So many calls in OT were baffling, some that helped and some that hurt. Other than the out of bounds at the end, the 3rd foul on Dailey was ridiculous, where he was penalized for a defender landing on his back, never undercutting the other player. Frustrating to see bad officiating otherwise mar a fun game to watch.
I think Dent and Perry was just gassed in OT and double OT. They couldn’t stay in front of the Indiana guards With Bilodeau out, it put more of a load on them. With Clark back he can take minutes off their shoulders.
I like UCLA’s fight, especially after an offensive lull that allowed Indiana to extend the lead. But you’re not going to win many games giving up 90+ points. Again defense failed the team
Cronin said our defense was awful the entire game. True.
But, I would say that our offense was terrible too. We shot terrible at Oregon and again tonight.
Oregon and Northwestern wins were smoke & mirrors as they are near or at the bottom of the BIG. I am happy we won those games but they are not a good measure of where we are as a team.
He said the players were pouting during the lengthy scoring drought in H2, missing shot after shot because they were acting like someone stole their favorite toy and they were 3 years old.
That's helpful.
He also said the players didn't listen to the scouting report. They didn't listen to him. He said they went over that inbounds play 15 times. But...
Oh and he also mentioned that he won 500 games without the best talent 🤣🤣🤣
He says it's all about defense, rebounding, effort, execution. Great, but here's the thing...
It's tragically sad that these players are his recruits, every single one of them. He evaluated them, he picked them, he paid them, a lot.
He's supposed to be their leader and teacher. He's supposed to inspire, mentor, connect, help them reach competitive greatness.
He's supposed to ensure they are sound fundamentally and work on their technique, build their confidence. That kind of stuff.
Whatever he is doing, however he is coaching, leading, teaching. It's not working.
If you’d ever like to know what the rest of the world thinks about cronin… just go read the comments in his YouTube post game conferences. You’ll find that more and more people are saying what I’ve said from the beginning. Cronin is an absolute garbage coach… if the regular beatniks like myself are reading the comments, I can guarantee the players and their families are too. Anybody that watches his interviews and says “that looks like a coach I would fight for”… is an absolute ….. you fill in the blank. The writing has been on the wall from the beginning. The majority of logical basketball players don’t want to play for cronin
Future players being influenced by You Tube comments is about as likely as them being influenced by UCLA message board comments. Meanwhile, Sky Clark is wearing a Cronin Crew shirt on the neck last night and former players have nothing but praise for him.
I agree. Players are unlikely to be influenced by YouTube and message board comments when they can judge the incoherent, self-contradictory, paranoid, venomous outbursts in full view. Don't mistake being unstable for passion.
He went full mental in the post game press conference.
P.S… dent made the mistake of his life coming to play for a coach who torched any sort of nba draft stock he had last year. At New Mexico, dent had a complimentary center that allowed him to compliment his skill sets. He chose to come play for a coach that doesn’t even roster a true center 😂
Bad news is that we lost. Good news is that we fought really hard still. And there is still a lot of games left, and most of them at home. I still think we are making the tournament, and who knows what can happen in March Madness.
Also , hope we can get skyy Clark back healthy soon
YoungestTo500™'s post game remarks were all over the map. However, on this he was clear: Reporters are stupid and their questions are stupid; his players (the most talented group he's ever had!, he has said) don't listen and they can't execute. But he can't trade 'em, so what can he do? Any player viewing that can't help but think, "Now THAT'S a coach I would run through a wall for."
Apparently, the pollsters had thought otherwise, ranking UCLA as the preseason AP #12 team in the country. The Bruins performance to date is so far off the mark, due to an incorrect assessment of the actual talent on the team and/or the inability of the HC to get the players to successfully perform up to those high expectations as a team.
Yes, a Sweet-16 year that ended in disappointment with another fatal dagger by Gonzaga. Too bad Bona was injured and unavailable--the Bruins had a shot at making the Elite-8 and matching their preseason ranking.
