Bryce Alford is getting his second chance to show what he can do for UCLA basketball. After a decent freshman year serving as a back-up point guard to Kyle Anderson, Alford had to learn how things are done in Division I basketball in a hurry. He had his share of mistakes, but also showed that he can handle running a team. At best, he was a work in progress. This past Friday, the Bruins had an exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, and it was the first time we got to see the guard in action in his sophomore outing.
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From what we know of last season, Alford was viable option for the back-up PG spot. Per game, he had 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and had the best three-point percentage of all players that took over 100 shots from behind the arc. But like most freshmen, there were a lot of things that he had to work on, namely running the offense effectively at the point and tightening up his defense. In UCLA’s 80-53 exhibition win over Azusa Pacific, we got to see just how far Alford has come since then.
Since the summer, it has been known that sophomore Bryce Alford and redshirt freshmen Isaac Hamilton would handle the point guard duties. This was a bit concerning for several reasons, the most glaring is that neither Alford nor Hamilton are pure point guards. Another has to do with the limited experience, Bryce only had back-up duties while Hamilton has had zero minutes playing college ball.
Mar 23, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) drives against Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks guard Trey Pinkney (10) in the second half of a men
On Friday, both had started for the Bruins which made for some interesting rotations, but for now, we will focus on the efforts of Alford. The sophomore guard, at first glance, looked very similar to last year, but when you start to analyze what he did, the off-season seems to be making a world of difference. Let us start with what needs to improve.
Alford stills seems stiff running the point and needs to do a better job making decisions. There were more than a few times when Alford would force a pass or make an errant one that would eveventually result in Azusa Pacific taking it the other way for a score. Add to that his lack of defensive awareness which allowed players to blow past him and it appeared as if not a lot of improvements have been made, but there was in fact a lot of good effort on his part as well.
Sometimes that effort was over done as Alford would pop out to cover an unguarded man on the outside, which would result in leaving his man open. Definitely a teachable moment, but overall his efforts were vastly improved.
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Alford ended his night going 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from behind the arc on his way to 15 points. He also added 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. One of the blocks came at the end of the first half when UCLA put some good pressure on AP’s final shot, a shot that was denied by Bryce Alford.
Still, the best thing about Alford is that he is a fantastic shooter. Not only could be get open for several good looks, but also has beautiful stroke that will benefit UCLA many times throughout the season.
His production may have been against a lesser opponent, but it is comforting to know that Alford is doing better in certain elements of his game and is trying to do what he can to lead UCLA to victory. He may not be the next Kyle Anderson, but it is good to see that he is improving and that is what the Bruins need more than anything from their point guard right now.