Why UCLA will win it all: How the Bruins look against other top seeds

It's March Madness. Here is what I think

Why UCLA will win it all, and who they will take out to do it. 
By: Joe Smeltzer

Photo creds to UCLA.edu

The strengths of the UCLA Bruins are evident. They are the best offensive team in college basketball, possibly in the past decade, and feature some of the best players in the land, those being Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf, and Bryce Alford. That is the main reason why I love them. That is the main reason why I think they will win it all. However, there is a reason that they, in spite of being the most offensivley gifted team in the country, are a #3 seed and not a #1 seed, and that is their defense.

Defensively, the Bruins are pedestrian at best, horrendous at worst. They allow 75.3 points per contest, which is good for 256th in the country, and 9th in the PAC 12. There have been occasions this season in which the Bruins allowed 89, 92 and 96 points, and two of those games resulted in defeat. So, UCLA's defensive concerns are legitimate, and they could well cost them a national title. However, let's look at some of UCLA's likely tournament opponents, assuming they get past the first two rounds,  as they may have some similar issues that the Bruins can exploit.

Kentucky

Malik Monk (20.4 PPG) is trouble for any defense he comes across (photo creds to NCAA.COM

If all goes according to plan, Steve Alford's men will take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16. A simple way to say that UCLA can beat Kentucky is that they've done it before, as they pulled out a 97-92 thriller (at Rupp Arena, mind you) on December 3. Another reason involves Kentucky, like UCLA, struggling on the defensive end.

Like the Bruins, the Wildcats know how to put the ball in the basket, as only four teams in the country score more than Kentucky, UCLA, of course, being one of those teams. On defense, however, the Bruins allow 71.8 points per game, good for just 8th in the SEC and 162nd in America. UCLA has proven that they can carve up Kentucky's defense, and it's not like the Bruins have forgotten how to score over the past three months.

As a fan, I would love to see this matchup take place, as it would be a Final Four quality contest in the Sweet 16. This game would be almost guaranteed to be a shootout, and as proven on December 3, UCLA can win those things.

UNC

#2 Joel Berry is a stud. But are his temmates well-rounded enough to get to the Final Four? (Photo creds to The Daily Tar Heel)

I'll be blunt for a minute; North Carolina is the most overrated team in this tournament. They are poorly disciplined. They are reckless at times. They are inconsistent, and oh yeah, they can't play defense! (8th in the ACC in opponent PPG)

Having said all of that, UNC is still among the nation's most talented offensive teams, and yes, they would be likely to score a lot against UCLA. However, I cannot trust this North Carolina team to be smart enough. If UNC makes dumb mistakes, and UCLA takes advantage of those careless mistakes, a Final Four could well be in their future for the boys of Westwood.

Kansas

Landen Lucas (#33) is the only big man that could play a big factor for KU.

In some ways, Kansas is similar to both Kentucky and UCLA. High scoring, poor defending. However, although Kansas is a #1 seed and Kentucky a #2, I think the Jayhawks would, in fact, be a better matchup for UCLA than the Wildcats would be.

The reason for this is that while both UK and KU struggle defensively, Kentucky has an advantage in size, as six of their players are 6'10 and above. Kansas, on the other hand, does not have a legitimate inside presence aside from the 6'10 Landen Lucas. Although UCLA is not known for pounding the ball in the paint, if and when these two teams meet, don't be surprised if big Thomas Welsh has a field day.

Kansas will score their fair share of deuces and treys, just as everybody else does against this Bruins team. However, like Kentucky, the Jayhawks are vulnerable on the other side, so much so, that I would not be surprised if UCLA were to win this game by 10-15 points. Ralk Chalk, no championship.

The Dukies/Wildcats
In my eyes, UCLA will either play
A. The Duke Blue Devils
B. The Arizona Wildcats
Both of these teams are excellent, and therefore, this match-up would be a tricky one for the Bruins. However, it is one that they could win. First, I'll talk about Arizona.

