UCLA Basketball: What Steve Alford needs to do to win a Pac-12 Title
UCLA Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford has had an up and down tenure which has left humble without a Pac-12 Title. What will it take for him to win one?
Steve Alford has had a bit of a roller coaster start to his tenure with the UCLA Basketball program. He took the Bruins to three Sweet Sixteens in four years, but that’s not good enough for Bruin fans, especially with the talent he had on his roster last season.
One major step to getting back in the good graces of many UCLA Basketball fans is to win a Pac-12 regular season title, which he has failed to do in each of his first four seasons in Westwood.
Last season’s team had the talent to win the Pac-12, but failed to live up to expectations leaving many Bruin fans wondering what it will take for Alford to win the Pac-12 during his time as UCLA’s coach.
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Beat The Best
For UCLA Basketball to win a Pac-12 title over the next couple of years, they are going to have to beat the best teams in the conference. In the foreseeable future, that includes Arizona and Oregon. UCLA went 2-3 against those teams last season, including the Pac-12 Tournament. That just isn’t good enough to win a conference where the winner (Oregon) only lost two games.
Unfortunately, UCLA and Arizona will only face off once next year, making that game even more important. The Bruins will desperately need to win that game if they want to have a chance to win the conference next season. A 2-1 record against these two schools next season will give them a chance to do that.
Beat USC
No matter how good UCLA Basketball is, USC always seems to give them some trouble. They have lost to the Trojans four times in the last two years including a 91-75 beatdown in the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament.
USC also figures to be one of the better teams in the Pac-12 conference over the next couple of years after a near appearance in the Sweet Sixteen last season. In fact, ESPN has ranked the Trojans 13th, one spot ahead of UCLA, in their “Way-Too-Early Top 25.”
Because USC is getting better and because the Bruins have already struggled against lesser Trojan teams in Alford’s tenure, it is imperative that the Bruins start to beat USC consistently if they want to contend for a Pac-12 crown.
Beat the Teams You’re Supposed To
As simple as this may sound, UCLA Basketball has struggled against some lesser opponents within the conference.
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Before last season, a Steve Alford-led Bruin team had not won in Pullman. Pullman! The place with an average attendance below 3,000 people per game last season.
Albeit, the Bruins did win at Washington State last season, though, it was in a less than convincing performance in which they used a late run to pull away.
Alford led Bruin teams have also struggled against another regular conference bottom feeder, Oregon State. Alford lost to the Beavers once in each of his first three seasons at the helm before finally sweeping the Beavers in two less than impressive performances last season.
Alford needs to do a better job of motivating his players to play in every single game and the players have to do their part as well. One thing is simple, the Alford and the Bruins cannot afford lose these types of games if they want to win the conference.
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While it may not happen next season, I still believe Steve Alford will win a Pac-12 Championship during his stint in Westwood. If they can beat the best, beat USC, and avoid losing the trap game, a conference championship should follow.