I feel like this loss has been coming down the pipe for a while.
I stated before the season that this UCLA Bruins season was going to be one full of growing pains as an extremely young team learned to play a full season of college basketball. There were going to be stretches of play where it looked like the Bruins had figured things out, and stretches where they would look completely lost.
We’re officially back in the second of those situations.
UCLA’s defense completely abandoned it on Thursday, as they let the Washington Huskies get whatever they wanted offensively en route to a 94-77 loss that was not as close as the final score would indicate. The Bruins were lackadaisical on defense throughout, constantly getting lost or falling asleep and allowing the Huskies to get off open looks with consistency. Washington shot 55.6% from the field (30-54) overall but was a blistering 15-24 (62.5%) from three-point range, as UCLA just seemed disinterested in challenging the Huskies on the perimeter. This was especially true for Keion Brooks Jr., the Pac-12’s leading scorer, who went off for a blistering 32 points on 8-14 shooting (6-7 from three) and making 10 of his 13 free throws. And if it wasn’t Brooks wasn’t hitting shots, it was likely that Braxton Meah was throwing down a dunk thanks to a really bad defensive rotation by Adem Bona. Meah had 19 points on 8-8 shooting, with all eight of those shots being dunks. I guess if you want a positive from this, you could point to Bona’s terrible game as an obvious data point for needing to come back for another season of development, as he’s grown a lot this year but has so much more to grow if he wants to stick at the next level.
The game is probably closer to the Utah debacle had the Bruins not gotten strong showings from Dylan Andrews and Lazar Stefanovic. Andrews put up an impressive stat line, scoring 21 points on 9-15 shooting to go along with 11 assists, while also being perhaps the only Bruin playing anywhere close to acceptable defense. Stefanovic scored 22 points on 8-13 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point range. Frankly, the UCLA offense was not the major problem in this game; the Bruins put up 77 points and shot 44.6% from the field, which is usually a good enough performance for the team. But when paired with a nonexistent defense, it was not nearly good enough.
Again, this team was going to go through some growing pains in a rebuilding season, and this was the kind of performance where the lack of veteran presence on the team was acutely felt. Outside of Stefanovic and Kenny Nwuba, the Bruins lack upperclassmen who have been through a full season and can help the team get through the ebbs and flows that come with that. Its hard to envision this kind of defensive effort occurring in past UCLA seasons after Cronin, but those teams also had a bevy of more veteran players like Jaime Jaquez, Tyger Campbell, and others who could rally the team. UCLA should be better off in the next year due to these struggles, but that also doesn’t discount that it’s not very fun to sit through right now.
As-is, UCLA already played its way off the narrow bubble path it had found itself on with the previous few games. With three games left before the Pac-12 Tournament, it would behoove the coaching staff and team to find some ways to get positive momentum before heading to Vegas, and it would probably behoove fans to again adjust their views of this current incarnation of UCLA basketball.
Go Bruins.
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This is supposed to be a rebuilding year but the wheels came off the engine in myriad ways. I have nothing more to say other than looking ahead to the next season, hoping it will be a better one. After all, there is always tomorrow to look forward to, paraphrasing Maureen O'Hara.
You can’t hurry love, paraphrasing the lyrics from an iconic Supremes’ hit in the sixties. Granted everything misfired this season, let’s not foreclose our prospects for next season the same way some have virtually written off our debut football season this September under Foster. That individual then had the gumption to even feint innocence, said he was not prejudging when everything he explained to that effect was precisely prejudging. It was hilarious beyond words. That said, Cronin does have his work cut out for him. I trust he will rise to the occasion and proves his doubters, naysayers wrong. That said, nothing facing us now or in future is remotely close to what we went through under Cheap Kelly. I wish him nothing but ill fate in Columbus.
