After UCLA’s 86-84 loss to Washington Thursday, coach Steve Alford said something that he refrained from saying before the season started.
The UCLA coach called his starting lineup “slow.”
Alford was specifically referring to the “big-big” starting lineup that the Bruins have featured all year – the one that features a 7-foot, 245-pound center and a 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward.
“(That lineup is) not working,” Alford said. “We’re slow, we’re not reacting to things.”
Those words couldn’t have been more different than the ones Alford uttered before the season started in mid-November.
“Both of those guys (sophomore center Thomas Welsh and senior power forward Tony Parker) are running really well,” Alford said on Nov. 10. “I’m not saying we’re slow.”
The Bruins may not have been slow early in the season, but they’ve regressed considerably over the past couple weeks. UCLA (12-9, 3-5 Pac-12) has lost three of its last four Pac-12 games, equaling its worst start to conference play since the 2002-2003 season.
“We haven’t been 12-9, we haven’t been 3-5,” Alford said.
GAME WRAP: The Bruins’ Thursday night loss to Washington.
Paramount to UCLA’s struggles has been defensive inefficiency. The Bruins allowed 51 points to the Huskies in the first half Thursday, and have allowed more than 85 points in each of their last three losses.
“Giving up 86 points, we’re not gonna win a whole lot of games (like that),” said junior guard Bryce Alford. “We score the ball really well, but when you don’t guard anybody, that (scoring) doesn’t really matter.”
The big-big lineup has appeared to exacerbate UCLA’s defensive issues in recent games. In the losses to both Oregon and USC, the Bruins were slow with their defensive rotations and late with their help defense.
The same issues persisted in the first half Thursday night against Washington, so Steve Alford decided to make a change. He opted to go away from his big-big lineup and give sophomore small forward Jonah Bolden more minutes. The plan worked, as UCLA allowed 16 fewer points in the second period.
“All of a sudden, Jonah got more minutes than he’s got in a long time,” Alford said. “It showed in the second half. We got to more (loose) balls, we pursued things with more urgency, we were much more athletic.”
As Bolden and the Bruins mounted a late comeback, the big-big lineup was seldom found. Welsh and Parker combined for just 17 minutes of playing time during the second half.
“I’m starting to feel more comfortable out there,” Bolden said.
With UCLA’s smaller lineup appearing to boost the team in the second half, Alford said he’s going to continue the experiment with it going forward.
“We’re gonna take a long look at that,” Alford said. “Because I think when we’re big-big as much as we are, we’re just not reacting, and we’re not as athletic and quick as I’d like us to be.”