Wonder if Skyy Clark is still getting his legs back after being out for so long. He's been in foul trouble the past two games, so if he can get him back to form, we will be even more dangerous
Hopefully his confidence will continue to grow in regards to his hamstring. When he is more confident, his quickness and strength of play will improve......he will start climbing over screens again and he will be able to stay in front of his man better which means less reaching (and thus less fouls).
It was good watching him attempt to drive it more. I think he made a layup and then had one blocked, but either way, good to see him trying to get his legs back. He’s still a step slow laterally which affected his defense a bit and resulted in a block call when he tried to take a charge but hopefully by B10 tourney time he can be back to 100%
Almost forgot that DD had beaten both UCLA and U$C last season while at UNM, so I'm glad he's with us to help beat U$C again. Great to see the Bruins $3M man continuing to look more poised and confident and now also finding his shot. He's been playing some really clutch basketball the past 2 games, so hope he can continue this high level of play.
Dimitri, I’m glad you mentioned the “5-out” offense implemented in the Illini game and presented again against USC. You know, none of us on this board are basketball savants (well, except for you DD and Joe of course); yet we often see a number of commentators criticizing the tactical coaching of the Bruins….
Such criticisms have focused especially as to how their personnel cultivated by the staff are either being misused or have been placed in a position to play worse than they had in the past, instead of being put into a position to play better, AND IT’S EASY TO SEE WHY, BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY HOW IT HAS LOOKED. Dent has looked discombobulated trying to run offense, Book has had no place on the court where he has looked comfortable, who is this Freeny guy and why is he getting minutes; why can’t we rebound, why can’t a Cronin team play defense anymore? All of these claims at times have looked absolutely valid at face value while watching this team struggle this year……..until now.
At UCLA anyway, Mick has always been a two bigs and 3 on the perimeter or at least 1 big and 4 on the perimeter, when running his offense……His teams were heavy of defense and plodding on offense. The 5-out is a massive change for him…..with "5 perimeter players" it really is the ultimate "coaching chess match." Cronin is trading in his "blue-collar" defense and rebounding identity, in order to lean into this high-variance, 5-out look. It’s a total philosophical pivot—and an acid test of his adaptability.
It’s perfect for Dent because he has room to operate in the paint to drive and score or dish to Bilo, Trent, Skyy, Daily, Book or Freeny for open 3’s as perimeter defenders collapse on him (If he hits his 3’s like last night, Dent elevates himself to one of the top point guards in the country); cutters to the rim are easier to find; and we just let our talented shooters take a higher volume of open 3’s or drive past defenders when they run out to challenge. On defense, you can see Cronin experimenting……for USC it was “scramble” and blitz the perimeter offensive sets…..he is going to have to come up with something else when we hit a Michigan type team with athletes and great length…..it will really be the ultimate test of Cronin’s coaching “chops” team by team from here on in….Fasten your seatbelts…
The five-out offense is what I coached in high school, and it's what a lot of high school players in general grow up running these days because everyone wants to shoot the three and be Steph Curry. That said, UCLA has been running a variation of this offense for two seasons now, and did so especially last year when it was starting Bilodeau at the five.
A five-out offense isn't that structurally different from the 4-out, 1-in offense that people are more familiar with; the added wrinkle is that everyone is a threat to shoot from the outside, which means teams can't sit in the paint against the offense. It's essentially the spread offense in football, spreading the defense out to create better running lanes for the offense (in this case, with no big man in the center taking up space, there's more room to drive and less chance of a rim protector stopping things). The offense can still sit Bilodeau down in the block and let him go to work, but that's more of a mix-up than a vital component to the offense; on the flip side, Booker got most of his rim points on rolls to the basket that were opened up because his defender had to play him higher.
