
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