The Wildcats have a decent shot to get to the Final Four, as either they or mighty Gonzaga will come out of that West region. Arizona is a familiar foe for these Bruins, as the two teams have had three meetings with each other, with Zona having a 2-1 edge. On the surface, it seems like a tough chore to pick UCLA in this game, as Arizona defeated the Bruins just five days ago and looked pretty good doing it. However, there are a few reasons why I do not expect that to happen again.

The first is that, in my heart of hearts, I do not expect Arizona to get to the Final Four, as Gonzaga has their most balanced attack ever. The second is that I don't see the Duke Blue Devils beating UCLA either. I will not argue that Duke is the most talented team in the East region, and I will admit that the Dukies might well be the hottest team in the country. However, one thing separates UCLA from Duke, and that is consistency.

This is a Duke team that is on fire. But this is also a Duke team that has lost eight games. This is also a Duke team that, albeit partly due to injury, has lost games to Syracuse, NC State and Virgina Tech this season. This is also a Duke team that was 11-7 in the ACC. So, who's to say that inconsistency wouldn't appear if these men faced off with the Bruins? UCLA is not perfect. But they are pretty damn good on most nights, and I would expect this young Dukie team to fall off the rainbow if they were to face Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf, and Bryce Alford.

Now, let's say UCLA is to face Arizona. It would be so easy to pick the Wildcats, especially considering that they, unlike Duke, Kansas or Kentucky, can play defense. However, I believe life has a way of evening itself out, meaning that this UCLA team is too good to lose three times to a single opponent.

So, because of their offense, and because many of their big matchups can't play defense, I like the ultra-talented Bruins to score and score in bunches, so much so, that they will win their 12th National Title. Somewhere, John Wooden will be smiling.

Don’t Feed the Birds

By: Alex Gordon
It finally happened.  After seven absurd seasons in Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins finally got out, and he escaped to a situation that many didn’t expect him to end up in. February 20th the most talented center in the league was traded to the New Orleans for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and 2017 first and second round draft picks.  Hield is the only real “upside” player among these three.  Even if the Pelicans don’t drastically improve with the acquisition of Cousins, they will most likely find that the picks don’t turn into much either (especially considering that Cousins and Isaiah Thomas are the only impact players the Kings have managed to draft in the last seven years).  
 The Pelicans managed to acquire one of the most sought after players in the league for cheap, and in doing so most likely turned around their middling franchise.  The knock on the Pelicans since they drafted Anthony Davis is that they have never been able to surround him with the right pieces, and they waffled between having him play center or power forward. Insisting, in the last few seasons, that he be paired with an Omer Asik or Alexis Ajinca for a significant portion of the game. Many argued that this made him less effective. Judging by the fact that the Pelicans played their best with him at Center over the last few years, and with the league going smaller anyway, that the pounding he might take playing center wouldn’t be as significant as it would have 5 years ago. 
   What’s fascinating about this pairing is that it was never a question of whether Davis could be productive as a power forward, but if you could get a center talented enough to warrant playing him there.  Realistically that had never been a possibility; it’s much easier to acquire skilled power forwards than skilled centers.  Cousins is the best hypothetical partner for Davis in the front court.  He’s bruisingly physical, the center that people were referencing when they would say “Davis is too skinny to match up with.” At the same time, Cousins has range, and the ability to handle the ball on the perimeter, so there’s no need to worry about them sticking up the lane for each other.  We legitimately have never seen a front court like this in recent NBA history.  It’s terrifying, their skill sets complement each other, and if they’re able to get a competent point guard and some shooters around them they will give every team in the league fits. 
The idea that the Pelicans gave up too much to get him is ridiculous,
Cousins is a first team all-NBA center, and they gave up two middling  NBA players and an intriguing young talent for him.  Considering the Celtics were willing to lay out the war chest for him, they got Boogie on an absolute steal.  They still have Jrue Holiday, who, if he can get back to his past form, could be the solid top 15 point guard that they need to run the offense. All the other pieces can be filled in from there. Essentially none of the other Pelicans players need to be protected this offseason, they just need to fill out the roster around those three this coming season and they could be a top four team next year.  
Going back to the Celtics, it's  unfortunate that they weren’t able to take advantage of this situation.  If they were confident that Cousins and Thomas could work together (there was some talk that their relationship is what caused Thomas to be traded away from the Kings originally) , they probably should have gone for it. This is the type of player that the Celts have been “acquiring assets” for, and they missed the chance. They’re already the second or third best team in a conference, so it’s not the end of the world, but Cousins fits what they have. Horford would have fit easily next to him as a power forward, Thomas would have been great as a secondary scorer/closer.  Considering how deep they are they most likely could have held onto a good piece of their own core and wouldn’t have needed to piece much together around those three. Time will tell, but if the Celtics can never get over the hump in the East, this could a painful what if for them.  

