ESPN.com - No longer as soft as sophomores

ESPN.com: Men's College Basketball

Thursday, December 26, 2002
No longer as soft as sophomores

By Ed Graney
Special to ESPN.com

You hear the same two words over and over, a reiteration of what happens to many college basketball players between their freshmen and sophomore seasons.

Strength and intelligence.

The good ones gain a lot of both.


	Asked to be a better rebounder, Amit Tamir has increased his average by three boards a game as a sophomore.

It is no different in the Pac-10, which has its share of sophomores making an impact this season.

Take, for instance, Josh Childress.

The Stanford wing inherited a much larger role when Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt bolted early for the NBA. It was during the latter part of his freshman season when Childress began to show more of an aggressive approach, gaining honorable mention All-Pac 10 honors.

He started six of 30 games and averaged 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds, and was also just the second Stanford player (along with former point guard Brevin Knight) to start his first collegiate game during Mike Montgomery's 17-year tenure as coach.

"Early in a season, we always try and play the best guys coming out of practice, which (Childress) was last year," said Montgomery. "But now, he has to perform for us every night. He can't have games where he disappears. We need him to perform pretty consistently, and we're trying to get that out of him."

Numbers suggest the Cardinal is succeeding. The 6-foot-8 Childress has started all 10 games and is averaging 14 points (second to guard Julius Barnes) and 8.1 rebounds (second to forward Justin Davis).

The Bay Area has another standout sophomore in Cal 6-10 forward/center Amit Tamir, who sat out his first eight games last year for playing professionally in Israel. He is 23 and played high school ball in Jerusalem. He can also be a monster on the boards.

Tamir had 85 rebounds last season in 24 games; he already has 58 in just seven games this year. Like Childress at Stanford, Tamir's role (especially in terms of rebounding) increased with the departure of Solomon Hughes and the early NBA jump of Jamal Sampson.

"Amit accepted our challenge of working hard in the off-season to become our best rebounder," said Cal coach Ben Braun. "Good, intelligent players attack their weaknesses to make them strengths.

"Amit has become tougher and stronger. He came here with good basketball skills and is obviously a little older than (most sophomores), but he still had to adjust to the college game. It's a quicker pace than he played (in Israel) in terms of the transition game. But he has a good feel and understanding for the game. He is really a fundamentally sound player."

Cedric Bozeman's journey to his second season of college ball didn't travel the smooth route enjoyed by Childress and Tamir. Bozeman, the UCLA point guard, missed seven games (including four starts) last year with an injured right knee. He had surgery in early December and then needed well into the Pac-10 season before finding consistent rhythm.

One of his best efforts actually came in the team's biggest win, a 105-101 double overtime defeat of Cincinnati in a second-round NCAA Tournament game. That day, Bozeman played a career-high 39 minutes and finished with eight points, a career-best five rebounds and four assists.

"I really think Cedric has picked up now where he left off then," said Bruins coach Steve Lavin. "He is playing with more confidence and pushing the ball in transition. He is quicker with his decision making and recognizing defenses, whether off set plays or on the break."

UCLA's struggles this season are no secret to even the slightest of college hoops fan nationally, with home losses to the likes of San Diego and Northern Arizona. But in Bozeman, the Bruins have a lead guard averaging decent numbers in 7.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 26.8 minutes. His shooting -- 36 percent from the field and 27 percent on 11 three-pointers attempted -- needs help.

"I still think, even after having come back from the knee injury last year, that (Bozeman) is ahead of most point guards we've had at this point in his career," said Lavin. "I've always felt he has an old soul. Cedric doesn't allow himself to go through an emotional roller-coaster of highs and lows. He's on a pretty even keel from game to game."

Games of the Week

Michigan at UCLA
Saturday
Two programs not living up to their storied pasts. The Bruins are 2-4 after a 17-point loss at Kansas, and senior Jason Kapono is hitting just 32 percent from 3-point range. The Wolverines have won four straight after beginning the season 0-6. Michigan is led by senior wing LaVell Blanchard (17.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg).
Pete Newell Challenge
Saturday
The sixth annual doubleheader in Oakland offers two strong matchups, with Cal playing Kansas in the opener and Stanford meeting Gonzaga in the second game. Stanford (7-3) has won two straight after losses to Montana and Richmond, while the Zags (8-3) have won five games by eight or fewer points. Cal (6-1) faces by far its toughest test yet in meeting the Jayhawks (6-3). Neither the Bears nor Stanford have ever lost in the Pete Newell Challenge, each offering 4-0 records in the event.
Alabama at Utah
Monday
The Utes have won two straight and five of their past six entering this game against the No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press poll. The teams met last season and it wasn't close, with Alabama winning 76-61 at home. But the Utes annually own one of the nation's best homecourt advantages, and are 4-0 in Salt Lake City this season.

Speaking of Sophomores
The Mountain West Conference is certainly not without its share of solid second-year players. In fact, several names are making significant contributions.

