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Hoops' seniors wear

emotions on sleeves

Zidek, O'Bannon, Edney: basketball's vociferous leaders

By Randy Satterburg

Daily Bruin Staff

With George Zidek, everything is cut and dry. When asked if he was surprised by Marcus Young's flagrant foul that nearly decapitated him in Sunday's Notre Dame game Zidek simply says, "No. Basketball is a physical game."

Next question.

That's why the emotion Zidek has displayed on the basketball floor this year is such a stark contrast to the stoic disposition he maintains off the court.

As one of three seniors on the UCLA basketball team, Zidek's role as a team leader has caused a more flamboyant side of him to emerge. In past years, seeing Zidek smile after a big play was cause for commotion in Pauley Pavilion. But these days Zidek is a crowd favorite for the outbursts of emotion that he exhibits.

Take Sunday for instance, when Zidek took a pass from Tyus Edney and threw in an off-balance runner, while also picking up a foul on the play.

Zidek immediately ran over to the UCLA bench, where he slapped five with anyone and everyone, then gave a surprisingly intense belly-bump to teammate J.R. Henderson, who was sent reeling backward by the collision.

"I was laughing at his emotions when he gave that chest-butt. He pretty much knocked J.R. back about 12 to 15 feet," teammate Charles O'Bannon said. "George is a big ham, and he loves it. That's great when he plays off the crowd. When he uses that as one of his motivational tools he'll be successful, especially at home."

* * *

At halftime of the UCLA-Notre Dame game neither team had made a three-point shot yet. By game's end, the Fighting Irish still had not hit a shot from beyond the arc in 13 attempts.

Toby Bailey made the Bruins' first and only three-pointer (in nine attempts) of the game with just over three minutes remaining. Prior to that one for nine performance against the Irish, UCLA was zero for seven against USC on three-point shots ­ a statistic which concerned head coach Jim Harrick at his weekly press conference Tuesday .

"In the last two weeks I don't think we have shot (threes) very well and we need to get that back," Harrick said. "Toby Bailey has been hesitating just a bit. (Tyus) Edney will get his back. Ed O'Bannon was shooting really well from the three-point line and he's cooled off just a little, but we'll go back to work with him. So if those guys do it, then we'll be fine."

* * *

At the halfway point of the Pac-10 season, Harrick assessed the pleasant surprises and pressing concerns for his team as it approaches the stretch run of a tight conference race that has UCLA and Arizona atop the standings with 7-2 marks, followed closely by Stanford and Arizona State at 6-3.

"I like the fact that we have had character enough to win games like Kentucky, USC over there without Edney, and the Arizona schools on the road," Harrick said. "What concerns me the most is the schedule when we have to play Arizona on Sunday, go to Stanford on Tuesday and Cal on Thursday. Those three games are real key for us."

Three days later on Sunday, the Bruins host Duke in the fourth game of a grueling seven-day stretch for UCLA.

* * *

UCLA has fared much better in televised games this season.

In 1993-94 the Bruins endured five consecutive losses on national television. This year, UCLA already has nationally televised wins against Kentucky, LSU, Arizona and USC.

A good showing on television definitely makes an impression on the east coast's media members who sometimes don't even get late scores from nontelevised Pac-10 games until a day later. And impressions often make a difference when it comes down to which teams draw a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Said Zidek after the ABC's regional broadcast of the Bruins' blowout win against Notre Dame:

"We just really wanted to make a statement of what UCLA basketball is all about."

* * *

A poster of downtown Seattle hangs on the north wall of the UCLA locker room where the team can see it before every game and practice. So what exactly is the Bruins' fascination with the Emerald City?

Seattle's Kingdome is the host of the Final Four this year.

UCLA could conceivably win the national championship without venturing east of the Rocky Mountains. This year's first and second rounds in the West Region will be held in Idaho and Utah, with the regionals in Oakland and the finals in Seattle.