Simply put: they’re a mediocre team at best. I believe the lack of coaching is another factor. We’re just all hat no cattle. How is it that other schools lose coaches and are fully stacked and competitive out of the gate (Duke, Arizona)? Because they hire great coaches. UCLA has failed to do that for the last 40 years. I suspect Cronin is out of here for me of year. He is making Howland look like a genius.
Overhyped - just like the football team. The BB and FB programs are a joke. I think the alleged hire for FB might just be the right call finally. As for basketball, we should be in the top 15 every year and we are not
Duke has the top NIL payroll this year and they used it to get 5 potential nba talents - so they’re probably the most stacked team since the Anthony Davis-led Wildcats or Billy Donovan’s Florida teams in 06-07.
UCLA just doesn’t have the fans or boosters willing to open their wallets at the same level as their other school. BYU’s freshman forward AJ Dysbansa was making more than their football coach Sitake!! Until Sitake negotiated a raise literally just this past week to make him the highest paid big 12 coach. Now, roster building is all about who has the most money
Does ucla not have the fans or boosters? Or does ucla not have good enough coaches that the fans and boosters want to put their money into a system that’s broken and the coaches haven’t given a reason to support them with money… why would I give money to a coach who has a napoleon complex, takes the fun out of the game, and can’t hold on to his 5* players? UCLA might have a lot more money if they were relevant in the last 40 years… but there’s been no coaches worth investing in
The bigger issue is the AD, which has been actively discouraging boosters from donating to NIL efforts. UCLA's NIL operation in basketball was basically built by Cronin without administrative support, which is a huge problem compared to the other top schools in the country.
Because fundraising is a zero-sum game? Every dollar that goes to NIL is a dollar that doesn't go to the AD. It's an antiquated way of thinking, and goes past the current guy at the top in Jarmond. The whole athletic department needs a deep cleaning to enter the 21st century.
That’s a wierd conclusion to come to? I’m guessing you got this straight from the AD? This type of comment is what makes people not want to listen to your opinions. This isn’t a real answer that comes from any valid sources. And it’s just plain illogical to boot. Any NIL money that comes in will lead to better players which leads to more fans which leads to a bigger paycheck for the AD… to turn down NIL money because it doesn’t go into his paycheck is absolutely the worst invention I’ve heard so far
BYU and Arkansas are in the top 5 of NIL. It’s not like they have some rich CBB history or any relevance the last 40 years. They’re funded by the LDS church and Crumbl CEO, and Walton family, respectively. Obviously ucla has had more tourney success and made the FF more recently than either school. Arizona’s NIL is higher than us too and what has Tommy Lloyd ever achieved except underachieve relative to the talent they had? Simply put, ucla donors are just not giving at the level as those other schools. Donors at ucla so far aren’t willing to pay a freshman basketball player the same amount of money that our football coach is making while other schools are.
Now ucla is still in the top 20 nationwide but like i said in a previous thread, the gulf between the top 20 and the top 5 is still massive and top 5 can just stockpile talent.
People would give more money if they believed in the coaches ability to properly utilize and keep 5* players on the roster… the fans are starting to lose confidence in the coaches ability to utilize the money appropriately to build and grow players and to develop the 5* talent that’s available. Cronin has done a piss poor job of developing his 5* players. They have all done better in the nba with real coaching or at different programs like Mara
Idk I think ucla can hire a charismatic new coach and go on a Wooden-esque decade long run of national championships and that coach will have to do it with one hand tied behind their backs when it comes to NIL. UCLA’s wealthy alumni just doesn’t care about sports no matter how well we do. Michigan State just announced a 400million donation from the CEO of Acrisure this morning. I don’t see a donation of that size coming towards UCLA in the best of times
All the players said they feel like they have an opportunity to do something special with this roster and The $3M Difference Maker.
Instead, it's another poorly constructed roster, subject to Cronin's signature end game collapses.
The players look like they're playing with all the joy and enthusiasm of a visit for a root canal (no disrespect to the many fine dentists on this site).
I think the cause is primarily due to the pressure to outperform, outhustle, overachieve, and create more deflections than more talented opponents. This old-school affliction leaves no room for joy and enthusiasm, as those are supposedly signs of weakness that could impair the individual. I believe the name for this condition is called "Cronin's Disease", and it has no known cure, but it isn't fatal.