Not just Bona - Jaylen Clark tore his Achilles that year, and he won National Defensive Player of the Year 😔 ucla making the S16 and then hanging with Gonzaga for most of the game was probably Cronin’s best coaching job
He recruited every player on this team. That accountability lies with Cronin. He did NOT recruit JJJ or Tyger, the most important players and leaders on the team we thought had a chance but even that team had huge scoring droughts during many, many games. And let leads evaporate.
I would ask this, have you seen one player, current or former, speak ill of Cronin? I haven't. Tough/Asshole coaches are nothing new to these players, the have likely been dealing with them their entire competitive careers.
Saw a bit that explains the GCU visit: Bailey was not in good academic standing when he left UCLA (basically just stopped going to class when he decided he was going to try the draft, go figure), which means his patch back to the school is much more difficult than it would be at a for-profit university like GCU.
Someone here argued that athletes are more likely to maintain their academic standing in this age of pay-for-play, figuring that it would ease their transfer to pursue better gigs. I disagree.
UCLA is simply creating far too many low-margin-for-error situations this season.
football coaches talk about "complementary football" (offense/defense) all the time. It's no less important for basketball
Star players can't be caught losing games with crippling endgame mistakes. Donovan Dent... has not been a ruthless closer with the regularity UCLA has needed.
I agree... but I also think it's the word "regularity" that has Cronin so exasperated. Clearly Dent *can* be that guy - as when it really seemed like he took playing against Braden Smith personally - neither he nor most of the rest of the roster plays at the highest, most intense level consistently. I'd bet that most of us who are parents or teachers have experienced wondering why the hell our kids or students make the decisions they do when you *know* they know better... one of the things Cronin said on the radio side post-game does ring true - they play too often like "they think they'll win anyway" which is incredibly frustrating to coach, especially if there isn't internal player leadership...
That said...
We do seem to have had this exact conversation multiple times in the last 5 years - with the exception of the "what if" year with all its veteran leadership. Which is at best troubling.
Right now, we're 1-4 against teams who share one side or the other of the bubble with us (per most common projections) with 3 left. It's going to be hard to get on the right side of the bubble with a losing record against that "peer group" without an upset in the Michigan road trip, Illinois at Pauley, or a major run in the B1G tournament.
Why are our players inconsistent?Why are they not playing to their potential for 40 minutes?
I do not believe this is a 'why are they making these decisions when they know better' scenario.
This is a systemic coaching issue that as you state has been going on for years. Here are some possible reasons as to why Cronin can't right the ship...
a) he has not recruited the right players with talent and the character and chemistry to build a real 'team' who plays with passion, grit and unity.
b) he has failed to teach, mentor and develop the players he has recruited into a real 'team.'
c) he is a multi-million $$$$ mediocre coach whose system doesn't work and he doesn't have the capacity to adapt to having a system where offense and defense both flourish.
d) all of the above.
We did not lose this game because of bad calls. Yes, the SBTRs were at an all time low. But we lost this game in the totality of the second half.
Any other blueblood program would have shown cronin the exit door long ago. But we have a donut head AD who loves extending chipsters and cronins.
And JJJ and Tyger were not his recruits. JJJ and Tyger were great iso players. Cronin lucked out when he inherited these two.
I don't think I would describe anyone in that Indiana game as as lacking grit, passion, unity or character. They couldnt' t hit the ocean with a shot in 2nd half but the effort was 100% there.
Yes, I think bench production helps give the starters additional rest, especially under HC Cronin, who pushes his players hard in getting them to play tough defense all the time (which we haven't seen consistently, unfortunately). Also hope they can avoid yet another catastrophic injury at the end of the season and during tournament play.
My goodness there is a lot of negativity on this board when the Bruins lose. You know, if Dent stays in front of the Indiana cutter and takes a charge and hits a game winning free throw with 1.3 seconds left, this ranks right up there with the Purdue game as one of the best you’ve seen this year. Two teams playing with elite effort for 50 minutes throwing haymaker after haymaker at each other. As Dimitri pointed out, we did not play very well in the second half. Yet, we showed elite grit and a never-say-die mental toughness to take this game to OT. Both the players and the crowd were drained at the end. One team had to lose, and unfortunately, it was us. If we had given up and mailed it in at the end of this game during regulation, then maybe the negativity would be warranted. But we didn’t. Our play the last two minutes of regulation and in the double OT was just short of heroic, despite the refs, no Skyy and no Bilo in the second OT. We shouldn’t be trashing the program after a game like this.
