The 75-68 loss to the Scarlet Knights could be boiled down to Rutgers having two NBA-level players, but the UCLA defense has disappeared since Big Ten play began in earnest.
Agreed on Bilodeau playing out of position. If we could send Dailey to the bench and play him as a small ball 4 next to Kyle or Mara, we’d get more out of our bench. That last comment about this team being not bad, but flawed, couldn’t be a better description of what’s happening right now.
I would add that Cronin giving quick yanks to the guys in the non conference and even in league play, as well as failing to run any semblance of an offense outside of the weave and an occasional floppy or topside PnR, is not helping. This looks like a team whose confidence is completely shot and is playing worse than they actually are.
Which leads to recruiting: Cronin’s unwillingness to go after five stars that require more ego management, and even losing out to four stars in our own backyard (like Khamenia) despite having more NIL than football is pretty telling.
I understand Mick is old school but it only works when you’re winning in today’s landscape, If it doesn’t work on HS kids that require more ego management, and don’t feel like you’re going to develop them adequately when you do pursue them, you’re self selecting for an early tournament exit or missing the tournament entirely.
He’s in real danger of losing the players and the season altogether. And possibly his job.
To use comments that gib often makes, for the ucla brand, this team is trash…
What’s often left out is that it’s a team sport including the coaching staff… if the players are trash, then so is the coaching staff that put this team together. Many are finally starting to join the bruinbasket train and drink what I’ve said from the beginning. Cronins offensive schemes and sets are absolutely garbage. He is unwilling, incapable, or too delusional to do offense differently based on the players he recruits. Because of this, he will fail as a college coach. He has plateaued and will be lucky to get a job with Boise state, temple, Rutgers, or some other middling program. UCLA blew it with hiring him as nobody else wanted to come to ucla. Hopefully ucla doesn’t make the same mistake and keep cronin so long that the next batch of capable coaches want to go elsewhere… I’m not holding my breath. UCLA hasn’t been relevant in 30 years
I wouldn’t go that far when talking about whether we’re relevant or not. We went to a Final Four, something Kentucky hasn’t done since 2015 and Kansas hadn’t done since 2018 before their most recent championship. That’s more than about 95% of DI. We’ve also had three straight Sweet 16 appearances.
Is that he standard here? Certainly not. But Mick isn’t a bad coach. He is stubborn, though, and if he somehow manages to make the tournament and keep his job, he’ll have to adapt or next year he’s cooked.
Perhaps relevance isn’t the right term. Each of the coaches seemed to have a year of extraordinary talent.
Love, Westbrook, Holliday, and Collins
Ball, Ike, leaf
Jaquez, bona, singleton, Clark
All of those players were great players and a great freshmen set of incoming players. Cronin hasn’t recruited well for two years in a row and next year doesn’t look any better.
Mick isn’t a bad coach, but is he a top 10 coach? I’ve always said he’s not, yet he’s paid in the top 10 of coaching salaries.
A coach shouldn’t get to keep his job if a team that was expected to have enough talent to make the tournament makes it. He should keep his job if the full season of work justifies the amount he is being paid. Cronins results already don’t support the salary he makes. There are no fans, no excitement, and no joy at the home crowds when compared to other programs.
He should be let go when it’s clear he is out of his league and has lost his way. That was blatantly obvious last year and is even more obvious this season. I’ve been celebrating his departure the day he was hired
If we had a better AD, Cronin would be fired tomorrow.
Why? It’s clear that Cronin has plateaued and won’t win a championship.
If he does decent the rest of the season and makes the tourney, then more years or an extension delays the inevitable of getting rid of Cronin, and our ability to rebuild into a championship team.
Rather than risk more years of Cronin, we could let an interim coach have an opportunity to try a different system with our players.
We would be able to start scouting for our next coach. Coaches that are interested would be able to reach out, before other openings are available.
The buyout decreases to $16 mil post April 1. And IF Cronin gets another coaching job, it could decrease further. But, still no way that UCLA foots the bill. Perhaps sone wealthy donors will pony up if the season completely tanks but that's a long shot.
Donors won't do it for an unproven coach like Earl Watson. His name and a name like Richard Pitino are floating around from fans on Facebook. I am not on board for coaches who have worse results.
I thought it was possible, but he made a lot of claims when he came here.
I didn’t know that his vision was his same old system. The light version of Howland.
