Basketball, the way Kevin Floyd plays it, has the pace of a freight train ready to derail. If he had his way, the game would be a full-throttle, 94-foot demolition derby ending with a slam dunk.
Floyd has more twists and turns than the Tasmanian Devil. And he draws a horde of player-control violations. But Floyd is one of the most electrifying college players on the West Coast, and without him, UC Irvine would be missing a lot of creativity and excitement.
Floyd can get carried away at times. Just ask his coach, Bill Mulligan, who has referred not so affectionately to Floyd--a former Westchester High School star--as "Mr. Turnover."
Mulligan concedes, however, that when the game is on the line, he wants the ball in the hands of No. 32.
"I don't always want him under control," Mulligan said. "Most of the time, I want him \o7 almost\f7 out of control. The important thing is the decision he makes at the end of being out of control."
Floyd's midair decisions have provided plenty of late-minute heroics this season. Just about as many have ended with offensive fouls. But when Floyd isn't giving away a charge, he's usually taking charge.
Floyd's game-winning basket Dec. 28 against UCLA at Irvine's Bren Events Center was one example. Bruin point guard Pooh Richardson had just given his team a one-point lead with seconds remaining. Mulligan called a timeout and told Floyd to run the basketball up the gut of UCLA's defense. He instructed Floyd to kick the ball out to teammates Rod Palmer or Jeff Herdman if the Bruins smothered him.
"I told him, 'Five seconds is an eternity,' " Mulligan said. "He could run all the way up the court and back in that amount of time, with his speed."
Irvine inbounded, and all five UCLA defenders took a stab at Floyd. But the thought of passing the ball was just a passing fancy to him.
His sortie through the Bruin defense was a one-man Charge of the Light Brigade. Floyd, airborne, punctuated the drive with a looping layup at the buzzer that downed UCLA, 91-90.
"The defense was kind of staggered," said Floyd, who had 26 points. "It was like going in and out of rows of checkers. I flicked the basketball up just before I heard the horn. I knew it was over when I saw it go down. It was the greatest feeling."
Floyd hasn't always been so lucky. In a loss to Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 11, Floyd cast a 25-footer over outstretched Derek Jones that would have sent the game into overtime. Instead the ball ran around the rim twice and spun out. Irvine lost, 78-75.