Medocrity is ok? A coach who spits out insults to his players over and over again like a candy machine is ok?
I cheer so hard for this team. But Dent is not working. Book is not working. Jamerson is not working. Dailey is on and off. Dylan did not work. There was the Euro group that failed. The Mara mess. The Kyle mess.
And here we are. It's not just this loss, it's the whole tenure of losses with Cronin and HIS recruits.
We have a coach, who for all of his bragging about 500 wins with not the best talent (his words), is losing all sorts of games. Season after season.
We have tanked this year from #12 to nowhere.
On the other hand...
Listen to Chesney speak, hear him talk about putting the team above all else, about putting team members above youself.
Listen to him talk about recruiting kids who have competence, connection, chemistry, and character. About hiring a staff with the same.
And don't tell me Chesney hasn't achieved anything at UCLA. His portal class is top 10. He is out recruiting in UCLA's backyard every day! He is old school and contemporary all in one. He runs things like Wooden did. He always has.
As a result, money is pouring in from donors, and the fans love him because he is a champion human being and a champion coach.
Chesney has won big time everywhere he has coached, bringing losing and lost programs to glory. Over and over.
WTH has Cronin done to bring back any assemblance of decency to our basketball program, with HIS recruits?
Nothing. Nada. Zero. It's just the same old tired narrative from him.
I will continue to cheer my heart out for my Bruins, but not for the million dollar 'suit' on the sideline.
Yes, thank you for bringing that up, the hush hush contract was insult to injury by our dearly beloved donut head jelly 2.0... all I can do is 🤣 and 😢 at the absurdity of it all.
Love ya b4e. I know you have not been swept into anti-cronin fever (yet 🤣) but we both agree that the jelly 2.0 will live in infamy for the misery he has caused 😞
Now THAT we agree on! I don't have anti-Cronin fever (yet), but the moment the Bruins start tanking, get totally blown out of games, or lose to lesser teams with regularity, then I have to see a doctor.
I 100% disagree about Chesney. I don't care about any of the stuff you mentioned until the season starts, and we see if he can win games and produce results
Hey, I'm going to leave this comment up as a warning, but this is running up against the line of being a good community member, because these kinds of replies are starting to look personal, like anyone who disagrees with you is a bad person.
Of course, we can get into your past of shamelessly supporting Deshaun Foster and declaring everyone who was against the hire as not being true fans, so I think you can give people grace for continuing to support a coach that you don't like.
Ok, I understand and I will do better. My apologies.
Pauley's response to me was not the nicest either but regardless I need to step away from here as there are too many other vastly more important things in life than UCLA sports.
How was my response not nice to you? I didn't attack you in any way. I just said I disagreed with you. You love Chesney which is fine but I am more in the wait and see boat. I hope for our sake that he produces a Curt Cignetti like transformation but I am not sure of that yet
Hey T, I get it. You, and many Bruin fans wear your emotions on your sleeve when it comes to UCLA basketball. You hate to lose and when you have certain expectations, and your expectations are not met, you vent. Well, that’s a lot like our basketball coach……he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He hates to lose, and he has high expectations for his players and when they aren’t met, he vents. Is he a PR dream? No. When he speaks to his players or about his players, is he going to hold them accountable? Are you going to get the un-varnished truth, no matter how brutal it is? Yes. As a player, do you want to hear it? Not initially, BUT YOU HAVE TO HEAR IT AND INTERNALIZE IT IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE yourself or your team.
You have to remember that a lot of these kids have heard how great they are and that they’re going to be pros for all of their formative years heading to college. Unfortunately, that is the AAU culture, which fills kid’s heads with visions of greatness, while failing to teach fundamentals (footwork, screens, movement without the ball, positioning for rebounds, etc) necessary to attain it, especially on defense, and focuses on “showcasing” instead of team play. That is not how you win at this level and not how you improve yourself or your team, nor is it how you learn what you have to develop if you, individually, want to earn an NBA contract.
