Afflalo, UCLA seeking revenge in Final Four


The story has become part of Los Angeles basketball lore.

UCLA held a news conference April 3, 2003 to introduce Ben Howland as the school’s new basketball coach. Under NCAA rules, Howland had to wait until April 9 before he could contact any potential recruits.

That’s just six days. But the wait was hard

The Bruins were coming off a 10-19 season under Steve Lavin. More than anything, Howland knew he needed players in order to merge onto the road to respectability again. Howland started his wish list with two players from the Bruins’ backyard: Jordan Farmar of Van Nuys and Arron Afflalo of Compton.

Howland got them both. Jordan Farmar required some work. Afflalo, who wanted to stay close to home, was an easy sell.

Fast forward almost four years later and UCLA is headed to a second consecutive Final Four. Howland has joined the inner circle of the sport’s elite coaches and you can be sure he will never forget the people — especially Afflalo — who helped him reach both destinations.

“Arron Afflalo took a chance when I got this job six days into it,” Howland once said. “He was my first recruit. I will always be thankful and grateful to him.”

Afflalo sends those words of gratitude right back to Howland. The deal has worked out remarkably well at both ends. The 6-foot-5 junior guard was the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Monday he was honored as a first-team selection to the Associated Press All-American squad.

Now Howland, Afflalo and the rest of the Bruins have a truly unique opportunity. Just two more wins and they can return to Westwood with the 2007 national championship trophy. But all four teams in Atlanta this weekend share that goal. The thing that sets UCLA apart is the chance for revenge. One year after Florida throttled the Bruins 73-57 in the national championship game, UCLA gets another shot.

That doesn’t happen often, at least not in college basketball. The last time the Final Four offered a rematch from the previous season was 1991. UNLV crushed Duke 103-73 for the 1990 championship. One year later, Duke played the spoiler with a 79-77 national semifinal victory that ruined the Rebels’ shot at an undefeated season.

Now UCLA gets a shot. A win Saturday moves the Bruins into the championship game and ends Florida’s quest for back-to-back championships. That hasn’t been done since Duke won in 1991 and 1992.

There’s so much at stake; so many memories to be erased.

“Now that it’s here, it’s a great thing,” Afflalo said of the rematch. “It gives us a chance to kill two birds with one stone in a sense — a chance at revenge and moving toward the championship.”

No one deserves a second chance any more that Afflalo. Known as one of the top lockdown defenders in the nation, Afflalo entered this season trying to silence his critics. His detractors said he was unable to produce when things mattered most.

And Afflalo’s shot did fail him at the end of last year’s tournament. He was 8-for-30 from the floor in the final three games of the 2006 tournament, including 3-for-10 with 10 points against Florida.

He’s had an entire year to think about the numbers. Just think how that performance must have eaten away at Afflalo since the final buzzer in Indianapolis.

“It was horrible; not the game itself, but the thought of losing,” Afflalo said. “Winners and people who do things special are never forgotten. Second-best is not good enough. It was very painful that night.”

Saturday night in San Jose, that night must have seemed very far away. There was only laughter and relief for Afflalo. He finally busted out of his NCAA shooting slump, scoring 15 of his 24 points in the second half as the Bruins defeated Kansas 68-55 in the West Regional championship. The Jayhawks were the first No. 1 seed eliminated from this year’s tournament, Afflalo had been UCLA’s top offensive weapon.

And the Bruins were Final Four bound.

“Obviously when you’re making shots, you’re gaining confidence,” Afflalo said. “My teammates place a lot of trust in me. But, you know, it’s all about the win. If I’m fortunate enough to make shots — just keep shooting, keep shooting, and keep playing. That has to be a scorer’s mentality.”

If anyone was ever born to score for the Bruins, it was Afflalo. He was delivered into this world at the UCLA Medical Center, not far from Pauley Pavilion. His birthday is Oct. 15 (the date traditionally associated with the start of college basketball practice). His mother — and the doctor — would know for certain, but it isn’t far-fetched to suggest Afflalo was born with a basketball in his hands.

In fact, his mother, Gwendolyn Washington, has told stories of shopping at the supermarket with her two-year-old son. It seems young Arron was very good at pointing and his vocabulary was limited to the word “ball.” Even though she used diversionary tactics, intentionally going around his favorite aisle, he still put together a large collection of balls.

He also had one of those Fisher-Price baskets. What better way to prepare for the Final Four than a regular schedule of late-night jam fests against friends in the Fisher-Price league?

It must have done something for his shooting stroke. The hometown hero has had a pretty good career. And now he gets a second chance to grab the biggest prize of all.

Sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for.

“Obviously to play the team that beat you in the championship game adds a little incentive, a little motivation for you,” Afflalo said. “Hopefully we feed off that as a team and use that to our advantage.”

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