In Reply to: UCLA's offense vs. defense posted by KirklandBruin on January 10, 2025 at 12:14:47
I think what he needed was a real understanding of just how important it is to have at least one big, tough post player - one who can body up against another really big tough post opponent, can rebound and can at least contribute some on offense.
He doesn't have one. He missed out on such a player last spring and summering the transfer portal. He really has to land one for next year. (Yes, hopefully Mara continues to develop and comes back stronger and able to hold position inside and no, that's no fix at all for this season, but it is essential.) Also having a larger guard would help as well. Perhaps Perry becomes that guy for next year but this season, you put Clark and Andrews out there together and opposing guards just shoot over them. No biggie at all.
I suggest the game has changed and it especially changed when his teams left the Pac-12 and entered the Big Ten. The lineup he recruited has a bunch of great kids and they do have basketball skills as he has said repeatedly. But this lineup just isn't adequate for the situation in which our program now exists.
Bilodeau plays hard and has good skills on offense but he is challenged as a defensive player and if you put him in the paint, his inadequacies in that aspect of his game drastically reduce your chances of winning against decent teams with tall and strong front courts. (to put it mildly)
As to our offense, it was okay when we were shooting decently. Last two games we've shot terribly. Same players. Same system. Lots of open looks. They just produced nothing. He DID prioritize recruiting players who had already proven they were good three point shooters. And they DID shoot very well just last month (as in up to ten days ago). That just seems to be an anomoly. S--- happens. But even if those shots start falling we're really badly up against it because we cannot stop opponents - at least not yet - from getting easy scores inside and running the offense they most want to run against us.