I live in NC so stayed up late to watch but turned off the game at the end of the first half--not worth losing my sleep. The number of uncontested threes given up were more than terrible--especially from a team whose trade mark is defense. Just nobody guarding the players and same plays over and over again. Four more games (and probable losses) and the season will be mercifully over. Taking Cronin at his word at the post game presser, he will find out which of his existing players wants and is able to play "tough" (I doubt he really will do try-outs) and will need to be taking a hard look at players in the transfer portal and possible recruits. To Dimitri's point, I know most of Cronin's players are young but by the end of the season, they should have matured and I have not seen that; in fact, they have regressed to some degree. Makes me think that if Cronin wants the type of "tough" player he mentioned, it will be from the transfer portal unless he gets a top recruit which is doubtful (most are committed by now and the lack of NIL money) or a diamond in the rough like Clark.
Let this season end however way it ends. Nothing short of a miracle, divine intervention will salvage it. But tomorrow is another day. I have yet to lose hope.
This season is over. This team's problems goe way beyond youth, imho.
Remember these guys - the Fab Five at Michigan... Quoted from Wikipedia...
"The Fab Five were the first team in NCAA history to compete in the championship game with all-freshman starters. ...Ray Jackson, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Chris Webber."
Or how about this year's Univ of Kentucky team who are currently ranked 16th... Quote from Ben Roberts...
"The UK roster of 2023-24 features just one Wildcat who played major minutes last season and only three scholarship returnees, period. There are nine newcomers. Eight of those players are freshmen..."
Cronin has weaknesses and it's not just recruiting which is for sure a glaring weakness. But his iso offense requires 5 star players or at the very least multiple go to guys. And yes, playing tough defense requires players who natually have that mindset. We have neither.
But we also do not have an offense minded coach and he won't change his style. Unless the defense is outstanding and the offense has those 'star' iso players, we are not going to score enough points to win.
Recruiting issues. Lack of offense. Lack of toughness. Disaster. Cronin should take a good amount of blame for all of this - it's not just the players fault.
I believe so. Howland had the lunch pail players until he didn't and result was disaster. He couldn't blame the players he recruited - they were highly ranked players but they didn't fit his style or system.
Cronin had the lunch pail players until he didn't and result is disaster. He can't blame the players he recruited. Many were 4 star players but they don't fit his style and system and there are not a lot of players who want to play his way.
Why does the team start every game tentatively? Why do they come out flat after halftime? Is CMC not doing his job in preparing his team, or are the players not listening nor responding?
Mick Cronin does not run ISO by choice. I'm sure he would love to run pick and roll, but he doesn't have the personnel to do it. Pick and roll is a nuanced offense. There are 5 phases to PNR and 6 options. On past teams, Cronin had 3 very good pick and roll initiators in Tyger, Jaime, and Bernard. On this team, Andrews is the only PNR handler on the team and his ability to recognize and control the outcome of a PNR is entirely too slow. He's not a good handler and his passing is suspect. We've seen Andrews get stripped at the point of attack often and we've also seen him throw some atrocious lob passes on a Bona roll to the rim.
Forget about Mack. He's nowhere close to running PNR as the initiator. You would think with his ability to get to the hoop, you would think he could use Bona as either a screener or as a high post initiator with Mack running a curl to the rim. But Mack doesn't know how to work off of a screen nor can he reliably feed a high post (probably never had to in high school) and Bona has no ability to back feed Mack out of the post. So that's a dead action.
If nobody understand that play, think of Kobe and Gasol back in the day. Gasol would slide up to the FT line to set a pick, Kobe would lob a pass into Gasol and jet to the hoop and Gasol would drop a pocket pass or lob it to the rim and in both cases, Kobe would convert it. And with the triangle, Gasol had a secondary option on the weakside. They used to run this option probably 10 times per game like it was a walk in the park with a high percentage conversion rate.
And getting back to the UCLA's PNR, neither Bona nor Nwuba are effective screeners. Part of the problem is Andrew's inability to control the action and the longer Andrews takes, the chances of setting a moving screen becomes bigger. And we know Bona and Nwuba get plenty of offensive fouls on screens. Mara has not yet become a good screener largely because he doesn't know how to take advantage of his length.
Cronin is not an ISO coach. In fact I'd say he's only had one good ISO player in the entire time he's been at UCLA, namely Jaquez who has proven at the NBA level that he's an above average shot creator. Bernard was decent but his handle was bit loose, Tyger tried, but he was too little, both Clark and Bailey could have been good had they stayed, and Juzang was a spot up shooter at best. I lost track of how many times Juzang would dribble the ball off his leg while driving to the basket with no defenders on him.
