David Singleton and Jules Bernard have both ended up on the floor of Pauley Pavilion more often than they anticipated.
The 6-foot-6-inch Bernard is an aggressive slasher who specializes in driving to the hoop and drawing contact.
As for Singleton, he simply fell asleep on the hardwood floor after a tiring summer workout.
Soon, both freshman guards will start seeing a lot more time on the court – and not just picking themselves up after a midnight nap or a hard foul.
With sophomores Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes potentially declaring for this June’s NBA draft and redshirt junior Prince Ali departing after next season, Bernard and Singleton are the presumptive backcourt starters for UCLA.
“(Bernard), you always know what you’re going to get. He’s just an incredibly spirited competitor and he’s going to fight hard defensively,” said interim coach Murry Bartow. “(Singleton) has been thrown into kind of a tough role with (freshman guard Tyger Campbell’s) injury because (Singleton) is much more of a two and now he’s become kind of a combo guy.”
Singleton slid into the backup point guard role early in the season after mostly playing shooting guard in high school.
Neither freshman has extensive experience at point guard, but ball security points to the 6-foot-4-inch Singleton as the early favorite to start next year at the position.
He has only seven turnovers in 419 minutes played. Every other UCLA player with more than 63 minutes of game time this season has at least 31.
That includes Bernard, who has turned the ball over 38 times in 387 minutes and owns the second-highest turnover-per-40-minutes ratio on the team.
“(Not turning the ball over) is something that I’ve had to learn. I think I’ve done a lot better to cut down the charges and stuff like that,” Bernard said. “You can still maintain your aggressiveness while being smart. So coach always tells me, ‘Keep attacking, keep attacking, just try to make the right play.’”
While Bernard’s double-edged aggressiveness sometimes wastes UCLA’s possessions, it’s a trait that Bartow hopes will rub off more on Singleton.
The Bishop Montgomery product has taken 43 fewer shots than Bernard despite playing 32 more minutes.
“I want him to play with a little more reckless abandon because he’s very safe, and he can be robotic at times,” Bartow said. “Sometimes he needs to play a little more wild energy to him, and I think it would help him.”
Sometimes the choice is either swinging the ball around the perimeter or threading an entry pass to a big man on the block.
Finding the golden mean between the safest and riskiest options is the next step in both player’s developments.
But as far as chemistry goes, the former UCLA official visit buddies, dormmates and current roommates complement each other on the court.
“It’s fun playing with (Bernard) because he’s an aggressive slasher and when a lot of defenses collapse on him, I just find an opening and call for the ball, or (if) my pump-fake draws an extra defender, I give it to him for an open shot,” Singleton said. “We’re thinking about this season, finishing it out, and we’re also thinking about the next season getting each other better.”