The Early Words: Abdul-Hamid comes up big
Ben Howland called it faith.
Tyler Honeycutt called it fate.
And it was probably somewhere in between.
UCLA junior reserve guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point line as time expired to give the Bruins a 62-61 win over Washington on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.
After senior guard Michael Roll hit two free throws with 7.6 seconds left to give UCLA a one-point lead, Washington guard Venoy Overton drove the length of the floor in four seconds to put the Huskies up one.
Roll inbounded the ball from underneath the basket to Abdul-Hamid at mid-court, Abdul-Hamid took the ball to just inside the 3-point line, stuttered, faked, took a step back and hoisted the game-winner.
"I was watching TV one time, and Kobe was talking about his game-winners - if you look, he shot-fakes a lot of times," Abdul-Hamid said. "The defense doesn't know the clock, and you do; I would have had to really fade and force a shot if I hadn't been able to fake."
With two game-winners this season - including a last-second 3-pointer in UCLA's exhibition opener against Concordia - Abdul-Hamid is quickly joining Roll as the Bruins' Johnnies on the spot.
They needed Overton to quickly work his magic, though.
"We kinda got lucky that Overton is so fast," Roll said. "He got down the court in four seconds, which left us a pretty good amount of time. If he would've taken five, six seconds, we would've been in trouble."
Early on, Washington was nothing but trouble for UCLA.
The Bruins opened the game in a 2-3 zone defense, forcing the Huskies to the perimeter, and Washington forced it right back at UCLA, hitting 14-of-24 first-half shots and 6-of-12 3-pointers.
But Howland stuck with the zone and Washington went cold, scoring just eight points in the first 15 minutes of the second half, and finishing the game on an 8-for-27 streak.
"We knew that it was a very difficult team for us to match up with man-to-man, so we were going to stay committed to the zone," said Howland, who admitted to praying about the game beforehand. "Even though they made the shots in the first half, I told the kids at halftime that they can't stay that hot. 'Keep working hard, and it will get better.'"
And get better it did, as UCLA's freshman phenoms did the dirty work.
Reeves Nelson had 16 tough points in the post and six rebounds and Honeycutt added 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Bruins stayed consistent throughout the game, hitting 54.5 percent in the first half and 52.9 percent in the second half.
It was a different team than the downtrodden Bruins of Saturday night, when they made just 15-of-45 shots in a 67-46 embarrassment to USC.
"Last game, we just needed to play with heart, and we didn't," Nelson said. "We came out and we took this game personal. Our team showed a lot of heart today, the whole game."
All the way down to the buzzer.
And that's where Abdul-Hamid came in.
In so many ways, Abdul-Hamid is this UCLA men's basketball team.
Undersized and under-quick. An afterthought.
But he won't give up, and neither will the pesky Bruins.
"What we really do is insulate ourselves - when it comes down to it, the guys on the court and the coaches and the video guys are the guys who really have to perform," Abdul-Hamid said. "You know what? I can't blame people for saying, 'What are you guys doing? Where are you at?' We have struggled. We have not lived up to the reputation and legacy of UCLA.
"But we're still here. We're still fighting. We're not going to quit."
That game was awsome ...JON man you left chat early!It was a good chat though no big haters or sucksters today!
Wow... I must admit... I will eat crow! Earlier this season, after the first exhibition, some of you may recall Jill posting on this blog a message entitled something like, "Abdul-Hamid Saves the Day". I went on record, posting, "Doubt we will ever hear those words again". Boy was I wrong and am I ever glad to be. This is one of many reasons why I would make a terrible coach. I have no clue what I am talking about.
Abdul-Hamid, my most sincere apologies. I tip my hat to you. You've earned more PT in my book - not that this means anything - remember, I just admitted I have no clue what I am talking about. ;o)
Abdul-Hamid!!! That guy has nerves of steel. I was stunned that he had the composure to take the time to shot fake and then let the ball go with just 0.2 seconds on the clock. Swish!
That is a very nice win! This team needs to take it one game at a time and learn to string together a few wins and now is the time! With Wazzu and the Oregon schools...we can for 4 straight!But ...ONE GAME AT A TIME! Keep saying that Bruins! Way to fight!
I Think this is going to help them in the long run for sure. Knowing how to battle is something, ultra talented kids don't always learn in high school!
And I believe Howland has just subbed Adbul-Hamid in 7 seconds before so Howland looks like a genius. Although I think they brought him in for defense which didn't work out so well. I believe he made that shot after coming in cold.
A very cool win. Way to go Bruins!
It will be very difficult to top this game the rest of the season. Amazing game, an even better finish!
Keep Going Bruins!!!
great shot by Abdul-Hamid, but kind of sad that walk-ons are making our game winners these days.
I'm with you, Biff - I was really surprised to see AH in the game. He had some nice minutes out there last night - wonder if he still gets a few minutes once Jerime comes back?
Glad to FINALLY(!!!!!!!) see Howland commit to the zone and for the whole game. This gives them fresher legs on offense (notice how they had great passing and penetration inside, instead of just hoisting up 3's)and allows them to cover the the floor on defense.
Too bad it took him so long to implement this strategy. IMHO, I think everyone except for Howland himself saw that this startegy needed to be implemented at times throughout the years. Had it been done earlier, maybe he would have gotten a NC.
Hear is to hoping that he continues to use what works for OUR athletes and not what he has pre determined will be his coaching philosophy!!!!!!!
Hey, did any else notice that during the closing 7 seconds of the game last night, the Washington player inbounded and dribbled all the way up but the clock didn't start until well after he got onto the Bruins' side of the court?
I DVR'd it and counted 7 seconds that should have come off the clock before they even started it. It would have run out before the Washington player took a shot. I was screaming at my TV. Lucky there was just enough time for Abdul-Hamid to sink the shot and it didn't cost UCLA the game.
I expected the announcers to mention this though, or some one in the papers, but no one else seems to have noticed.
Osos, I saw the clock too, but if you watch it again, the clocks moves at super speed once it starts going as if the "clock" on tv was maybe catching up to the scoreboard clock