LOS ANGELES – For one full half of basketball in Houston Saturday, freshman Kyle Anderson finally looked like he was playing the right position.
Having grown up as a point guard in New Jersey, Anderson came to UCLA with intentions of continuing at point. But with senior Larry Drew II locked in at the position, Bruins Coach Ben Howland has played Anderson at power forward for the past few weeks – a move that his family agreed had been a tough transition.
But for the first half of UCLA’s game with Texas last weekend, Anderson looked like he belonged at his new position. He made aggressive moves in the paint. He fought through contact and posted up – all while still maintaining his distributive ways with the ball. Things just seemed to click.
“I was much more comfortable out there this Texas game,” Anderson said. “Things were clicking for me. I was scoring inside.”
But Anderson drew a second foul before the half had ended and was forced to sit on the bench with his nine first half points. Anderson would contribute a clinching breakaway layup in the second half, but that was it as he remained quiet down the stretch. Consistency will certainly be an issue as Anderson continues to get comfortable in an entirely new position – something his father, Kyle Sr., will be helping him with personally in workouts over the holidays.
And Howland remains steadfast in his decision that Anderson can be effective in UCLA’s offense as a forward and not a point guard – an experiment that will be monitored as the Bruins take on Prairie View A&M Saturday.
“I think he’s a hard guard for another team’s four-man because he’s so clever with the ball,” Howland said. “He has point guard skills.”
GAINING SOME MOMENTUM –
After a tumultuous start to the season that only saw expectations plummet for UCLA basketball, is it possible the Bruins have finally turned their luck around?
That seemed to be the feeling of UCLA players on Tuesday a few days after their come-from-behind victory over Texas. Howland, however, stopped short of calling the victory over the Longhorns a “turning point” in a decisively disappointing thus far.
“When we look back at the season at the end of the year, we’ll see if that was an early turning point,” Howland said. “I hope so.”
But without a notable victory on their schedule before Saturday, the performance against Texas did give some confidence to a young team that was starving for it. Now, with six consecutive home games and exams ending, the young Bruins roster can delegate more time to improving on both sides of the ball. After freshmen finished on Tuesday, Howland said they have 28 days before classes start again.
Regardless of what’s ahead, freshman Jordan Adams said he feels like the victory over Texas is something the Bruins can hang their hats on.
“We were down in that game, and we were tired of losing,” Adams said. “We all just came together and played harder. … It did (feel like a turning point) because we all played together.”
ATTENDANCE ISSUES –
While UCLA’s football team saw one of the nation’s largest spikes in attendance this season, UCLA’s basketball program hasn’t seen much support in Westwood or elsewhere this season.
After the debut of new Pauley Pavilion against Indiana State to start the season – an event that drew 13,513 – the Bruins have seen event attendance fall significantly. While Pauley Pavilion drew a little more than 5,000 fans against Cal State Northridge, the Bruins also had to play in a road environment against San Diego State in the Wooden Classic at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
It’s a discrepancy that the players have certainly noticed early on this season.
“Coaches tell us, ‘Don’t worry about the crowds, because once you start winning they’ll come back around,'” Adams said.
Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com
