Here come dysfunctional UCLA Bruins

The UCLA Bruins came into the 2011-12 basketball season with high expectations – some their own, some placed on them by others.

Picked by the media as the preseason favorite to win the Pacific-12 Conference, the Bruins (12-9 overall, 4-3 Pac-12) were expected to be a good – if not great – team.

And they went out and fell on their faces, losing four of their first five games.

Now UCLA visits Alaska Airlines Arena (6 p.m. today, ESPN) to face Washington (14-7, 7-2) as a mediocre-to-average team that has failed to live up to expectations.

“I didn’t expect them to be as great as the media was making them out to be,” Huskies senior Darnell Gant said. “They are a decent team. But it didn’t shock me that they struggled.”

With the Bruins returning Reeves Nelson, who led the team in scoring (13.9 points per game) and rebounding (9.1) while earning first-team all-Pac-10 honors last season, with fellow starters Joshua Smith and Lazeric Jones, there was plenty of talent. Then they added North Carolina transfers David and Travis Wear.

But the Bruins played early on like five strangers in a pickup game. There was no chemistry, no rhythm, no defense and no success.

Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar was not stunned.

“When you look at the inner dynamics of their team, I wouldn’t say it would surprise me…,” he said. “Sometimes within a team if you have a player or several players who are not trying to conform to what the team is conforming to, it can present a situation where you’d say, ‘What is wrong with that team? … What’s wrong?’ But day to day, you’re not in those practices. When you’re in those practices, sometimes you can see the attitude.”

Without saying his name, Romar was hinting at the troubles of Nelson, who was dismissed from the team by coach Ben Howland after seven games.

The moody junior’s on-court antics – tantrums directed at teammates, pouting after various perceived insults and general inconsistency – were a distraction that Howland met with a two-game suspension. Nelson returned as a reserve, but was suspended again after five games. Three days later, he was off the team.

“There were a couple of other things… that were very much inappropriate,” Howland told the L.A. media at the time. “… These distractions take you away from coaching and doing what’s best for our team. As talented as he is, no one is bigger than the team. The team comes first.”

When Howland put the team first, the team responded with five straight wins.

Romar can see the difference.

“A lot of damage can be done in the locker room with the kids saying, ‘You guys don’t need to listen to (the) coach,’ ” Romar said.

It’s not as though the Bruins lack talent. Without the 6-foot-9 Nelson, they are still perhaps the biggest team in the Pac-12 with Smith and the Wear twins all measuring 6-10.

“Teams have tried everything,” Romar said of combating UCLA’s size.

Smith is an enigma. The Kentwood grad hasn’t lived up to lofty expectations after his freshmen season. Weight and conditioning have been issue with Howland, and Smith is now a reserve.

“It’s a challenge,” UW center Aziz N’Diaye said of the 300-pound Smith. “You have to respect him. You can’t let him seal you deep him in the paint. If you do, there is nothing you can do.”

The Wear twins create another set of problems. They are comfortable shooting from the 3-point line.

“They are very versatile,” Romar said. “With two of them, it can be problematic with the opposition.”

Even with Washington playing its best of the season coming off a road sweep in Arizona, Romar won’t allow the Huskies to become complacent.

“We can’t get bored with success,” Romar said. “We have understand why we are playing better and not try to experiment with it.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com

HUSKIES GAMEDAY

UCLA (12-9 OVERALL, 4-3 PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE) AT WASHINGTON (14-7, 7-2)

6 p.m., Alaska Airlines Arena

TV: ESPN. Radio: 950-AM, 102.9-FM.

Series: The Huskies have won 39 out of 130 games against the Bruins, but they are 31-31 in Seattle (that means UCLA is 60-8 at home against Washington) and UW has won the past three games.

PROBABLE STARTERS

UCLA

NamePos.PPGRPGAPGFG%FT%

Lazeric JonesG13.43.54.645.374.7

Tyler LambG9.23.52.941.567.3

Jerime AndersonG8.33.04.045.062.5

David WearF10.06.20.951.376.3

Travis WearF12.05.00.356.584.3

WASHINGTON

NamePos.PPGRPGAPGFG%FT%

Abdul GaddyG8.22.64.641.966.7

Terrence RossG15.16.61.844.572.4

Tony WrotenG17.14.63.448.255.3

Desmond SimmonsF5.55.71.044.957.9

Aziz N’DiayeC8.48.10.353.135.9

Scouting report: Much was expected from the Bruins this season. They were picked to win the conference title during the preseason by the media. They were also ranked in the preseason Top 25. But then the Bruins went out and lost four of their first five games. Along the way, coach Ben Howland had to dismiss leading returning scorer and rebounder Reeves Nelson for his disruptive conduct. It seemed to be addition by subtraction, with the Bruins improving without Nelson’s moments of surliness and childish on-court antics. It helped that the Bruins were playing the soft part of their schedule. Still, UCLA has shown it will be competitive in Pac-12 play. The win over Colorado last week was evidence of that. The Bruins’ biggest advantage is size. They have three high-quality players standing 6-10 or taller in identical twins David and Travis Wear and Kentwood’s Joshua Smith. The Wears, who transferred from North Carolina, are matchup problems because they play inside and outside. Despite poor conditioning, Smith can still be a force inside. UCLA’s guards might be the key. They have been inconsistent offensively and defensively so it’s been tough for Howland to play man-to-man defense. Washington is playing its best basketball of the season. They are relatively close to full strength with the return of C.J. Wilcox. The Huskies are not big up front, so Aziz N’Diaye will have to play smart and avoid foul trouble if the Huskies are to compete inside against the Bruins.

Next: 8 p.m. Saturday vs. USC, Alaska Airlines Arena

Ryan Divish, staff writer