| I obviously would have liked Jordan to stay but you can't argue with his decision now that he's a Laker and got a guaranteed contract. Darren Collison got major minutes and valuable experience filling in for Jordan when he was either injured or in foul trouble or just plain stinking it up and DC got better and better as the season wore on. He is much quicker and a better athlete than Jordan but it remains to be seen if he will be as good a leader.
Looks like we might be getting Kevin Love for '07 (he is probably going to commit this week) who will be a great asset inside. Also, having Ben Howland for the next seven years is by far the best sign of good times for UCLA.
UCLA ought to do well next year but expecting another trip to the NC is hard to fathom. The Pac 10 will be stronger, particularly UW and U of A despite the losses they had to graduation. Stanford can only get better. I'm not surre how Cal can replace a guy like Powe but they always seem to be competitive. USC deserves at least a mention with their backcourt returning and maybe the addition of OJ Mayo.  |