All of which to say, I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a major tactical shift, but rather one that is being made thanks to the emergence of Trent Perry as an offensive force. Cronin is taking the gamble that he's going to need to simply outscore opponents going forward and is putting his best players on the court as often as possible to do so (I personally think he should consider swapping Dailey with Booker in the starting lineup, but Booker seems to be taking well to this new role so let it ride for now).
While I accept the new reality of your last paragraph, I hate that it exists and that we have to make “competitive offers” to existing players who actually love it in Westwood for the honor of wearing the four letters.
I do think that the major philosophy change has been "letting" us become more of an offense minded team, and increasing our pace from the plodding offense to becoming more free flowing
FWIW Cronin in the post-game with Josh and Tracy mentioned that he feels Booker is better/more comfortable coming off the bench... "good" Dailey (e.g. vs Illinois) raises our ceiling but at least last night Cronin was quick to recognize "bad" Dailey and moved on early in the 2nd half as you pointed out. Really glad to see the 3-guard lineup playing significant minutes together now that Clark's back.
I just find it interesting that his mantra has always been defense, physical block outs on both the offensive and defensive boards, positioning, etc. and now, given the 5-out offense, its going to be crashing the boards from the perimeter and hustling for long rebounds when shots don't go in. Again, IMHO, he's going to be leaning into an approach that has not been mainstream to his philosophy......To me, this late in the season, it's compelling....
Interesting postgame comments from Cronin - ucla coaching staff has been working with Dent on fixing his shot. Apparently he moves his head too much when he shoots and that causes him to lean back on his shots. Hopefully we can see continuous improvement on that front - changing shooting mechanics is not easy when you’re trying to break 18 years of bad habits. I saw a cool stat though - he’s the first player in 30 years to have 40+ points, 20+ assists, and 0 TOs over two games. Clearly he has elite talent so hopefully this upward trend continues.
UCLA doesn’t have anymore potential bad losses on the schedule as the rest of the regular season are all Q1, but they’ve been horrible in the road so hopefully we see that change against Minnesota on Saturday. Speaking of Q1 and Net rankings, I saw a stat on Twitter that ucla has played 5 of the top 6 teams in Net ranking and went 2-3 against them. Which is actually pretty good! Of rhe 3 losses, we played AZ and Gonzaga pretty close but got ran off the court by Michigan. I’m a bit more bullish on the NCAA tournament this week than I was last month
Minnesota might be trickier than I thought initially. They played a close half with Michigan yesterday and still only lost by 10. That loss dropped them to 13-15
Minnesota is sorta like us - wildly inconsistent and have more talent than their record would suggest. The biggest difference between us and them is that Cronin is a better coach than Medved. They beat Iowa and Michigan State, but have losses to San Francisco, Santa Clara, Maryland, and Stanford.
Speaking of Minnesota, Bruins in the news! The TWolves waived Johnny Juzang last week, and signed Jules Bernard to a 2-way contract on Wednesday. I'm coming around to the opinion that unless you're a lottery pick, players may be staying in school because of the money, rather than declaring early for the NBA. Does anyone on the current Bruin squad measure up to JJ or JB? Word of caution to stay in school, lest you become another Amari.
And U$C's Chad Baker-Mazara also turned 26 last month. Zach on the "Locked On UCLA" podcast pointed out the amusing fact that Freeny had to guard this guy, who was 7 years his senior...
The TWolves seem to like our Bruins. Jaylen Clark is also currently on their roster, while Kevin Love (6 seasons) and Zach LaVine (3 seasons) began their NBA careers there, and Kyle Anderson played for them for 2 seasons. Here's a career analysis of another former TWolves player who you might recall, as he had decommitted from UCLA and went to the G-League instead (which pissed off HC Cronin):
Because of ongoing distracting personal circumstances, I have been unable to comment and discuss with you, my fellow bruin alums and friends alike, about UCLA athletics as fervently as before. Nevertheless, the LA Times article on Cronin's treatment of a bruin player at the end of an ugly loss perturbed me. Those infamous Bobby Knight days at Indiana, when his temper tantrum routinely overshadowed his winning ways, are long over. This is 2026. Nobody buys into such boorish coaching behavior anymore. For those of you who are my contemporaries, I am sure you can recall the name Woody Hayes of Ohio State. He grabbed a player on the sideline at the end of a bowl game on national TV. Albeit a winning football coach then, Hayes' fate was sealed not long after. Enough said.
