New UCLA point guard is making positive impression
by Eric Sondheimer
The Fabulous Forum
July 11, 2010 | 4:23 pm
New UCLA point guard Lazeric Jones, a junior college transfer from Illinois, is playing in the Say No summer league at The HAX in Hawthorne this summer, and early reviews indicate he's going to be a solid contributor and help the Bruins address a weakness at the position.
On Sunday, Jones played in a game with Bruins teammates Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson. Jones handled the ball well, displayed court leadership and scored several baskets on drives down the key. He has big hands and a nice touch from the free-throw line.
Honeycutt, a sophomore, has started to add weight and muscle to his 6-foot-7 frame. Nelson, another sophomore, looked strong and dominant inside.
The Bruins were 14-18 last season, and adding Jones should help stabilize the guard position.
bruinjake commented on BZ:
"What I personally liked about watching Lazeric Jones was that he made a concerted effort to buckle down on D every possession. He plays D very low and balanced and seems plenty athletic. I think Howland is going to love him and elevate his game even more. His shots have not been falling but his decision making has been pretty nice. I'm guessing that is just a matter of not being completely sharp. He seems to have quite the hop in his step and can change direction quickly and for that reason creates wide open looks for himself. I wouldn't say he has 3 point range but he certainly will keep any guard honest defending him.
So ... compare that to Anderson who isn't confident in his shot. And most of the time will drive and not really know what to do with the ball. Jones doesn't have that problem.
From what I've seen he easily starts over Anderson (of last year) and is capable of leading the team under Howlands direction. As appalling as much of our guard play last year was how can you quantify the impact Jones likely makes on all aspects of the team."
and from CoronaRay on Bruin Gold:
Had a nice 4th of July with ...
Posted: Mon, Jul 05 1:33 pm
CoronaRay
UCLA PG Lazeric Jones. Lazeric is a very intelligent, soft spoken, unpretentious young man. He is excited about playing for the Bruins and plans on finishing his two years here.
He likes CBH and knows that he is a good coach. I joked with him that if he wants to stay in the game that he would have to play tough defense. He told me that CBH has told him that defense is what he wants and that he is a good tough on ball defender. I told him that CBH will probably get on him really hard during practice but he said that he has dealt with much, much tougher coaches. Lazeric also was well aware of the earlier Bruin players like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and how CBH liked to employ his double teams in the paint.
I asked him about his recruitment by UCLA and he said that he knew who CBH was at the time but he did not know how serious UCLA was about wanting him. He said the CBH had come out to Illinois to see him a few times and introduced himself early on but his introduction was about all he said initially to him at the time.
I asked him about the other players on the team and he told me that he presently rooms with Tyler Lamb and that they all get along really well together. He thinks that Tyler Lamb is a good player. He mentioned to me that a lot of the guys were hurt and that he did not know if they would be able to make some kind of tournament in NY. I do not know if he was referring to the NIT but this tournament apparently is approaching soon. He did say that CBH has Josh Smith on a weight reduction regimen and that he is doing very well on it. He also really likes Reeves Nelson. He thinks Reeves is a really good, tough re-bounder. He thinks that the team is going to be much better that last years team and that they will win the PAC-10 (12) this year.
We talked about his game. He said that CBH wants him to be more assertive and take more three balls when he has the chance. He also told me that he has a good mid-level game but is not afraid to take the ball to the hole if the opportunity avails it self. I asked him if he preferred to lay the ball in or slam dunk it in when going to the hole. He said it depends on what the defense gives him as he is approaching the hole. After talking about slam dunks, it made me think of Tyler Honeycutt. He has a lot of respect for Tyler's game and thought that they would play really well together. I joked with him that he and Tyler will probably have a slam duck contest during year.
We went back to talking about the team and I told him that I thought Josh would be C (of course), Reeves at PF, Hunnycut at the SF, Lee at SG and that he would be the PG. I told him that I thought that it looked like a really good team. He thought so too but he did not want to commit to the players at those positions since CBH had not said who is going to play what at this time.
I told him that he would have an opportunity to play a few pick up games with a lot of the pro players that like to play at UCLA. He was really looking forward to the challenge. I told him that he is going to go against big teams from across the country and that he will be looked at by a lot of pro coaches. He smiled about the idea but was not thinking about going pro anytime soon.
Otherwise, we all ate some great food, and other family and fiends played a few games of HORSE. Lazeric won them all.
One last thing. I told him that I hate SC and that if he could, to slam dunk on them every chance he had. Then after the game, should he be interviewed by a news camera to say that that slam duck was for Ray. He laugh and said that he would say that.
Until next time.
GO Bruins!
Finally, some videos on Zeke from B.B. posted on BZ:
Zeke "We have a pg!"
Zeke - 2nd look
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