Not really just a ucla issue - the best player in college basketball, Darren Petersen, hasnt played for Kansas yet. UConn’s starting C has only played a couple games too contributing to their home loss to Arizona.
I think in both college and pros there’s just a rash of injuries as pace of play is a lot faster and players feel pressure to come back before they’re fully healed.
Yeah, this isn't a UCLA-specific issue, and more just a general sports issue where athletes get hurt, and the only way to truly prevent that is not to play at all.
I do think the addition of money is leading to part of it, as players are rushing back from injury to justify their price tag and, in their opinion, keep that tag high the next year. You see similar things in the pros, especially among younger players looking for a bigger payday, and don't really see guys take their time returning from injury until they're financially set, a la Lebron to start this season.
As I’ve posted and agree, it’s interesting how many cronin players have been injured over the years. I don’t have the data to prove it, but the eye test would say it’s a strange councedence that his players always seem to get injured…
Tyger tore his cake along with the other player that redshirted that year, Clark, bona, jaquez, juzang, now dest, Perry… I’m sure I missed at least three others. Maybe I’m just delusional and other teams are just as CONSISTENTLY injuring their players in practice.
Tyger tore his ACL during Alford's last year, can't really blame that one on Cronin.
This year is the first year that guys are getting injured in practice to this extent. The rest of those injuries came during games. Bona's injury, for example, was the result of an Oregon player diving at his knee; hard to put that one on Cronin. Juzang had a guy fall on his leg and cause issues the rest of the year, while Clark's Achilles was a freak injury in the last regular-season game.
Fair points… for some reason I thought tyger tore his acl under cronin… but you are right I see… who was the other player that tore his acl in preseason practice that year. The long haired center that spit at the zona fans right?
Mac Etienne, yeah, he tore his ACL in October of 2021. You’re also thinking of Will McClendon who also tore his ACL that year. I had thought he did it prior to arriving but apparently it wasn’t until September, so that year does stand out as a weird early-season injury year for the deep bench.
An assessment of the Mick Crnin era, whether he is meeting the standard of UCLA mbb, whether he is capable of meeting the standard, or whether his limitations have us at peak Mick. A yearly overview of how we got to where we are. Skip the preliminaries and begin at 1:40, or at 4:45 for the heart of the matter:
It's a different world, a different landscape (BYU, Arkansas).
Think kids care about playing for the blue blood or March Madness? Think again. They only are concerned about getting theirs.
Think the Bruins are getting Quali Giran? Think again. "No 5* wants to go to UCLA until he gets fired." The Baron is a Bruin lifer (and even takes a shot at SC, bless him!) despite having played for an imposter of a coach.
OTOH, Bruin Trevor Ariza and Crnin's oft-cited bestie and ace-in-the-hole Kenyon Martin speak some harsh truth about Mick Crnin.
50 second clip for those of you who skip the YouTube link above:
True. I don't agree with him all the time. In fact sometimes I hugely disagree. I also think, however, he has some really good takes. Jamal and Thriller did an episode about the Rose Bowl nightmare and it was pretty darn worthy.
Gibbs, your Kelly point is a "Squirrel!" distraction, not an argument on the matter at hand. To the topic, what are your arguments against the UCLA LAFB take on Crnin? What are your disagreements with Gil's Arena that UCLA is not a landing spot for 5* because of the coach?
Consider the point, not the source. Is the pipeline of 5* flowing to UCLA?
(I appreciate your "setting the record straight" replies. I understand that as an Admin you don't want to engage in back and forth. Thank you for what you do.) How will Crnin restock with the departure of Dent, Skyy, Bilo, Jamar and Jamerson? I suppose I will have to wait for next year's Season Preview to find out.
Again, I would argue that Arenas isn't exactly the perfect messenger for that point, especially since his son is at Southern Cal. He has no reason to speak positively about the head coach of UCLA, no matter who is in that position.
