Thursday, February 19, 1998
UCLA’s royal backcourt
M. BASKETBALL: Baron Davis, Earl Watson take buddy system to the
floor for some great basketball plays
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
There are some things that can’t be mentioned without the
other.
Abbott and Costello. Yin and Yang. Fred and Barney. Rum and
Coke.
And for the UCLA men’s basketball team, there’s Baron and Earl.
Or Earl and Baron. Either way, the two freshmen guards have staked
their claim as the kings of the Bruin backcourt.
"They have done wonders in our backcourt," senior forward J.R.
Henderson said. "They pressure guards, they make some pretty big
plays down the stretch that have helped us win a lot of basketball
games.
"I think that without them we would be struggling right now,
obviously, without the heart and play and hustle of those two."
If it weren’t for Baron Davis and Earl Watson, the 12th-ranked
Bruins would have at least one extra mark in the loss column. UCLA
scraped by with the 68-66 victory over Oregon at Pauley Pavilion
thanks in part to the dynamic duo’s last second heroics.
With 25 seconds left, the score tied and the Ducks with the
ball, Watson used his quick hands to steal the ball and Davis
finished it off with the game-winning layup.
But UCLA’s Batman and Robin didn’t just save the day on that one
occasion. The starting freshmen’s compatibility on the court has
not only produced spectacular plays that have awed many a Pauley
crowd, but it has helped the Bruins achieve their 19-5 record.
And the Baron and the Earl will help lead UCLA against No. 2
Duke on Sunday.
"I think that they have great chemistry," fellow freshman Rico
Hines said. "They know how to find each other in the open court and
Earl knows how to pitch the ball ahead and create off the fast
break and Baron is a great finder and a great finisher."
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said: "They remind me of Hope and
Crosby, Ed McMahon-Johnny Carson, Fred Astaire-Gene Kelly. They
just have a special feel for one another and there’s a special
chemistry that exists between the two of them."
That special chemistry on the court has its basic roots off the
court. Davis and Watson aren’t just a great pair on the hardwood.
They watch movies together, they play video games together, they
take classes together, they rap together, they live together.
"We go everywhere together," Davis said. "We basically do
everything together."
"You see him," Watson said,"you see me."
Kind of surprising when you think about their personalities.
Watson is the quiet, reserved one and Davis, as Hines put it,
"talks enough for everybody." But for whatever reason, they are
best friends and they are inseparable.
"I guess it’s like opposites attract," Davis said. "But we just
get along, we both share the same type of personal qualities."
Though they come from states that are miles and miles apart,
their friendship started long before the first day of fall
classes.
As two of the nation’s top prep players, Davis and Watson would
run up phone bills talking about life and the recruiting process
they were going through. But their recruiting experiences were just
about as far apart as their hometowns.
Watson’s college choice garnered a lot of interest in Kansas,
while Davis’ decision gained headlines across the nation. While
Watson was chided for being a Benedict Arnold, Davis was the focus
of NCAA investigations.
When Watson signed with UCLA, the 6-foot guard disappointed the
people of the Sunflower State who were hoping that the Washington
High School senior from Kansas City would play for Kansas.
"One day me and my teacher got into it in class about Kansas and
UCLA," Watson said. "We were going at it, he got mad at me, he just
left the room and everybody started laughing. He was a Kansas
alumni. That was my whole school – Kansas alumni. So I was labeled
as a traitor, but it was all in good nature and in good fun.
"All it did was make me work harder, they asked for it."
Meanwhile, the attention that Los Angeles native Davis received
almost made him give up on college basketball altogether.
Controversy engulfed the recruitment of the nation’s top prep
point guard. Former UCLA head coach Jim Harrick was interrogated by
the NCAA about the circumstances surrounding the sale of a used car
that belonged to Harrick’s son to Lisa Hodoh, Davis’ sister,
plastering the then-17 year old’s name all over the sports pages of
local and national press.
"I just questioned what I really wanted to do and whether I
really wanted to play basketball if I had to put up with all this,"
Davis said about the incident. "There were so many emotions
involved and me just being a kid and not really knowing how (to
deal with it), it was just like I was falling apart."
However, with the help of his grandmother Lela Nicholson, who
had raised Davis since he was three years old, and his sister, the
6-2 guard decided to go ahead with the college route. And his
grandmother was a major factor in helping him make his college
selection.
Though Davis had committed to UCLA during the early signing
period, he reneged when Harrick was dismissed.
He then considered going, ironically enough, to Kansas, but
finally revealed his choice on national television in April.
"(My grandmother) has just been there for me and I couldn’t see
why I couldn’t do the same," Davis said. "By going away, I wouldn’t
be there when she needed me. That’s the main reason why I came here
to be close to her and just be able to have that relationship
instead of making it long distance."
But regardless of the paths that eventually brought them to
Westwood, the backcourt tandem’s friendship has shaped itself into
the best pair of freshman guards in the country. Davis averages
11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists and Watson contributes
5.9 points, 4.0 boards and 3.7 assists.
"If we didn’t hang around I wouldn’t know what to expect from
him," Watson said. "But we do everything together so I just know
every time where he’s going to be on the court."
Watson’s sixth-sense for Davis’ whereabouts was no more evident
than in their ESP-worthy variation of an allyoop against Oregon
State on Jan. 8. Watson threw the ball off the glass and out of
nowhere, Davis rose up amongst the Beavers to slam it home.
"(Our friendship) helps out a lot," Watson said. "You’re going
to see as we get older, through the years that we play together,
how much it helps."