UCLA Basketball: 5 Keys for Bruins to Bounce Back from 0-2 Start

No ranked team in recent memory has suffered quite so ignominious a fall as preseason No. 17 UCLA. The Bruins are 0-2 thanks to back-to-back home losses to Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State.

As disastrous as the opening games have been, though, there's still plenty of time left for Ben Howland’s club to salvage its season. UCLA clearly isn’t a Top 25 team at this point, but with a strong showing in the Pac-12 it could yet prove to be an NCAA tournament team.

Herein, a look at five steps the Bruins must take as soon as possible in order to have a shot at the big dance by March.

5. Keep the First Two Games in Perspective

There’s no sugar-coating the terrible start UCLA has made to its year, but two games are a very small part of a 30-plus game schedule.

If UCLA turns things around by the end of the season, the selection committee will weigh those successes a lot more heavily than their November travails.

It would be foolish simply to pretend these two games never happened, both because UCLA must learn from their mistakes and because they’ll be a great motivator for the remainder of the year.

However, it’s equally vital that the Bruins (and their fans) not read too much into two lousy performances.

4. Find a Stable Rotation

Although it’s far from the only problem UCLA has faced, it’s clear that this year’s Bruins team isn’t used to playing as a team.

That’s no great surprise considering that three starters—transfers David and Travis Wear and freshman De’End Parker—are playing their first career games in blue and gold.

The adjustment process hasn’t been helped any by suspensions that kept guard Jerime Anderson out of the opener and forward Reeves Nelson out of yesterday’s game.

Ben Howland needs to get his players comfortable in their respective roles so that this lineup has a chance to develop into a cohesive team.

3. Play to the Strengths of the Roster

In two games, the Bruins have now made 6-of-35 three-point attempts. From this statistic two facts should be apparent: (1), that UCLA is terrible at long-range shooting, and (2), that UCLA has yet to figure out fact (1).

Obviously, the Bruins will have to develop some semblance of a perimeter offense as the season goes on, but for right now, UCLA needs to focus on pounding the ball inside to its enormous front line.

Even opponents who know what’s coming will be hard-pressed to match up with the trio of 6’10” post players UCLA can send out (even discounting 6’8” Reeves Nelson).

2. Get a Handle on the Defense

Ben Howland has built his coaching career on physical man-to-man defense, especially on the perimeter. For a Howland-coached team to allow consecutive opponents to go 10-for-15 and 10-for-11 from three-point range, as LMU and MTSU did, is almost unthinkable.

Howland has never been a big proponent of zone defenses, but he’s reportedly considering moving in that direction to take advantage of the Bruins’ length inside.

Whether it’s the scheme or the effort, clearly something needs to change if the Bruins have any intention of slowing down Pac-12 offenses this season.

1. Settle the Reeves Nelson Situation

Reeves Nelson, the Bruins’ leader in scoring and rebounding in 2010-11, was suspended by coach Ben Howland on Monday for unspecified problems with his conduct. The suspension is indefinite, but Howland and Nelson are scheduled to meet today to discuss the situation.

Howland must make it clear to his star forward that the team needs him as a player, not a distraction.

Nelson had already acquired a reputation for moodiness on the court. He and Howland need to settle whatever differences they have now, and if he can’t do that, there should be no place for him on the UCLA roster.