How Good Is UCLA’s Kusturika?

There’s been a lot of fuss about UCLA’s Nikola Kusturica, but we haven’t really watched him very much, basically through highlights. But we’ve seen enough to get the basic idea. Here’s our take on the young Serbian baller.

First: Clearly, he’s talented. He has excellent court sense. In the highlights we’ve seen, he has wonderful anticipation. He understands the game. Toss in that Mick Cronin is uncharacteristically pleasant lately, and you can kind of put the pieces together, and he’s likely to be at UCLA for two years, which will also make Cronin grin rather than scowl.

However.

At this point, UCLA has played California Baptist, San Diego (the Toreros, not the Aztecs), Arizona, Northern…