The Go Joe Bruin UCLA Men’s Basketball Season Preview

UCLA Men’s Basketball Preview

In the modern sports age, the job security of new coaches is heavily scrutinized in the first three seasons. If a coach can take thier new team and improve upon the job of the predecessor, most likely they are going to be retained. But if there’s little to no improvement, or even trending in the opposite direction, that coach will soon be an ex-coach being replaced by another who will try to write their wrongs.

UCLA Bruins

That is the position current UCLA Men’s Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford is in. This will be Alford’s third season leading the Bruins and it has not exactly been a smooth one.  After the termination of former Bruin Coach Ben Howland, Alford was chosen over several other candidates that the Bruin fan base were hoping for.

That put Alford in a particularly awkward situation. It is hard to try and bring glory back to one of the most decorated college basketball teams in history when not everyone has your support.

The hiring of Alford had polarized the Bruin community and divided fans into two categories: those that do not believe that he will be successful (based on his previous head coaching stints) and those that see the necessity to give him time.

In his first two years, Alford posted a 50-23 record that was mixed with both highs and lows. There have been several head scratching losses, as well as the inability to sweep a road series, but on the other hand, Alford has been able to get the Bruins to pull out fantastic, almost miraculous, victories. The Bruins even had success in consecutive NCAA tournaments as they finished in the Sweet 16 both of the last two seasons.

With both momentum (and recruiting) on the upswing, can Alford have the UCLA Men’s Basketball team make the jump to the next level in 2015-16?

Here is the 2015-16 Go Joe Bruin UCLA Men’s Basketball season preview…

Next: Roster & Projected Line-Up

Table of Contents

Either click “NEXT” to advance the slideshow, or if you wish to jump to a specific section, click one of the links below.:

1. UCLA Men’s Basketball Preview

2. Roster & Projected Line-Up

3. Coaches/Staff

4. Schedule

5. The Keys

6. 2014-15 Result

7. 2015-16 Outlook

8. Ticket & Social Media Information

Roster & Projected Line-up

Projected Line-Up

G Bryce Alford – G Isaac Hamilton

F Jonah Bolden – C Thomas Welsh – F Tony Parker

Bodies. UCLA Men’s Basketball now has bodies to put on the floor and they could not have come soon enough. After the 2013-14 season, the Bruins lost five players to the NBA (Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams, Zach LaVine, David Wear, Travis Wear), with three being first round draft picks. Before the 2014-15 season, UCLA lost two more players to eligibility as senior G Jonathan Octeus was denied admission as a graduate transfer and in-coming freshman F Jonah Bolden was denied eligibility by the NCAA.

Despite the thin roster, UCLA managed to squeak into the big dance and get two wins in the first weekend, macthing their post-season appearance from the previous year as Sweet 16 participants. Now imagine what this team can do with a full roster. We get to find out this year as the Bruins have 11 scholarship players for 2015-16, the most in Alford’s tenure.

The added depth directly affects the back court which was scarcely thin last season. The Bruins started three of their four scholarship guards which had its benefits and disadvantages. Norman Powell, Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton all averaged over 33 minutes a game, which was good for consistency, but by the end of the game, they would run out of gas. The fourth guard, Noah Allen, only played 11 minutes a game coming off the bench.

All of that will be balanced out this year with the addition of two highly recruited guards as Aaron Holiday will come in to help with point guard duties while Prince Ali will assist at the 2 spot.

The interesting piece in all of this is Jonah Bolden who can play both guard and forward, but with so many ball handlers, he will see the majority of his time on the wing, mostly at the 3.

Under the basket we will see Tony Parker and Thomas Welsh getting the start. Parker is entering his senior year and continues to improve from year to year, meaning he should have a solid season and hopefully breakout as one of the Pac-12’s top big men. He was recently nominated to the 2015-16 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.

