When Kyle Anderson announced his intention to attend UCLA (he was the second of the team’s four current freshmen to commit), Bruin fans no doubt imagined that he would be a confident, play-making force who would lead Ben Howland’s team back to national importance. Suffice it to say, up to this point, those visions haven’t quite yet panned out. There have been glimpses here and there of the versatility that makes Anderson such a promising prospect, but his swagger has been sporadic and there are now questions about whether Anderson was overrated as a top five player in last year’s admittedly weak recruiting class.
It was no secret even before Anderson arrived on campus that he wasn’t the type of athletic freak who would wow fans with great speed or hops (his nickname, Slo-Mo, is not meant to be ironic), but the expectation was that his tremendous feel for the game and leadership would overcome those deficiencies. After all, he was a 6’9” point guard who had led the fabled St. Anthony’s High School to 65 straight wins in the prep ranks. But it didn’t take long to realize that college competition would be a whole different animal. Against weaker competition such as Indiana State, UC Irvine and James Madison, Anderson showed he was more than capable of getting into the lane and finding a shot for himself, even if he was unable to convert over players his size inside. Although he shot just 7-of-23 from the field in those games, he at least offset his scoring deficiency by grabbing some boards, dropping dimes, and being a leader on the floor.
In those early games, Anderson was a self-assured freshman. He would call teammates over for brief meetings before free throws; he would put himself in position to make plays (even if he often wound up missing bunnies in the lane); and he had a certain confidence about him. But as those struggles mounted against better teams, and as unfamiliar losses resulted and as he increasingly saw Larry Drew II initiating offense for his team, Anderson’s confidence faltered. For long stretches of games against Cal Poly and San Diego State, he was a shell of himself out there. After an opponent’s made shot, for example, there were times where he seemed uncertain as to whether he was supposed to take the ball out, bring it upcourt, or just run back down to the other end – you know, real basic stuff. All the things that he had done for years without a second thought – scoring in the lane, setting up teammates, and just winning – suddenly those things weren’t coming to him as easily.
Certainly plenty of that has to do with an 18-year-old kid making an adjustment to playing a higher level of basketball 3,000 miles from home — not to mention playing in a new system for a new coach and suddenly, probably for the first time ever, having the ball removed from his hands. Sometimes it seems that Ben Howland doesn’t know exactly what to do with him yet. Thus far, Drew has been an excellent offensive point guard for the Bruins, setting up teammates, hitting the occasional open shot and running the team well, leaving Anderson to adjust to playing off the ball for large swaths of the game. One of his strengths is in getting in the lane and drawing fouls, but the fact that he’s been struggling mightily from the charity stripe (15-of-28, 53.5%) mitigates that portion of his game. And then there’s the possibility that the game that once came so easy for him against high school competition is suddenly going to get a lot different playing against a higher quality of athlete.
At times, Anderson has been visibly frustrated; after hitting a three against San Diego State (his only make from behind the arc in 10 attempts this season), he ran back down court, shaking his head as if to say, “finally, something went right for me.” Yeah, maybe he was feeling a bit sorry for himself, and his nonchalant manner makes it all seem worse. The seemingly effortless glide to his game makes it seem at times like he’s not even interested in putting out any effort, even though that may just be his demeanor.
But, on Saturday against Texas, in a game with very few positives for UCLA fans (or basketball fans in general – good god, that was painful to watch), at the very least Anderson played with confidence. He got into the lane with regularity and actually made a few shots while in there; he knocked down a jumper; he made a couple of nice plays defensively; and he made a couple of excellent passes (along with at least two overly exuberant ones). He’s still in the middle of trying to figure out his role on this team, but at least his swagger reappeared for a stretch. It will likely take more UCLA wins for the swagger to come back for good, but in an internal feedback loop, it is likely UCLA will need Anderson to play with that confidence in order to earn those wins.