Cronin is PNR coach which is fine because it's the most prevalent play in basketball and hardest to defend and his teams are hard to beat when they execute. But because he has players on this current squad who can't execute PNR cleanly, his only fallback offense is to let the players improvise in ISO and hopefully make lemonade out of lemons.
It will be better next season. The players will have an understanding of their roles and their shortcomings with an entire summer to work on them. Cronin and the new players never had that type of opportunity last summer, I have plenty of faith in Cronin. Considering how poorly the season started, I thought he did a good job of getting them to play better basketball, but some of the issues were simply not fixable in-season.
I mentioned Bernard earlier. He's been playing really well in the G-League. Unfortunately, he's blocked by Jordan Poole on the Wizards. He's still turnover prone, but his handle and his footwork has improved, he's knocking down jumpers, he finishing at the rim, he's getting a big number of rebounds from the SG position, and he's playing defense. I think he's going to get a shot somewhere in the league. If the Wizards don't resign him, and with Max Christie as a walk free agent this offseason, he could be a fit on the Lakers on a minimum deal. Fingers crossed for Jules.
Thanks so much for sharing all about the PNR and Cronin. PNR is elegant, rhythmic and highly efficient but requires a certain type of player - great passing, great ball handling, great court vision and controlled quickness. Yes, Tyger, JJJ and Bernard were all pretty darn good 😊
So would love to know your opinion as to why Cronin did not recuit a number of players who can run the PNR? If that is truly the offense he wants to run then why do we not have a single player who shows even great potential with the PNR? I bet there are plenty of high schools who run the PNR effectively and have great players.
PNR also seems to set the table for a high scoring offense. The Lakers were a high scoring offense with Kobe, Shaq etc. But Cronin's teams have been historically low scoring - both at Cinci and UCLA. Even last year's team was a low scoring team with a lot of scoring droughts. Just seems odd.
The answer on the recruiting PnR players has as much to do with the shift in style at the high school/AAU level. It’s much more iso focused in part because there’s a lack of top-end bigs spread out (the system to the pros consolidates talent at each level, so high school has the most talent spread out compared to other levels) and the rise of teams like the Warriors causing the next generation to focus more on outside shooting than getting to the rim. The Jaquez piece that the Ringer did a few weeks ago kind of highlighted that he was an outlier compared to his peers in that he idolized Kobe and that iso style.
Doesn’t really matter that PnR is a bread-and-butter play at the NBA level when a lot of the high school coaches gravitate towards a different style (specifically a lot of motion-based offenses that put stress on the defense by forcing mismatches). It makes for a situation where PnR becomes a teaching concept at the college level instead.
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.
Thank you for that detailed analysis - much appreciated. I'd also add, if I may, that not only does the high screen action inevitably lead to at least one offensive foul for Bona but it also all too often leads to him being out of position on the offensive glass which leads to his low rebounding numbers...
When our offense was working, it wasn't so much ISO and certainly not PNR but being patient enough to let Bona establish position at the low post and take entry passes to either take on the single or pass out of the double to a shooter who either spotted up or cut behind the doubling defender. We've gotten away from that -and the shooting has sunk since we are inconsistent - and, as the effort has flagged in the last two games, we get back to the bad we thought we'd escaped.
The thing is, shooting might be inconsistent but effort shouldn't be and that has to begin from within. Of course Jaime is a unique dude, but I'm with Mick in saying that a lot of flaws can be what they are and have to be coached around or accounted for, but lack of effort isn't and can't be one of them.
Natural street b-ball savvy doesn't translate to winning college basketball games with a shot clock and a game clock. First to 21 vs playing with a shot clock, a game clock, and 3 refs are two different beasts. Players could be great at one but terrible at the other.
It's too bad there's no coverage for the Bruins womens basketball team here. They've regained a #1 seeding for the tournament and they're peaking at just the right time. They actually run plays, they know their roles on the floor, and they're tough and energetic.
IMO, they should be able to ride the #1 seed into the Final Four. With the possible opportunities to play Iowa, OSU, Texas, a redemption game against Stanford, and with any luck, South Carolina, I'm looking forward to following the Bruin women do great things in the tournament.
