Prattle of sexes: How trash-talking men helped UCLA women reach the Sweet 16
If things start to go sideways against Louisiana State and flamboyant star Angel Reese, UCLA can always go back to the mantra that has carried it through difficult moments. They don’t have a Jonny. They don’t have an O2. We’ve got this. Jonny is Jonny Garnett, a 6-foot-4 super freak of an athlete who can touch the top of the rectangle on the backboard above the rim. “O2” is Oscar Dela Cruz, a speck of a point guard who irritates with quickness and shooting. They are part of a male scout team that routinely befuddles the Bruins women’s basketball players in practices and scrimmages, beating them with stronger bodies, faster moves, higher hops. “If we’re just going to go athleticism on athleticism,” UCLA guard Camryn Brown said, “they’d beat us every time.” Chance Huth, the director of creative video who has helped run the scout team in recent years, estimates that scrimmages have been split about 50-50. The women don’t mind losing to the men so long as it helps them win the games that count. Moments after UCLA polished off Creighton in the second