As the season winds down with only four conference games left, the No. 2 Bruins are eagerly trying to tie up loose ends and make final improvements before the postseason begins.
UCLA water polo has seen great improvements in many areas of its game since the start of the season, but as always, coach Adam Wright thinks the players can keep improving.
Along with focusing on 6-on-5 situations, transition game and defense, this weekend will serve as a good opportunity to work on zone attacks.
The team noted that Long Beach State can potentially pose a problem, as it is known for putting pressure on its outside players.
“We tend to have other teams zone against us, so it forces us to shoot from the outside,” said senior attacker Paul Pickell. “With the zone attack, we get to move and work our angles, so that’s what we’ve been focusing on this week.”
This week in practice, Wright has been emphasizing attacking from the zone, getting in close and personal to find shots from the inside.
“We want to be a threat not only from the outside, but from the inside with the centers,” Wright said. “Hopefully we will see some zone this weekend so we can get better.”
The zone attack requires speed, precision and teamwork, which the Bruins possess, as they have proved over the course of the season, according to Wright.
“There are a lot of pieces that go into (a zone attack),” Wright said. “It’s not just one player and one instance.”
As the end comes closer, so does the team. The team energy is in a much better place now than where it was at the beginning of the season.
With the introduction of the freshman class and the loss of core seniors, things were awkward as everyone had just been getting used to how the others played.
“I think that we’ve played enough games together and we know each other well enough that there really isn’t an issue,” said freshman attacker Ryder Roberts. “It’s just one team now.”
The difference is apparent in practice and can be seen in the fluidity of the players’ movements. The team moves as one, and the players respond to each situation in unison.
According to Pickell, this puts them in a great position going into the postseason.
But for now, the team is focused on getting through this weekend.
“We worked hard all week and if we come prepared, we can play really well and come out strong,” Roberts said.