UCLA in a familiar place
SAN ANTONIO - UCLA.
If you were to pick up the 255-page "Official 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four Records Book," turn to page 18, and look under the heading "Final Four Cumulative Records," you would find UCLA everywhere.
Championship titles - UCLA 11 (No. 1); Final Four appearances - UCLA 16* (No. 1); consecutive Final Four appearances - UCLA 10 (No. 1); Final Four games - UCLA 31* (No. 1); Final Four wins - UCLA 25* (No. 1); consensus All-Americans - UCLA 11 (No. 1).
* - does not include vacated year.
In a Final Four of marquee teams - with, for the first time, four No. 1 seeds - UCLA outshines North Carolina, Kansas, and Memphis.
But perhaps not by much. North Carolina is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Memphis, at 37-1, has the best record, and North Carolina (No. 2) and Kansas (No. 3) are higher on the all-time victory list than UCLA (12).
Based on recent history, UCLA gets the edge. The Bruins are making their third consecutive Final Four appearance.
But . . .
Once the Bruins have reached the Final Four recently, the magic has ended. In 2006, Billy Donovan's Florida Gators won the first of back-to-back national titles with a 73-57 victory over Ben Howland's Bruins in the final. A year ago, the Gators ended the Bruins' season again, this time in the semifinals.
UCLA, however, is back - talented, experienced, and certainly hungry as it prepares to face Memphis in a national semifinal tonight at the Alamodome.
Are the Bruins good enough? They weren't the last two years, but Florida might have just been too good.
"We had one starter return from two years ago, our first Final Four team, and that was Arron Afflalo," said Howland, who is on a pretty good run since arriving from Pittsburgh five years ago. "And last year's team, we had three returning starters to this year's Final Four. So I think we have a lot more experience with this group of guys than we've had in these past three years, and obviously, we'll need it to get ourselves a chance because the level of play is so high."
The heart of this year's team consists of forward Josh Shipp, guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook, and center Kevin Love, all of whom average double-figure scoring. Throw in the steady play of forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and overall defensive toughness consistent with a Howland-coached team and you have a formula for success.
Love, a 6-foot-10-inch freshman who earned first-team All-America honors this week, gives the Bruins (35-3) what they feel is the extra ingredient needed to break through a barrier that legendary coach John Wooden's teams got past 10 times from 1964-75.
The Bruins concede their regular Final Four appearances have increased the pressure.
"This is our third trip to the Final Four in a row," said Love, whose uncle Mike is a member of the Beach Boys and whose father, Stan, played college ball at Oregon and had a brief career in the NBA. "And while we have 11 banners, there are none since 1995. Going for our 12th puts a bull's-eye on us. We're not trying to think about it, but it's there."
Love is a power center in the mold of Wes Unseld with the passing ability of former Bruins star Bill Walton. But he says he got his work ethic from his father.
"My dad has had a great influence on me and the way I play," said Love. "He was the one who brought me old tapes of players, and I used to watch them all. I like to be a breath of fresh air and play the old-school way because I like it so much. My middle name is Wesley, named after Wes Unseld."
The Bruins believe this trip to the Final Four will be different than the last two.
"The last couple of years, we were happy to make it to the Final Four," said Collison, who is averaging 14.8 points per game. "This is a business trip. It's not about the Final Four, it's about the Final One. We want to be the Final One."
Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.