They are truly a special team and I love watching them play. Their competitive greatness and selflessness on the court is inspiring. I think Coach Wooden is smiling 💙💛
Y’all wouldn’t like my women’s coverage at the moment. I’m back to being out on them winning the entire thing mostly because of the last few months where the team was vacillating between great play and poor play, which given the talent level should not be happening. Betts being out for a period of time did not help, but the women put up some absolute stinkers for a month that we all have seemingly forgotten about, and this was right when rumors started surfacing of friction on the team. I think winning can cure some of that, but I just have 0 faith in Coach Close to win a scheme battle against a team with the talent to match.
How much of that slump and potentially even friction came from having players leave to play Olympic qualifiers mid-season - which is crazy by the way - which I know others had to deal with (including So Carolina) but might have affected us as a team that hasn't been through it before more than others?
None really. Like I said, a lot of the slump had to do with Betts being out, as it is super clear she fixes a lot of the offensive and defensive issues with this roster by being a true interior presence, but even when she came back UCLA did not look great, and had that loss to Southern Cal at home where Betts got played off the court and UCLA had no defensive answer to Juju Watkins (which many teams have not had, but UCLA is supposed to have enough talent to counteract the singular force that is Watkins).
UCLA was actually killed by the Olympic qualifiers at the start of the season when Emily Bessoir got injured playing for Germany and ended up having to miss the season, depriving the team of a great floor spacing wing.
Your negative outlook on the Bruins women is not an issue whatsoever. It's your blog and you're entitled to say whatever you feel good or bad. Just because they don't meet expectations doesn't mean I won't watch, root, or talk about them. I suffered through down times with the Lakers and Dodgers and never waivered as a fan. And it's doubly true with UCLA, my alma mater.
Unless some type of religious, transformative miracle takes place with the men's team, , The women be our only team playing in March Madness. At least that gives us UCLA basketball fans something to root for and Lord knows, we need something to root for.
Are they good enough to win the entire tournament? Probably not, with a juggernaut like South Carolina clearly outclassing the entire field. But can they reach the Elite 8 or Final 4? Quite possibly. And that makes them a team whose games should be marked on the calendar and time set aside to root and watch them play.
If you don't want to waste your time writing about the women's team, that's not a problem, Dimitri. But don't be surprised if the comment section is partially hijacked during the tournament to discuss the women.
Oh there's a very good chance that once the men's season ends, we just fully turn to the women's team for the tournament. It's more a question of resources than anything.
This is supposed to be a rebuilding year but the wheels came off the engine in myriad ways. I have nothing more to say other than looking ahead to the next season, hoping it will be a better one. After all, there is always tomorrow to look forward to, paraphrasing Maureen O'Hara.
As for tomorrows, let us not forget Annie (the Musical).
Speaking of which, I can't wait for CMC's housecleaning, and what yet another roster turnover portends for next year.
You can’t hurry love, paraphrasing the lyrics from an iconic Supremes’ hit in the sixties. Granted everything misfired this season, let’s not foreclose our prospects for next season the same way some have virtually written off our debut football season this September under Foster. That individual then had the gumption to even feint innocence, said he was not prejudging when everything he explained to that effect was precisely prejudging. It was hilarious beyond words. That said, Cronin does have his work cut out for him. I trust he will rise to the occasion and proves his doubters, naysayers wrong. That said, nothing facing us now or in future is remotely close to what we went through under Cheap Kelly. I wish him nothing but ill fate in Columbus.
I live in NC so stayed up late to watch but turned off the game at the end of the first half--not worth losing my sleep. The number of uncontested threes given up were more than terrible--especially from a team whose trade mark is defense. Just nobody guarding the players and same plays over and over again. Four more games (and probable losses) and the season will be mercifully over. Taking Cronin at his word at the post game presser, he will find out which of his existing players wants and is able to play "tough" (I doubt he really will do try-outs) and will need to be taking a hard look at players in the transfer portal and possible recruits. To Dimitri's point, I know most of Cronin's players are young but by the end of the season, they should have matured and I have not seen that; in fact, they have regressed to some degree. Makes me think that if Cronin wants the type of "tough" player he mentioned, it will be from the transfer portal unless he gets a top recruit which is doubtful (most are committed by now and the lack of NIL money) or a diamond in the rough like Clark.
