This team can shoot the ball and if everyone is hitting they can score a lot of points. The problem is the defense. They have improved there as well but it still isn't very good. Cal Poly scores a lot of points - they're averaging 83 ppg. Individually the Cal Poly players aren't that good and for a team like UCLA to allow them to score 87 points isn't a very good sign. Right now the state of the Bruins' defense is, I believe, problematic.
Once they get into conference play they are going to have to stiffen their defense and improve a whole lot. If not, then they may be reduced to having to outscore their opponents in order to even have a chance to win. That's a tall order. They're going to need their bigs to combat the B1G bigs and that may mean an even more porous defense. Right now I'm heartened by the Bruins' overall improvement and their shooting, but I'm troubled by their defense (or lack thereof). Their defense could very well be their downfall. There's some irony in saying that about a Cronin coached team. I guess the good news is that Cronin excels at coaching defense. The bad news may be that he can't do much with slow foot speed.