Distractions don’t derail UCLA in NCAAs
Coaching questions, public parents add to Bruins hype now
He is the son of a UCLA coach who may or may not be considering a job at Indiana and the teammate of a prolific point guard with college basketball’s most bombastic hype man. So senior Bryce Alford brought uncommon perspective to the various potential firestorms that could have raged inside the Bruins’ cramped locker room at FedExForum Thursday afternoon.
Across the way and surrounded by television cameras, UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball was in the middle of delivering all the right answers about his father, the outspoken, and increasingly infamous, LaVar Ball. After all, Lonzo admitted, telling LaVar to quiet down is something “you can’t do in my household.”
“We’ve had a lot of stuff that could’ve gotten in our way and we haven’t let it,” Alford said. “We do a good job keeping outsiders outside.”
That none of these distractions seem to bother the third-seeded Bruins as they prepare for their third Sweet 16 appearance in four years and a much-discussed rematch against No. 2 seed Kentucky may well be their defining characteristic.
Over just the past week, Coach Steve Alford’s name has been mentioned frequently in conjunction with the vacant job at Indiana, where he is still a legend. Never mind that he has never taken a team past the Sweet 16 and is still just a year removed from being on the hot seat in Los Angeles. While not asked directly about the Hoosiers Thursday, he said nothing in recent days that would indicate rumors of his candidacy are incorrect.
LaVar Ball, meanwhile, went on the radio to provide the Wildcats with ample bulletin board material and incurred the wrath of LeBron James. Then, as UCLA took part in an open practice Thursday, he debated Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s "First Take." And yet these Bruins, and their ballyhooed point guard, took it all in stride.
“It’s pretty normal for me,” Lonzo Ball said. “He’s been talking like this since I’ve been born, so it’s nothing new for me. Y’all get to see it for the first time and he’s always on TV. That’s the only difference.”
Bryce Alford, however, provided a glimpse into how similar father and son can be. He noted that behind closed doors Ball’s reserved demeanor often gives way to “one of the loudest dudes on a team.” That this is often forgotten, or at least overlooked, is a credit to what UCLA accomplished on the floor.
After going 15-17 last season, Ball and fellow freshman T.J. Leaf have pushed the Bruins back into the national title picture with a fast-paced, entertaining brand of basketball befitting a team that plays in the same city as the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s. Ball, expected to be one of the top picks in June’s NBA draft, leads the nation in assists per game and provides the flash for an offense averaging more than 90 points per game. Leaf is the leading scorer (16.2 points) and had a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) when UCLA handed Kentucky a 97-92 loss at Rupp Arena in December.
“We have great dudes in here that don’t care about personal hype, don’t care about who does well in what game,” Bryce Alford said.
Before Friday’s rematch, however, Alford’s father had to deal with his latest distraction. At some point during UCLA’s open practice, in between interviews with CBS and nailing a half-court shot with ease, Steve Alford’s cell phone had slipped out of his pocket.
And so it was that as the Bruins went back to their locker room, preparing for the inevitable questions about fathers and coaching searches, several student managers could be seen courtside on their hands and knees hopeful to find their coach’s lost possession.
After several minutes, they discovered it among intertwined television cables and Alford thrust his arms in the air as if he’d made it to a region final for the first time. “Found it,” he yelled. He did not, however, say whether he had a missed call from an Indiana area code.