Basketball has been neither a disappointment nor a success this season. But we have a chance to make a run to the Sweet Sixteen if we play our cards right. From there, it’s about matchups.
First we need to beat Purdue, whose early schedule was easy and now they are losing in bunches. They aren’t a great matchup for us. They have two great players: a bouncy, strong PF and a short, deadeye shooter PG who leads the country in assists. They also have a wing who can score and defend.
I hope we put Clark on the PG, Kobe on the wing, and go big with Mara and Kyle manning the paint. The problem is that we play 98% man and none of our players match up with Kaufman-Renn (the PF). He shoots 43% from 3 and 60% overall. He’s really good. Indiana just beat them playing zone. We won’t do that for more than a few minutes, just because. If ever there was a UCLA team that could have a great zone D, this is it. Mara or Kyle clogging the middle with Bilo and Dailey on the wings and Kobe and Skyy on the guards.
If we can force Kaufman-Renn into an average night (19/6) and not get lit up by the PG getting passes behind our D, we can beat them. I don’t know what we do offensively because I still don’t see any coherent plan, but maybe Bilo and Dailey hit 4 3s each and Clark and Andrews score 10 each. I don’t want to see Mack in the game. So he will probably play 30 minutes.
If we can get by Purdue and win at a decent Northwestern team then beat SC, we are staring at a double bye in the Big10 tournament. If we lose to Purdue, we drop to 6-7 seed in the Big10 tournament.
If we beat Purdue and take care of the regular season, we are looking at a 4 seed in the tournament. If we lose, we are probably a 6/7. There are too many teams in the 4-7 seed range, including 5+ Big10 teams. Finishing 4th in the conference versus 7th is a big deal this season.
But none of it matters if we can’t score when we need to.
First we need to beat Purdue, whose early schedule was easy and now they are losing in bunches. They aren’t a great matchup for us. They have two great players: a bouncy, strong PF and a short, deadeye shooter PG who leads the country in assists. They also have a wing who can score and defend.
I hope we put Clark on the PG, Kobe on the wing, and go big with Mara and Kyle manning the paint. The problem is that we play 98% man and none of our players match up with Kaufman-Renn (the PF). He shoots 43% from 3 and 60% overall. He’s really good. Indiana just beat them playing zone. We won’t do that for more than a few minutes, just because. If ever there was a UCLA team that could have a great zone D, this is it. Mara or Kyle clogging the middle with Bilo and Dailey on the wings and Kobe and Skyy on the guards.
If we can force Kaufman-Renn into an average night (19/6) and not get lit up by the PG getting passes behind our D, we can beat them. I don’t know what we do offensively because I still don’t see any coherent plan, but maybe Bilo and Dailey hit 4 3s each and Clark and Andrews score 10 each. I don’t want to see Mack in the game. So he will probably play 30 minutes.
If we can get by Purdue and win at a decent Northwestern team then beat SC, we are staring at a double bye in the Big10 tournament. If we lose to Purdue, we drop to 6-7 seed in the Big10 tournament.
If we beat Purdue and take care of the regular season, we are looking at a 4 seed in the tournament. If we lose, we are probably a 6/7. There are too many teams in the 4-7 seed range, including 5+ Big10 teams. Finishing 4th in the conference versus 7th is a big deal this season.
But none of it matters if we can’t score when we need to.
