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UCLA Basketball: Steve Alford has not kept his promise about the defense

By Mike Regalado

KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins reacts from the bench during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic game against the Creighton Bluejays at the Sprint Center on November 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins reacts from the bench during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic game against the Creighton Bluejays at the Sprint Center on November 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 15: Head Coach Steve Alford of UCLA Men’s Baskeball speaks to the media during a press conference at Pauley Pavilion on November 15, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Team members LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill have been suspended from the team after allegedly shoplifting while on a school trip to China. (Photo by Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 15: Head Coach Steve Alford of UCLA Men’s Baskeball speaks to the media during a press conference at Pauley Pavilion on November 15, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Team members LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill have been suspended from the team after allegedly shoplifting while on a school trip to China. (Photo by Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images) /

Alford-coached team’s defensive stats and rankings (last 10 years)

Season Team Def. Scoring (Nat’l Rank) Def. FG% (Nat’l Rank) Def. Eff. (Nat’l Rank)
2008-09 New Mexico 67.2 (150) 42.8 (154) 0.955 (91)
2009-10 New Mexico 65.9 (112) 42.3 (121) 0.965 (105)
2010-11 New Mexico  59.3 (14) 38.4 (7) 0.961 (87)
2011-12 New Mexico 60.6 (38) 39.1 (26) 0.882 (5)
2012-13 UCLA  69.3 (245) 42.5 (160) 0.961 (117)
 2013-14 UCLA  70.4 (186) 42.7 (124) 0.977 (74)
2014-15 UCLA 68.1 (218) 41.6 (108) 0.981 (130)
2015-16 UCLA 76.7 (282) 43.0 (141) 1.038 (227)
2016-17 UCLA 75.5 (258) 42.2 (87) 1.000 (144)
2017-18 UCLA 76.2 (271) 42.2 (113) 1.00 (153)

BOLD indicates rankings in top 50 – Stats provided by NCAA Statistics

Related Story: Bruins relying on outside shooting, but will it work in the long run?

The conclusion of the 2015-16 season was the end of Alford’s fourth year in Westwood and definitely his worst of the last 10 years. Arguably, a team should be better in Year 4 than in the previous three years at a new gig, but that is not the case here and one of the biggest reasons for this is defense. It was not great in his first four years, but has their been any progress after Alford’s letter?

Last year did show some defensive improvements, but very minimal. Opponent’s numbers were up, but that is attributed to the fact that the Bruins played some of the best up tempo basketball in the nation. Not only were they the top scoring team in the nation (89.8 ppg), they had the highest points per possession (1.189) and considering they had 75.5 possessions per game (29th in the nation), opponents are also going to have more chances to score.

That is not the case this season. This year’s offense cannot make up for the lack of defense the way the 2016-17 Bruins did. Scoring is up for opponents and yes, the Bruins are possessing the ball more with 76.2 per game (41st), but they are not making the most of each possession with 1.103 ppp. So not only is the offense putting up less points, they are allowing more points to be scored on them.