Let this season end however way it ends. Nothing short of a miracle, divine intervention will salvage it. But tomorrow is another day. I have yet to lose hope.
This season is over. This team's problems goe way beyond youth, imho.
Remember these guys - the Fab Five at Michigan... Quoted from Wikipedia...
"The Fab Five were the first team in NCAA history to compete in the championship game with all-freshman starters. ...Ray Jackson, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Chris Webber."
Or how about this year's Univ of Kentucky team who are currently ranked 16th... Quote from Ben Roberts...
"The UK roster of 2023-24 features just one Wildcat who played major minutes last season and only three scholarship returnees, period. There are nine newcomers. Eight of those players are freshmen..."
Cronin has weaknesses and it's not just recruiting which is for sure a glaring weakness. But his iso offense requires 5 star players or at the very least multiple go to guys. And yes, playing tough defense requires players who natually have that mindset. We have neither.
But we also do not have an offense minded coach and he won't change his style. Unless the defense is outstanding and the offense has those 'star' iso players, we are not going to score enough points to win.
Recruiting issues. Lack of offense. Lack of toughness. Disaster. Cronin should take a good amount of blame for all of this - it's not just the players fault.
The CMC offense, "Please, someone get hot."
CMC recruiting, the players are soft and have no "dog" (per CMC) in them. Why are there no CMC lunch pail guys? Has he, too, "lost his way?"
I believe so. Howland had the lunch pail players until he didn't and result was disaster. He couldn't blame the players he recruited - they were highly ranked players but they didn't fit his style or system.
Cronin had the lunch pail players until he didn't and result is disaster. He can't blame the players he recruited. Many were 4 star players but they don't fit his style and system and there are not a lot of players who want to play his way.
Nor is there a healthy NIL to attract players. That won't be remedied soon, either.
Agree, Tamara, we started off well enough but they adjusted and whipped us . (coaching?)
Why does the team start every game tentatively? Why do they come out flat after halftime? Is CMC not doing his job in preparing his team, or are the players not listening nor responding?
Mick Cronin does not run ISO by choice. I'm sure he would love to run pick and roll, but he doesn't have the personnel to do it. Pick and roll is a nuanced offense. There are 5 phases to PNR and 6 options. On past teams, Cronin had 3 very good pick and roll initiators in Tyger, Jaime, and Bernard. On this team, Andrews is the only PNR handler on the team and his ability to recognize and control the outcome of a PNR is entirely too slow. He's not a good handler and his passing is suspect. We've seen Andrews get stripped at the point of attack often and we've also seen him throw some atrocious lob passes on a Bona roll to the rim.
Forget about Mack. He's nowhere close to running PNR as the initiator. You would think with his ability to get to the hoop, you would think he could use Bona as either a screener or as a high post initiator with Mack running a curl to the rim. But Mack doesn't know how to work off of a screen nor can he reliably feed a high post (probably never had to in high school) and Bona has no ability to back feed Mack out of the post. So that's a dead action.
If nobody understand that play, think of Kobe and Gasol back in the day. Gasol would slide up to the FT line to set a pick, Kobe would lob a pass into Gasol and jet to the hoop and Gasol would drop a pocket pass or lob it to the rim and in both cases, Kobe would convert it. And with the triangle, Gasol had a secondary option on the weakside. They used to run this option probably 10 times per game like it was a walk in the park with a high percentage conversion rate.
And getting back to the UCLA's PNR, neither Bona nor Nwuba are effective screeners. Part of the problem is Andrew's inability to control the action and the longer Andrews takes, the chances of setting a moving screen becomes bigger. And we know Bona and Nwuba get plenty of offensive fouls on screens. Mara has not yet become a good screener largely because he doesn't know how to take advantage of his length.
