Bryce Alford’s worst slump of the season came in UCLA’s last three games before the NCAA tournament

Ball is UCLA’s floor leader and Alford is its vocal leader. It’s an arrangement that evolved organically.

Alford has willingly accepted a reduced role on the court – he’s taking two less shots per game this season – but his shooting percentage has jumped from 38.5 last season to 45.2 this season, allowing him to maintain essentially the same number of points per game.

READ: Bryce Alford slumping at the worst possible time

From a pure basketball perspective, the Ball-Alford dynamic works in perfect harmony. Of course, it’s hard to find a player who doesn’t work well on the court with the best point guard in the country. Alford is UCLA’s best shooter, but has difficulty creating his own shot. Ball is leading the nation in assists in part because he is remarkably unconcerned about how many points he scores and is hyperfocused on setting up quality shots for his teammates.

Off the court, it’s Ball who gives the team a pep talk before every game, but Alford, for example, is the one who called the players-only meeting after UCLA’s only two-game losing streak that altered the course of the rest of the season. Continue reading “Despite reduced role, Bryce Alford still UCLA’s alpha” »

Bryce Alford is just 44 points from moving into fifth on UCLA’s career scoring list

The senior’s 26 points in UCLA’s blowout win against USC on Saturday moved him into seventh on UCLA’s all-time scoring list with 1,802. With four games left in the regular season in addition to any Pac-12 and NCAA tournament games, he is just 13 points behind Ed O’Bannon and 44 from surpassing Toby Bailey to move into the top five.

There are plenty of questions surrounding the coach’s son – and his father’s role in aiding totals that will land him among UCLA’s all-time greats – but he has managed to be consistently productive during all four years of his career. Should a guy who seemingly has little to no shot at the NBA have played ahead of current Minnesota Timberwolves 19-point per game scorer Zach LaVine during his lone season at UCLA? Should Alford be playing now ahead of defensively superior sophomore Aaron Holiday?

Alford said earlier this season he has learned to block out such noise. His detractors won’t like to hear that Alford has a decent chance to leave UCLA as the all-time leader in one significant offensive category. Continue reading “Bryce Alford destined for top 5 on UCLA career scoring list” »

It’s not often that Bryce Alford is on the bench for critical moments of a game, but Steve Alford removed his son with six seconds left in UCLA’s 83-82 win over Utah on Saturday.

Utah had the ball trailing by three and Steve Alford wanted his best defensive lineup on the floor. That meant guard Aaron Holiday was a better option than Bryce Alford, who is probably the team’s weakest defender.

Steve Alford said didn’t feel the need to explain the move to his son, chuckling as he answered the question before UCLA’s practice on Tuesday.

“He’s so much tougher mentally than that,” Steve Alford said. “That guy is as tough mentally as it comes, so I don’t ever worry about that whether he’s making a big shot, a big free throw, missing a free throw. I know he wants it the next time and that’s just who he is. He’s got that DNA in him that he’s a tough, tough kid that enjoys the competition, enjoys the big moments. But you can watch him whether he’s on the bench or on the floor, you can see the demeanor of how he supports this team because this team is a lot of fun.”

Bryce Alford readily acknowledged Holiday’s defensive prowess and said he didn’t blame his father for the decision. Continue reading “Steve Alford: Bryce ‘as tough mentally as they come’” »