UCLA Basketball: The Bruins’ depth takes a hit with the loss of two players

The UCLA basketball team will be without Alex Olesinski (out 2-3 months) and Shareef O’Neal (out for the season) which will affect the Bruins’ depth and rotation for the upcoming season.

The UCLA basketball team received some unfortunate news on Friday as it was announced that freshman big man Shareef O’Neal will miss the 2018-19 season due to a recently discovered heart condition that will require surgery.

RELATED: Shareef O’Neal to Miss the Season | Alex Olesinksi to Miss Start of Season

This news comes two days after it was announced that redshirt junior Alex Olesinski would miss the start of the season due to a stress fracture. This is unfortunate news and Go Joe Bruin wishes the best and a speedy recovery for O’Neal and Olesinski.

As both players deal with their issues, which are admittedly bigger than basketball, especially O’Neal’s which could have serious long-term effects (though he has vowed to make a return), this greatly affects UCLA’s roster and rotations heading into the 2018-19 season.

UCLA would have had the deepest squad in Steve Alford’s tenure if both players were healthy and even though the team is still pretty stacked, the loss of Olesinski and O’Neal is paramount.

Olesinski is one of only two upperclassmen on the team. His experience and leadership is needed as head coach Steve Alford tries to bring consistency to his young team. O’Neal is a dominating big man that plays under the rim with authority. Just check out what he recently did when he was simply “bored”.

UCLA loses all of that this season. Still, the Bruins have enough talent on the roster to make them competitive in the Pac-12, especially in the frontcourt (but will they win the Pac-12? That is yet to be seen). O’Neal would have competed for a starting spot at power forward, instead, Alford will opt for either Cody Riley or Jalen Hill.

At center, the Bruins have 7-foot Moses Brown, who will most likely get the start. Kenny Nwuba, who was not expected to play many minutes, will now have to. Hill could also be an option at center.

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The loss of O’Neal and Olesinki will force Alford to shift to a smaller lineup, especially if the big men get into foul trouble. What that could do is move wingmen, Kris Wilkes and Chris Smith, into a “stretch 4” role. That would also allow more guards on the floor and that is not a bad thing.

Alford, finally, has a lot to choose from. This season he has two point guards to control the game in Jaylen Hands and Tyger Campbell. He also has three shooting guards at his disposal: Jules Bernard, David Singleton and (the only other upperclassman on the roster) Prince Ali.

With Alford deploying an uptempo style that relies on a high number of outside shooting, having more guards on the floor would not impede their flow on offense. The only problem is that rebounding could suffer.

Actually, it is going to suffer anyway as two of UCLA’s top three rebounders from last season, Thomas Welsh and Gyorgy Goloman, are no longer with the program.

UCLA should be okay, but they would be a lot stronger with O’Neal and Olesinski in the lineup. Still, basketball is just a game. Olesinski should recover nicely and be back on the court in no time. And though he will have to wait a year, O’Neal is expecting to make a comeback and when he does, look out America! Until then, the Bruins will hold down the fort for when they return.