UCLA's Steve Alford Addresses the Media on Tuesday
LOS ANGELES - UCLA head coach Steve Alford addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon, prior to the team’s practice in the Student Activities Center gym.
Alford and senior guard Norman Powell will travel to San Francisco this Wednesday to represent UCLA at Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday. For the third consecutive year, Pac-12 Media Day will take place at the studios of Pac-12 Networks. Last season, Kyle Anderson served as the team’s student-athlete representative.
Following the conference’s media day, UCLA will be one week away from their exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, slated for Friday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will open the regular season against Montana State on Friday, Nov. 14, in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 9 p.m.
The basketball program will take part in Sunday morning’s Dribble for the Cure, an annual event at UCLA aimed to raise awareness and fundraising to help fight pediatric cancer. This marks the seventh consecutive year in which UCLA has teamed with the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) for Dribble for the Cure.
Quotes from head coach Steve Alford
Tuesday, Oct. 21
on whether UCLA will play more or less zone defense this season
“We are working on a lot of zone and a lot of man. That’s pretty much what we were doing last year because of our lack of depth up front. We don’t have a lot of depth in the backcourt. I don’t know that it will be different from last year. Last year, we ended up being 65/35 man to zone. So, whether we look like that or it’s 70/30 or 60/40 or 50/50, we just haven’t got that identity yet through 12 practices. We do not have a defensive identity yet. That will be a work in progress as we get closer to the season. But, we do want to make sure that we are getting pretty good at both man and zone. I’d say, probably spacing like we did last year from that end. It’s something that we have to consider and think about. We really used zone last year as a way of generating more up-tempo, because statistically, we probably ran better out of the zone – our offense ran better – out of the zone than out of the man. We need to get out and run it. Right now, our rebounding has been pretty good in practice. Hopefully that continues to develop.”
on how the team’s defense looks compared to this time one year ago
“I don’t know how comfortable we are about anything at this time of year. You’re trying to teach and develop and evolve each week. I think our guys are doing that. We just went on a retreat over the weekend that was tremendous. We had a lot of team building and that went really well last year. We tried to do something like a training camp retreat and then the season. So, it’s like we broke training camp with 10 or 11 practices, and then you go on the retreat and come back off the retreat and Sunday and Monday were our first practices that we consider not training camp type of practices. The guys have really done a good job. This is a group that really listens. It’s a group that really works. They have bought in. It’s just inexperience. The Wear twins were fifth-year guys who didn’t know our system, but they were 23-year-olds who understand defense and understand concepts. So, they picked stuff up very quickly. Kyle [Anderson] and Jordan [Adams] in particular, they have a very high basketball IQ. They picked up stuff very quickly. Zach [LaVine], being young like a lot of freshmen, picked it up a little bit slower than the older guys did, and that’s what happens. This year we have a lot of freshmen. That inexperience will take us a little bit longer. That’s not just on the defensive side of things, but that’s offensively – making the right plays, where the ball has got to go, our screen and react, how we like to do things. They understand good shot bad shot, it’s just getting to that point is going to take some time because they are inexperienced.”
on what is most challenging for the younger players
“I think making plays. A lot of them, whether you’ve been in the state of California and you have had a shot clock, a lot of them have played without the shot clock before. They come from high school playing against 15 and 16-year olds, and now you’re playing against 21 and 22-year olds. So even though you’ve been together in the summer, it becomes a little bit of – that’s why we like to make those first 10 practices like a training camp because you get the shock gone – the shock of being with coaches, of being with 12 guys in a gym and going five-on-five with really strong, athletic bodies. I think that it’s getting used to the pace of play and how fast and strong this level is, compared to high school.”
on how the freshmen have performed – Kevon Looney, Thomas Welsh and G.G. Goloman
“They have been tremendous. Kevon has been slowed a little bit with his hip. It’s something that has been nagging him. And each day he is going to do more and more. He started practice and we’re just taking it slow with him because it is early in the season. I don’t think anything is a serious concern, but it’s just something that we want to be really cautious with at this time of year. Kevon has been terrific when he has been in there. Thomas and G.G., these guys have just done incredible jobs early on. And Isaac [Hamilton], though he’s not a freshman, it’s his first go at it. I think that all of those guys have really shown a lot of promise. It’s something that we are very excited about.”
