UCLA Basketball: Steve Alford should be on the hot seat
By Jamaal Artis
The UCLA Basketball Bruins have some questions that need to be answered. The first question to address is with head coach Steve Alford.
Sitting down after he called a timeout, UCLA Basketball Bruins coach Steve Alford could hardly hide his displeasure with his teams play against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Down 17 points in the second half, the Bruins looked like a rudderless team that despite only having two losses on the season.
At home on the Pauley Pavillion court the Bruins had 18 turnovers and despite hitting 11 three-pointers to the Bearcats eight, the Bruins were at 37 percent clip compared to the Bearcats who shot 47 percent from three-point land. They were never in the game after the first half, every time they shaved a double-digit deficit to single digits they’d miss a shot, commit a turnover, or miss crucial rebounds.
Ultimately the Bruins lack of depth and youth has the Bruins looking like they are in for a lackluster season. Last seasons 33-5 season is but a distant memory for Bruins fans as the catalyst for last years resurgence Lonzo Ball is gone to the NBA.
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A vocal fan base that thinks UCLA is a top program in the nation will not tolerate another rebuilding season for the Bruins. The kind of noise Bruins fans are making on social media is reminiscent of the clamor that football coach Jim Mora dealt with the last two years before his firing this past November.
For Alford like all other UCLA coaches before him, the shadow of the legendary John Wooden who produced 10 NCAA titles always creates a perception that UCLA should be contending for basketball titles.
Despite winning 68 percent of his games coached for the Bruins, Alford hasn’t met the expectations of the rabid alumni wanting to end the Bruins 23-year championship drought. Alford has led the Bruins to three Sweet 16’s but the only trophy he’s brought was a conference tournament title in 2014. That was Alford’s first year and it’s been lackluster since.
Frankly, the Bruins haven’t done much winning as a program overall since winning an NCAA title in 1995 other than a run of three consecutive Final Fours between 2006-08 the Bruins haven’t gotten past the round of 16 but once.
The early season struggles should not all fall on Alford, having three players suspended due to the shoplifting incident while the Bruins were in China dwindled the Bruins depth. Without depth players have been asked to step up that may not have gotten the playing time and it’s not translating to success.
A game against the perennial top 10 Kentucky Wildcats before the Pac-12 season will be the last chance for the Bruins to turn the season around.
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If Alford can’t lift the Bruins up and the team misses the NCAA tournament for the second time in the last three seasons, then Alford will begin to see that sitting on the hot seat may burn up his time at UCLA.