Accountability, fundamentals, mental toughness, resilience and a willingness to perform the uncomfortable actions necessary to improve and win is what he teaches. You don’t like his style. That is clear. I am sure he has heard that negativity a lot in his career, and he has had to live with that. Let’s see how his players respond and how the rest of the season plays out before we “tar and feather” him and run him out of town.
Having participated in martial arts in my younger days, I could associate HC Cronin's style as being similar to a very strict (old-school, traditional) sensei trying to run a highly disciplined basketball dojo. That type of sensei will be quick to criticize mistakes (especially when they are repeated) and yell at their students to get them to do something correctly. The goals are precisely what you've mentioned--to instill accountability, fundamentals, mental toughness, resilience, etc. But it remains to be seen if this basketball dojo can eventually compete for a national championship, as I'm wondering if the challenges of NIL money and the transfer portal have created too much student inequity and instability for Cronin-sensei to deal with. Anyway, hope the Bruins can bounce back strong against Rutgers tonight!
I’m guessing 70% of the LAT readers are USC fans and love seeing ucla basketball deteriorate under cronin. At least usc can recruit entertaining players. They are more likely to head upward while ucla regresses with cronin.
I missed the game, so I guess I spared myself the frustration. Indiana is no pushover, as they had beaten Purdue in their previous game, but I thought the Bruins had a decent chance at remaining unbeaten at home. Apparently, it was also a UCLA Alumni "Bruin Bash" event with HC Chesney also making an appearance. What a disappointing loss to witness. The Bruins are still sitting in 7th place in the conference standings, but not sure they'll be able to retain a bye for the Big-18 tourney, as the toughest part of their schedule is still looming.
I believe PG Dent has the talent to successfully lead the Bruins to securing more wins than they currently have, but for some reason he looks to me as being too deferential and tentative on offense. Last year it was PG Andrews who regressed and disappeared altogether. This season's $3M man doesn't look like he wants to be assertive, preferring to create assists or sometimes just standing around watching the action. And the preseason #12-ranked team is just as baffling with their inconsistent performances from game to game and even within the same game itself. In any case, credit to HC Cronin for not blaming the SBTRs, as I think he's correct when the fault for the loss was the lack of defense (the Bruins bench was also outscored 27-8). Giving up 76 points during regulation at home and another 22 in 2 OTs isn't very good. And with so many minutes being logged by the starters, someone is likely to suffer a major injury down the road. Even without taking any hopium or contracting anti-Cronin fever, I'm still finding it difficult to discern whether or not the Bruins are improving as a team as this season progresses.
So many calls in OT were baffling, some that helped and some that hurt. Other than the out of bounds at the end, the 3rd foul on Dailey was ridiculous, where he was penalized for a defender landing on his back, never undercutting the other player. Frustrating to see bad officiating otherwise mar a fun game to watch.
I think Dent and Perry was just gassed in OT and double OT. They couldn’t stay in front of the Indiana guards With Bilodeau out, it put more of a load on them. With Clark back he can take minutes off their shoulders.
I like UCLA’s fight, especially after an offensive lull that allowed Indiana to extend the lead. But you’re not going to win many games giving up 90+ points. Again defense failed the team
Cronin said our defense was awful the entire game. True.
But, I would say that our offense was terrible too. We shot terrible at Oregon and again tonight.
Oregon and Northwestern wins were smoke & mirrors as they are near or at the bottom of the BIG. I am happy we won those games but they are not a good measure of where we are as a team.
He said the players were pouting during the lengthy scoring drought in H2, missing shot after shot because they were acting like someone stole their favorite toy and they were 3 years old.
That's helpful.
He also said the players didn't listen to the scouting report. They didn't listen to him. He said they went over that inbounds play 15 times. But...
Oh and he also mentioned that he won 500 games without the best talent 🤣🤣🤣
He says it's all about defense, rebounding, effort, execution. Great, but here's the thing...
It's tragically sad that these players are his recruits, every single one of them. He evaluated them, he picked them, he paid them, a lot.
He's supposed to be their leader and teacher. He's supposed to inspire, mentor, connect, help them reach competitive greatness.
He's supposed to ensure they are sound fundamentally and work on their technique, build their confidence. That kind of stuff.
