By JACK MAGRUDER
FOXSportsArizona.com
March 1, 2011
Joshua Smith will return home to Washington this week, as under the radar as he may ever be from this point forward.
Smith has steadily improved during his freshman season at UCLA, and at least one Pac-10 coach believes he might be the best NBA prospect in the league, no small praise considering Derrick Williams and Klay Thompson are still around.
Not so coincidentally, the Bruins have won 12 of their past 14 games to move into a tie for first place in the Pac-10 and clinch an NCAA tournament bid entering their final regular-season trip.
"He may end up being the best player out of the league at the next level, no matter what," said USC coach Kevin O'Neill , who spent 10 years as an NBA head coach and assistant coach.
Smith, 6-foot-10 and 305 pounds, had a little trouble staying on the court because of foul trouble early in the conference season.
UCLA made some defensive adjustments on the way they defended the high-ball screen, and after missing a game because of a concussion suffered against California on Jan. 20, Smith has scored in double figures in eight of the past 10 games, with 51 rebounds and 17 blocked shots.
Despite averaging only 21 minutes a game, Smith leads UCLA in plus/minus rating, Bruins coach Ben Howland said, meaning the team has played most efficiently when he is on the floor.
The first thing you notice about Smith is his size.
What should stick is his soft hands and superior athleticism.
"What he can do here, he can do anywhere," said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, who has seen Smith for years.
"He has the big body. He has great hands. He's more athletic than people give him credit for. He is playing so confidently. You can tell that when he gets the ball, he thinks no one can stop him. And that's usually the case."
"He's given them an inside presence that everybody can play off," O'Neill said.
FOREIGN TERRITORY
Despite winning 12 of its past 14 games, UCLA is not ranked again this week. It received the 28th-most votes in the AP top 25.
"It's an absolute travesty," USC's O'Neill said. "All I hear these days is BYU and St. John's. UCLA beat them both. Maybe it's because we live in another country, three hours behind everybody."
BUBBLE WATCH
Arizona, UCLA and Washington are givens for the NCAA tournament. With their recent play, USC and California should have moved into the mix for the final at-large spots in the 68-team field, although neither has become a part of the national conversation.
USC (17-12, 9-7) has won four in a row and five out of six. Cal (16-13, 9-8) has won three in a row and seven out of 11.
"We're really going to need to win three more games to really get into the discussion," said Cal coach Mike Montgomery, whose team plays Stanford in its final game before the Pac-10 tournament.
The case for Cal: The Bears have quality victories against Temple and UCLA, and five of their losses are to teams that are or have been in the AP top 10