His claims seem comical and worthy of firing, now.
"A guy like myself - when you're running a program, and you're having success - but every night when you're sitting up and you're watching the Bruins play and you're saying to yourself, 'What if I ever got that opportunity?' And you think about those things. ... That's reality for me. So this goes way back. ... This went on for years. ... What if I ever could get the opportunity to coach at the elite program in America with 11 national championships? How would I handle it? What would I do? How do you have success? What would your vision be? What could you do there that you can't do at other places. Well the answer is a lot."
Translation: The same old thing with better talent.
“National championships. Having the best players. Graduating elite student-athletes. All of the above is at your fingertips here. ... I understand it's a tremendous challenge - tremendous challenge. But it's also a great opportunity. And one that I was not going to pass up. Because I came from a situation obviously where I was at home. We had great sucess. But I had a chance to be the coach at UCLA. Let's be honest. The chance to be the coach where John Wooden coached. This is not a hard decision. ... You've got to embrace it. You only live once."
Translation: He doesn’t have the hands to grasp what’s at his fingertips.
"Recruiting is paramount, which becomes a little easier when you put four letters on your chest. ... Our goal is, nobody wants to play us. ... The four letters - they do a lot for your life."
Roster construction (and talent evaluation) is a major shortcoming of this team. But the kids aren't coming despite UCLA being flush with mbb NIL money. Why?
2023 23 offers, 0 commits
(Crnin* goes Euro in desperation to fill the roster)
I’ve also been harping on his recruiting from the get go… it’s been in steady decline for quite sometime. Cronins best players weren’t even guys he recruited
In 2023, excluding Euros, ucla signed Sebastian Mack, Brandon Williams, and Devin Williams.
For the 2026 class, only 7 schools have any commits at all. Schools like Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Arizona, UConn, Indiana, Texas, all have no commits to date, too.
That still avoids the topic that 2025 equals nobody.
2023 equals 3 current bench players. 2024 equals a bench player and transfers. All of whom Cronin called soft, delusional, and with a poor work ethic. Add in whose play results - with the thanks of Cronin’s “stellar” coaching and strategies - in four straight losses.
I think the state of our recruiting should be clear, and any clarification on 2026 is superfluous.
Kenpom UCLA offensive efficiency sits at a magical 93… defense efficiency now out of the top 10 at 12th.
The other two comparable programs are Cincinnati and San Diego st. That’s who cronin is fighting with for recruits right now… sad how far ucla has fallen under this defensive genius. Who wants to help market my political slogan…
Maybe we should hire Brian Dutcher. If he can take SDSU to the national championship game and the sweet 16 in back to back years, he could probably go all the way with UCLA’s talent and resources.
Questions for the Croninistas: Please name another coach who similarly shouldn't hold any responsibility or blame for the performance of his players. How long do they hold their job when their team falters?
He evaluated, recruited and signed every one of these players, he designs the 'offense' or lack thereof, and the defense which is faltering. He is responsible for teaching, mentoring and for every player's development. He draws up game plans and makes in-game adjustments and rotation decisions. He evaluates and hires his staff to be a part of his team.
If this season continues to implode... Jelly Jarmond will likely pull a Chipster Alfraud on us, claiming emphatically that Cronin is our future, the right fit with our culture, and he is sticking with him and sticking it to us, all in the name of millions in a buyout.
If one wanted to be optimistic, they'd point out that every Cronin season has some midseason swoon before turning it on late. In the lens of Cronin's UCLA tenure, this losing streak isn't out of the ordinary, it is just causing more consternation than before, likely because last season happened.
Also to answer your initial question, Coach K repeatedly and consistently threw his players under the bus (my favorite instance of this was when they lost his last home game ever to North Carolina, and he got on the mic and told the fans to stop booing the players for failing him.) The sport is littered with coaches who do that, and then turn around and take responsibility. Coincidentally, that has been what Cronin has done all the time, but people only focus on the negative because its the easy way.
I want the team to turn it on! (Someone on TMB coined a word expressing such hope.) I am doubtful. I think the flaws that you laid out are insurmountable.
A difference here--when has Coach K attacked the work and work ethic of his staff?
"We simply are not doing a good enough job of preparing this team" is such a bog-standard statement from any coaching staff. Again, I think people are just hyper-sensitive to everything Cronin does at the moment.