Cronin is not an ISO coach. In fact I'd say he's only had one good ISO player in the entire time he's been at UCLA, namely Jaquez who has proven at the NBA level that he's an above average shot creator. Bernard was decent but his handle was bit loose, Tyger tried, but he was too little, both Clark and Bailey could have been good had they stayed, and Juzang was a spot up shooter at best. I lost track of how many times Juzang would dribble the ball off his leg while driving to the basket with no defenders on him.
Cronin is PNR coach which is fine because it's the most prevalent play in basketball and hardest to defend and his teams are hard to beat when they execute. But because he has players on this current squad who can't execute PNR cleanly, his only fallback offense is to let the players improvise in ISO and hopefully make lemonade out of lemons.
It will be better next season. The players will have an understanding of their roles and their shortcomings with an entire summer to work on them. Cronin and the new players never had that type of opportunity last summer, I have plenty of faith in Cronin. Considering how poorly the season started, I thought he did a good job of getting them to play better basketball, but some of the issues were simply not fixable in-season.
I mentioned Bernard earlier. He's been playing really well in the G-League. Unfortunately, he's blocked by Jordan Poole on the Wizards. He's still turnover prone, but his handle and his footwork has improved, he's knocking down jumpers, he finishing at the rim, he's getting a big number of rebounds from the SG position, and he's playing defense. I think he's going to get a shot somewhere in the league. If the Wizards don't resign him, and with Max Christie as a walk free agent this offseason, he could be a fit on the Lakers on a minimum deal. Fingers crossed for Jules.
Thanks so much for sharing all about the PNR and Cronin. PNR is elegant, rhythmic and highly efficient but requires a certain type of player - great passing, great ball handling, great court vision and controlled quickness. Yes, Tyger, JJJ and Bernard were all pretty darn good 😊
So would love to know your opinion as to why Cronin did not recuit a number of players who can run the PNR? If that is truly the offense he wants to run then why do we not have a single player who shows even great potential with the PNR? I bet there are plenty of high schools who run the PNR effectively and have great players.
PNR also seems to set the table for a high scoring offense. The Lakers were a high scoring offense with Kobe, Shaq etc. But Cronin's teams have been historically low scoring - both at Cinci and UCLA. Even last year's team was a low scoring team with a lot of scoring droughts. Just seems odd.
Would appreciate your perspective 💙💛
The answer on the recruiting PnR players has as much to do with the shift in style at the high school/AAU level. It’s much more iso focused in part because there’s a lack of top-end bigs spread out (the system to the pros consolidates talent at each level, so high school has the most talent spread out compared to other levels) and the rise of teams like the Warriors causing the next generation to focus more on outside shooting than getting to the rim. The Jaquez piece that the Ringer did a few weeks ago kind of highlighted that he was an outlier compared to his peers in that he idolized Kobe and that iso style.
Doesn’t really matter that PnR is a bread-and-butter play at the NBA level when a lot of the high school coaches gravitate towards a different style (specifically a lot of motion-based offenses that put stress on the defense by forcing mismatches). It makes for a situation where PnR becomes a teaching concept at the college level instead.
Thanks Dimitri for your insight. So I am wondering what your opinion of Cronin is as a teacher and developer of the PNR...
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.
💙💛
Thank you for that detailed analysis - much appreciated. I'd also add, if I may, that not only does the high screen action inevitably lead to at least one offensive foul for Bona but it also all too often leads to him being out of position on the offensive glass which leads to his low rebounding numbers...
When our offense was working, it wasn't so much ISO and certainly not PNR but being patient enough to let Bona establish position at the low post and take entry passes to either take on the single or pass out of the double to a shooter who either spotted up or cut behind the doubling defender. We've gotten away from that -and the shooting has sunk since we are inconsistent - and, as the effort has flagged in the last two games, we get back to the bad we thought we'd escaped.
The thing is, shooting might be inconsistent but effort shouldn't be and that has to begin from within. Of course Jaime is a unique dude, but I'm with Mick in saying that a lot of flaws can be what they are and have to be coached around or accounted for, but lack of effort isn't and can't be one of them.
Alfie was excoriated for his remark, "I can't shoot the ball for them," and it's become a running joke on TMB.
Earlier I stated that when CMC makes a similar comment, then we know it's all over.
Well, he finally said it: "I can't play for them."
Should CMC be held to the same standard, or is he above criticism?
