UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Palmer Again Will Direct Anteaters’ Charge, but at Slower Pace

Last season, they started off running and ended up reeling.

The 1988-89 basketball season was a roller-coaster ride for the UC Irvine Anteaters. They began the year with a nonstop-fastbreak philosophy, settled into a jam-it-inside theme and ended the regular season with a four-game home losing streak.

Rod Palmer, a transfer from UCLA who started the season at point guard and ended up at the off-guard spot, had a seat in the front car the whole way. It was, he says, a thrilling but often scary trip.

“Running is good but it got a little out of hand last year,” Palmer said, unsuccessfully attempting to repress a smile. “We’re still going to run, but it’s going to be a little more, uh, conventional.”

Palmer, a senior, will be back at the point--with his finger on the trigger of the Irvine running game--and he’ll probably spend most of his time there. Coach Bill Mulligan wasn’t overjoyed with Palmer’s decision-making last time around, hence the move to off guard after the fifth game of the season.

“We were playing that crazy way, and Rod thought he had license to do anything he wanted,” Mulligan said.

But things shouldn’t happen at a hyperspace pace this time around. And Palmer has been working on developing the right frame of mind.

“I went into the summer thinking about it,” Palmer said. “I think I’ve gotten into the proper mind-set for a point guard.”

He also is considerably more comfortable with Mulligan’s game plan for this season.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Palmer said. “We’re still going to push the ball up the floor and we’ll run like the Anteaters of old. But we’re not going to do all the wild things we attempted last year.”

At least for starters. Mulligan has been known to change schemes as often as some coaches change socks.

With Ricky Butler inside and Palmer, Jeff Herdman and Justin Anderson outside, the Anteaters appear to have a potent offense.

“Ricky can become a great player,” Mulligan said. “We have to shoot well outside to keep defenses from sagging in, and Ricky has to learn to kick the ball out sometimes to keep it loose. We have three really good shooters outside.”

Butler became a starter in the ninth game last season and led the team in scoring in seven of the last 12 games. Palmer, who averaged 15 points a game, is the top returning scorer. Herdman was ninth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage after being No. 1 as late as February.

Anderson, one of the best pure shooters in the program, made 93% of his free throws last season, but shot only 38% from the floor. He made 11 of 34 three-pointers after making 38 of 92 as a freshman.

He knows he hasn’t lived up to expectations, but says a change in mental approach might make the difference for him, too.

“I’ve got a different frame of mind,” Anderson said. “I’m more active as a player and I’ve got more confidence. If I missed a couple shots last year, it affected me. But I’ve worked as hard as anyone this summer, and I’ve built more confidence in my shot.”

Mulligan admits to applying some of that pressure last year and this time he hopes to be responsible for relieving some of it.

“Justin was a designated shooter, but he didn’t get enough shots,” Mulligan said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure he gets some really good shots.”

No news here: Defense--or lack thereof--will be a key factor in determining Irvine’s success . . . or lack thereof.

The Anteaters gave up an average of 86 points a game and opponents shot 51% from the field.

“Those are the two things we’re looking at,” Mulligan said. “I know we can score, but we’ve got to do better in those areas defensively.”

Mulligan doesn’t expect an overnight change. He plans to employ some zone defenses--a tactic he hates and has managed to avoid the past few years--and says he’s only looking for improvement, not miracles.

“We’re going to look at each player separately,” he said. “We can’t demand that every guy play everyone tight.”

A kinder, gentler Bill Mulligan? For the moment, maybe. When the season begins, however, look for his old intensity to return.

A 16-member search committee that will conduct a nationwide search for a new athletic director has been established.

The committee: Dan Aldrich, former chancellor; Gene Awakuni, counseling center director; Susan Barnes, ASUCI president; Shar Bucklin, director of development, university advancement; Bernadette Chavez, director of resource planning, student affairs; Jim Dunning, director of admissions; Randy Howat, alum; Goren Matijasevic, associated graduate students president; Tom Parham, director, career planning and placement; Greg Patton, men’s tennis coach; Janice Plastino, fine arts professor; Henry Pontell, social ecology associate professor; Jill Schindele, campus recreation director; Dave Simmons, UCI athletic foundation president; Tim Tift, physical education department acting chairman, and Danny Williams, women’s track coach.

Anteater Notes

Two men’s soccer players and a member of the women’s volleyball team were injured last Friday. Goalie Mike Gartlan fractured the ulna and radius bones in his left arm during a game at Fresno State and underwent surgery Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange to have two metal plates inserted. Forward Scott James broke his left leg during the same game and is awaiting a decision on whether the injury will require surgery. Teresa Mergens sprained her left knee and will undergo an MRI (magnetic resonance imagery) test to determine the extent of ligament and cartilage damage. “I couldn’t believe it all happened in one day,” Irvine trainer Hazel Ando said, “But it was Friday the 13th.” . . . Olympic gold-medalist Mike O’Brien has joined the Irvine swimming program as a distance coach. O’Brien, who won the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1984 Olympics, is the U.S. record-holder in the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events.

Irvine’s water polo team (15-2) remained atop the American Water Polo Coaches Assn. poll. California (13-2) is second. . . . The women’s cross-country team moved from 13th place to 10th in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division I poll this week. . . . Irvine’s golf team finished 13th in a field of 17 at the Robertson Homes Invitational at Elkhorn Country Club in Stockton Tuesday. Lyle Archer was the top finisher for the Anteaters. He finished in a tie for 13th at 218 (74-73-71).