So wonderful to see you Henry... And praying all is looking up in your personal circumstances
🙏💙💛
I have missed our conversations here. I shared much about my thoughts on cronin and his treatment of Jamerson in the threads relating to Michigan State.
Hope you join us for the next game thread, as you will receive much support from the Bruin Fam!
Is that the shiner that Feeny got after getting the ball thrown at his face? Still think it should have been a flagrant. On second thought, looks like the stitches from getting head butted in the Illinois game.
Looks like the battle scars are showing that Freeny's playing tough in the minutes he's been getting. Nice effort, even scoring more than Clark and Dailey combined.
Yeah, but you and I both know this won't last long E, if Dent's recently "found" game and the 5-out offense we've cultivated at home doesn't travel well.....another "acid test" that we have to conquer given the upcoming conference tourney and the NCAA's.
Wonder if Skyy Clark is still getting his legs back after being out for so long. He's been in foul trouble the past two games, so if he can get him back to form, we will be even more dangerous
Hopefully his confidence will continue to grow in regards to his hamstring. When he is more confident, his quickness and strength of play will improve......he will start climbing over screens again and he will be able to stay in front of his man better which means less reaching (and thus less fouls).
It was good watching him attempt to drive it more. I think he made a layup and then had one blocked, but either way, good to see him trying to get his legs back. He’s still a step slow laterally which affected his defense a bit and resulted in a block call when he tried to take a charge but hopefully by B10 tourney time he can be back to 100%
Almost forgot that DD had beaten both UCLA and U$C last season while at UNM, so I'm glad he's with us to help beat U$C again. Great to see the Bruins $3M man continuing to look more poised and confident and now also finding his shot. He's been playing some really clutch basketball the past 2 games, so hope he can continue this high level of play.
Four's Up and Two's Down---Go Bruins!
My test is do we get past the first weekend. If that happens I would begrudgingly accept another year of Cronin.
We’ll go as far as Dent will take us
You're gonna get another year of Cronin whether you like it or not.
Sincerely, MJ
I know, I know, but, I don't have to like it...
Me either, runfast. Me either.
Get a contract extension and lucrative buyout, and then you won't have to give a rat's a** about anything else... ;-)
Seems the Bruins often pull off a Cronin whenever I think they're completely dead and done for the season.
P.S.--The Bruins NET ranking finally moved up a few notches to #37, I think because the lame Ducks upset the Badgers last night (a nice surprise).
Dimitri, I’m glad you mentioned the “5-out” offense implemented in the Illini game and presented again against USC. You know, none of us on this board are basketball savants (well, except for you DD and Joe of course); yet we often see a number of commentators criticizing the tactical coaching of the Bruins….
Such criticisms have focused especially as to how their personnel cultivated by the staff are either being misused or have been placed in a position to play worse than they had in the past, instead of being put into a position to play better, AND IT’S EASY TO SEE WHY, BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY HOW IT HAS LOOKED. Dent has looked discombobulated trying to run offense, Book has had no place on the court where he has looked comfortable, who is this Freeny guy and why is he getting minutes; why can’t we rebound, why can’t a Cronin team play defense anymore? All of these claims at times have looked absolutely valid at face value while watching this team struggle this year……..until now.
At UCLA anyway, Mick has always been a two bigs and 3 on the perimeter or at least 1 big and 4 on the perimeter, when running his offense……His teams were heavy of defense and plodding on offense. The 5-out is a massive change for him…..with "5 perimeter players" it really is the ultimate "coaching chess match." Cronin is trading in his "blue-collar" defense and rebounding identity, in order to lean into this high-variance, 5-out look. It’s a total philosophical pivot—and an acid test of his adaptability.
