Postgame Talk: A Bad Loss to UC Berkeley Could Spell the Beginning of the End for Mick Cronin
The injuries are a major problem, but this team has problems much deeper than that.
I am one of the more optimistic writers regarding UCLA basketball and the Mick Cronin era, so when I tell you this might be the beginning of the end, you should know that I mean it.
The Bruins were without Tyler Bilodeau, and Donovan Dent is dealing with a leg injury that ultimately took him out of this game late, but that should not matter. The big problem is that the UCLA Bruins under Mick Cronin do not look like a team of UCLA’s calibre should, and an 80-72 defeat at the hands of UC Berkeley has only served to confirm that.
UCLA has all sorts of problems at the moment. Roster construction is a huge issue, one that began before the season when Cronin’s mismanagement of Aday Mara led to his departure to Michigan, and a failure to backload with quality players has only compounded that issue. I have mentioned that Xavier Booker has played well above expectations, but that doesn’t excuse this team’s lack of a real post threat, which has hurt the offense but has really affected things on the defensive end, as the Bruins lack any real plus defender on that end, and a great defensive post (like Mara was) would fix a lot of issues on that end. UC Berkeley was able to figure that out and took advantage, consistently breaking the Bruins down off the dribble and hitting back cut after back cut for easy points. The Bears also shot 50% from deep, and while they hit some tough shots to get there, the Bruins were consistently late in their rotations, leading to several easy shots. Chris Bell, a transfer from Syracuse who came home to the Bay Area, torched the Bruins in this regard, going 5-7 from three en route to a game-high 22 points.
UCLA’s starting guard play has been a major concern as well. You can excuse some of Donovan Dent’s performance due to his leg injury, which finally became too much for the senior to overcome late, but he has simply not lived up to the $3 million price tag he cost to obtain this offseason. Dent finished 1-8 from the field, and with his leg injury removing much of his fabled athleticism, it wasn’t shocking to see the Bears easily contain him. Worse still, he continues to be miserable from the free-throw line, speaking more to an issue mentally. Dent already wasn’t bringing great defensive effort, and if he cannot bring anything positive on the offensive end, then he should not be playing. I know he was paid a ton of money, but at some point, Mick Cronin needs to make the tough call and bench his star player for the good of the team.
Dent’s failures would be more palatable if Skyy Clark were doing a better job carrying the load, but so far this season, he, too, has been underwhelming. Clark’s biggest issue is that he keeps taking himself out of games by being too aggressive, perhaps in part to try and cover for Dent, but it leads to heavy foul trouble and removes Clark from the flow of the game. Clark finished with seven points on 2-8 shooting and only played 25 minutes thanks to picking up a bevy of fouls in the second half.
The irony is that UCLA did so many other things right in this game. Rebounding has been a major problem for the Bruins this season, but the team was exceptional on the boards, only giving up seven offensive rebounds to UC Berkeley while grabbing 27 defensive ones (and only giving up five second-chance points in the process). Trent Perry had a sensational game and continues to make the case that he should be starting, finishing with 19 points on 6-10 shooting. Eric Dailey, after a quiet first half, had his first truly solid offensive performance, scoring 17 points on 7-15 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds.
But none of that matters because this program is currently broken, and Mick Cronin is to blame. This team lacks athleticism, defenders, or natural rebounders. It has a bunch of good pieces, but no one truly great, and Cronin’s shift to allowing his team more free-flowing offense with less control has resulted in worse play, not better. None of this looks good, and the last thing UCLA can afford at this point is a men’s basketball team that looks this bad.
There is a chance that this is not the beginning of the end, that the return of Bilodeau (a terrible defender who can at least score) and a healthy Dent can turn things around. But that would be a band-aid on a major wound. UCLA is reverting under Mick Cronin, and you might be able to point to this loss as the beginning of the end of his tenure.
Go Bruins.
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Apparently, all it took was one awful performance of UCLA basketball against Cal (and the anticipated drop from the Top-25 rankings) to turn anti-Cronin fever into a potential, full-blown epidemic this season. After watching UCLA get thoroughly outplayed, outhustled, and outcoached by HC "Mad Dog" and his squad, it's quite obvious that these Bruins lack the strong leadership and toughness needed to be competitive on a regular basis. Last season, I thought HC Cronin blew it by failing to develop and then ultimately losing Mara, and this season the ailing and struggling Dent is hurting both himself and the team and has turned out to be a big disappointment so far. UCLA's exciting Final Four run seems like a distant memory and looking increasingly unlikely to be repeated again by HC Cronin, based on what's been taking place with the basketball program since then. And the total dysfunction and incompetence of the UCLA administration hasn't helped either. In any case, I wish TMB, fellow Bruins, and fans of UCLA a Happy Thanksgiving, with hopefully something good to cheer about afterwards. Go Bruins!
YoungestTo500© has said that he hasn't suddenly forgotten how to coach. In fact, he has forgotten. He no longer does what he does (defense), and The $3M Difference Maker he got, as Baskets predicted, has lost his mojo.
We are witnessing Crnin entering the End of Howland Phase.
Crnin has abandoned getting *his* kinda' guys. Dent is Crnin's Shabazz. He is left with a poorly constructed, underperforming roster that can't play to his coaching strengths, nor is he capable of running a breaking offense of his dreams anyway. He is imploding before our eyes. His NIL resources can be as rich as Croesus, but what players can he attract? Who wants to see their game emasculated?