UCLA Basketball: Good Individually, Needs More Work Collectively
There is no doubt that the UCLA Basketball team has some talent on their roster, yet if they want to survive the Pac-12 Conference, they need to start working as a team.
They are up. They are down. They are all around. The UCLA Basketball team is, if anything, inconsistent.
In one game they are playing some sound basketball on offense and defense and beating the #1 team in the country. In another they are getting run out of their own arena (which they have dominated in) by their crosstown rival who they had not lost to in three years.
Though this team has a lot of good talent, they are missing that component of unity that could take them deep into the tournament, or at least survive the rest of conference play.
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On a individual basis, the Bruin’s starting five, Aaron Holiday, Bryce Alford, Isaac Hamilton, Tony Parker and Thomas Welsh have all had very good seasons with some milestone moments.
UCLA Bruins
Currently, Tony Parker has 9 double-doubles on the season and scored a season-high 27 points against USC. Thomas Welsh has developed into a proper low-post threat as he has developed his base-line and mid-range shots and is sporting UCLA’s top field goal percentage (.590).
Bryce Alford is leading all Bruins with 16.9 points and has come up big with some huge shots, the most recent being the game-winner against Arizona. Isaac Hamilton has been on fire and has scored no less than 10 points since the Kentucky game. Aaron Holiday is having a spectacular freshman year as he is scoring in double-digits, and getting 3 rebounds per game and nearly four assists.
Putting this all together, it seems as though they could run through teams, yet far too often, there are teams running through them. Now one could point to the lack of defense or a bit of selfishness on the offensive end, but it is bigger than that. They need to play as a team all 40 minutes and do it with purpose.
Part of this has to do with coaching. Head Coach Steve Alford has to find a way to get this team charged up for every game. Against USC, the Bruins seemed to start okay, but lost their fight early in the game. During their last road trip, the Bruins needed a late push to try and salvage the game against Washington, though they lost in 2OT. Against Washington State, well, there was no fight all game long.
The point is that the Bruins need to start all of their games strong, build off of that momentum and put teams away early (and then not let up off the gas). Playing as a team will not only maximize their efforts, but allow other players to step up when others are running cold.
Either way, this Bruin team needs to find out how to bring it all together, which they can do, and play as a team that knows they have the better talent. If UCLA can muster the effort they put into games like Arizona and Kentucky, then there is no doubt that they can be a Top 25 team (possibly Top 10) and make a deep tournament run.
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Until then, if nothing changes, we are going to start to hear those all too familiar chants in regards to terminating a certain coaching member if the Bruins have another end to their season as they dud the last two.