UCLA Basketball: Holiday, Welsh need to be more aggressive
The UCLA Basketball team squeaked out a 63-60 win against Georgia Tech on Friday, and one takeaway is that Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh need to take over.
The UCLA Basketball team have officially started their 2017-18 season and are 1-0. After beating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Shanghai, UCLA returns to the states to try and figure out their next move.
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Winning 63-60 is still a win, but UCLA looked disorganized at times and that win could have easily been a loss. UCLA was without three keys backups in this game which forced head coach Steve Alford to make some big adjustments.
It was good enough for the win, but Alford has to address several factors going forward. The most important… getting his upperclassmen to take over the game and lead this team to victory, specifically Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday.
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Both had a decent showing in the season opener, but with things being in disarray, to no fault of their own, but they need to knock that i gen ion a notch.
Both had a quiet start to the game against Georgia Tech and eventually picked up the pace. Holiday scored 11 points on 3/9 shooting. He also added four rebounds and seven assists. It was good, but he needs come into the game the way he came off the bench for Lonzo Ball last season. He was fierce, energetic and played with intent and needs to resurrect that trait this season.
Welsh had 10 points on 3/8 shooting. WIth Welsh in the middle, UCLA has to find a way to get their big man more than eight shots per game. It is great that he is expanding his shooting range, but if he has the minimum amount of touches, he is going to have he minimum amount of production. It would also benefit the Bruins to try and score in the paint. Even if Welsh doesn’t get the basket, the potential for getting fouled and going to the line is greater and UCLA needs to take advantage of along potential points.
Georgia Tech did a great job slowing down the up tempo Bruins, make no mistake, the Jackets are no cupcake. But they aren’t a elite power either. That is worrisome on UCLA’s end because this indicates the Bruins might not be ready for those games. But there is time to get ready.
UCLA returns home and will face a few teams that they can impose their will in the coming weeks. A perfect time for Holiday to practice taking on a more aggressive role and for Welsh to get comfortable getting his shot up.
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UCLA is now suffering with depth due to the three players arrested in China, so these two upperclassmen have to find new ways to stay active, especially if they want to win a Pac-12 Championship.