Think of the big men who have played for the UCLA basketball team.
Think of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his delicate footwork, his elegant hook shot and his stoic expression. Remember Bill Walton and those exuberant outlet passes, the form-fitting follow-through on his jump shot. Consider Don MacLean, still UCLA's leading scorer, a big man with a silky smooth jump shot.
And now there is Lorenzo Mata.
He is ... not smooth.
His trademark play: taking a charge. Among his proudest moments this season: When he vomited against Weber State in the first round of the NCAA tournament and came right back in the game.
"I was tough, man," the center says.
When UCLA plays Florida on Saturday evening at the Georgia Dome in an NCAA tournament semifinal, Mata, at 6-foot-9, will be asked to keep in check Florida's 6-foot-11 Joakim Noah and 6-10 Al Horford -- whom UCLA Coach Ben Howland calls "the best pair of big men in the country."
If UCLA wins, Mata would then match up against 7-2 Roy Hibbert of Georgetown or Greg Oden, Ohio State's 7-foot freshman All-American who might be the No. 1 pick of the next NBA draft.
But here's a word of warning from Walton.
"Of the 10 John Wooden championship teams, four of them came when the Bruin front line came in as the underdog -- in 1964, 1965, 1970 and 1975," Walton says. "Against Duke, Michigan, Jacksonville, Kentucky. Those teams all had more celebrated front lines.
"Remember Sidney Wicks (6-8) dismantling Artis Gilmore (7-2)? Remember Fred Slaughter in 1964? Fred was 6-5 and Duke had a 6-10 guy, Jay Buckley, at center.
"The Bruins are a great defensive team and you don't have a great defensive team without having an anchor on the backline. And that comes from Mata's willingness to do all the little things that solidify the Bruins defense. All the double teams, the pressure on the perimeter, none of that would work without the effort of Mata. That's what makes basketball such a great game: What the Bruins are facing this weekend -- how to beat the big guys."
Rico Cabrera Jr., a Mata family friend and Lorenzo's youth coach, came to appreciate Mata's toughness four years ago at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, N.C. The team had Mata, Bryce Taylor (Oregon), Jared Dudley (Boston College), Jordan Farmar (UCLA/Lakers) and Mario Chalmers (Kansas).
