Bruins Look to Change Course

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. —  Double time!

That half-mile jog down the sidewalk when the team bus got stuck in traffic Wednesday night en route to the Sports Arena--”People were yelling, ‘You’re going to lose,’ and obviously they were right,” guard Ryan Bailey said--gives way to an entirely new obstacle course for UCLA’s teetering Bruins.

Over North Carolina and Arizona.

Through a House (Eddie).

Around the Oregons and Stanford.

At least that’s their plan. The Bruins are 9-4 overall, 1-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference and about to get the flip side to that Fairfield-Iona-Morgan State schedule that opened the season, as if three nights ago in Exposition Park wasn’t enough of a start.

The move for greater energy--an obvious, and inexcusable, problem--began Friday when Ray Young was told before practice he would be benched in favor of Rico Hines, a change at shooting guard that almost came before the USC game. It has nothing to do with Hines playing in front of family and friends today when UCLA plays North Carolina at 1 p.m. PST and everything to do with the fact that Young has been struggling. Not that he’s alone.

“It could be a message,” point guard Earl Watson said of the lineup switch after nine consecutive games with the same unit. “I’m not sure.”

Said forward Matt Barnes of Coach Steve Lavin: “He’s trying to find a spark.”

Before it’s too late.

The Bruins may still have plenty of life. On the other hand, the inability to maintain focus and find passion for the biggest games has become as great a problem as ragged execution and the lack of development among many players.

Lavin rightfully points to his first season, the team that started 3-3 and 12-7 and then streaked to the Pac-10 championship and the round of eight in the NCAA tournament. That group had its turnaround game, the home victory over Stanford that came as a response to the Maples Massacre and, it turned out, the prelude to Lavin’s having the interim tag removed from his job title.

This group has today. If not, then Thursday at Pauley Pavilion against No. 2 Arizona.

In all, it has a six-game stretch to go a long way toward determining what the rest of the season will look like, the second half of conference play and the postseason. If any.

Today at No. 13 North Carolina.

Thursday against Arizona.

Next Saturday against Arizona State, the only game in the set that is not either on the road or against a ranked team. But the Sun Devils also have Eddie House and his flammable offensive game.

Jan. 27 at Oregon State.

Jan. 29 at Oregon, always a difficult place to play.

Feb. 3 against No. 3 Stanford.

At that point, the Bruins will either be able to stand proud again or rest to take stock of their remaining body parts. Just in time to play USC again the next week, then go to No. 7 Syracuse, and then get Arizona on the road the week after that.

“This is the turning point,” Barnes said. “We’re going one game at a time. But we do have to show what we’re capable of. This is going to turn the season around, the next week or two. We’re going to show if we’re ready to play or not.

“Our season is not going to be over if we don’t do well. But we do need to win [most of them]. It’s a critical time.”

Said Watson: “I think it’s going to test our character very much. It’s going to show how strong we are as a team and what we need to do.”

Celebrate a revival or mourn a season gone awry, down in flames over a lack of fire.

UCLA at North Carolina

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