I think he can do it, but Cronin's offensive philosophy while at UCLA has been to custom-bake the offense based on what the personnel he has can and can't do. That's why the Final Four run was so heavily built on isolation scoring, because he had one player on an all-time March heater (Juzang) and another ruthlessly-efficient iso player …
I think he can do it, but Cronin's offensive philosophy while at UCLA has been to custom-bake the offense based on what the personnel he has can and can't do. That's why the Final Four run was so heavily built on isolation scoring, because he had one player on an all-time March heater (Juzang) and another ruthlessly-efficient iso player (Jaquez) and it made sense to go through them (that team and year after both featured top 15 offenses per KenPom). Last year's squad, which finished 21st in offensive rating, did similar things but was really locked in on defense which drove the offense (think about how many transition points UCLA scored last year). I think if Cronin had a point guard who could run PnR effectively (as much as I love Tyger, he also was not a great PnR point guard) and bigs who could fill in, you'd see a lot more of that in the offense.
It's also the downside of Cronin, because his focus (rightly, in my opinion) is on the defensive side and having that be as great as possible. It's a March-focused plan rather than a whole-season plan, which is why Cronin has had more success in March than someone like Tommy Lloyd who runs a much-prettier offense than Cronin. UConn got a lot of flowers for its offense last year but they also had a top 10 defense that could keep them in games when the offense would occasionally stagnate. I think you'll have games where the offense looks out of sorts with Cronin because, again, it's not his area of concern, and frankly I think a Cronin that went hunting after systemic improvements on offense falls into the same trap that doomed Howland.
It will be interesting to see how the 'tryouts' go for the players, what roster changes Cronin makes and the outcomes moving forward. We will see how next year takes shape in terms of fundamentals, chemistry, character etc.
I agree Cronin would be doomed if he recruited elitist players like Howland did as that group was sorely lacking in character.
Imho, it's also sad that the landscape of college sports has changed for the worse - NIL was bound to become corrupt as money leads to greed which leads to lack of loyalty. It's much harder to build greatness.
So lots of challenges and issues ahead but I am still hoping Cronin can overcome them and develop a successful team.
I think he can do it, but Cronin's offensive philosophy while at UCLA has been to custom-bake the offense based on what the personnel he has can and can't do. That's why the Final Four run was so heavily built on isolation scoring, because he had one player on an all-time March heater (Juzang) and another ruthlessly-efficient iso player (Jaquez) and it made sense to go through them (that team and year after both featured top 15 offenses per KenPom). Last year's squad, which finished 21st in offensive rating, did similar things but was really locked in on defense which drove the offense (think about how many transition points UCLA scored last year). I think if Cronin had a point guard who could run PnR effectively (as much as I love Tyger, he also was not a great PnR point guard) and bigs who could fill in, you'd see a lot more of that in the offense.
It's also the downside of Cronin, because his focus (rightly, in my opinion) is on the defensive side and having that be as great as possible. It's a March-focused plan rather than a whole-season plan, which is why Cronin has had more success in March than someone like Tommy Lloyd who runs a much-prettier offense than Cronin. UConn got a lot of flowers for its offense last year but they also had a top 10 defense that could keep them in games when the offense would occasionally stagnate. I think you'll have games where the offense looks out of sorts with Cronin because, again, it's not his area of concern, and frankly I think a Cronin that went hunting after systemic improvements on offense falls into the same trap that doomed Howland.
Thanks for your thoughtful perspective.
It will be interesting to see how the 'tryouts' go for the players, what roster changes Cronin makes and the outcomes moving forward. We will see how next year takes shape in terms of fundamentals, chemistry, character etc.
I agree Cronin would be doomed if he recruited elitist players like Howland did as that group was sorely lacking in character.
Imho, it's also sad that the landscape of college sports has changed for the worse - NIL was bound to become corrupt as money leads to greed which leads to lack of loyalty. It's much harder to build greatness.
So lots of challenges and issues ahead but I am still hoping Cronin can overcome them and develop a successful team.
💙💛