Top 3 questions for UCLA men’s basketball

LOS ANGELES — UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin knows his defending Pac-12 championship team, which features eight newcomers, including seven freshmen, has a lot to learn about what it truly means to be a Bruin.

“Trying to get these guys to understand what we’re all about here at UCLA, which is play defense and have your mind on defense,” Cronin said, who is entering his fifth season in Westwood. “If you have your mind on the right things, results will follow.”

The results might follow, but for now one year removed from a 31-6 season, here some are the top questions for the Bruins before their season begins against Saint Francis on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.

How good are Aday Mara and Berke Buyuktuncel?

What will 7-foot-3, 240-pound freshman center Aday Mara and 6-foot-9, 245-pound freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel look like in Cronin’s system? Neither Buyuktuncel (Turkey) nor Mara (Spain) was cleared yet to play in the team’s 97-56 exhibition win against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday.

However, it was announced Friday that Mara has been cleared for competition by the NCAA.

“We don’t even know who we are,” Cronin said. “We still haven’t played a scrimmage, a game, with Aday and Berke. It’s the way the cards have fallen on the table and we have to play them, so  hopefully, they’re playing Monday. But we’re incorporating so many new guys, the coaching staff is going to have to do a great job trying to figure out who we’re going to be and how we need to play to win.”

Is Adem Bona healthy?

How will last season’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the Bruins’ leading returning scorer, at 7.6 points per game, look this season after not playing a college basketball game since March 18? The 6-foot-10, 245-pound power forward withdrew from the 2023 NBA draft and spent the offseason working his way back from a left shoulder injury suffered in the Pac-12 tournament. The defensive stalwart, who will be expected to play a pivotal role offensively this season, did not play in the NCAA tournament, which ended for UCLA with a 79-76 loss to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. However, after six months of rehab, Bona is expected to be back for Monday’s season opener.

Meanwhile, Cronin said he expects to feature a lineup where Buyuktuncel, Bona and Mara are all on the court at the same time, which would give the Bruins a 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10 and 7-foot-3 frontline.

“That’s reality, hopefully,” Cronin said. “That lineup could be playing zone.”

What will the Bruins’ starting lineup be?

UCLA’s starting five in its exhibition Tuesday against Cal State Dominguez Hills was freshman guard Sebastian Mack (23 points and seven assists), sophomore guard Will McClendon (five points), junior guard Lazar Stefanovic from Serbia (19 points and seven rebounds), freshman guard Ilane Fibleuil from France (10 points and 10 rebounds) and senior forward/center Kenneth Nwuba (13 points and three rebounds).

Freshman forward Devin Williams added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Freshman guard Jan Videfrom Slovenia had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard/forward Brandon Williams rounded out Cronin’s eight-player rotation with two points, three rebounds and two steals.

“We laid some foundation on our culture and who we are,” Cronin said after Tuesday’s exhibition game. “We’re in the process of those guys becoming us.

“Where they came fro,m they didn’t play like us. Here, if the other team scores, it’s a problem. I want five players unhappy, all coaches unhappy and everybody on the bench unhappy, if the other team scores. That’s how we play.”

The team’s two returning leading scorers, Bona and sophomore guard Dylan Andrews (3.3 points), are likely to be inserted into the starting lineup. Along with rotational players Nwuba and McClendon, they are the only players on the roster to average at least nine minutes per game last season.

SAINT FRANCIS (PA) AT UCLA

When: 8:30 p.m. Monday

Where: Pauley Pavilion

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Q&A with UCLA Men’s Basketball Coach Mick Cronin about the unanswered questions surrounding his team ahead of the team’s season opener on Monday, Nov. 6 in Pauley Pavilion. #UCLA #UCLABasketball #UCLABruins pic.twitter.com/YPPMWwVP9d

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) November 3, 2023