ONLINE EXTRA: M.Hoops Point Guard

By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter UCLA was ranked No. 3 in the preseason and had
high expectations on them from Day 1. With four returning starters,
all upperclassmen, the Bruins seemed to have more than enough
experience to win the Pac-10.

The only question mark was whether freshman Cedric Bozeman could
be a viable replacement for the graduated Earl Watson at point
guard. Bozeman didn’t even come close to replacing Watson.
Watson’s leadership was missed in several key games this
season, including tight losses on the road at Arizona, Villanova,
USC and at home against Arizona State, Stanford and Pepperdine. But
Bozeman may have been the victim of his own success. Coming in as a
McDonald’s All-American, the Los Angeles native was hyped up
as being even better than Watson.

Lavin said that although he didn’t yet possess
Watson’s leadership skills, Bozeman shouldn’t be a
downgrade in terms of play. Lavin was wrong. Bozeman averaged just
3.9 points per game and 2.4 rebounds, compared with the 14.7 ppg
and 3.7 rbg that Watson recorded in the 2000-01 season. And
assists, the key job of the point guard, is also down under
Bozeman’s watch. He is averaging just 3.6 per game, while
Watson put up 5.2 last year. So clearly Bozeman didn’t live
up to the preseason hype. But he does feel that this was a positive
year, because he learned a lot about college basketball and
improved his game. “I’m happy with my progress,”
Bozeman said. “I know it’s not what everyone expected,
but I’ve learned a lot.”

In Bozeman’s defense, his numbers are respectable
considering his injury problems. During UCLA’s first game of
the year, at the Maui Invitational against Houston, Bozeman tore
his meniscus. He finished that game and also played in UCLA’s
next three, but then underwent surgery when the pain started
seriously affecting his game. He missed the whole month of
December, which accounted for seven games, including key
non-conference match-ups against Alabama and Georgetown.
“Cedric missing those games was the most critical blow to our
team this year,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
“That was an important stretch, because with freshmen
it’s a very difficult transition from high school to college.
It’s not just missing the games, but missing the practices
too” Bozeman denies it, but his coach and teammates claim
that the knee injury is still affecting him from reaching his full
potential this season, and that he won’t be at full strength
until next year. “He tells me he’s 100%, but I know
he’s not,” senior guard Rico Hines said.

Bozeman might have disappointed, but redshirt freshman Ryan
Walcott was a positive surprise at the point guard position. After
averaging just 3.9 minutes per game during UCLA’s first 15
games, Walcott saw his playing time increase significantly during
the past 14 contests. He averaged almost 11 minutes per game, and
has proven himself to be one of UCLA’s most potent defensive
threats. Lavin dubs Walcott a “waterbug” because of his
quickness, his ability to dribble around defenses, and because of
the seemingly boundless energy he brings to the court. But he can
get sloppy at times, as evidenced by his five-turnover performance
against Cal in the Pac-10 Tournament. Despite Walcott’s
surprisingly solid play, Bozeman is still the starter and, barring
catastrophic circumstances, will start next year.

And with three starters graduating, and a fourth, junior Jason
Kapono, possibly leaving for the NBA, Bozeman will need to step up
as a team leader during the 2002-03 campaign. He says he’s
prepared to do that because of what he’s learned from the
upperclassmen. “I’m getting schooled as a leader.
I’m learning the ropes,” Bozeman said. But Bozeman,
normally shy and quiet on and off the court, knows he will need to
be more vocal like his predecessor, Earl Watson, if he wants to be
seen as a true leader. “When the time presents itself to be
vocal, I’ll be vocal,” Bozeman said. In the meantime,
he is trying to adopt the best attributes of his teammates into his
game and his personality. “I want to have Jason
Kapono’s savvy, Matt Barnes’ feistiness and Dan
Gadzuric’s ability to keep everybody loose,” Bozeman
said. “And Rico’s vocal style too.”