That said, I do think there is something of a point to the idea that Cronin is not landing 5* talent out of high school, but he's also not really going after it. I have a feeling he thinks the same way I do, which is that the market for high school talent is severely inflated in the current NIL era, and that you are getting better bang for your buck by targeting established college transfers. You can count on one hand the number of incoming high school players who can come in and immediately contribute to a national championship contender, and those guys are commanding multi-million dollar NIL deals (for reference, AJ Dybantsa got a $7 million NIL deal from BYU). To give you a reference, UCLA was very much in on Brayden Burries, who ultimately decided on going to Arizona for a bigger NIL deal. To date, Burries has been ok, putting up good numbers against bad teams and then scoring a grand total of 12 points against the three decent teams they've played (Florida, UCLA, UConn). This is not to state that Burries will end up a bad player, but this season he is nowhere near the price tag he signed for, which is the problem with 5* talent - that rating is a reflection of their NBA potential, not college potential, so the things that make great NBA players are not the same as great college players.
You compare that to Michigan, who got a few high school players but have built their juggernaut on the backs of some highly-paid transfers (they basically paid Yaxel Lendeborg to not be a late first-round selection and instead head to Ann Arbor) and you can see how investing more in established college players may be the smarter play.
My feeling in Cronin's situation is that, given he is basically running the program with an administration that is actively hostile to the current NIL landscape, he is making a conscious decision to target more proven college players than the lottery tickets that are high school prospects. I don't think this is the right play, and think you need a backbone of high school prospects that the transfers exist to supplement, but I can understand the logic.
To disregard someone’s opinion because they have a felony record is asinine. Gilbert arenas with a wonderful basketball career knows more about basketball than you ever will and has the stats and network to prove it. His opinion is more valid than yours. Just because you don’t like who he is as a person doesn’t mean he’s wrong or an idiot when it comes to basketball he’s done quite well for himself
Who gives a shit what gun toting Gilbert Arenas says? Yeah Jamal was so idiotic defending Chip Kelly, he lost all credibility with me. I don't listen to that jagoff anymore. Okay SEA, you want Cronin gone? You really want idiot Jarmond hiring his replacement? LOL. When he hires a cheap ass LOSER, you and Baskets can come back here and complain. 🤣
If you disregard their 8-0 deficit during the initial 2:32 to start out the game and their 20-6 effort to give the game away over the final 4:45, the Bruins played and coached an excellent game against the Huskies and look very tough and well prepared to compete for a national championship.
LOL
The general diagnosis shows UCLA's current blueblood status to be anemic, and the anti-Cronin fever is spreading and could potentially linger through the 2027-28 season. Symptoms of mediocrity are evident, and hopium may only bring temporary Sweet-16 relief at best. It also feels worse when their crosstown rival is still undefeated and ranked in the Top-25. I'm praying for a strong and consistent recovery for the UCLA men's basketball program!
I know we're throwing out hyperbole all over the place, but it wasn't.
It was certainly the most points Clark has scored in a UCLA uniform, beating out his previous best of 22 points, which he had this year against Presbyterian, but he also shot better in that game. His six three-pointers were also beat out by what I think was his real best performance, a conference tournament loss while at Louisville, where Clark scored 36 points on 12-17 shooting, including hitting 7 of his 9 three-point attempts.
I know… he had to go into the record books just to show that he’s smart and you’re dumb… how dare you call this monster game his best game when it wasn’t… he clearly missed the point you were trying to make and had to go into the record books to make it look like you’re a nobody who knows nothing about basketball
Hey baskets, if you are going to choose to be an asshole, you can choose to do it somewhere else. Consider this a warning on that front because I really don’t have the patience for your shtick anymore.
Fair… I’ll work on it. Can I ask a question though? What was your intent with your response? What was your goal with the way you responded? It’s ok that you call me an asshole because I am… but I’m truly interested in how your passive aggressive response and tone is so much different than mine.
Good thing Bilodeau woke up in the 2nd half and both Clark and Dent played much better than they did in the Cal game, but this time the Bruins had Perry out and Dailey Jr. had the awful game. Now if the Bruins weren't suffering from inconsistent performances and injuries, I think they beat both Cal and Washington with ease, and I wouldn't be cracking dumb jokes about the team looking so ill and dropping out of the Top-25 rankings. In any case, can always count on the anti-Cronin vs. "Croninista" (LOL) points of view to provide some entertainment after every loss and underperforming win.
