The 2017-18 UCLA Basketball team is the deepest Head Coach Steve Alford has had in his tenure, with enough players to platoon. Let us take a look how that could work with a few different lineups.
The 2017-18 UCLA Basketball team is both deep and talented. With the addition of seven players (after losing five from last season), the Bruins have a large pool of skill to choose from.
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Normally it would be tough to lose players like Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf, Ike Anigbogu, Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford, but the Bruin coach did a bang up job recruiting for 2017 as he landed a few top prospects: PG Jaylen Hands (5*), SF Kris Wilkes (5*), C Jalen Hill (4*), PF Cody Riley (4*), SF Chris Smith (3*), SG LiAngelo Ball (3*) and G Joseph Wallace.
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Now add them with UCLA veterans PG Aaron Holiday, SG Prince Ali, F Gyorgy Goloman, C Thomas Welsh, F Alex Olesinki and F Ikenna Okwarabizie (the last two will probably not play significant minutes) and you have an assortment of talent any coach would love to have.
So why not platoon? For those that are not familiar, “platooning” is the substituting practice of swapping out an entire lineup for another rather than at individual positions. This practice was made popular by Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari a few seasons ago.
Though this is more of a gimmick, becuase realistically coaches can’t sustain the same lineups for an entire game when you consider matchups, fouls and potential injuries, it is an interesting way of approaching a game plan.
So let us take a look at what lineups UCLA can experiment with in platooning:
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The Balanaced Platoons
Platoon 1: Holiday, Ball, Wilkes, Riley, Welsh
Platoon 2: Hands, Ali, Smith, Goloman, Hill
One problem that could occur this season is the clash at point guard with Holiday and Hands. Who will be the main distributor? With platooning, that solves that issue as both can lead their own squad.
Additionally, both platoons have reliable wingmen, productive front courts and veteran experience. There is also a decent mix of defensive players sprinkled throughout both squads. But if you are looking for full-on offensive and defensive groups, check out our next set of platoons…
The Offensive vs. Defensive Platoons
Platoon 1: Hands, Ball, Wilkes, Goloman, Welsh
Platoon 2: Holiday, Ali, Smith, Riley, Hill
The UCLA Basketball team will continue to try and push the tempo in 2017-18. They have plenty of players to do it, which could be initiated with Platoon 1, but the problem that could re-emerge from last year was slowing other teams down. WIth Platoon 2, you put on the floor a group of players that could do well collectively as a defensive squad. Clearly there are liablilties to using either lineups, but with a defensive squad, UCLA has a chance to limit their opposition more than they have the last few seasons.
Veteran vs. Freshman Platoons
Platoon 1: Holiday, Ali, Wilkes, Goloman, Welsh
Platoon 2: Hands, Ball, Smith, Riley, Hill
Ideally, a coach would want a nice mixture of youth and experience, which does not make these platoons ideal, but Alford reeled in so much talent in the 2017 class that the freshmen could run their own squad through the Pac-12 and could be quite successful. Though players like Hands, Riley and Hill do not have college experience (yet), they have excellent basketball IQs that could take potentially lead them to the NCAA Tournament. Luck for them, they have several veterans that can take that load off of their shoulders, as seen in Platoon 1.
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Platooning may not be a plan that could be run consistently, but in certain situations, it could be an effective curve ball to throw at the Bruins’ opponents. Either way, UCLA Basketball fans are going to be quite entertained at the plethora of talent on this season’s team.