Same standard.
They can't shoot.
They can't play defense.
They aren't tough and are easily intimidated.
There are no leaders.
CMC himself has said that youth and inexperience are no longer excuses.
And that the team has low bb IQ.
The best players are leaving,
Only one offer has committed.
Exactly how will they be better off next season?
This is Howland 2.0 without the highly ranked recruiting class. I can't think of any reason we will be better next season.
[Upon being unranked preseason]
CMC: I could not care less what the media says about me.
Also CMC: I take it personally that they have ignored and dismissed my entire coaching record and achievements!
[Further on being unranked preseason]
CMC: I don't read what the sportswriters say about our team.
Also CMC: The writers have insulted the talent and potential of this strong group of players!
[Re the Wooden Rule "Never criticize, nag, or razz a teammate."]
CMC: I believe in and uphold the Wooden values.
Also CMC: These players are not very smart. They have low basketball IQ.
The question: CMC or the kids don't listen? The don't show natural street b-ball savvy.
Natural street b-ball savvy doesn't translate to winning college basketball games with a shot clock and a game clock. First to 21 vs playing with a shot clock, a game clock, and 3 refs are two different beasts. Players could be great at one but terrible at the other.
Lots of guys are great at Rucker but not in a formal game context...
It's too bad there's no coverage for the Bruins womens basketball team here. They've regained a #1 seeding for the tournament and they're peaking at just the right time. They actually run plays, they know their roles on the floor, and they're tough and energetic.
IMO, they should be able to ride the #1 seed into the Final Four. With the possible opportunities to play Iowa, OSU, Texas, a redemption game against Stanford, and with any luck, South Carolina, I'm looking forward to following the Bruin women do great things in the tournament.
They are truly a special team and I love watching them play. Their competitive greatness and selflessness on the court is inspiring. I think Coach Wooden is smiling 💙💛
Y’all wouldn’t like my women’s coverage at the moment. I’m back to being out on them winning the entire thing mostly because of the last few months where the team was vacillating between great play and poor play, which given the talent level should not be happening. Betts being out for a period of time did not help, but the women put up some absolute stinkers for a month that we all have seemingly forgotten about, and this was right when rumors started surfacing of friction on the team. I think winning can cure some of that, but I just have 0 faith in Coach Close to win a scheme battle against a team with the talent to match.
How much of that slump and potentially even friction came from having players leave to play Olympic qualifiers mid-season - which is crazy by the way - which I know others had to deal with (including So Carolina) but might have affected us as a team that hasn't been through it before more than others?
None really. Like I said, a lot of the slump had to do with Betts being out, as it is super clear she fixes a lot of the offensive and defensive issues with this roster by being a true interior presence, but even when she came back UCLA did not look great, and had that loss to Southern Cal at home where Betts got played off the court and UCLA had no defensive answer to Juju Watkins (which many teams have not had, but UCLA is supposed to have enough talent to counteract the singular force that is Watkins).
UCLA was actually killed by the Olympic qualifiers at the start of the season when Emily Bessoir got injured playing for Germany and ended up having to miss the season, depriving the team of a great floor spacing wing.
Your negative outlook on the Bruins women is not an issue whatsoever. It's your blog and you're entitled to say whatever you feel good or bad. Just because they don't meet expectations doesn't mean I won't watch, root, or talk about them. I suffered through down times with the Lakers and Dodgers and never waivered as a fan. And it's doubly true with UCLA, my alma mater.
Unless some type of religious, transformative miracle takes place with the men's team, , The women be our only team playing in March Madness. At least that gives us UCLA basketball fans something to root for and Lord knows, we need something to root for.
Are they good enough to win the entire tournament? Probably not, with a juggernaut like South Carolina clearly outclassing the entire field. But can they reach the Elite 8 or Final 4? Quite possibly. And that makes them a team whose games should be marked on the calendar and time set aside to root and watch them play.
If you don't want to waste your time writing about the women's team, that's not a problem, Dimitri. But don't be surprised if the comment section is partially hijacked during the tournament to discuss the women.
Oh there's a very good chance that once the men's season ends, we just fully turn to the women's team for the tournament. It's more a question of resources than anything.