90 solid seconds with…UCLA junior Arron Afflalo

By Ryan Greene     Mar 23, 2007

During the NCAA Tournament, KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene will spend 90 quality seconds with a member of the team getting set to face KU. In today’s episode, Ryan chats with UCLA junior Arron Afflalo, a 6-foot-5 wing who was this season’s Pac-10 Player of the Year. He’s averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game this season and scored a game-high 17 in Thursday’s 64-55 Sweet Sixteen win over Pittsburgh.

Ryan Greene: Brandon Rush has said all year that he kind of craves the challenge of guarding the other team’s best offensive player. Are you the same way?

Arron Afflalo: That’s pretty much it, I take pride in it, I wouldn’t necessarily say I was a great defender, I just don’t like getting scored on. So I do whatever it takes to stop my man.

RG: How similar are you guys on both ends of the floor?

AA: I think that assessment is made because of our contributions on both ends. We’re both the leading scorers of our team at this point in time. I believe he’s their best defender, I’m not sure, but if that is the case, that’s what would make us similar.

RG: At what point in your career do you get over getting all upset when somebody scores on you and just kind of learn that it comes with the game? Or is it something you never get over?

AA: Honestly, I think it’s bigger than basketball. I have a lot of pride in myself and what I do. You know, I’m like that with everything. When somebody’s attacking me, it’s like an attack, in a sense. I don’t think I’ll get over it, because I don’t think it has nothing to do with basketball. I think it’s my personality.

RG: What else do you take a ton of pride in?

AA: I love to compete at anything. I just like being competitive without being mean-spirited with anything, so that’s why I love the game of basketball. And I love to win, I don’t nearly get the joy that I do out of winning than I do losing, so maybe I hate to lose, maybe that’s it…For instance, we have a little snowboard game on our Sidekicks that we all play, and I’ve been playing for months now, and my teammates have been making fun of me about getting the highest score and that they stopped playing a long time ago. And I’ve been trying to get the high score in that game for the longest time and I finally got it just like two days ago and I’ve been throwing it in their face. So that’s just how I am. I just want to be the best at whatever it is.

RG: With all those legends (from UCLA), how much pressure does it add on a player coming into UCLA’s program to kind of carry that torch?

AA: Not a whole lot. I don’t think so, at least it wasn’t for me, I can’t speak for everybody. If anything, it was a positive. I get to come into a program that’s seen a lot of players, and hopefully one day your name can be mentioned with those guys.

RG: How much has this third year of being in the college game (as opposed to leaving for the NBA after last year) and everything, coming back for your junior year, what differences has it made in your game?

AA: It’s mainly improved my mental state if anything. I always felt like I had the basketball tools, and each year that I get older, I learn how to utilize those and be more effective and more efficient in what I do.

RG: What about as a person?

AA: Just my situation. As a college junior, you’re different. And as a junior athletically, you’re different. You’re in a different role. I have to be more of a leader, I have to be more of that guy that people look to, and it’s just kind of changed me and my personality, and I’ve learned how to handle some things differently.

Afflalo was the top offensive returner for the Bruins off of last year’s National Runner-up squad. His matchup with Brandon Rush will also be one of the bigger focal points in today’s game. KU takes on UCLA in the Elite Eight at 6:05 p.m. (central), with the winner advancing to next week’s Final Four in Atlanta. Kansas’ last Final Four appearance was in 2003, and it would be the first national semifinal berth for Bill Self in his coaching career.

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