Whatever he is doing, however he is coaching, leading, teaching. It's not working.
Just watched the post game… “believe me I know I’ve won 500 of em” 😂🤣😂 somebody give that man a medal! Maybe a cookie 🤷♂️🤦♂️ what a wanker!
Give him a toddler toy... symbolic of his team 🤣
If you’d ever like to know what the rest of the world thinks about cronin… just go read the comments in his YouTube post game conferences. You’ll find that more and more people are saying what I’ve said from the beginning. Cronin is an absolute garbage coach… if the regular beatniks like myself are reading the comments, I can guarantee the players and their families are too. Anybody that watches his interviews and says “that looks like a coach I would fight for”… is an absolute ….. you fill in the blank. The writing has been on the wall from the beginning. The majority of logical basketball players don’t want to play for cronin
Well, we have donut head jelly 2.0
to thank for extending cronin's contract in a hush, hush back room deal that gave him millions more... jelly 2.0 is truly to blame.
Instagram is way telling for comments. Brutal.
Future players being influenced by You Tube comments is about as likely as them being influenced by UCLA message board comments. Meanwhile, Sky Clark is wearing a Cronin Crew shirt on the neck last night and former players have nothing but praise for him.
I agree. Players are unlikely to be influenced by YouTube and message board comments when they can judge the incoherent, self-contradictory, paranoid, venomous outbursts in full view. Don't mistake being unstable for passion.
He went full mental in the post game press conference.
P.S… dent made the mistake of his life coming to play for a coach who torched any sort of nba draft stock he had last year. At New Mexico, dent had a complimentary center that allowed him to compliment his skill sets. He chose to come play for a coach that doesn’t even roster a true center 😂
The good news for you is that as soon as cronin creates a consistent winning program, I won’t show up anymore.
The bad news is death, taxes, and cronin being a mediocre coach. So I’ll probably be around until cronin gets canned or leaves for somewhere else
Ok, I'll bite. Who was the complimentary center and how was he used to maximize Dent's skill set?
Bad news is that we lost. Good news is that we fought really hard still. And there is still a lot of games left, and most of them at home. I still think we are making the tournament, and who knows what can happen in March Madness.
Also , hope we can get skyy Clark back healthy soon
Thanks, Dmitri, this should have been Trent's Big Game.
Yes, too bad he missed the final shot of the first OT. He sure has been a bright spot for the Bruins this season.
YoungestTo500™'s post game remarks were all over the map. However, on this he was clear: Reporters are stupid and their questions are stupid; his players (the most talented group he's ever had!, he has said) don't listen and they can't execute. But he can't trade 'em, so what can he do? Any player viewing that can't help but think, "Now THAT'S a coach I would run through a wall for."
Cronin is to be held accountable for the teams performance but this is certainly not the most talent group he’s ever had.
2022-2023 was much more stacked talent wise. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jaylen Clark, Adem Bona, Amari Bailey, Tyler Campbell.
Aye, xX.
Apparently, the pollsters had thought otherwise, ranking UCLA as the preseason AP #12 team in the country. The Bruins performance to date is so far off the mark, due to an incorrect assessment of the actual talent on the team and/or the inability of the HC to get the players to successfully perform up to those high expectations as a team.
The 2022-2023 team had a preseason #8 ranking n in the AP poll.
Yes, a Sweet-16 year that ended in disappointment with another fatal dagger by Gonzaga. Too bad Bona was injured and unavailable--the Bruins had a shot at making the Elite-8 and matching their preseason ranking.
Not just Bona - Jaylen Clark tore his Achilles that year, and he won National Defensive Player of the Year 😔 ucla making the S16 and then hanging with Gonzaga for most of the game was probably Cronin’s best coaching job
Yeah, forgot about Clark too!
He recruited every player on this team. That accountability lies with Cronin. He did NOT recruit JJJ or Tyger, the most important players and leaders on the team we thought had a chance but even that team had huge scoring droughts during many, many games. And let leads evaporate.
I would ask this, have you seen one player, current or former, speak ill of Cronin? I haven't. Tough/Asshole coaches are nothing new to these players, the have likely been dealing with them their entire competitive careers.
