<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With an abundance of guards on the Hawks roster, Cedric Bozeman had nearly 11 minutes Monday night to prove he deserves to stay. Undrafted after helping lead UCLA to the NCAA championship game his senior year, the 6-foot-6 rookie scored all five of his points in the first period of the Hawks' 110-105 exhibition loss to the Washington Wizards. "Whatever time I get," Bozeman said, "I've got to go out and bust my butt." He's also a guy coach Mike Woodson didn't mind having on the floor in the final two minutes of a tight game. The Hawks (4-3) rallied from a 20-point deficit in the third period to take a two-point lead in the fourth, but they couldn't hold on because of seven missed free throws and four Wizards layups when the Hawks had fouls to give. "The fact [Bozeman] can defend three positions makes him a little unique and intriguing," Woodson said. "And he can run your offense. He's heady, and he's not scared to make mistakes. "We'll have four or five days to look at him a little closer and see if he's worthy of keeping on our ballclub." Woodson knows what starter Joe Johnson (28 points) and backups Tyronn Lue (16 points) and Josh Childress (12 points) can do at the guard position, and he has Speedy Claxton resuming practice today after fracturing his hand Sept. 18. But in determining the rest of his bench in the past two preseason games, Woodson has gone with Bozeman instead of Royal Ivey. Salim Stoudamire has a right quad contusion and also didn't play. Neither played against Cleveland on Saturday either. "It's no knock against Royal," Woodson said. "He started for us last year a great deal of the season, but we've had an opportunity to bring better players in and an opportunity to look at them as well. We've got some decisions to make this week." Bozeman played for the Hawks in the Rocky Mountain Revue in July. Going into Monday night's game, he had played in every exhibition game, averaging 13 minutes and 2.7 points. </div> Source
