UCLA Basketball: What is wrong with the Bruins?

UCLA basketball’s lack of defense, poor ball security, and shaky three-point shooting has created a two-game losing streak.

Before last Saturday, the UCLA Bruins were on a short list of title contenders that included Kentucky, Villanova, Kansas and Gonzaga, among others.

But since then, UCLA has shown major flaws on their way to a two-game losing streak against the likes of Arizona and USC.On Saturday, Arizona thoroughly dominated the Bruins from start to finish on the road at Pauley Pavilion. Allonzo Trier’s presence helped guide the Wildcats to victory, but the Bruins had no answer for Kobi Simmons, Lauri Markkanen, Kadeem Allen and Rawle Alkins. On Wednesday against the Trojans, Andy Enfield’s team threw a zone at UCLA, and the Bruins couldn’t crack it despite having an offense that is tailor-made to burn zones.

On Saturday, the Wildcats thoroughly dominated the Bruins from start to finish on the road at Pauley Pavilion. Allonzo Trier’s presence helped guide the Wildcats to victory, but the Bruins had no answer for Kobi Simmons, Lauri Markkanen, Kadeem Allen and Rawle Alkins. On Wednesday against the Trojans, Andy Enfield’s team threw a zone at UCLA, and the Bruins couldn’t crack it despite having an offense that is tailor-made to burn zone defenses.

So what’s wrong with the Bruins?

Well, let’s start with the biggest concern, which comes on the defensive side of the ball. The Bruins cannot stop anyone. They give up too many free lanes to the basket, opposing teams know they can attack T.J. Leaf and Bryce Alford in pick-and-roll situations, and opponents have had success pulling UCLA’s rim protectors away from the basket.

They are allowing 76.9 points per game, which is 278th in the country, and have given up a combined 90 points in the last two outings.

If you can’t get stops down the stretch of games, or stops in general, it’s going to be awfully tough to win in the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA’s offense has been nearly unstoppable, they have shooters all over the floor, they are balanced and their speed and pace in transition is unmatchable. However, if the Bruins aren’t scoring 90+ points a game, how are they going to win games if they can’t hold down the opposing team?

And that’s where the problem lies. In the last two games, UCLA’s offense hasn’t been at their best. They are turning the ball over, they surprisingly couldn’t make enough threes and Lonzo Ball was quiet for the final 10 minutes against Arizona before turning the ball over seven times versus USC.

This Bruins’ offense is supposed to carry Steve Alford’s unit to victory. Instead, their lacking ball security and their surprisingly shaky shooting has become a cause for concern.

So the real question to take from all this is, is UCLA really a title contender?

At this point, I would say they are still in the mix but are behind the top tier. It’s tough to overreact to just two games after what we saw on the road at Kentucky, on the road at Oregon and in other games earlier this season.

Next: Conference battles shake up top 25

It would be difficult to not see the Bruins reach at least the second weekend because of how aesthetically pleasing their offensive attack is, but if UCLA doesn’t improve their defense and start knocking down their shots again, they could be in major trouble. For right now, we will keep them in the title mix, but with the college basketball landscape ever changing, it’s unknown as to what the case will be a month or so from now.

Home/UCLA Bruins