Why Mata Matters

LEGEND HAS it that Ben Howland didn't begin seriously recruiting Lorenzo Mata until the UCLA coach saw him in a summer league game before Mata's senior year at South Gate High in Huntington Park, Calif., in 2003. "The way I hear it, he saw me take a charge," says Mata. "That's when he got interested." It's easy to see how the tale arose because Howland still gets excited when talking about the thankless contributions his 6'9" junior center makes. "Taking the charge is the perfect example of the kind of thing Lorenzo provides for us," says Howland. "It's not fun, it's not always noticed, but it's necessary."

You've heard of the fifth Beatle? Mata is the fifth Bruin. While guards Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison make the clutch shots, forward Josh Shipp turns fast breaks into dunks, and power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute provides much of the inside scoring, Mata performs the less conspicuous jobs that have been vital to UCLA's success as the Bruins make their second straight trip to the Final Four. He's often the one who keeps a rebound alive for a teammate to grab, steps out against a screen to cut off a drive on defense or harasses an opposing big man into a missed shot.

Mata excelled at that last task in UCLA's 64--55 victory over Pittsburgh last Thursday. The Panthers' leading scorer, 7-foot center Aaron Gray, scored only 10 points and--due largely to Mata's defense--missed several seemingly easy shots around the basket. Though credited with only one block, Mata affected many more shots than that. "He's very active, and he does just enough to bother you," Gray said.

The relative lack of attention Mata receives doesn't bother him, just as he didn't mind being the least heralded member of Howland's first recruiting class, which included Afflalo, Shipp and guard Jordan Farmar, now with the Los Angeles Lakers. Mata was just grateful to have a basketball scholarship, something he didn't even know existed until he reached high school and began playing organized hoops for the first time. Mata was so green that as a high school freshman he once mistook a water break for the end of basketball practice and went home.

His understanding of the game and his offensive skills have improved steadily since then--except for his free throw shooting, which is still an abysmal 37.2%--but Mata's main value to the Bruins still lies in his defense. If the Bruins are to avoid a repeat of last year's championship-game loss to Florida, 73--57, in which Mata was a nonfactor (playing only nine minutes), he will have to be an annoyance to the Gators' Joakim Noah and Al Horford. If Mata gets into early foul trouble, Florida's big men could make short work of the Bruins.

"Lorenzo will be ready," Shipp said after the Kansas victory. "If we need somebody to get us a rebound, set a screen, take a charge, he'll do it." But who will notice? "The guys in our locker room," Shipp said. "We'll notice."