Nov 14, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins center Thomas Welsh (40) reacts to a basket during the first half against the Montana State Bobcats at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Welsh was more of a project last season. A 7-foot center that had height but not much strength. It took Welsh a while to get in the groove with the UCLA front court, but eventually grew into his own. This past summer, Welsh got more experience with the USA Basketball U-19 oversees in Greece, as Team USA won the U-19 Championship. That added experience should help Welsh acclimate quicker to the pace of Division I basketball and should have a solid sophomore year because of it.

Like last season, the Bruins had more depth in the back court than the front and will remain that way, though they start of a bit injured. Gyorgy Goloman was impressive at times at the power forward spot, though he will be out for about a month or two to start the season with a stress fracture. This is unfortunate given the improvements Goloman made late in the season coming off the bench.

UCLA will now have to look towards two under-the-radar recruits with freshman forward Alex Olesinski and center transfer Ikenna Okwarabizie. Both players have raw talent, but expect them to be projects in their first season in Westwood.

Next: Coaches and Staff

Mar 26, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford addresses the media after practice for the south regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship at FedEx Forum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Coaches and Staff

Head Coach – Steve Alford

Assistant Coaches – Duane Broussard, David Grace, Ed Schilling

Director of Scouting/Player Development – Kory Barnett

Director of Operations – Tyus Edney

Director of Basketball Administration – Doug Erickson

Athletic Performance Coach – Wes Long

Alford was essentially on the hot seat before he ever got a chance to sit down in his UCLA coach’s chair as there was very little praise of his hiring outside the UCLA Athletic Department. Because of the storied history UCLA boasts, fans questioned whether Alford can return the Bruins to glory, and we are not just talking Pac-12 Championships.

Before Alford, Ben Howland took the Bruins to three straight Final Fours. Two coaches before him Jim Harrick captured UCLA’s first national title in 20 years. And then there is the greatest of them all, John R. Wooden who won ten championships in his tenure as he not only put UCLA on the college basketball map, but made it the epicenter.

That is a lot for Alford to live up to, but it seems that heading into his third season, things are moving in a positive direction.

Recruiting has been slow going to start but Alford was able to land several top prospects, three of which we finally get to see this season. Guards Aaron Holiday and Prince Ali bring talent to the Bruins front court while Jonah Bolden, now eligible, will finally get to display his skills and is projected to be a starter.

If Alford can get consistency with this team and make the necessary adjustments he needs to as a coach, things should turn out better than okay this season, but that is still a “wait-and-see” situation.

Next: Schedule

Schedule

Head Coach Steve Alford wanted to beef up the schedule when he took over and that is exactly what the UCLA Men’s Basketball gets this season. Along with local and west coast match-ups against teams like Cal Poly, CSUN and Long Beach State, the Bruins are going national and taking on Top 25 teams like Gonzaga, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Now that is just the non-conference. Once the Bruins get into Pac-12 play, they should be in a battle every week. One of the more exciting aspects of conference play this season is that UCLA once again plays basketball rival Arizona twice in the regular season after only playing once in conference the last two seasons.

The Bruins were perfect at home in Pac-12 play and their only loss at Pauley Pavilion the entire season was to Gonzaga. The thing to look for this year is if the Bruins can over come their road demons and not only capture several victories away from home but also (finally) get a road sweep. That is something that has not happened under Alford.

2015-16 UCLA Men’s Basketball Schedule

_________________________________________________________________________

2016 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament (Las Vegas, NV) March 9-12

2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, March 15 – April 4

(Exh) – Exhibition Game

(U) – UCLA Live Stream

(P) – Pac-12 Network

(E) – ESPN

(E2) – ESPN2

(MI) – Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Hi

(CBS) – CBS

* CBS Sports Classic, Brooklyn, New York

(FS1) – Fox Sports 1

(EU) – ESPNU

(Fox) – FOX

Next: The Keys: Returners, Losses and Recruits

Mar 21, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford and UCLA Bruins players react during a timeout in the second half against the UAB Blazers in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

“The Keys”

Key Returners

Bryce Alford – 15.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.2 rpg

Isaac Hamilton – 10.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.2 apg

Tony Parker – 11.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 54.3 FG%

Thomas Welsh – 3.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg

Key Losses

Norman Powell (graduation/NBA Draft) – 16.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg

Kevon Looney (NBA Draft) – 11.6 ppg, 9.2 ppg, 1.4 apg, 1.3 spg

Wanaah Bail  (transfer)

Recruits (rankings per Scout.com)

Aaron Holiday – 4-star, #8 PG in the nation, #2 in the West

Prince Ali – 4-star, #9 SG in the country, #4 in the West

Ikenna Okwarabizie – unranked, JC transfer

Alex Olesinski – 3-star porspect

Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?