It’s perfect for Dent because he has room to operate in the paint to drive and score or dish to Bilo, Trent, Skyy, Daily, Book or Freeny for open 3’s as perimeter defenders collapse on him (If he hits his 3’s like last night, Dent elevates himself to one of the top point guards in the country); cutters to the rim are easier to find; and we just let our talented shooters take a higher volume of open 3’s or drive past defenders when they run out to challenge. On defense, you can see Cronin experimenting……for USC it was “scramble” and blitz the perimeter offensive sets…..he is going to have to come up with something else when we hit a Michigan type team with athletes and great length…..it will really be the ultimate test of Cronin’s coaching “chops” team by team from here on in….Fasten your seatbelts…
The five-out offense is what I coached in high school, and it's what a lot of high school players in general grow up running these days because everyone wants to shoot the three and be Steph Curry. That said, UCLA has been running a variation of this offense for two seasons now, and did so especially last year when it was starting Bilodeau at the five.
A five-out offense isn't that structurally different from the 4-out, 1-in offense that people are more familiar with; the added wrinkle is that everyone is a threat to shoot from the outside, which means teams can't sit in the paint against the offense. It's essentially the spread offense in football, spreading the defense out to create better running lanes for the offense (in this case, with no big man in the center taking up space, there's more room to drive and less chance of a rim protector stopping things). The offense can still sit Bilodeau down in the block and let him go to work, but that's more of a mix-up than a vital component to the offense; on the flip side, Booker got most of his rim points on rolls to the basket that were opened up because his defender had to play him higher.
All of which to say, I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a major tactical shift, but rather one that is being made thanks to the emergence of Trent Perry as an offensive force. Cronin is taking the gamble that he's going to need to simply outscore opponents going forward and is putting his best players on the court as often as possible to do so (I personally think he should consider swapping Dailey with Booker in the starting lineup, but Booker seems to be taking well to this new role so let it ride for now).
Yep I feel that this change is due to skyy being back and perry playing so well that we can't take him off the court
So glad that Perry is also with us and not with U$C!
Perry was very gleefully throwing the Fight Off around during the last minute of that game.
I continue to be of the impression that if UCLA makes a competitive offer for him next year, he’ll remain in Westwood.
While I accept the new reality of your last paragraph, I hate that it exists and that we have to make “competitive offers” to existing players who actually love it in Westwood for the honor of wearing the four letters.
it's just like any other job now. anyone can be bought. sad.
I do think that the major philosophy change has been "letting" us become more of an offense minded team, and increasing our pace from the plodding offense to becoming more free flowing
FWIW Cronin in the post-game with Josh and Tracy mentioned that he feels Booker is better/more comfortable coming off the bench... "good" Dailey (e.g. vs Illinois) raises our ceiling but at least last night Cronin was quick to recognize "bad" Dailey and moved on early in the 2nd half as you pointed out. Really glad to see the 3-guard lineup playing significant minutes together now that Clark's back.
I just find it interesting that his mantra has always been defense, physical block outs on both the offensive and defensive boards, positioning, etc. and now, given the 5-out offense, its going to be crashing the boards from the perimeter and hustling for long rebounds when shots don't go in. Again, IMHO, he's going to be leaning into an approach that has not been mainstream to his philosophy......To me, this late in the season, it's compelling....
Interesting postgame comments from Cronin - ucla coaching staff has been working with Dent on fixing his shot. Apparently he moves his head too much when he shoots and that causes him to lean back on his shots. Hopefully we can see continuous improvement on that front - changing shooting mechanics is not easy when you’re trying to break 18 years of bad habits. I saw a cool stat though - he’s the first player in 30 years to have 40+ points, 20+ assists, and 0 TOs over two games. Clearly he has elite talent so hopefully this upward trend continues.