I just listened to Jamal on LAFB Bruin Bible Show. The first half up until the 10 min mark is about our success in FB recruiting. But the second half is Jamal's take on MBB, Cronin and the pulse of UCLA insiders about Cronin... I found his takes very interesting and insightful, and this was before the loss to Rutgers.
Some of you may not like the Bruin Bible and that's fine. But here's the link for those who want to listen...
The complaints and criticisms of the coach and players for their miserable 4-game losing streak may be justifiable and deserving, but I think a lot of credit also goes to the B1G teams for being more physical and mentally tougher than the Bruins. The teams in this conference also have greater incentive and enthusiasm to beat newcomer UCLA because of its blueblood basketball heritage (unfortunately, UCLA is far from playing like one at the moment). The Bruins' coaches and players seem like they weren't truly prepared for conference play and assumed they would be easily competing for a top 3 or 4 position as if they were still battling in a much weaker Pac-12 conference. The terms "soft" and "delusional" used by Coach Cronin to describe his team seem appropriate, but he should've also expressed some accountability for that.
They can't beat anyone right now.
I disagree. They're doing an excellent job of beating themselves.
🤣
Agreed on Bilodeau playing out of position. If we could send Dailey to the bench and play him as a small ball 4 next to Kyle or Mara, we’d get more out of our bench. That last comment about this team being not bad, but flawed, couldn’t be a better description of what’s happening right now.
I would add that Cronin giving quick yanks to the guys in the non conference and even in league play, as well as failing to run any semblance of an offense outside of the weave and an occasional floppy or topside PnR, is not helping. This looks like a team whose confidence is completely shot and is playing worse than they actually are.
Which leads to recruiting: Cronin’s unwillingness to go after five stars that require more ego management, and even losing out to four stars in our own backyard (like Khamenia) despite having more NIL than football is pretty telling.
I understand Mick is old school but it only works when you’re winning in today’s landscape, If it doesn’t work on HS kids that require more ego management, and don’t feel like you’re going to develop them adequately when you do pursue them, you’re self selecting for an early tournament exit or missing the tournament entirely.
He’s in real danger of losing the players and the season altogether. And possibly his job.
To use comments that gib often makes, for the ucla brand, this team is trash…
What’s often left out is that it’s a team sport including the coaching staff… if the players are trash, then so is the coaching staff that put this team together. Many are finally starting to join the bruinbasket train and drink what I’ve said from the beginning. Cronins offensive schemes and sets are absolutely garbage. He is unwilling, incapable, or too delusional to do offense differently based on the players he recruits. Because of this, he will fail as a college coach. He has plateaued and will be lucky to get a job with Boise state, temple, Rutgers, or some other middling program. UCLA blew it with hiring him as nobody else wanted to come to ucla. Hopefully ucla doesn’t make the same mistake and keep cronin so long that the next batch of capable coaches want to go elsewhere… I’m not holding my breath. UCLA hasn’t been relevant in 30 years
I wouldn’t go that far when talking about whether we’re relevant or not. We went to a Final Four, something Kentucky hasn’t done since 2015 and Kansas hadn’t done since 2018 before their most recent championship. That’s more than about 95% of DI. We’ve also had three straight Sweet 16 appearances.
Is that he standard here? Certainly not. But Mick isn’t a bad coach. He is stubborn, though, and if he somehow manages to make the tournament and keep his job, he’ll have to adapt or next year he’s cooked.
4 conference losses. Can't lose many more conference games.
Perhaps relevance isn’t the right term. Each of the coaches seemed to have a year of extraordinary talent.
Love, Westbrook, Holliday, and Collins
Ball, Ike, leaf
Jaquez, bona, singleton, Clark
All of those players were great players and a great freshmen set of incoming players. Cronin hasn’t recruited well for two years in a row and next year doesn’t look any better.
Mick isn’t a bad coach, but is he a top 10 coach? I’ve always said he’s not, yet he’s paid in the top 10 of coaching salaries.
A coach shouldn’t get to keep his job if a team that was expected to have enough talent to make the tournament makes it. He should keep his job if the full season of work justifies the amount he is being paid. Cronins results already don’t support the salary he makes. There are no fans, no excitement, and no joy at the home crowds when compared to other programs.
He should be let go when it’s clear he is out of his league and has lost his way. That was blatantly obvious last year and is even more obvious this season. I’ve been celebrating his departure the day he was hired
They're definitely playing like trash right now.