The best might be Tim Keller of Air Force. Keller is shooting 50.8 percent from 3-point range. This, for a team that has four of its five starters shooting better than 50 percent from the field.

"(Keller) is terrific shooter," said Falcons coach Joe Scott. "He expects himself to play well every game. If he can play 30 minutes per game, he can really contribute with his overall game."

Keller has started all eight games and is averaging a team-best 15.6 points in 34.0 minutes.

Air Force opens play in the Sierra Providence SunClassic against Alabama Birmingham on Friday, and at 5-3 the Falcons are hardly a pushover in Scott's third season.

The Princeton-style offense runs a lot smoother when you're making shots like Air Force is right now. The Falcons are shooting 45.1 percent on threes, in large part to Keller's accuracy.

Other sophomores in the league making some noise:

Jared Jensen, BYU: The 6-9 forward/center -- nearly automatic when gaining inside position -- is shooting 64 percent.

Matt Nelson, Colorado State: He is a 7-foot center and one of the league's rising stars. Nelson averages 12.4 points for the first-place Rams (10-2), while shooting a league-best 67 percent.

Jamal Williams, New Mexico: The 6-6 bruising forward has started six of eight games and averages 11 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 51 percent.

Jay Straight, Wyoming: The point guard needs to shoot better than 30 percent now that senior wing Marc Bailey (knee) is gone for the season, but Straight still averages a team-high 3.5 assists. Another sophomore for Wyoming, forward Alex Dunn, should also see his minutes increase in Bailey's absence.

Around the West

Talk about your highs and lows:

BYU (8-2) woke up Tuesday morning with the realization it was ranked No. 1 in RPI. The Cougars went to bed that night knowing they just lost to the No. 274 ranked team.

BYU fell to lowly West Coast Conference member San Francisco 84-72, a game Steve Cleveland's team trailed 46-27 at halftime. The Cougars are now No. 8 in RPI, and for the first time this season (including a setback at Creighton) appeared lost away from Provo.

"Maybe this taste in their mouths and how they feel right now will wake them up to the fact that it requires playing 40 minutes to become a good team," said Cleveland. "The best way to learn a lesson, unfortunately, is to lose a game, rather than continue to win."

It's a bad loss for the Mountain West Conference in terms of RPI, which entered the week No. 6, ahead of Conference USA and the Pac-10.

Poor Texas-El Paso. The Miners just can't catch a break.

The WAC team that hired first-year coach Billy Gillispie just weeks before the season began has lost senior forward Roy Smallwood for the year to a torn ACL in his left knee.

"A really tough break for Roy," said Gillispie. "I think a medical redshirt year for him is a very strong possibility. We'll explore that."

Smallwood ranks 16th on UTEP's all-time scoring list (1,119 points), sixth in blocks (99) and ninth in steals (101). He was averaging 6.0 points and 7.2 rebounds this season.

UTEP is 2-5 and has lost 16 straight road games dating to February of 2001. On a positive note, senior forward Justino Victoriano leads the WAC in rebounding with a 9.0 average.

You can bet Mountain West coaches read with great interest about the season-ending injury to Wyoming wing Marc Bailey. The league's preseason player of the year offered one of the nation's best mid-range games and easily one of the league's toughest matchups.

Suddenly, the absence of Bailey and Wyoming's suspect 3-point shooting allows others to think about making a stronger run at the conference title.

"Watching college basketball and seeing some Mountain West Conference scores come up, I think to myself, 'I'll never get to play UNLV again, or BYU again,'" said Bailey. "That's when it really hits me & I've been a Wyoming fan my whole life."

Said one Mountain West coach: "This just opens things up a little more for everyone else. A team like UNLV suddenly looks even stronger. Bailey really did so much for them in terms of leadership. In many ways, he was the heart and soul of that team, besides being their best player. No matter how much it might helps your specific team, you never want to see a kid like that get hurt."

Who's Hot
Justin Davis: The Stanford junior forward goes for career-highs in points (21) and rebounds (16) in leading the visiting Cardinal past a capable UNLV side 77-66. Davis' effort helped head coach Mike Montgomery win his 500th career game.

Thomas Kelati: Another super sophomore? The 6-5 wing from Washington State is averaging 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists, doing his best to lend a strong supporting role for leading scorer/rebounder Marcus Moore.

Who's Not
New Mexico: A 3-5 start is the program's worst since the 1991-92 season. The crazy part: Losing in The Pit has become as common for the Lobos as stucco homes in Albuquerque.

Jason Gardner: The Arizona senior point guard who began the season sizzling from the outside has shot just 11-of-38 (29 percent) his last three games. During that span, he is 4-of-21 on 3s.

Quote to Note
"Our inability to make foul shots and too many breakdowns by Jason Keep on defense hurt us. ... I thought we guarded them well with the exception of Jason Keep. I didn't think Jason Keep's defense was worth anything."
-- University of San Diego coach Brad Holland on his starting center's performance following Monday's 64-58 home loss to Utah.

Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com.