Cats managed to slow down dribblin' Alford; now, their job gets tougher
UCLA was so psyched up for its trip to McKale Center, to become relevant again, that it persuaded Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda to visit practice on Tuesday.
I don’t know what the 88-year-old Lasorda told the Bruins, but it probably wasn’t “share the ball, boys.”
In the age of metrics and every conceivable statistic known to basketball, I started a new category Friday night at McKale Center. I counted the dribbles of UCLA guard Bryce Alford.
He dribbled 196 times in the first half and 217 times in the second half. Is that a Pac-12 record, 413 dribbles, by a player who isn’t even a point guard? Could be.
Alford is a really good player who has gone from a trigger-happy underclassman to a streak-shooting junior who is unafraid to get benched for taking a bad shot or two. Why? Because his dad is the coach and the Bruins have no one else available.
Alford controls UCLA’s fate because, as Arizona guard T.J. McConnell so accurately said a year ago, “he has the ultimate green light.”
The Dribbling Factor probably sounds as useless as many of the other basketball metrics, from “minutes continuity” to “percentage of shots assisted at the rim.” But in this case I think it has merit.
Consider this: Alford shot 4 for 14 afield on Friday and in UCLA’s 11 losses this season is shooting 29 percent on 46 for 160 shots.
When the Bruins win, Alford shoots 49 percent on 75-for-153 shooting. That’s what he did when the Bruins beat Arizona at Pauley Pavilion. He shot 9 for 18 and scored 25 points, including the game-winning basket.
Obviously, the key to beating UCLA is to (a) make Alford dribble, looking for a shot so long that he’ll miss, or (b) get the Bruins’ thin front line in foul trouble
Scouting USC for Sunday’s game at McKale Center won’t be as easy. The six Trojans who score in double figures all average between 8 and 10 shots per game. It’s the best balance in the league.
Elijah Stewart, the Pac-12’s most feared sixth man, has taken more shots (197) than every Arizona player except Ryan Anderson and Gabe York.
Oddly, the 23rd-ranked Trojans have only been ranked while playing in McKale Center three times in the UA’s conference history. It’s amazing that a Los Angeles team can play at McKale in 36 seasons and be unranked 33 times. George Raveling was 0-8 at McKale; Henry Bibby 0-9.
USC’s last victory in Tucson was in February 2008. At the end of the game, an unhappy Zona Zoo member threw a water bottle that hit USC’s Dwight Lewis in the leg. That prompted UA coach Kevin O’Neill to grab the microphone and scold fans for their loutish behavior.
That loss to USC might’ve been the low point in the transition from Lute Olson to Sean Miller. Not only did the Wildcats lose a rare game to USC, but the fans embarrassed themselves.
Now, eight years later, a game at McKale is more dignified. You can count how many times an opposing player dribbles the ball and try to make it sound important.