If we had a better AD, Cronin would be fired tomorrow.
Why? It’s clear that Cronin has plateaued and won’t win a championship.
If he does decent the rest of the season and makes the tourney, then more years or an extension delays the inevitable of getting rid of Cronin, and our ability to rebuild into a championship team.
Rather than risk more years of Cronin, we could let an interim coach have an opportunity to try a different system with our players.
We would be able to start scouting for our next coach. Coaches that are interested would be able to reach out, before other openings are available.
You gonna pay the $20 million buyout? Because the Athletic Department won't.
Which is why we’re fated to mediocrity, and looking at all of the empty seats & lack of excitement for our program.
We came to the Big10 - supposedly - to compete at the highest levels. We’re not going to do that without investing in our program.
And even if Jarmond did pay it, he'd go for a cheap option to replace, IMO. 🤣
They wouldn’t pay it to go cheap.
The buyout decreases to $16 mil post April 1. And IF Cronin gets another coaching job, it could decrease further. But, still no way that UCLA foots the bill. Perhaps sone wealthy donors will pony up if the season completely tanks but that's a long shot.
Donors won't do it for an unproven coach like Earl Watson. His name and a name like Richard Pitino are floating around from fans on Facebook. I am not on board for coaches who have worse results.
It won’t be long before everyone on this site agrees with the statement I’ve said since Corning was hired…
Mick cronin is a bad fit for ucla basketball
If you say that long enough about any coach, you have about a 95% chance of being correct!
😂
I thought it was possible, but he made a lot of claims when he came here.
I didn’t know that his vision was his same old system. The light version of Howland.
His claims seem comical and worthy of firing, now.
"A guy like myself - when you're running a program, and you're having success - but every night when you're sitting up and you're watching the Bruins play and you're saying to yourself, 'What if I ever got that opportunity?' And you think about those things. ... That's reality for me. So this goes way back. ... This went on for years. ... What if I ever could get the opportunity to coach at the elite program in America with 11 national championships? How would I handle it? What would I do? How do you have success? What would your vision be? What could you do there that you can't do at other places. Well the answer is a lot."
Translation: The same old thing with better talent.
“National championships. Having the best players. Graduating elite student-athletes. All of the above is at your fingertips here. ... I understand it's a tremendous challenge - tremendous challenge. But it's also a great opportunity. And one that I was not going to pass up. Because I came from a situation obviously where I was at home. We had great sucess. But I had a chance to be the coach at UCLA. Let's be honest. The chance to be the coach where John Wooden coached. This is not a hard decision. ... You've got to embrace it. You only live once."
Translation: He doesn’t have the hands to grasp what’s at his fingertips.
"Recruiting is paramount, which becomes a little easier when you put four letters on your chest. ... Our goal is, nobody wants to play us. ... The four letters - they do a lot for your life."
Translation: Big failure!
Roster construction (and talent evaluation) is a major shortcoming of this team. But the kids aren't coming despite UCLA being flush with mbb NIL money. Why?
2023 23 offers, 0 commits
(Crnin* goes Euro in desperation to fill the roster)
2025 16 offers, 0 commits to date
2026 9 offers, 0 commits to date
The problem lies deeper than $ and the horses.
* Yes, Crnin as in Alfor.
I see what you did there...very clever!
I’ve also been harping on his recruiting from the get go… it’s been in steady decline for quite sometime. Cronins best players weren’t even guys he recruited
That’s why it’s clear Cronin is not the coach for UCLA and he is a failure to his claim that “Recruiting is paramount”.
Just to clarify:
In 2023, excluding Euros, ucla signed Sebastian Mack, Brandon Williams, and Devin Williams.
For the 2026 class, only 7 schools have any commits at all. Schools like Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Arizona, UConn, Indiana, Texas, all have no commits to date, too.
Fire all the coaches! 🤣
That still avoids the topic that 2025 equals nobody.
2023 equals 3 current bench players. 2024 equals a bench player and transfers. All of whom Cronin called soft, delusional, and with a poor work ethic. Add in whose play results - with the thanks of Cronin’s “stellar” coaching and strategies - in four straight losses.
I think the state of our recruiting should be clear, and any clarification on 2026 is superfluous.
The guy who said, "Win at home and split on the road" was rebuked, but now it would be a marvel.
