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UCLA Basketball: The men’s team 2017-18 season preview

By Mike Regalado

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins applauds during a timeout in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Pauley Pavilion on January 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins applauds during a timeout in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Pauley Pavilion on January 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 24: Thomas Welsh
MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 24: Thomas Welsh /

7. 2017-18 Outlook

Excitement for this year’s UCLA Basketball team seems to be tamed from last year’s team, but to underestimate this team would be a mistake. The Bruins return some talented pieces from last season’s squad and added a plethora of freshman that ranked in the top 5 of almost all recruiting class rankings.

It will be interesting to see if UCLA continues their newfound offensive scheme without the prowess of All-American point guard Lonzo Ball. It would seem this trend will continue with the return of Aaron Holiday and the arrival of 5-star Jaylen Hands.

Hands will have a lot of pressure on him early, as he may be unfairly labeled with the “Lonzo Ball Replacement” tag when, in reality, Ball cannot be replaced by just one guy, it will take the entire team. If Hands can withstand this early pressure, he and Holiday should develop into one of the most explosive backcourts in America.

The bigs will look a lot different too, with the addition of forwards Cody Riley, Kris Wilkes, Jalen Hill, Chris Smith, and LiAngelo Ball. The talented freshman will join incumbents G.G. Golomon, Alex Olesinski, and Thomas Welsh (who is primed for a breakout season). The frontcourt will be deeper than last year’s team, which should help to keep everyone fresh and make foul trouble less of an issue.

The non-conference schedule is daunting for the Bruins. After opening the season in China against Georgia Tech, the Bruins will face Creighton and then either Baylor or Wisconsin in the Hall of Fame Classic from Kansas City, Mo. The Bruins will also have to face 13th ranked Cincinnati at home, and 4th ranked Kentucky in New Orleans. Not to mention, a date with Michigan in Ann Arbor will be no easy challenge.

It is fairly unrealistic to expect the Bruins to finish this non-conference slate unscathed like last year’s squad, but there is opportunity for big wins, which haunted the Bruins come Selection Sunday last year. With an also improved Pac-12 (barring NCAA allegations) this year’s squad will likely finish with a few more losses overall than last year’s team. Although, nobody will care about the Bruin’s final record as long as they can improve in the NCAA Tournament.

Projected Record: 24-7, 14-4