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UCLA Bruins: 3 Thoughts on Loss to Oklahoma

By Daniel Tran

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1. UCLA lost the game at the free throw line.

You can’t go 43% from the free throw line and expect to win. That’s the bottom line. The UCLA Bruins went 9-21 from the charity stripe and lost by 10 points, which should really be 5 points if you take away the intentional fouls UCLA had to commit to extend the game.

Those 12 missed free throws represents 12 missed opportunities for points with no one guarding them. There is no way to win a close game at the collegiate level by shooting yourself 12 times in the foot.

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2. Not passing the ball for open looks doesn’t help either.

When UCLA is rolling, they play solid defense, get out on the break and get easy looks in transition. When they are running half court offense where the opposing defense is set however, they find themselves struggling to get good looks at the basket.

This was evident today against Oklahoma when the Sooners played solid transition defense and made UCLA play in their half court offense. The result was 37.7% shooting from the field and 8 assists for Bruins with a good chunk of those coming from when they were able to get out and run. If not for the gun slinging of Bryce Alford to bail them out on certain possessions, the Bruins would have found themselves in a world of hurt.

It looks as if there is no trust out there in their half court sets. There is a lot of isolation play and putting up a contested shot, then hoping that their frontcourt can get them an offensive rebound. The ball needs to move more if the Bruins want to succeed against better teams.

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    • 3. This Kevon Looney kid is a beast.

    He may have had an off night shooting (6-15 from the field), but he significantly impacted this game in so many ways. Relentless is a word that is constantly used to describe his game and he put that on display today. His defense was good, blocking 3 shots and coming up with a steal. He played passing lanes well and his length helped grab 8 defensive rebounds.

    He worked tirelessly on the offensive glass as well, grabbing 7 offensive boards to lead all players in the game. At one point, he apparently got tired of working hard and used his 7’5 wingspan to grab a flatfooted offensive rebound after a missed free throw over 6’8 TaShawn Thomas.

    People have been talking nonstop about the brilliance of freshman players like Jahlil Okafor, Stanley Johnson, or Trey Lyles. Maybe it’s time to give the versatile Looney his due in the discussion for best freshman in the nation.

    Conclusion

    Misses at the free throw line ultimately doomed the Bruins today in the Bahamas, but there are other underlying issues that need to be addressed. Though their offensive rebounding continues to be a strength (as shown by Looney’s relentlessness in that aspect), their half court offense is stagnant and easy to defend since there is little to no ball movement. Hopefully they can recover against North Carolina in the consolation bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.

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