UCLA isn’t ready to beat Kentucky just yet but there’s time to improve

Steve Alford acknowledges that the UCLA men’s basketball team won’t be among the best in the nation when this season starts. On paper, the Bruins aren’t the best team in the Pac-12. Right now, they are too young, and there are too many unknowns.

So at Pac-12 Media Day on Thursday, Alford hinted at patience. The UCLA of the first half could look a lot different than the team at the end of the year.

That’s a reasonable approach to take. The problem is its unforgiving nonconference schedule. UCLA will play Gonzaga, Kentucky — No. 1 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll — and a loaded Battle 4 Atlantis tournament schedule, which includes a game against Oklahoma and potential matchups against Butler, North Carolina or Wisconsin.

”;Are we ready to play the likes of Kentucky today?” Alford said. “No.”;

The hope is that the young players will grow into roles and pick up Alford’s system by the time they do play Kentucky on Dec. 20. And preferably by November, when they’ll head to the tournament in the Bahamas.

“A lot will be made of Kentucky, but they’ve got a lot to handle before then,” Alford said, referring to his young players. “Everyone is going to have more experience.”

Over the weekend, the team visited San Diego for their preseason team retreat. While there, Alford encouraged his players to take a long view.

He mentioned against some of the teams in the Bahamas, it’s possible to play great and still lose. In the early going, he wants the team to worry more about improvement.

“It’s a process, it’s a journey, it’s a long season,” he said. “Get better.”

In the preseason media poll, UCLA was picked fourth, behind Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Thirty-two reporters voted. Thirty-one picked Arizona as the favorite. One voted for the Bruins.

Arizona was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the Coaches Poll. UCLA was not ranked. So that lone vote was either a mistake, a joke, or maybe someone was just projecting how UCLA might perform by the year’s end.

“We know this team is really young,” senior guard Norman Powell said. “They know a lot is going to be asked of them this season. It’s about coming in with an open mind, trying to get better.”

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Twitter: @zhelfand