When you hire a coach with a napoleon complex who berates players, coaches, refs
When you hire a 5” coach and your teams bigs have no idea how to box out and rebound
When you hire a defensive coach who plays boring basketball
When you hire a coach who plays out of fear of losing
When you hire a coach who only plays iso
When you hire a coach who as the uncanny ability to play a style of basketball that leads to players getting injured in practices
When you hire a coach who berates his players and throws them under the bus
When you hire a coach who take zero responsibility for his own flaws
When you hire a coach who has the uncanny ability to squander his 5* talent and lose these players early or to the transfer portal
When you hire a coach who is more afraid to lose than play fun uptempo
When you hire a coach who benches his players within the first minute of the game
When you hire a coach that takes zero responsibility
When you hire a coach who can’t adapt to the current recruiting style of the nil
When you hire a coach that doesn’t have respect from the California player pool….
I could go on, but this is what you get!!!
None of this is new… new year, new players, same coach that is over his head, is not the right fit, that nobody wants to play for. I’m like a broken record. I’m just chastised less now that yall starting to see the light. Go figure
Yes, he sometimes makes good points (depending on one's opinions) but even a broken clock has the correct time twice a day. I could have given my opinion of why I think most of these 15 statements were not correct but not worth the effort.
My opinion/observation of Baskets comments since I first started reading them years ago is that the great majority are negative and ill spirited. I stoped
commenting on his, for the most part, after the comments about women's basketball being not worthy of watching.
BTW I personally knew Wooden because he lived near me and would say that there are few coaches anywhere that could hold a candle to him. However, there were some things, like his use of certain not politically correct words or his situation with Sam Gilbert that showed nobody is a saint.
Look, I’m just sick of people continuing to make excuses for all his shortcomings. I’ve been right on a lot of points and those like you have constantly berated me or argued just to argue. I’m actually curious how you’d dispute each of the 15 points I made… is it that you don’t have the time, or that you’re afraid more people actually agree with me now than they do with your stance
Not worth my time responding to your 15 statrements and "I could go on". You clearly have too much time on your hands . And BTW, I have received quite a few "Like" from my posts.
It is a little strange that you stopped chatting with me because I don’t like women’s basketball. It’s a completely different game than men’s basketball. Because I don’t like watching women’s basketball a completely different game… I’m not worthy of your time?
You should try watching the UCLA Women. I’ve become even more negative about the UCLA men than you, if that’s possible. I got 2 season tix in the 6th row for either $200 or $300 for a team that actually plays an entertaining style of basketball.
Okay, let's hear it. What head coach would elevate the program? As far as antithesis to Wooden, they could have hired Pitino or Calipari. Both slime balls.
Jamie Dixon is a solid coach at a school with zero basketball pedigree. Chris Collins at Northwestern is very good at one if the toughest job in America.
Baskets, you compile huge lists, it would take over an hour to refute each one. I am not going to waste my time doing that. Just say you don't like him and GIVE the name of the coach who would elevate the program. I have asked several times over the years and you don't answer the question. Lmao.
I have answered with some ideas in the past. Right now I don’t have any ideas you’d like. I am in agreement that the next hire will probably be worse… so I guess it’s just learning to settle for mediocre boring basketball.
Overall I would look to hire a nobody. An assistant coach from a good offensive minded program… or a coach in D-2 basketball that’s doing something new that nobody’s heard of. The pipeline of coaches that ucla would look at are all overpaid and will underperform. Hell, I’d rather hire you to replace cronin.
Being hate filled and being wrong are not the same… the defense against my broken record opinions is thinner and thinner by the day. More and more people agree with me every day. Even Dimitri now agrees with me on some of my opinions
Obviously feelings… that all you post as well my friend… of course I know he’s not actually 5 foot… but whatever… giving him as 5’7” is extremely generous.
It was patheticly stupid to start to run out the clock with 5 minutes left instead of running offense. And why call a timeout when Kepnang was limping? Silliness.
It appears that the only defenses from the Croninistas is the fear of a disaster hire by the feckless Martin, or the "Who we gonna' get? Who would want to coach UCLA mbb?" argument.
Those, in fact, are not actual defenses of Crnin.
His shortcomings, limitations and ceiling are the same shortcomings, limitations and ceiling that he was criticized for as the Bearcats HC.
There has been no growth, no adaptation, and the game and landscape have changed.