on Kevon’s style of play
“Yeah, but he’s different than Wanaah, and Wanaah has been terrific. I think that Wanaah and Noah, I wouldn’t say that they have been surprises, but they have been pleasant surprises in that they are doing everything that we are asking them to do. Noah has been knocking down shots and making good basketball plays and being a strong and aggressive guard. Wanaah has been running the floor, trying to tip-dunk everything, being a good screener, letting the game come to him. Kevon is a little bit different of being what you call a stretch four or a big guard. Wanaah might be more like a stretch four, whereas Kevon is more like a big guard. So when we go with Kevon, it’s very similar to last year with what we did with putting four guards on the floor and playing that way. When you’ve got Wanaah and G.G. in there, you are playing more of a traditional three guards and two bigs. You just get a little bit more versatile when Kevon is in there because he can play multiple positions for you.”
on thoughts of hosting or not hosting a Midnight Madness type of event
“No, I’m not sure that’s our niche. When you’re just in a college town, I think those things can work. But this is L.A., and as you know, it’s the biggest sports market there is. So, there’s a lot to do. I think that our sell is about who is in the stands and whether it’s a celebrity-driven stands or what not. But we are doing a lot of neat things, like moving the student section down. We hope that will really help with our student section because now it’s not half up and half down. You pretty much, if you’re a student, you can get into that lower bowl, and that’s big. I think it’s nearly 1,000 seats, almost, in that lower bowl. We have been doing some things that I think will really help at that end. But, what we like to do is to go on a [team] retreat, and that weekend takes away from that. And then we will have the one scrimmage against Azusa Pacific and then the one closed-door scrimmage.”
on Kevon being able to have freedom on the court despite a nagging hip
“He’s going to be the same player. And Norman’s that way. We have four guys who we are giving that freedom – Bryce, Isaac, Norman and Kevon. Anytime there is a rebound or loose ball, they just go. It’s not look for an outlet or that type of thing. And those are the four guys who this year have the freedom to do that and to start our transition. They are all interchangeable. So if it ends up being Norman, everybody else knows what lanes they are supposed to be in. If it’s Kevon, everybody knows what lanes to be in. Bigs get it. They know that they’ve got to find Bryce or they’ve got to find Isaac.”
on leadership and communication
“Well, that’s going to be a big key, to be quite honest with you. We came out of this retreat and team-buliding stuff talking about that. I think it’s going to be a really big key because we have a lot of really good guys. We have to talk more, because we are a very quiet team. Last year’s leadership – you know, Kyle, he was vocal. He led by not just his actions, but he was so competitive and very vocal. And even though he was only a sophomore, he did a very good job with that. You’ve got guys like the Wears who did a really good job of letting him lead. So, I think that that’s what we are going through right now. Norman has got the ability to lead. He’s a little bit quiet to be a leader. Bryce has all the intangibles of being a very good leader. He’s only a sophomore, so who do upperclassmen handle that. So you’re going through those types of things. Isaac, potentially down the road, I think he can be. But he’s just trying to find his, having been out for a year. But it’s really about who is really up to do it, and that will be interesting over the next two or three weeks to see how the team kind of evolves that way. That’s something that has to evolve within this team before we get the season going.”
on Kevon being a high-scoring player
“I think that the can do both. He’s young. We are just two weeks into this thing. But Kevon is very talented and he will be able to help our team in multiple ways. He is 6-foot-9 with an incredible wingspan. He’s a great rebounder. Losing a guy like Kyle, we lost a lot of points and rebounding, and Kevon is going to really help our board play. And he’s able to do the things, not in the point guard mindset, but the things as far as what Kyle was able to do, getting the ball off the backboard and just go. Not to the level or the point guard mentality as Kyle, but he still gives us that option of doing those things. I think that he will versatile that way, but he’s a freshman. I think that you will see a gradual transformation of who he is as a player, because like all freshmen, he’s got to figure out what this level is about and what his niche is. And what his role is going to be on this team. He will have a lot of freedom to create that role on this team.
on how far along Bryce has come since last season
“I’ve been impressed, really, not just with Bryce, but with Bryce and Isaac. They played on the same team last year – they were on the gold team last year in practice, though Isaac was rotating a lot. The four guys who played together a lot were Bryce, Isaac, Zach and Noah. And Noah then got hurt, so a lot of the time it was just Zach, Bryce and Isaac playing together. What we have been impressed with is how well Bryce and Isaac are playing well together. Both of them are a lot stronger. And you can tell that in their bodies. Their body fat is down. Their strength is up. I’ve seen Bryce’s confidence, because you come in as a freshman like these other freshmen and you are trying to figure things out. He’s been able to figure out this level. Now, it’s about attrition, people leaving, and he’s got to take that up a notch. I think what we have been impressed with is them playing together. There will be times where they are not playing together, and both of them have to be able to play, not so much differently, but they have to play well when one is in and one is out. There is a lack of depth, so there will be times where they’re not always out there together. And that’s what they’ve got to learn to be able to do.”