UCLA doesn’t have anymore potential bad losses on the schedule as the rest of the regular season are all Q1, but they’ve been horrible in the road so hopefully we see that change against Minnesota on Saturday. Speaking of Q1 and Net rankings, I saw a stat on Twitter that ucla has played 5 of the top 6 teams in Net ranking and went 2-3 against them. Which is actually pretty good! Of rhe 3 losses, we played AZ and Gonzaga pretty close but got ran off the court by Michigan. I’m a bit more bullish on the NCAA tournament this week than I was last month
Minnesota might be trickier than I thought initially. They played a close half with Michigan yesterday and still only lost by 10. That loss dropped them to 13-15
Minnesota is sorta like us - wildly inconsistent and have more talent than their record would suggest. The biggest difference between us and them is that Cronin is a better coach than Medved. They beat Iowa and Michigan State, but have losses to San Francisco, Santa Clara, Maryland, and Stanford.
The Bruins lost to them at Pauley last year, so time for some payback. But it's always difficult to win on the road.
Speaking of Minnesota, Bruins in the news! The TWolves waived Johnny Juzang last week, and signed Jules Bernard to a 2-way contract on Wednesday. I'm coming around to the opinion that unless you're a lottery pick, players may be staying in school because of the money, rather than declaring early for the NBA. Does anyone on the current Bruin squad measure up to JJ or JB? Word of caution to stay in school, lest you become another Amari.
Wow jules Bernard? Haven't heard his name in a long time
He just turned all of 26.
And U$C's Chad Baker-Mazara also turned 26 last month. Zach on the "Locked On UCLA" podcast pointed out the amusing fact that Freeny had to guard this guy, who was 7 years his senior...
The TWolves seem to like our Bruins. Jaylen Clark is also currently on their roster, while Kevin Love (6 seasons) and Zach LaVine (3 seasons) began their NBA careers there, and Kyle Anderson played for them for 2 seasons. Here's a career analysis of another former TWolves player who you might recall, as he had decommitted from UCLA and went to the G-League instead (which pissed off HC Cronin):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iezkL_J_jgE
Agreed Paulie in regard to the danger of this upcoming Minn. game on Saturday......see my response to Evan below....
Because of ongoing distracting personal circumstances, I have been unable to comment and discuss with you, my fellow bruin alums and friends alike, about UCLA athletics as fervently as before. Nevertheless, the LA Times article on Cronin's treatment of a bruin player at the end of an ugly loss perturbed me. Those infamous Bobby Knight days at Indiana, when his temper tantrum routinely overshadowed his winning ways, are long over. This is 2026. Nobody buys into such boorish coaching behavior anymore. For those of you who are my contemporaries, I am sure you can recall the name Woody Hayes of Ohio State. He grabbed a player on the sideline at the end of a bowl game on national TV. Albeit a winning football coach then, Hayes' fate was sealed not long after. Enough said.
So wonderful to see you Henry... And praying all is looking up in your personal circumstances
🙏💙💛
I have missed our conversations here. I shared much about my thoughts on cronin and his treatment of Jamerson in the threads relating to Michigan State.
Hope you join us for the next game thread, as you will receive much support from the Bruin Fam!
💙💛💙💛
Is that the shiner that Feeny got after getting the ball thrown at his face? Still think it should have been a flagrant. On second thought, looks like the stitches from getting head butted in the Illinois game.
Looks like the battle scars are showing that Freeny's playing tough in the minutes he's been getting. Nice effort, even scoring more than Clark and Dailey combined.
Lunardi has us as a 10 right now
Yeah, but you and I both know this won't last long E, if Dent's recently "found" game and the 5-out offense we've cultivated at home doesn't travel well.....another "acid test" that we have to conquer given the upcoming conference tourney and the NCAA's.
Latest update has us as a #9 seed! And finally off the bubble