The UCLA men’s basketball team was supposed to run a fluid
motion offense against EA Sports.
The strategy was simple: move the ball several times until a
shooter is set to take his shot. Yet, something went wrong in the
Bruins’ 70-64 loss to EA Sports.
“We kept running the same play we know,” sophomore
guard Ryan Walcott said. “It’s a play we do all the
time in practice, the high pick and roll, but it was just two or
three passes, and then shooting.”
Moreover, the team’s main threat, senior guard Jason
Kapono, sat out with a sprained right thumb. His presence was
missed. Even their opponents could not even believe it.
“They looked like they weren’t confident out there
in their offense,” EA Sports guard Brian Jones said.
“They came out a little tight, and they looked like they were
second-guessing themselves. I really didn’t see a consistent
effort the whole game.”
To fill the void of Kapono, the team started Walcott at point
guard, who switched off directing the offense with sophomore Cedric
Bozeman.
Both players tallied two steals but were a combined 4-14
shooting from the floor.
“Cedric is the typical NBA point guard, and Ryan is our
“˜Speedy Gonzalez,'” senior Ray Young said.
“They might not have scored much, but their intensity on
“˜D’ was great.”
Bozeman and Walcott helped keep EA Sports under 70 after UCLA
gave up 92 points last Wednesday to Branch West. But it did not
bring a victory.
“Good thing it’s not a real game,” Bozeman
said afterwards.
“It was a different look, and we had to make the
adjustment,” he added. “I think we gave a good effort,
but we need to sustain that effort.”
The point guard change was not only a tryout, but a necessary
move for UCLA. Kapono will be back, but other options must be
available if something is to fumble the starting lineup in the
future.
“We were trying to bring up the speed,” UCLA head
coach Steve Lavin said. “We’re trying to make the
pieces fit, but we’re not going to be a well-oiled machine in
three or four days. We have five months to get better.”