UCLA Basketball: How Much Better Will the Bruins Be in 2016-17?

Jan 30, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins center Thomas Welsh (40) gets a high five from head coach Steve Alford as he leaves the game in the second half against the Washington State Cougars Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won 83-50. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The UCLA Basketball team has high expectations for the 2016-17 season, but how much better will they be, realistically?

If UCLA Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford cannot improve off of a15-17 record from last season, then he is doing something extremely wrong. This year he has some reinforcements and a new outlook on how to run this team, so there should be progress, but how much?

Last year ended horribly. The Bruins lost five straight to end the season, lost to USC three times which culminated in a 95-71 beating in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament and ultimately did not receive an NCAA bid. In a way, the only place to go this season is up.

When the season ended, Alford wrote a letter to the Bruin faithful stating that there will be changes. Well it is almost time for the new season to start and we want to know what these changes will do.

Alford wants to improve on the defense, get better with game planning and adjustments and have the Bruins better prepared for Pac-12 play. From this we can assess that Alford is aware of his faults and is looking to improve on them. Whether he does or not is yet to be seen, but we will see it all very soon.

We did get a glimpse of this team in August during their trip to Australia. Though it was a work in progress with the roster and lineups, there were more good takeaways than bad.

To start, we got to see freshman Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu display their skills. These three Bruins were part of the Top 5 recruiting class the Bruins brought in this season and are expected to help with UCLA’s turnaround. We will get more into them individually, but for the most part, they looked good.

As for the veterans, there are questions about development, but for the most part, it looks like there will be some progress coming from the older Bruins. So let us get right into it and start with the defense.

Feb 27, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Isaac Hamilton (10) and guard Bryce Alford (20) talk during the game against the Stanford Cardinal in the 2nd half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

The UCLA Basketball Defense

Australia was a good barometer for how the season will play out, but once the actually season starts, it will be a brand new ball game.

For this season, If UCLA wants to focus more on defense, they have to get better at on-ball pressure, boxing out and protecting the rim.

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Center Thomas Welsh is the leader down low and a lot will be put on his shoulders. One thing that he needs to focus on is getting stronger to push people around underneath the basket. That will help secure rebounds and could lead to opportunistic transition plays. But Welsh is not alone.

Anigbogu will most certainly be the active force in the front court. He is scary to go up against as he is a proven shot blocker and will redirect shots. He is quite possibly the best defense big man Alford has secured in his tenure at UCLA.

Aaron Holdiay is the best defender at the top of the key. He is aggressive, focused and will help UCLA shut down opponents every time he is on the floor. Isaac Hamilton has also shown flashes of solid defensive awareness and if he can take that to the next level, he will be help Holiday shut guys down in the back court.

Unfortunately, there are not many other Bruins that stand out as defensive weapons. That is not bad, but if a few put out the effort, there is absolutely no reason why the defense cannot improve. But if there is no effort, that will kill the Bruins.

What Alford needs to do is get all of his players to put forth that effort. They do not have to shut guys down, they just need to limit their opponent’s production. For example, Bryce Alford allowed opponents to run right past him to the hoop. If he just steps up to the ball, puts a hand up and limits driving/passing lanes, then the defense will be in better shape.

February 4, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Aaron Holiday (3) moves to the basket against Southern California Trojans guard Elijah Stewart (30) during the first half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The UCLA Basketball Offense

There is no doubt that Lonzo Ball is going to change this team. All he does is make plays and make the players around him better. He is going to be very useful to this season’s team as they have not had a play maker at point guard since Kyle Anderson.

Last year, Bryce Alford handled the majority a point guard duties and I didn’t exactly make the offense flow. Alford is a shooting guard and with Ball handling the distribution, Alford will be a fantastic wing man. Instead of fighting off defenders and trying to do too much, Alford can move freely around the court and create his own shot.

Ball will also have weapons like Hamilton and Prince Ali (when he returns from injury) at his disposal as viable scoring threats. The way Ball sees the floor is incredible and will put every Bruin in the best position the score on every possession.

Having a true distributor will also benefit the big men. With the ball getting down low easier, that will give UCLA a lot of high percentage shots.

Welsh proved to be a good baseline shooter last season and can also score down low with finesse. With the added muscle of Leaf and Anigbogu, the Bruins should be able to get easy buckets under the basket on a consistent basis.

Feb 18, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford (center) in the huddle with teammates against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Wells-Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils defeated the Bruins 68-66. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Game Planning and Roster Management

One of the biggest issues UCLA had last season was the misuse of players in certain roles. The biggest concern was Alford at the one spot. As a shooting guard playing point, he often looked for his own shot first and limited chances for the offense to thrive.

If UCLA is going to be effective at the point, Ball and Holiday should be the primary ball handlers while Alford, Ali and Hamilton move around the court creating offensive opportunities.

In the off-season, UCLA lost some of their depth at guard which means the head coach is going to have to figure out a balance as he now has more frontcourt players than backcourt players. It also does not help that Ali is not going be with the team until late November at the earliest. So until he returns, Steve Alford is going to have to find a way to make a taller lineup work.

And then there is the in-game adjustments. Alford knows what to expect from certain teams, especially when he gets into Pac-12 play. He is not only going to have to design better game plans, but he will also have to adjust on the fly when the Bruins are getting beat in certain aspects of their games.

Only time will tell if some of these more complex situations will bring about improvements, but other than that, this should be a much improved basketball team.

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In summation, yes, this UCLA basketball team will be better, but they are not going to be elite. At least not yet. There are still things that Steve Alford has to work on but it is nothing that cannot be tweaked. The offense will be more explosive and the defense is still a question mark, but for the most part the Bruins should be in the hunt for the Pac-12 title and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

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