First the prediction. UCLA was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 in the conference’s preseason men’s basketball media poll released Thursday. The Bruins received six first-place votes with 264 total points and finished behind Oregon, which earned 288 points and 16 first-place votes. It’s the highest finish in the preseason poll for UCLA since 2013-14. It is always interesting for me to see who Steve Alford picks for Media Day. His first year he picked Kyle Anderson; a sophomore but definitely the star and leader of his first team. His second year he chose senior Norman Powell. The soft spoken Norman Powell became not only the team’s best player but its leader. The third year was a bit of a surprising pick to me, instead of the funny and media friendly senior Tony Parker, he chose his son Junior Bryce Alford. An argument can be made that Bryce was that team’s best player, but that team was terrible and had a losing record. Next year, he chose Senior Isaac Hamilton. Not the best player but the returning leading scorer and a senior who was at UCLA for four years (although only eligible for three.) Last year, with apologies to Dimitri’s GG love, he went to the two best upperclassman, Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday. They were obviously the best players. This year it was sophomores Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes. Wilkes would have been my pick and was the obvious choice. The inclusion of Jaylen is interesting. It seems to argue that Alford expects big things of Hands, including leadership. Some excerpts: These two guys [Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands] are going to be instrumental in our leadership of helping these young guys understand what it’s like to play. . . . But in regard to this year’s leadership, I think Kris and Jaylen have an awful lot to do with that. Now, Prince and Alex are guys that we’re going to lean to on leadership, but when you look at guys that I think are vocal guys and have the personality to lead, these two here in this room are going to be a lot put on them. Alford addressed the elephant in the room, the fact that UCLA only has one point guard on the roster. Well, obviously [the injury to] Tyger [Campbell], that was a huge loss here early in the season because we thought that with Tyger, we could obviously have Jaylen on the ball and then take him off the ball; now probably what you’ll see our team look a little bit more like, we’ll still get him off the ball, whether that’s with Chris Smith or others, but Jaylen will probably take on more of a look of an Aaron Holiday a year ago where he’s initiating a lot of our offense, throwing the ball ahead, entering the offense, those type of things as our primary ball handler. But I think he’s still going to be one of our better scorers because he shoots the ball, he scores it well For a UCLA basketball nerd like me this is the most interesting quote of the day. A number of things: 1. I predicted it correct before the season that Tyger may start at point with Jaylen playing shooting guard. Obviously that is gone now. 2. No surprise but Alford sees Hands as a lead point guard. In other words an Aaron Holiday, not a Lonzo Ball. 3. However, it was surprising to hear the backup point may be Chris Smith. The 6’8” Smith was recruited as a guard. That said, he averaged .5 assists to one turnover a game last year. I think people sell his driving skills short. He was effective drawing fouls. But to be the backup point is a different story. If he is the backup point, Hands may need to play close to Holiday minutes. Which brings me to the next interesting geek point. UCLA could conceivably have the following team on the floor during a competitive PAC 12 game: 7’ Center Moses Brown, 6’10” Power Forward Cody Riley, 6’8” Small Forward Kris Wilkes, 6’6” Shooting Guard Jules Bernard, and 6’8” Point Chris Smith. Are you kidding me?! That almost an average height of 6’9”!! As Alford said: You’ve heard me mention it’s the biggest team I’ve had in my 28 years. I think we’ve got eight guys over 6’8”. . . . t I think we’re a little bit more versatile defensively in how we can guard, whether that be in zone, whether that be in man. We’re just longer, more athletic, and guys are more versatile. Our bigs can guard guards, and both Cody and Jalen are like that. Of course Alford complains about how young the team is. For the first time he is correct. This is a young team. But man with the right coach this could be a great team. But then there is this from ESPN: Is this finally the season a plane does not fly over Westwood with a “FIRE STEVE ALFORD” banner? Medcalf: Oh, the banners are coming if Alford underperforms. He has his third consecutive top-five recruiting class and he still hasn’t won a conference title. We’re always on Alford Watch, especially this season with his buyout coming down to $3.6 million compared with the $6.2 million it would have cost UCLA to fire him after last season. But Alford has the power and the talent to end the noise. This is not one of the guys who gets UCLA. But if Alford underachieves AGAIN with this talent, he should be gone. Go Bruins.