The UCLA basketball team has been known as an offensive team in the Steve Alford era, but as the coach has stated himself, defense must improve… yet it has not.
Nearly two years ago, after the completion of the 2015-16 season, shortly after the UCLA basketball team was embarrassed with an exit in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament to the USC Trojans and finished 15-17, head coach Steve Alford wrote a letter to the Bruin fan base.
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In the letter, Alford gave an explanation to why the Bruins had underachieved and because of it gave back the extension he was awarded at the end of his very first season (2012-13).
That is fine, but there was also another part of that letter that stood out to me. It is a statement I refer back to every time UCLA allows an opposing player to drive into the lane, or when any given Bruin is playing defense five feet off the ball, or not contesting outside shots (especially from the three-point line):
"It is easy to just say that we’ll be better next year. We’re excited to prove it, and that begins now. Over the course of my career, teams that I’ve led have owned, on average, a defensive rank in the top 50. This year we ranked outside the top 100. This can never happen again. We must return to the basics and instill defensive fundamentals in our young men from day one of permissible workouts."
This is interesting because that has not exactly happened. At least not the way Alford wished it would. He stated that his teams have “owned” a defensive rank in the top 50. Well let us look at three stats and rankings his teams have owned in the last 10 years (defensive scoring, defensive field goal percentage and defensive efficiency):