LOS ANGELES — When Donovan Dent transferred to UCLA for his senior season, a reason behind the move, he said, was that if he endured a slump, he could go home to correct course. It took just seven games into his time in Westwood for him to need that one-hour trip east to Riverside.
Dent returned to his high school gym for Corona Centennial’s game against Los Alamitos, spending a moment in Joshua Giles’ office chopping it up with his former coaches – the ones who won’t sugarcoat things or shower him with flowery encouragement when he’s not playing like himself.
“What, are you afraid to shoot the ball now, Donny?” Dent’s longtime trainer and Centennial assistant, Shannon Sharpe, asked flatly. “What’s the matter, you can’t make a free throw now?”
“Man,” Dent replied. “This is the worst I’ve ever shot it. This is the worst I’ve ever played. I don’t know what the hell is going on.”
Through seven games this season, Dent is squarely in one worst stretches of his career. He’s averaging 11 points per game, shooting 36% from the field, 9.1% from 3-point range and 56.7% from the free-throw line.
There are many factors behind his struggles and Dent, his own greatest critic, is unable to prevent them from impacting his play. There is the hype of being a high-ranked transfer, the expectations attached to getting paid like a professional. There’s the new system, the new coach, the new teammates. There are the injuries and the poor performances, both of which Dent is pressing through to meet those expectations.
“The worst thing you can do as a player,” Giles said, “is let things snowball.”
Dent is certainly allowing those mistakes to compound. It’s the first time, Giles said, he’s really experienced adversity at the college level.
During three seasons at New Mexico, Dent rose steadily into becoming a bona-fide star. He was rewarded with a paycheck and the realization of a local kid’s lifelong dream. His new teammates recruited him, accepting that he would have the keys to the car and be thrust into the spotlight.
Dent and the UCLA basketball team enjoyed an offseason of praise. They spoke of national championship goals and aspirations, building an impractical mindset and a standard that hasn’t left much room for these ongoing growing pains.
“People expected more,” Sharpe said. “With good players comes high expectations. People expected more and they’re not getting what they expected.”
Before championship talk should start, new teammates must develop chemistry, a system must be learned, and a coach and a player in their first year together must click. Dent, Mick Cronin and the Bruins remain in that stage with Big Ten play getting underway Wednesday night at Washington.
At New Mexico, Dent had the freedom to play in transition. The Lobos empowered his fast-paced playing style. They lived and died with his decisions, often thriving because of them.
At UCLA, Dent has to gain Cronin’s trust to earn leeway. The Bruins aren’t looking to play with such tempo. He is a cog in the machine rather than the sun the planets revolve around.
“Donny’s not at New Mexico, where there was a comfort level,” Giles said. “He was the guy there. He’s not coming out of the game if he misses a defensive rotation. Now, you’re at a high major. This is UCLA. You’re under a microscope. You have to play at a high level to earn [Cronin’s] trust.”
Cronin has admitted he has yet to push the right buttons. He has never had a point guard who prefers to operate at breakneck speeds. He’s used to playing slowly, seeking efficiency on offense, banking on his defense to win games.
“The two got to get on the same page,” Sharpe said.
While Sharpe and Giles coached Dent for four years, they both said they would never tell Cronin how to coach his own player. Instead, they directed blame at Dent, criticizing his timid, desperate, uncharacteristic performances.
He started the season with strong outings against Eastern Washington and Pepperdine, before missing UCLA’s victory over West Georgia due to a muscle strain. Since returning, he hasn’t made a 3-point shot and he’s 6 for 16 from the free-throw line.
On Tuesday, in UCLA’s stunning loss to Cal, he committed six turnovers, sat on the bench as his teammates mounted a comeback, and re-entered the game only to miss a crucial shot before throwing the ball away on a decisive possession.
He’s seeing defensive coverages that are commonly thrown at him, including perimeter blitzes and a packed paint. He’s rushing his counters, reacting rather than being proactive.
Giles observed that he’s not trusting his jump shot and he’s missing the big man on the short roll. Each of which can combat those respective game plans.
Sharpe and Giles agreed Dent’s struggles aren’t that deep. The magnitude might be increased because of the outside scrutiny, the looming Big Ten schedule and the self-inflicted pressure, but in their eyes, it’s a simple slump for a player who has rarely experienced one.
To break out of it, Sharpe and Giles said, Dent needs to remind himself of who he is.
“Feed yourself that positive energy of the type of player that you are capable of being,” Sharpe said.
He advised Dent to watch his own highlights, particularly New Mexico’s game against VCU last season when he scored 40 points.
“Nobody is more (ticked) off and more affected by how he’s playing than Donovan is,” Giles said. “I think he would do himself a huge favor if he took a deep breath. … If you got to get in an empty gym by yourself and get some shots up, if you got to break something in anger to let it out, go do that. And then just relax and go be Donovan Dent.”
Conveniently for Dent, he can hop in his car, drive home and shut out the noise. He can remind himself of where he came from and the players he’s grown into.
It’s a luxury he wanted, a comfort he earned.
But the time to take advantage of that is right now.
UCLA at WASHINGTON
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: American Airlines Arena, Seattle
TV/radio: Big Ten Network/790 AM