UCLA Basketball Opens Trip to China in Hangzhou
November 06, 2017 | Men's Basketball
HANGZHOU, China – The UCLA men's basketball team arrived in Shanghai late Sunday evening for a week-long trip that leads up to the Pac-12 China Game, featuring the Bruins against Georgia Tech.
The regular-season opener for both teams will tip-off on Friday, Nov. 10 (on the West Coast) at 8:30 p.m. (PT). With a 16-hour time difference, the game will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in Shanghai at Baoshan Arena.
UCLA's travel across the Pacific Ocean began with the team's bus departure from Pauley Pavilion at 11 a.m. Saturday. The flight from LAX took off around 2:30 p.m. and landed in Shanghai at approximately 7 p.m. Sunday. From there, the team took a three-hour bus ride to the city of Hangzhou.
"It's a terrific experience not just for our players, but also for our staff," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "There are a lot of people in our group who are here in China for their first time. I had the chance to see Beijing when I was in college in 1985, but I have never been here to Hangzhou or to Shanghai. So we are looking forward to that part of our trip, too. It's an experience for young people that you usually don't get to do."
The Bruins' first full day in Hangzhou (Monday) opened with breakfast in the team hotel before an hour-long bus trip to visit the campus at Alibaba Group, the world's largest retail commerce company.
While at the Alibaba campus, UCLA and Georgia Tech student-athletes and coaches posed for various photo and video opportunities on a basketball court. Later that morning, both teams' travel parties had a private presentation led by company co-founder and vice chairman Joe Tsai.
Following a mid-day lunch on Alibaba's campus, the Bruins' travel contingent departed for a local sports complex for a 90-minute practice.
As for preparing his student-athletes for what to expect from a travel perspective, Alford said that he and his coaching staff have tried to keep their instruction and expectations as basic as possible.
"We've got six freshmen here – it's a younger group – so it's just a matter of getting our guys on the plane, guys to the bus and then into that hotel room," Alford said. "It's a long journey between the flight and a three-hour bus trip. We want our guys to take this all in. Each evening, we'll talk about what we've seen. And then we also have game prep going on because we're playing Georgia Tech. That's another big reason why we are here. But, this week, I really want our guys to be able to grasp the educational part of this trip."
On deck for the Bruins on Tuesday is a morning practice in Hangzhou before departing for Shanghai by high-speed train in the late afternoon. UCLA's travel party will visit Shanghai Disney Resort on Wednesday.
For additional updates about UCLA's week in China, follow the team's official social media accounts on Twitter (@UCLAMBB) and Instagram.