In Reply to: good point posted by barrya on August 30, 2026 at 15:35:35
will be pretty good. I keep thinking UCLA is trying to get Keba Keita out of the portal just because there seems to be absolutely no noise about where he's going. I may be in fantasy land, but I keep thinking he wants to come to UCLA and he's waiting for them to get the money together. Like I said, fantasy land?
Anyway, if Cronin can pull that one out of his hat and get Keita that would go a long way toward shoring up the Bruins defense. The guy is undersized but at 6'8" he can get up and protect the rim. Last season he averaged near 2 blocks a game in just under 23 mpg. He's strong and quick and can run the floor. If he joins the Bruins maybe their defense is another story instead of what we're looking at right now.
Even if they don't get him I still think the Bruins might be okay (maybe not as good as next year if everyone returns), but Cronin, I believe, is going to have to come up with something different than what he usually does on the defensive end.
Perhaps Jovic can hedge and move his feet and maybe he'll get the bulk of the minutes at the 5. Perhaps Cronin will come up with a zone (perhaps a matchup zone) to hide his slow footed players. One thing is for certain, the Bruins have talent and they're deep. They may not be top 10 but I think they could be top 15 if everything breaks well for them this year. Like you said, next year's expectations should be much higher - top ten or even better. We'll see.