Senior wing Nirra Field has helped the Bruins into the AP Top 25 rankings. Photo cred – @UCLAWBB
Head coach Cori Close enters her fifth season at UCLA. Last year the Bruins won the NIT championship and are currently (mid February) ranked No. 12 in the AP poll. Close and her staff have worked hard to bring the program back to the top of the PAC-12 Conference. Here is a look at how they got there in 2016.
By: @JLHemingwayPSB
The Season
Close and her staff hit a home run with the 2014 recruiting class. They inked three top 10 players and was ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class nationally per ProspectsNation.com. A large part of their success this year centers on the maturation of that class, who are now sophomores. Point guard Jordin Canada is tied for the team lead in scoring with 15.9 points per game while also dishing out over six assists per game. Canada, ranked as the No. 1 point guard in 2014, is listed on the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player Midseason Team.
Brandon Clay, who serves as a Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year voter, had these comments after visiting the Bruins earlier this month. “Since arriving in Westwood four seasons ago, Cori Close has been on a mission to turn UCLA into a perennial PAC-12 title contender. Through the dedicated efforts of her staff – Jenny Huth, Tony Newman, Shannon Perry and Pam Walker, the Bruins are on pace to do just that. Led by Jordin Canada and Nirra Fields, this is the most experienced Bruins roster Close has fielded to date. Canada is a Naismtih Trophy Midseason Team member while Fields is on track to represent Canada in the 2016 Olympics. UCLA is firmly entrenched in the Top 25 nationally and appears primed to make a deep post season run.”
The Program
Coach Close and her staff have dedicated themselves to not only recruiting, but also enriching the basketball community. Their staff runs the website www.uclawbb.com, which gives a background of what the Bruin program is all about. Moreover, coach Close runs a section on the site called Coaches’ Corner. Here the veteran leader imparts ideas from timeout management to explaining how to manage life on the road. Also the Bruins have video breakdown that feature on-court basketball drills. See a few of the Bruins videos featured on their site below:
See other videos at Coaches’ Corner.
The UCLA staff is also very active in educating prospects and their parents via social media. Check out assistant coach Shannon Perry’s tweet below.
Attention all parents of 2017 prospects! Important recruiting info you should know pic.twitter.com/HTWLE8WYfx
— Shannon Perry (@ImAmentor_UCLA) February 17, 2016
Inside the Playbook
When it comes conference play, every coach knows that you can expect the pace of play to slow down. UCLA experienced a great deal of success in transition the first half of the year, however lately teams have ‘junked’ up their defense. We took a look at their match-up with Washington State last week. Coming out of half-time, the Huskies came out in a zone and shaded the Bruins sharp shooter, Kari Korver, heavily. Close and her staff made the proper adjustments and ran this quick hitting play versus their zone.
FRAME 1
This Play actually started when the ball was inbounded at the half line at the start of the second half. Here Fields dribble loops Canada to the top of the zone.
FRAME 2
Notice how x3 is shadowing Korver heavily on the left side of the court. This is what will set up the next action so well. Also with the post player at the free throw line this sets up a ball screen for Canada.
FRAME 3
Canada uses the ball screen and Korver fades to the corner which stretches the defense. Now Fields cuts to the left short corner and the baseline post player sets a screen on the middle man of the 2-3 zone. This sets up a nice pass entry from Canada for the score.
Read last year’s Program Feature
(2014-2015 UCLA Women’s Basketball)
Jonathan Hemingway is the Assistant Director of Scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com International Scouting Report, is on the Naismith Trophy Board of Selectors and owns CoachHemi.com, the go-to source for coaches for X’s and O’s. He is the floor director of #TeamEBA camps, a site director for #TeamPSB tournaments and can be reached at jonathanhemingway@peachstatebasketball.com.