Who will ucla overspend on next… I’d like to throw my hat in. I’ll work for 1/10th of what cronin makes and make lots of outlandish guarantees
Remember all the little people when you make it to the top.
Jarmond would hire someone worse.
Kenpom UCLA offensive efficiency sits at a magical 93… defense efficiency now out of the top 10 at 12th.
The other two comparable programs are Cincinnati and San Diego st. That’s who cronin is fighting with for recruits right now… sad how far ucla has fallen under this defensive genius. Who wants to help market my political slogan…
Cronin, bad for ucla, bad for your health
Maybe we should hire Brian Dutcher. If he can take SDSU to the national championship game and the sweet 16 in back to back years, he could probably go all the way with UCLA’s talent and resources.
Dutcher is in the same mold as Cronin, fans will be criticizing the defensive mindedness.
Questions for the Croninistas: Please name another coach who similarly shouldn't hold any responsibility or blame for the performance of his players. How long do they hold their job when their team falters?
This mess lies squarely on Cronin...
He evaluated, recruited and signed every one of these players, he designs the 'offense' or lack thereof, and the defense which is faltering. He is responsible for teaching, mentoring and for every player's development. He draws up game plans and makes in-game adjustments and rotation decisions. He evaluates and hires his staff to be a part of his team.
If this season continues to implode... Jelly Jarmond will likely pull a Chipster Alfraud on us, claiming emphatically that Cronin is our future, the right fit with our culture, and he is sticking with him and sticking it to us, all in the name of millions in a buyout.
What indication is there of Crnin's flexible, adaptive coaching that he will "figure it out?"
If one wanted to be optimistic, they'd point out that every Cronin season has some midseason swoon before turning it on late. In the lens of Cronin's UCLA tenure, this losing streak isn't out of the ordinary, it is just causing more consternation than before, likely because last season happened.
Also to answer your initial question, Coach K repeatedly and consistently threw his players under the bus (my favorite instance of this was when they lost his last home game ever to North Carolina, and he got on the mic and told the fans to stop booing the players for failing him.) The sport is littered with coaches who do that, and then turn around and take responsibility. Coincidentally, that has been what Cronin has done all the time, but people only focus on the negative because its the easy way.
I want the team to turn it on! (Someone on TMB coined a word expressing such hope.) I am doubtful. I think the flaws that you laid out are insurmountable.
A difference here--when has Coach K attacked the work and work ethic of his staff?
"We simply are not doing a good enough job of preparing this team" is such a bog-standard statement from any coaching staff. Again, I think people are just hyper-sensitive to everything Cronin does at the moment.
You’re joking right? He said he was out working his staff.
Hopium?
None, imho. Even those who support Cronin invariably acknowledge his stubborness and inflexibility.
I just listened to Jamal on LAFB Bruin Bible Show. The first half up until the 10 min mark is about our success in FB recruiting. But the second half is Jamal's take on MBB, Cronin and the pulse of UCLA insiders about Cronin... I found his takes very interesting and insightful, and this was before the loss to Rutgers.
Some of you may not like the Bruin Bible and that's fine. But here's the link for those who want to listen...
https://www.lafbnetwork.com/ucla-bruins/ucla-bruins-podcast/deshaun-foster-rolling-mick-cronin-cratering/
P.S. No reason to attack me if you don't like the comments or don't like Jamal. Thanks in advance.
Jamal? LOL. He believed in Chip Kelly until he didn't.
True. But I do think he makes some thoughtful observations about the team and Cronin.
That sullies his credibility in my eyes. You and I were the only ones who criticized the Chipster hire from day 1, to much ridicule and scorn from BN.
But similarly, it appears that Jamal's belief in Crnin is reaching a tipping point.
Which means that time has expired.
The complaints and criticisms of the coach and players for their miserable 4-game losing streak may be justifiable and deserving, but I think a lot of credit also goes to the B1G teams for being more physical and mentally tougher than the Bruins. The teams in this conference also have greater incentive and enthusiasm to beat newcomer UCLA because of its blueblood basketball heritage (unfortunately, UCLA is far from playing like one at the moment). The Bruins' coaches and players seem like they weren't truly prepared for conference play and assumed they would be easily competing for a top 3 or 4 position as if they were still battling in a much weaker Pac-12 conference. The terms "soft" and "delusional" used by Coach Cronin to describe his team seem appropriate, but he should've also expressed some accountability for that.
Go Bruins...