Even Amari Bailey wants to come back! :-)
He can showcase his talent to the NBA with suitor Grand Canyon U, compounding bad decisions.
Saw a bit that explains the GCU visit: Bailey was not in good academic standing when he left UCLA (basically just stopped going to class when he decided he was going to try the draft, go figure), which means his patch back to the school is much more difficult than it would be at a for-profit university like GCU.
Mercenaries skipping classes? Who woulda' thought?
The AAU mentality.......I'm a one and done.......just here to showcase for the Draft.
Someone here argued that athletes are more likely to maintain their academic standing in this age of pay-for-play, figuring that it would ease their transfer to pursue better gigs. I disagree.
You can always count on HC Cronin's postgame remarks after a loss to be unfiltered, polarizing, and entertaining, all at the same time!
He is such a small man, and I don't mean his height 🤣
Notes from UCLAWIRE:
UCLA is simply creating far too many low-margin-for-error situations this season.
football coaches talk about "complementary football" (offense/defense) all the time. It's no less important for basketball
Star players can't be caught losing games with crippling endgame mistakes. Donovan Dent... has not been a ruthless closer with the regularity UCLA has needed.
I agree... but I also think it's the word "regularity" that has Cronin so exasperated. Clearly Dent *can* be that guy - as when it really seemed like he took playing against Braden Smith personally - neither he nor most of the rest of the roster plays at the highest, most intense level consistently. I'd bet that most of us who are parents or teachers have experienced wondering why the hell our kids or students make the decisions they do when you *know* they know better... one of the things Cronin said on the radio side post-game does ring true - they play too often like "they think they'll win anyway" which is incredibly frustrating to coach, especially if there isn't internal player leadership...
That said...
We do seem to have had this exact conversation multiple times in the last 5 years - with the exception of the "what if" year with all its veteran leadership. Which is at best troubling.
Right now, we're 1-4 against teams who share one side or the other of the bubble with us (per most common projections) with 3 left. It's going to be hard to get on the right side of the bubble with a losing record against that "peer group" without an upset in the Michigan road trip, Illinois at Pauley, or a major run in the B1G tournament.
Go Bruins
Why are our players inconsistent?Why are they not playing to their potential for 40 minutes?
I do not believe this is a 'why are they making these decisions when they know better' scenario.
This is a systemic coaching issue that as you state has been going on for years. Here are some possible reasons as to why Cronin can't right the ship...
a) he has not recruited the right players with talent and the character and chemistry to build a real 'team' who plays with passion, grit and unity.
b) he has failed to teach, mentor and develop the players he has recruited into a real 'team.'
c) he is a multi-million $$$$ mediocre coach whose system doesn't work and he doesn't have the capacity to adapt to having a system where offense and defense both flourish.
d) all of the above.
We did not lose this game because of bad calls. Yes, the SBTRs were at an all time low. But we lost this game in the totality of the second half.
Any other blueblood program would have shown cronin the exit door long ago. But we have a donut head AD who loves extending chipsters and cronins.
And JJJ and Tyger were not his recruits. JJJ and Tyger were great iso players. Cronin lucked out when he inherited these two.
I don't think I would describe anyone in that Indiana game as as lacking grit, passion, unity or character. They couldnt' t hit the ocean with a shot in 2nd half but the effort was 100% there.
P.S. UWIRE
Saturday, the UCLA bench was outscored by the Indiana bench, 27-8. It mattered a lot.
A lot of UCLA’s bench scoring is currently in the starting lineup in Perry.
I’m also not really a big fan of focusing on bench scoring. You can get by perfectly fine with your starters scoring the vast majority of the points.
When starters aren't starting (Skyy), then bench depth matters.
Yes, I think bench production helps give the starters additional rest, especially under HC Cronin, who pushes his players hard in getting them to play tough defense all the time (which we haven't seen consistently, unfortunately). Also hope they can avoid yet another catastrophic injury at the end of the season and during tournament play.