2014-15 Result

Overall: 22-14

Pac-12: 11-7

Home: 16-1

Away: 2-8

Neutral: 4-5

Pac-12 Tournament: 2nd Round loss to Arizona

NCAA Tournament: Loss to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16

The Bruins were very impressive at home last season as they went undefeated at Pauley Pavilion during conference play and lost only once in non-conference to Gonzaga. In that game, the Bruins kept it close with a solid second half comeback, but fell short to the #9 team in the country.

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Unfortunately, that game started a five game losing streak that threw the Bruins off balance going into Pac-12 play, especially with the way some of them went. One in particular was against #1 Kentucky that essentially embarrassed the Bruins in front of a national audience in an 83-44 loss that saw UCLA score a record-low 7 points in the first half. It was a game UCLA could not wait to get a way from, but it was a reminder of how far they still had to go.

Things improved in conference play, but mostly on the home front, which did not include a game against Arizona at Pauley. Still, the Bruins had their hiccups away from home and once again could not claim a road sweep.

Eventually the Bruins managed to pull things together and won 8 of their last 11 games in the regular season. UCLA then entered the Pac-12 Tournament with a 96-70 beating over USC, the third win over the crosstown rivals that season.

Although they lost the next day to Arizona in the Pac-12 second round, UCLA apparently had enough on their resume to earn an invitation to the NCAAs. The Bruins won their first two games, though their first win against SMU was aided by a goaltending call. The Bruins then dismantled UAB to get into the Sweet 16, though it was more bitter than sweet as they lost to Gonzaga for the second time this season and it was not as close in a 74-62 loss.

Next: 2015-16 Outlook

2015-16 Outlook

There is definitely something to be said about having a full roster going into this season. The Bruins have both an experienced core, depth and plenty of young talent. Coach Alford said before the season that having 11 scholarship players helps in practice because, for the first time since he arrived in Westwood, he can run 5-on-5 scrimmages.

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This cannot be underestimated.

The Bruins will be two-deep at each position and nearly every player, sans Thomas Welsh, can play at least two positions. This will help with match-ups, rotations and even the dreaded injuries and occasional foul trouble. The Bruins essentially had a 7-man rotation last year and when injuries and foul trouble occurred, the game never turned out good for UCLA.

If the Bruins can get an early season rhythm going, that will benefit them going into Gonzaga, Kentucky, UNC and the Maui Invitational. They can then to take that experience to the Pac-12 and be able to compete like they did in Alford’s first season.

This past Pac-12 Media Day, UCLA was picked to finish 5th in the conference behind Arizona, Cal, Utah and Oregon. If UCLA can get their chemistry down early and solidify their rotations (and not give up huge leads late in the games), the Bruins could be contenders for the 2015-16 Pac-12 title.

Projected Record: 21-10

Next: Ticket and Social Media Information

May 5, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ticket Information

Visit UCLABruins.com for ticket information for single-game tickets, mini-plans and season tickets.

Follow UCLA Women’s Basketball on Social Media:

Twitter – @UCLAMBB

Facebook – UCLA Men’s Basketball

Instagram – UCLAMBB

Vine – UCLA Basketball

GO BRUINS!

Next: UCLA Basketball In The Polls

More from Go Joe Bruin

• UCLA Football: It’s time for the nation to meet Dante Moore
• UCLA Football: Where are they ranked heading into week 4
• UCLA Football: Position battle breakdown for Utah showdown
• UCLA vs. Utah: Location, time, prediction, and more
• UCLA Football: Highlights from Chip Kelly’s appearance on the Jim Rome Show