FanPost

Best and Worst Case for UCLA B-Ball Players

I think Bryce will be better, and worse, then people think. - Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

With a hat tip to Chrisorr and Tydides who have been doing a great job on basketball, I thought I would throw a little ditty on an interesting piece on the Dagger that I think was intriguing. The premise is best-case and worst-case scenarios for basketball teams. UCLA was #25 and last on the list. It is worth scrolling down and reading (besides the obligatory and unnecessary shot at UCLA fans).

Instead of excerpting the piece, I thought I would just briefly give some thoughts to which is more likely to be true for each player: best-case scenario or worse-case scenario. I am not giving myself any outs such as maybes (although I split one). This is way too early and again I have not followed as closely as Chrisorr and others but here goes:

Players More Likely to Meet the Best-case Scenario

Kevon Looney. He looked amazing in high school. While the "Kevin Love" comparison is a bit much, he could be good and a star on this team right away. That does not seem too farfetched.

Norman Powell as a "top wing." Again this could happen, but it will be asking a lot of Powell to be the number one defender and a top scorer. Steve deserves credit for setting Norman free of the shackles that Howland put on him as a three point shooter. Powell is a good defender. He could take the next step but how much of a load will be put on him?

Bryce Alford on offense, the dagger writes: "Neither Isaac Hamilton or Bryce Alford are classic point guards, but grow into the job, taking care of the ball and creating scoring opportunities for themselves and their teammates." Shockingly, if the ceiling is not set too high I could see this happening for Bryce. I think Bryce improved on offense as a point last year. He will not be great or even good in the traditional sense but on a point guardless team he will be better than some of the latter Howland point guards in the Alford motion system.

Players More Likely to Meet Worst Case Scenario

Isaac Hamilton. Don't see it working as a point guard. Learning to play at the PAC 12 level and point guard is a lot to ask of anyone. Someone who is not a natural point guard, forget it.

Bryce is on the best and worst case lists for me. The worst case where it says "major liability on defense." His defenders will likely point to a pre-Pac 12 game where he does better or he is "good on offense" but he is likely to be eaten alive on defense in the PAC 12. I can't see him even being Zeek Jones on the defensive end. He is a lock to be a big liability on defense.

Thomas Welsh is just too raw and it takes bigs longer to develop. I hope fans are patient with him. He is a four year player and his first year probably should be a redshirt but not going to happen here. Again, he will get destroyed in the PAC 12. He is about the future.

Tony Parker is the one player I want to cop out and say maybe. I put him in the worst case scenario because of who is around him. Parker needs a traditional point guard on offense. On defense, I have a feeling he is going to get some fouls trying to help Bryce and Isaac that are going to limit him. Look, I hope I am wrong and readily defer to others, but just not confident. The article talks of playing Welsh and Parker together, if that happens . . . Guerrero will probably give Alford another contract extension.

Which is the ultimate worst case scenario.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

In This FanPost

Teams
Players

Trending Discussions