It’s all they have left… even Dimitri finally wrote an article about this being cronins possible last season after all the times he’s berated me for saying the same thing… again, it’s amazing how far they’ll go just to refuse to admit they were wrong and that they’ve been wrong all along… I’m certainly not right all the time, but I’ve been spot on with cronin on many of my opinions from the beginning and people just don’t want to admit that I was right. Sure, I may have a strong hatred for cronin, but that doesn’t make me wrong.
As far as waiting for others to admit and fess up that they’ve been wrong, I’ll be waiting forever because all the cronies will never admit any of their shortcomings, delusions, or misplaced support of the failure that cronin is. He and all the cronies have fooled you for years and he’s the winner in all of this because he gets paid extremely well for how bad of a coach he actually is. He has all the cronies tricked… STILL!!!
They're not going to fire him. Lmao. Do you pay attention at all to the financial situation at UCLA? If they were to fire him, you would get a cheap ass hire.
He will probably leave of his own accord… he’s clearly not an idiot. You can’t get to wear he is without doing something right. He’ll jump ship before he gets fired…
The comments after a loss to the mighty Dawgs after holding a 16 point lead at the 4:45 minute mark would be deserved. Here's hopiuming that our Bruins don't suffer another melt down.
Simply put: they’re a mediocre team at best. I believe the lack of coaching is another factor. We’re just all hat no cattle. How is it that other schools lose coaches and are fully stacked and competitive out of the gate (Duke, Arizona)? Because they hire great coaches. UCLA has failed to do that for the last 40 years. I suspect Cronin is out of here for me of year. He is making Howland look like a genius.
Preseason #12, so what happened?
Overhyped - just like the football team. The BB and FB programs are a joke. I think the alleged hire for FB might just be the right call finally. As for basketball, we should be in the top 15 every year and we are not
Duke has the top NIL payroll this year and they used it to get 5 potential nba talents - so they’re probably the most stacked team since the Anthony Davis-led Wildcats or Billy Donovan’s Florida teams in 06-07.
UCLA just doesn’t have the fans or boosters willing to open their wallets at the same level as their other school. BYU’s freshman forward AJ Dysbansa was making more than their football coach Sitake!! Until Sitake negotiated a raise literally just this past week to make him the highest paid big 12 coach. Now, roster building is all about who has the most money
Spot on. The reason I have reset my expectations.
Does ucla not have the fans or boosters? Or does ucla not have good enough coaches that the fans and boosters want to put their money into a system that’s broken and the coaches haven’t given a reason to support them with money… why would I give money to a coach who has a napoleon complex, takes the fun out of the game, and can’t hold on to his 5* players? UCLA might have a lot more money if they were relevant in the last 40 years… but there’s been no coaches worth investing in
The bigger issue is the AD, which has been actively discouraging boosters from donating to NIL efforts. UCLA's NIL operation in basketball was basically built by Cronin without administrative support, which is a huge problem compared to the other top schools in the country.
Thanks, Dmitri, why would our AD actively discourage boosters from donating?
Because fundraising is a zero-sum game? Every dollar that goes to NIL is a dollar that doesn't go to the AD. It's an antiquated way of thinking, and goes past the current guy at the top in Jarmond. The whole athletic department needs a deep cleaning to enter the 21st century.
That’s a wierd conclusion to come to? I’m guessing you got this straight from the AD? This type of comment is what makes people not want to listen to your opinions. This isn’t a real answer that comes from any valid sources. And it’s just plain illogical to boot. Any NIL money that comes in will lead to better players which leads to more fans which leads to a bigger paycheck for the AD… to turn down NIL money because it doesn’t go into his paycheck is absolutely the worst invention I’ve heard so far
I get it, power. I didn't know NIL was set up to be zero sum. I remember the Sam Gilbert days, now it is institutionalized.
💯
BYU and Arkansas are in the top 5 of NIL. It’s not like they have some rich CBB history or any relevance the last 40 years. They’re funded by the LDS church and Crumbl CEO, and Walton family, respectively. Obviously ucla has had more tourney success and made the FF more recently than either school. Arizona’s NIL is higher than us too and what has Tommy Lloyd ever achieved except underachieve relative to the talent they had? Simply put, ucla donors are just not giving at the level as those other schools. Donors at ucla so far aren’t willing to pay a freshman basketball player the same amount of money that our football coach is making while other schools are.
Now ucla is still in the top 20 nationwide but like i said in a previous thread, the gulf between the top 20 and the top 5 is still massive and top 5 can just stockpile talent.
