Last Year
A bit strange to be honest. The overall result was what you might expect - a solid if unspectacular team that finished 24-12 and 13-7 in conference. That landed them a 7 seed in the tourney, where they beat UCF then got clubbed by UConn. While that was normal, the strange part was they got there mostly on offense. Their outside shooting was...good, and their struggles mostly came in guarding people and rebounding. Not the Angry Mick Cronin Elbow Experience you know and love.
Happy Trails
- Tyler Bilodeau was drafted by the Nets and then got sent to Long Island
- Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark are fighting for another year, but if it happens it will be for LSU
- The eligibility goblin came for Jamar Brown and Steven Jamerson
Starters
- PG Trent Perry, 6'4'' Junior: Perry will be a big part of the UCLA operation this season in some fashion. Not sure he's a pure point guard, but he is a pure basketball player and great shooter, so he might be in line for some awards at the end of the season.
- SG Jaylen Petty, 6'1'' Sophomore: Petty comes over from Texas Tech after a pretty successful season where he emerged as a starter. He has the reputation of HTDIH (Having That Dog In Him) and is comfortable trying to get in his own shot and guarding anyone. Cronin might even crack a small smile before yelling at him.
- SF Nicola Kusturica, 6'9'' Freshman: An interesting combo. Kusturica is a five star freshman, and a Euroballer, and is only 17. He has the reputation of being a playmaker and shooter, so we'll see how he adjusts to B1G.
- PF Eric Dailey, 6'8'' Senior: Dailey returns and is a Known Quantity at this point. He will grab some rebounds and score and hopefully take advantage of teams paying attention to Kusturica. His outside shooting was a bit spotty last season, so improving that would be ideal.
- C Xavier Booker, 6'11'' Senior: We've been talking about the potential of Booker for three seasons, and here we are again. His meetup with Cronin might have unlocked something, as he did play a fair bit last year and his shooting numbers were rather good. His rebounding wasn't great, but he did block some shots and he as a stretch five will make UCLA hard to guard.
Bench
- SF Sergej Macura, 6'9'' Junior: A former Euroballer who comes over from Mississippi State, Macura may be a contributor or may just be there to help fellow Serbian Kusturica order fish tacos.
- SG Eric Freeny, 6'4'' Sophomore: Freeny was thought to be a big contributor this year, but is away from the team with a medical issue and may not play at all.
- PF Filip Jovic, 6'8'' Sophomore: Jovic is, you guessed it, a former Serbian Euroballer, though he played at Auburn last year. He was more muscle around the basket than a shooter, so he might be Kusturica's bodyguard.
- SF Brandon Williams, 6'7'' Junior: Williams comes back for his third season with UCLA, and will get a few minutes to guard someone and maybe sneak an elbow.
- PG Azavier Robinson, 6'2'' Sophomore: Robinson, also know as "Stink," comes over from Butler. He got some starts before a wrist injury ended his season. He is more of a dedicated passer than UCLA's other guards, so he might get some minutes. Free Stink.
- Three other freshman in four star forward Joe Philon, three star center Javonte Floyd, and Euroballer Gunars Grinvalds. I like a Euro named Gunar.
Outlook
MaximumSam: I'm not sure what to make of this team. The starting five looks sufficient though a bit light defensively. They should be tough to guard and Cronin will not allow them to be terrible on defense. The bench looks a bit light, though people like freshman Joe Philon. Everyone is excited about Kusturica, but am I confident about a 17 year old Euroballer playing for Mick Cronin? I am not.
glass: All the public pants pissing about travel from occasionally entertaining curmudgeon Mick Cronin must have gotten through to UCLA's AD and the league office. The Bruins don't leave the Pacific Time Zone once during the non-con or at all before the journey to College Park on January 2. (Due to the nature of 2 game swings, UCLA has FOUR treks away from the west coast all season. So we can all righteously roll our eyes at Coach Cronin when he inevitably gets indignant about his travel obligations). I am especially looking forward to their November 11 matchup against TBD which will air live on Peacock.
Torvik says 21-10(11-9) and I am going to go ahead and say they finish a bit better because their starting 5 looks very good and I trust Cronin to figure out the defense.
BoilerUp89: It's difficult to second guess the defense of a Mick Cronin coached team, but that's the question that needs answering with this roster. They should put up enough points to be competitive. Booker is not a center. I don't know why neither Cronin or Izzo figured this out. He's a PF and counting on him to anchor your interior defense and rebounding is a bad strategy. Let him cook as stretch PF.
