UCLA played an ok game… way too many turnovers. But I will say that they also made possible a lot of the looks they had. They did something different on offense and passed it around…. Yeah they forced it, but I would prefer that to aimless dribbling any day of the week
Cronin put the blame squarely on Tyger and Jaime today. From Ben Bolch:
"Eighteen turnovers to me is like 25 to other coaches, so beyond unacceptable. Our supposed best two players got nine turnovers, and all of them unforced. At no point did they get trapped, so those two single-handedly let the other team back in the game."
My opinion is that if we continue to play disinterested, we’re in danger of losing the next game too. But WSU went into todays game with only 7 scholarship players as a huge chunk of the team was out due to illness so a lot of their remaining players like Gueye played heavy minutes. Hopefully we can turn that to our advantage
I was at Pauley and 3 things stood out to me in a rather strange 2nd half. In the first half, UCLA was whistled for 3 or 4 fouls in the entire half. The 2nd half started with 3 fouls called in the 1st minute. The refs clearly decided to change the way they were calling the game. In the same first couple of minutes, UCLA's most experienced players committed careless turnovers. What may not have been visible to TV viewers was Mick Cronin exhorting the team to push the ball up the court. And, in trying to push the ball up the court, we failed at being quick without hurrying. I thought we rushed things and played out of control as evidenced by the sloppiness of play and carelessness with the ball. The defense became more passive as more and more fouls were called on the Bruins. At one point, I think the disparity was 14 or 15 to 3 in the 2nd half. In the final minutes, the Bruins slowed it down a bit and made an effort to feed Bona, particularly Bailey. I'm still not sure why we try and force bounce passes into Bona in traffic. It's not smart. Perhaps, Tyger Campbell is primarily a half court point guard. Jaquez may be primarily a half court performer. But, we do need movement in the half court without the ball. Perhaps we should find out what pace works best for us within our skill set. 18 turnovers isn't Bruin basketball under Mick Cronin.
Ben Bolch wrote an article in the LA Times three days ago with the headline including UCLA needs "fixes". Watching the game on TV, the second half looked like a repeat performance of both USC games and the Arizona game--did not recognize any meaningful "fixes". Reckless passing and ball handling leading to turnovers, the offense dribbling around the perimeter without creating open shots and BTW 26% shooting from the three. Watching Cronin's presser, I got the feeling he is blaming the players too much and not questioning the preparation by the coaches. He repeated several times that he felt the second half folly was because the "players think they were going to win anyways and were screwing around". Of course, I do not know what is done for game preparation but I do think that Bolch's headline about the team needing "fixes" is spot on.
What's the distinction between calling out your players and throwing your players under the bus? That approaches "I can't shoot the ball for them" territory.
CMC could use some self reflection.
Tyger's oft made comment, "We need to have trust in our coaches" is sounding more and more hollow.
As further follow up to this game, Cole Bajema was suspended by the PAC12 for his egregious foul against Adem Bona at the end of the first half. It is utterly ridiculous that this player wasn't immediately rejected on Thursday night.
UCLA played an ok game… way too many turnovers. But I will say that they also made possible a lot of the looks they had. They did something different on offense and passed it around…. Yeah they forced it, but I would prefer that to aimless dribbling any day of the week
Cronin put the blame squarely on Tyger and Jaime today. From Ben Bolch:
"Eighteen turnovers to me is like 25 to other coaches, so beyond unacceptable. Our supposed best two players got nine turnovers, and all of them unforced. At no point did they get trapped, so those two single-handedly let the other team back in the game."
My opinion is that if we continue to play disinterested, we’re in danger of losing the next game too. But WSU went into todays game with only 7 scholarship players as a huge chunk of the team was out due to illness so a lot of their remaining players like Gueye played heavy minutes. Hopefully we can turn that to our advantage
I was at Pauley and 3 things stood out to me in a rather strange 2nd half. In the first half, UCLA was whistled for 3 or 4 fouls in the entire half. The 2nd half started with 3 fouls called in the 1st minute. The refs clearly decided to change the way they were calling the game. In the same first couple of minutes, UCLA's most experienced players committed careless turnovers. What may not have been visible to TV viewers was Mick Cronin exhorting the team to push the ball up the court. And, in trying to push the ball up the court, we failed at being quick without hurrying. I thought we rushed things and played out of control as evidenced by the sloppiness of play and carelessness with the ball. The defense became more passive as more and more fouls were called on the Bruins. At one point, I think the disparity was 14 or 15 to 3 in the 2nd half. In the final minutes, the Bruins slowed it down a bit and made an effort to feed Bona, particularly Bailey. I'm still not sure why we try and force bounce passes into Bona in traffic. It's not smart. Perhaps, Tyger Campbell is primarily a half court point guard. Jaquez may be primarily a half court performer. But, we do need movement in the half court without the ball. Perhaps we should find out what pace works best for us within our skill set. 18 turnovers isn't Bruin basketball under Mick Cronin.
Ben Bolch wrote an article in the LA Times three days ago with the headline including UCLA needs "fixes". Watching the game on TV, the second half looked like a repeat performance of both USC games and the Arizona game--did not recognize any meaningful "fixes". Reckless passing and ball handling leading to turnovers, the offense dribbling around the perimeter without creating open shots and BTW 26% shooting from the three. Watching Cronin's presser, I got the feeling he is blaming the players too much and not questioning the preparation by the coaches. He repeated several times that he felt the second half folly was because the "players think they were going to win anyways and were screwing around". Of course, I do not know what is done for game preparation but I do think that Bolch's headline about the team needing "fixes" is spot on.
Quick thoughts on Cronin:
What's the distinction between calling out your players and throwing your players under the bus? That approaches "I can't shoot the ball for them" territory.
CMC could use some self reflection.
Tyger's oft made comment, "We need to have trust in our coaches" is sounding more and more hollow.
As further follow up to this game, Cole Bajema was suspended by the PAC12 for his egregious foul against Adem Bona at the end of the first half. It is utterly ridiculous that this player wasn't immediately rejected on Thursday night.
Two teams ranked above us already fell today. Virginia lost to Virginia tech and Kansas had another big loss.