My goodness there is a lot of negativity on this board when the Bruins lose. You know, if Dent stays in front of the Indiana cutter and takes a charge and hits a game winning free throw with 1.3 seconds left, this ranks right up there with the Purdue game as one of the best you’ve seen this year. Two teams playing with elite effort for 50 minutes throwing haymaker after haymaker at each other. As Dimitri pointed out, we did not play very well in the second half. Yet, we showed elite grit and a never-say-die mental toughness to take this game to OT. Both the players and the crowd were drained at the end. One team had to lose, and unfortunately, it was us. If we had given up and mailed it in at the end of this game during regulation, then maybe the negativity would be warranted. But we didn’t. Our play the last two minutes of regulation and in the double OT was just short of heroic, despite the refs, no Skyy and no Bilo in the second OT. We shouldn’t be trashing the program after a game like this.
Trashing the program?
Medocrity is ok? A coach who spits out insults to his players over and over again like a candy machine is ok?
I cheer so hard for this team. But Dent is not working. Book is not working. Jamerson is not working. Dailey is on and off. Dylan did not work. There was the Euro group that failed. The Mara mess. The Kyle mess.
And here we are. It's not just this loss, it's the whole tenure of losses with Cronin and HIS recruits.
We have a coach, who for all of his bragging about 500 wins with not the best talent (his words), is losing all sorts of games. Season after season.
We have tanked this year from #12 to nowhere.
On the other hand...
Listen to Chesney speak, hear him talk about putting the team above all else, about putting team members above youself.
Listen to him talk about recruiting kids who have competence, connection, chemistry, and character. About hiring a staff with the same.
And don't tell me Chesney hasn't achieved anything at UCLA. His portal class is top 10. He is out recruiting in UCLA's backyard every day! He is old school and contemporary all in one. He runs things like Wooden did. He always has.
As a result, money is pouring in from donors, and the fans love him because he is a champion human being and a champion coach.
Chesney has won big time everywhere he has coached, bringing losing and lost programs to glory. Over and over.
WTH has Cronin done to bring back any assemblance of decency to our basketball program, with HIS recruits?
Nothing. Nada. Zero. It's just the same old tired narrative from him.
I will continue to cheer my heart out for my Bruins, but not for the million dollar 'suit' on the sideline.
Hi Ms. Tamara, you forgot about the contract extension... ;-)
Yes, thank you for bringing that up, the hush hush contract was insult to injury by our dearly beloved donut head jelly 2.0... all I can do is 🤣 and 😢 at the absurdity of it all.
That was just a light-hearted reminder to give you a chance to acknowledge someone who I believe should've been replaced a long time ago... :-)
Love ya b4e. I know you have not been swept into anti-cronin fever (yet 🤣) but we both agree that the jelly 2.0 will live in infamy for the misery he has caused 😞
Now THAT we agree on! I don't have anti-Cronin fever (yet), but the moment the Bruins start tanking, get totally blown out of games, or lose to lesser teams with regularity, then I have to see a doctor.
I 100% disagree about Chesney. I don't care about any of the stuff you mentioned until the season starts, and we see if he can win games and produce results
Of course you disagree, and of course you don't care about facts.
But if you really care about producing results, why are you a croninista?
I really hope your responses to me bring you peace and that you find joy in supporting a shameful person and coach like Cronin.
Hey, I'm going to leave this comment up as a warning, but this is running up against the line of being a good community member, because these kinds of replies are starting to look personal, like anyone who disagrees with you is a bad person.
Of course, we can get into your past of shamelessly supporting Deshaun Foster and declaring everyone who was against the hire as not being true fans, so I think you can give people grace for continuing to support a coach that you don't like.
Ok, I understand and I will do better. My apologies.
Pauley's response to me was not the nicest either but regardless I need to step away from here as there are too many other vastly more important things in life than UCLA sports.
How was my response not nice to you? I didn't attack you in any way. I just said I disagreed with you. You love Chesney which is fine but I am more in the wait and see boat. I hope for our sake that he produces a Curt Cignetti like transformation but I am not sure of that yet
Hey T, I get it. You, and many Bruin fans wear your emotions on your sleeve when it comes to UCLA basketball. You hate to lose and when you have certain expectations, and your expectations are not met, you vent. Well, that’s a lot like our basketball coach……he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He hates to lose, and he has high expectations for his players and when they aren’t met, he vents. Is he a PR dream? No. When he speaks to his players or about his players, is he going to hold them accountable? Are you going to get the un-varnished truth, no matter how brutal it is? Yes. As a player, do you want to hear it? Not initially, BUT YOU HAVE TO HEAR IT AND INTERNALIZE IT IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE yourself or your team.
