LOS ANGELES_Officially, he is UCLA's sixth man. Coach Steve Alford calls him the sixth starter because he plays so many minutes.
Whatever he goes by, Aaron Holiday seems to have a sixth sense about what his team needs.
The sophomore point guard provided tenacious defense and savvy shot-making with Lonzo Ball struggling in the first half against Kentucky. A week later, Holiday made all five of his three-point shots as a we-can-do-that-too rebuttal to Michigan's success from beyond the arc.
"He's just as important as any of our five starters," UCLA shooting guard Bryce Alford said Tuesday. "He's done an unbelievable job of when our starters aren't doing well or there's one or two guys in the starting lineup that didn't start the game right, he comes in and he picks us up and I don't think there's been a game this year that he hasn't done that yet. He's a perfect guy for that role and we value him a whole lot."
Holiday is averaging more points in fewer minutes compared with his freshman season, when he started all 32 games. A year ago, he averaged 10.3 points and 3.9 assists in 31.7 minutes per game while shooting 39.4 percent (41.9 percent from three-point range). Those averages have improved to 13.3 points and 4.2 assists in 25.8 minutes per game this season, largely because he's shooting 55.6 percent and a team-best 60 percent from beyond the arc.
Holiday had never come off the bench before this season but isn't about to argue with the results.
"You've got to do what's best for the team," he said, "and right now it's working really well because we're 10-0."
Holiday's development is partially the result of testing himself against better players in his own family. He spent part of his summer playing against his two brothers: Jrue, a guard with the New Orleans Pelicans who starred at UCLA, and Justin, a guard with the New York Knicks. Both older siblings are significantly taller than the 6-foot-1 Aaron, forcing him to find ways to score against NBA-caliber defenders.
Steve Alford said Holiday's energy and versatility as someone who can beat teams off the dribble and with his jump shot have provided ingredients that were missing from the team's reserve unit a year ago. "He symbolizes what this team's been about," Alford said. "He's been selfless because here's a guy that started every game last year and now he's coming off the bench. It's a new role but much more efficient."
