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By SCOTT M. REID / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
LOS ANGELES ? This isn't what UCLA guard Jerime Anderson envisioned for his senior season in Westwood.
"I thought we had a really good team," the former Canyon High standout said, "and thought we'd do a lot of things to make a lot of noise here on the West Coast and maybe nationally, but you know that's not where we're at right now."
The Bruins, preseason Pac-12 favorites, head into a crucial homestand with Utah (tonight) and Colorado (Saturday) 10-9 overall, 3-4 in the Pac-12, tied with Washington State for seventh in the conference. UCLA probably needs to go 10-1 through the remainder of the Pac-12 schedule to have any shot at the regular-season title.
There has been plenty of noise coming out of Westwood in recent weeks, most of it escalating criticism of sophomore center Joshua Smith, perhaps the biggest disappointment a Pac-12 season full of them.
"I'm always in Josh's ear," Anderson said. "I'm always trying to get his motor going a little bit more and try to get him really being aggressive about getting the ball because when he does that, and he does assert himself, that's when we're at our best as a team because that's when he's at his best."
Others have been less diplomatic in their criticism of Smith, who has shown only brief glimpses this season of the player who was described as a freshman by USC coach Kevin O'Neill as the league's top NBA prospect.
Smith did nothing to diminish the already XXXL target on his back with a pair of poor performances as the Bruins lost winnable games at Oregon State and Oregon last weekend.
Smith scored 10 points in an 87-84 loss to the Beavers on Thursday but finished without an offensive rebound.
He was even worse in a 75-68 loss at Oregon on Saturday when UCLA blew a 15-point lead. Smith was limited to 12 minutes because of foul trouble, and when he was on the court he was ineffective on both ends, not scoring a field goal until the final 37.9 seconds of the game.
"He played probably as poor of a game as he's played all year on Saturday and didn't play particularly great on Thursday," Coach Ben Howland. "And so I think he's very motivated right now, he wants to do better."
Smith on Wednesday said nothing to dispute Howland's assessment.
"I was pretty disappointed," he said. "If you look back, they were two winnable games. I wasn't really excited about how I played. I didn't play well and I have to accept that. I'm not going to make excuses."
Smith has only occasionally played well this season, and while he is not offering excuses there are plenty of people serving up explanations, with Howland at the front of the line.
"Conditioning," Howland said.
Smith, 6-feet-10 and more than 300 pounds, began the season in nowhere near the shape he was in down the stretch last season when he was arguably the Pac-10's dominant center.
The lack of fitness has led to fatigue, and foul trouble, resulting in fewer minutes and lower numbers. This week he also acknowledged an early-season complacency.
"It started with the whole beginning of the season, with me personally, and we were ranked and I was already kind of looking past those first two games to Maui, looking forward to Texas and Pac-12," he said, "and our record is where it is right now."
Smith is averaging 9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 17.7 minutes per game. He is still looking for his first blocked shot in Pac-12 play. It looked like he had finally broken out of an early-season slump when he posted a 21-point performance in a 75-68 victory against Arizona State on Jan. 7. But in the three games since he has averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 16 minutes.
"We've seen glimpses of him being the Josh Smith he can be, but I just think he's a little off balance right now and he just really has to find his groove," Anderson said. "We were hoping that he could push some momentum into his play, but I just think that Josh needs to it take on himself to focus in, be assertive out there and just demand the ball."
It isn't just Smith's dwindling numbers that have the Bruins camp and friends and family concerned. His slumping body language in recent games has been just as telling.
Smith said his parents told him after the Oregon loss "I didn't look happy so I just have to have a better attitude."
So while UCLA waits for Smith to finally flip a switch, he and his teammates are wondering if his best move isn't to turn off his brain and just play.
"I'd probably say I'm thinking too much," Smith said, "and I just need to go out there and just relax and play with a smile on my face."
Contact the writer: sreid@ocregister.com
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