You have to remember that a lot of these kids have heard how great they are and that they’re going to be pros for all of their formative years heading to college. Unfortunately, that is the AAU culture, which fills kid’s heads with visions of greatness, while failing to teach fundamentals (footwork, screens, movement without the ball, positioning for rebounds, etc) necessary to attain it, especially on defense, and focuses on “showcasing” instead of team play. That is not how you win at this level and not how you improve yourself or your team, nor is it how you learn what you have to develop if you, individually, want to earn an NBA contract.
Accountability, fundamentals, mental toughness, resilience and a willingness to perform the uncomfortable actions necessary to improve and win is what he teaches. You don’t like his style. That is clear. I am sure he has heard that negativity a lot in his career, and he has had to live with that. Let’s see how his players respond and how the rest of the season plays out before we “tar and feather” him and run him out of town.
Having participated in martial arts in my younger days, I could associate HC Cronin's style as being similar to a very strict (old-school, traditional) sensei trying to run a highly disciplined basketball dojo. That type of sensei will be quick to criticize mistakes (especially when they are repeated) and yell at their students to get them to do something correctly. The goals are precisely what you've mentioned--to instill accountability, fundamentals, mental toughness, resilience, etc. But it remains to be seen if this basketball dojo can eventually compete for a national championship, as I'm wondering if the challenges of NIL money and the transfer portal have created too much student inequity and instability for Cronin-sensei to deal with. Anyway, hope the Bruins can bounce back strong against Rutgers tonight!
"Oshi Shinobu." Agree and share in your hope.
Otsukaresama deshita! [with a respectful bow]
Have you ever watched Dan Hurley coach a game? 2 titles says this style works just fine.
No argument from me! Funny how his brother hasn't even won a game yet in the NCAA tournament (0-4 in his career so far).
LAT readers' poll finds 75.9% support YoungestTo500™ as the Bruins mbb coach.
I’m guessing 70% of the LAT readers are USC fans and love seeing ucla basketball deteriorate under cronin. At least usc can recruit entertaining players. They are more likely to head upward while ucla regresses with cronin.
I mean UCLA has finished ahead of $C in conference in all but 1 year under Cronin... but sure, I guess they might have entertaining players.
I think a final poll at the end of the season would be more relevant. Experiencing so many ups and downs during this season!
I missed the game, so I guess I spared myself the frustration. Indiana is no pushover, as they had beaten Purdue in their previous game, but I thought the Bruins had a decent chance at remaining unbeaten at home. Apparently, it was also a UCLA Alumni "Bruin Bash" event with HC Chesney also making an appearance. What a disappointing loss to witness. The Bruins are still sitting in 7th place in the conference standings, but not sure they'll be able to retain a bye for the Big-18 tourney, as the toughest part of their schedule is still looming.
I believe PG Dent has the talent to successfully lead the Bruins to securing more wins than they currently have, but for some reason he looks to me as being too deferential and tentative on offense. Last year it was PG Andrews who regressed and disappeared altogether. This season's $3M man doesn't look like he wants to be assertive, preferring to create assists or sometimes just standing around watching the action. And the preseason #12-ranked team is just as baffling with their inconsistent performances from game to game and even within the same game itself. In any case, credit to HC Cronin for not blaming the SBTRs, as I think he's correct when the fault for the loss was the lack of defense (the Bruins bench was also outscored 27-8). Giving up 76 points during regulation at home and another 22 in 2 OTs isn't very good. And with so many minutes being logged by the starters, someone is likely to suffer a major injury down the road. Even without taking any hopium or contracting anti-Cronin fever, I'm still finding it difficult to discern whether or not the Bruins are improving as a team as this season progresses.
Go Bruins!
If you can't discern, then they're not.
But the season's not over yet!