Bubble Watch

Boogie trade may not work out for either side

Two Titans. But how much good will this trade do New Orleans? (Photo creds to ProBasketballTalk.com)

Hello, all
Joe Smeltzer and Alex Gordon both have conflicting views on the recent trade of DeMarcus  "Boogie" Cousins from the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans. Here, we will both state our cases in seperate blog entries, starting with Joseph. 

DeMarcus Cousins is pretty good at basketball

In fact, he is one of the best in the world at what he does. Therefore, he is an asset to any team lucky enough to land his services. However, the New Orleans Pelicans might not be as lucky as you would think in landing the big man

On the surface, this deal to send Cousins and small forward Omri Casspi to Bourbon Street made all the sense in the world for New Orleans. They received an elite basketball player, and now have what is without question the best front-court in the league with Cousins and Anthony Davis. However, a key question is, how much does this do for the Pelicans in the long term? 

New Orleans is currently 24-38. That's not good. In fact, only two teams in the entire Western Conference are currently in a worse position. Ordinarily, teams that make these types of deals are in position to win a championship or at least make a deep playoff run. Not here. If the Pelicans are lucky, they will sneak into the playoffs as a #8 seed, and even that might seem like a stretch. New Orleans is currently behind Jamir Nelson and the Denver Nuggets for the #8 spot, and according to ESPN's BPI Playoff odds, the probability of the Pelicans getting in is at 0.5%. Yikes.

Even if New Orleans somehow does make it to the dance, in all likelihood, the Golden State Warriors or San Antiono Spurs will await them. Uh, good luck with that.

There is a way that this trade could work out for the Pelicans. Sure there is. While there might not be a huge benefit to the Pelicans as far as the rest of this season goes, and honestly, probably next season as well,  the future might be a different story; if New Orleans is able to resign Cousins in his free agent year of 2018.

If the Pelicans progress next season, that will be a start to convincing Boggie to stay, and playing with a stud like Anthony Davis (who, like Cousins attended the University of Kentucky), is a tempting option. However, every team in the league with a need for an inside presence is going to want DeMarcus Cousins, and if it comes down to the Pelicans vs. the field, I would bet my money on the field.

We know what the Pelicans received. But what about what they lost? On the surface, New Orleans didn't give up very much as far as getting a top-ten player in the world goes. The most notable piece that went to Sacramento was Buddy Hield, a rookie out of Oklahoma University. Hield's stats are modest, but there is a reason that he was selected #6 overall in this past June's draft. The man has great potential, and hopefully he can showcase that in Cali.

Also, the Kings received guards Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway, neither of which are notable, as well as New Orleans' first and second round draft choices for 2017. Does this seem like a steep price to give up for an elite player? In my opinion, it does not. Aside from Hield, none of the players that the Pelicans gave up are noteworthy. However, what might hurt New Orleans is the draft picks. As I mentioned earlier, the Pelicans are not a team that should be in "win now" mode, and if the Cousins trade does not work out as planned, losing those draft choices could come back to bite. Building for the future is important for a team like New Orleans, and trading picks is not a good way to do that.

Sacramento did not exactly make out like bandits in this deal, either. They could have gotten a (no pun intended) king's ransom. Instead, all they received was two draft picks, a promising player, and a couple of scrubs. Congrats. There isn't a lot more to say about the Sacremento Kings aside from that they have been in shambles since the days of Chirs Weber, and it does not look like things are getting any better.

So, the biggest trade of the 2016-17 NBA season could very well end up being a big waste of time for all parties involved. That, my friends, is something you do not see everyday.