<doc-sep>“I think Brandon will be one of the best freshmen that plays in our conference,” Miller said. “He’s got a 6-6 wingspan, he’s 6-2, so he’s a bigger guard, can really score, and very dynamic in the open court. I think we’ll rely on him a lot, both in his play making and scoring ability, and I look at him as making a big impact.” As he did during Arizona’s McKale Center media day last week, Miller said a big storyline with this season’s team will be how well the sophomore role players from last season elevate into more featured roles this season. “If you look at who they were when they were recruited, they were all very good, highly thought-of players, but sometimes the biggest jump you can make in college sports is between your freshman and sophomore year, and we’re really banking on that,” Miller said. “We need them to be good, and I know each one of the four has really worked hard.” So ultimately, that means guard Brandon Randolph, forward Emmanuel Akot, forward Ira Lee and guard Alex Barcello will determine whether the Wildcats are actually a top-tier Pac-12 team or not. Even if they don’t quite look at it that way. “We’re not worried about it,” Randolph said. “We’re just playing every game like it’s the last and we’ll see where it ends up.” Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.<doc-sep>
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 10: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats reacts to an official's call during the championship game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the USC Trojans at T-Mobile Arena on March 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 75-61. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Arizona Basketball is nearly back and with just weeks until the start season, the Wildcats went through the Pac-12 media day, being picked to finish fourth. It’s a busy time for Arizona Athletics and as we reach the middle of October, that means the return of Arizona Basketball! Yesterday the Wildcats took part in the annual Pac-12 Media Day with head coach Sean Miller accompanied by Chase Jeter and Brandon Randolph. Arizona Basketball has been dominating the headlines for some time now, and it’s no secret they would be the center of a lot of attention as the program headed to San Francisco for the event. As we’re all too familiar by now, we’ve had to deal with the ongoing saga that is the FBI Investigation. Now a year after the initial report came out, testimonies are beginning, so naturally Arizona’s name is going to be tossed around. At the media day, Miller and his team remained focused, not willing to entertain any questions regarding the matter. For now, the focus is basketball! Heading into 2018-19, there are plenty of questions regarding this team, but none the less they should still be plenty talented. Arizona has won the conference the last two years, this year won’t be an easy feat to do. Also returning a lot of talent is Oregon, UCLA and Washington most notably. Unsure of how the Wildcats would fare in the annual conference predictions, it seems the voters went a bit easy on Arizona, predicting them to finish fourth. The Wildcats received just one first place vote. Ahead of Arizona was; Oregon, UCLA and Washington. Here’s how those predictions look: Team (1st place votes) 1. Oregon (16) 2. UCLA (6) 3. Washington (2) 4. Arizona (1) 5. USC 6. Arizona State 7. Colorado 8. Utah 9. Stanford 10. Oregon State 11. California 12. Washington State Even though Arizona lost quite a few pieces from last season, they were still picked fourth. That was a bit surprising to Miller. Here is the reaction that Arizona Daily Stars Bruce Pascoe was able to capture from Miller; “I was surprised we were picked that high,” he said. “I don’t look at us as being the fourth best team in the Pac-12. I don’t mean that in a negative light at all toward our group, but we’ve lost eight players from a year ago. There’s a lot of teams that have very good players and more experience returning.” Overall, I think the pick seems fair. Arizona is unproven, and there should be better play in the Pac-12 this season. At Zona Zealots, we are excited for the return of basketball and can’t wait to see how the Wildcats perform. We look forward to the Red-Blue game this weekend to kick-off 2018-19! Bear Down, Arizona!