Sometimes even Donovan Dent it should be said that he is Donovan Dent.
“I just keep reminding him who he is.” Sky Clark told his message about his UCLA a teammate who went through a difficult debut as a Bruin.
The most coveted point guard in the transfer portal, Dent arrived on campus with a track record as an honorable mention All-American who was expected to immediately elevate his new team. Among his many talents were his strong three-point shooting and ability to drive past defenders to the rim.
He's looked more like that version of himself in the last few games after a slow, injury-marred first month, a trajectory that the No. 25 Bruins (7-2) will need to continue Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle if they hope to beat the No. 8. Gonzaga (9-1).
“He's shown so many times who he is as a person and as a player, and we're all rooting for him,” Clark said. “I think it’s only going to get better.”
A week between games may help. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he worked with Dent on his shooting form, which was oddly an issue for a man who made 40.9 percent of his 3-point attempts and 78.4 percent of his free throws last season at New Mexico.
Those numbers dropped significantly, with Dent making just one of his 13 three-point attempts (7.7%) and making 62.8% of his free throws. He barely made half of his free throws before a recent stretch in which he made 10 of 13.
Perhaps the biggest problem was Dent's inability to embarrass defenders the way he did as Lobo.
UCLA guard Donovan Dent shoots the ball against Oregon forward Dezdrik Lindsay (left) and center Ege Demir (right) during the Bruins' 74-63 win on Dec. 6.
(Jesse Alche/Associated Press)
“He was able to get to the rim in the Mountain West in a way that he couldn’t get to the rim at our level, that’s just not going to happen,” Cronin said. “At the high level, it's really tough. You can't finish with some of the big guys that you might finish with in this league – maybe in the bottom half of the league you can just get everyone to the rim. Number one, they let you hit the dribbler; the higher you go, the more physical it is – it's just the way it is. That's not a knock on that, that's just the way it is. You know, Power Four leagues now plus the Big East, the physicality is amazing.
“And in the NBA you can't screw a guy, but in college it's physical and people try to beat him up, that's the game plan. And everybody has the same game plan, like, we know, we talk to people, be physical, beat him up, be as physical with him as you can.”
Cronin said he was encouraged by what he saw in the last two games, in which Dent averaged 15 points and 5.5 assists with 3.0 turnovers while leading the Bruins to wins over Washington and Oregon. He also left behind injuries to his abdomen and lower legs.
That doesn't mean Dent can't up his game another notch or two.
“He needs to be more confident with his three-point shots, his pull-up shots and focus on protecting the ball and using his quickness to do that,” Cronin said. “So there are different ways he can impact the game and that will be [key] so that he has [professional] career anyway. He got it, he worked for it, and I think his effort the last couple of games has been great.”
If Dent needed a model of perseverance in the face of high expectations as a transfer, he could find it in Clarke. After arriving from Louisville, Clark struggled with his shooting and never scored in double figures in his first nine games as a Bruin.
Then came a 15-point spurt. against Arizona in mid-December and two weeks later – 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. in a win over Gonzaga.
“Last year I had a slow start when I first came here and then as the season went on it started to get a little worse. [better]”,” Clark said. “So I just keep telling him that and I keep sticking with it.”
Money matters
Cronin said UCLA raised more money playing at neutral sites against Arizona, California and Gonzaga than it would have received by participating in the Players Era Festival.
“They raise money for our player acquisition program,” Cronin said with a laugh about neutral-site games. “I mean, everyone else can talk about recruiting, you know, write about why kids choose schools – I don't have time for that. I'm too old, I've done enough, it's funny. We're semi-professionals, our kids go to school, [but] Kids choose schools because they get paid, so these neutral site games help raise money. So next spring when we sign a guy in the portal and you go interview him and he tells you that he’s really taken to me and I’ve known him for two weeks,” you’ll understand why he signed.
Etc.
Cronin on the scheduled 8:30 p.m. kickoff time against Gonzaga: “I mean, it's ridiculous. I mean, why don't we just play at midnight? … My dad is really excited about it. He's 84 years old, he's going to have to take two naps on Saturday to be able to watch us play on Saturday night.” … Cronin said the Bruins will honor UCLA alumnus Dave Roberts, manager of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers, at a home game this season. … Six years after uprooting his family from Cincinnati, Cronin said he would be happy to help new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney with the logistics of moving across the country to Los Angeles: “I don’t know anything about football, but I can help him with where to live, and have his wife call us and we’ll help her.”