People would give more money if they believed in the coaches ability to properly utilize and keep 5* players on the roster… the fans are starting to lose confidence in the coaches ability to utilize the money appropriately to build and grow players and to develop the 5* talent that’s available. Cronin has done a piss poor job of developing his 5* players. They have all done better in the nba with real coaching or at different programs like Mara
Idk I think ucla can hire a charismatic new coach and go on a Wooden-esque decade long run of national championships and that coach will have to do it with one hand tied behind their backs when it comes to NIL. UCLA’s wealthy alumni just doesn’t care about sports no matter how well we do. Michigan State just announced a 400million donation from the CEO of Acrisure this morning. I don’t see a donation of that size coming towards UCLA in the best of times
All the players said they feel like they have an opportunity to do something special with this roster and The $3M Difference Maker.
Instead, it's another poorly constructed roster, subject to Cronin's signature end game collapses.
The players look like they're playing with all the joy and enthusiasm of a visit for a root canal (no disrespect to the many fine dentists on this site).
What's up with all the Bruin injuries and cramping, and every year? What goes on in training & conditioning and practicing?
I think the cause is primarily due to the pressure to outperform, outhustle, overachieve, and create more deflections than more talented opponents. This old-school affliction leaves no room for joy and enthusiasm, as those are supposedly signs of weakness that could impair the individual. I believe the name for this condition is called "Cronin's Disease", and it has no known cure, but it isn't fatal.
[Note: I am not a doctor!]
Not really just a ucla issue - the best player in college basketball, Darren Petersen, hasnt played for Kansas yet. UConn’s starting C has only played a couple games too contributing to their home loss to Arizona.
I think in both college and pros there’s just a rash of injuries as pace of play is a lot faster and players feel pressure to come back before they’re fully healed.
Yeah, this isn't a UCLA-specific issue, and more just a general sports issue where athletes get hurt, and the only way to truly prevent that is not to play at all.
I do think the addition of money is leading to part of it, as players are rushing back from injury to justify their price tag and, in their opinion, keep that tag high the next year. You see similar things in the pros, especially among younger players looking for a bigger payday, and don't really see guys take their time returning from injury until they're financially set, a la Lebron to start this season.
As I’ve posted and agree, it’s interesting how many cronin players have been injured over the years. I don’t have the data to prove it, but the eye test would say it’s a strange councedence that his players always seem to get injured…
Tyger tore his cake along with the other player that redshirted that year, Clark, bona, jaquez, juzang, now dest, Perry… I’m sure I missed at least three others. Maybe I’m just delusional and other teams are just as CONSISTENTLY injuring their players in practice.
Tyger tore his ACL during Alford's last year, can't really blame that one on Cronin.
This year is the first year that guys are getting injured in practice to this extent. The rest of those injuries came during games. Bona's injury, for example, was the result of an Oregon player diving at his knee; hard to put that one on Cronin. Juzang had a guy fall on his leg and cause issues the rest of the year, while Clark's Achilles was a freak injury in the last regular-season game.
Fair points… for some reason I thought tyger tore his acl under cronin… but you are right I see… who was the other player that tore his acl in preseason practice that year. The long haired center that spit at the zona fans right?
Mac Etienne, yeah, he tore his ACL in October of 2021. You’re also thinking of Will McClendon who also tore his ACL that year. I had thought he did it prior to arriving but apparently it wasn’t until September, so that year does stand out as a weird early-season injury year for the deep bench.
An assessment of the Mick Crnin era, whether he is meeting the standard of UCLA mbb, whether he is capable of meeting the standard, or whether his limitations have us at peak Mick. A yearly overview of how we got to where we are. Skip the preliminaries and begin at 1:40, or at 4:45 for the heart of the matter:
https://youtu.be/uGN9yhFOMGg?si=_3mfj1FWWAUdQ-BG
It's a different world, a different landscape (BYU, Arkansas).
Think kids care about playing for the blue blood or March Madness? Think again. They only are concerned about getting theirs.
Think the Bruins are getting Quali Giran? Think again. "No 5* wants to go to UCLA until he gets fired." The Baron is a Bruin lifer (and even takes a shot at SC, bless him!) despite having played for an imposter of a coach.
OTOH, Bruin Trevor Ariza and Crnin's oft-cited bestie and ace-in-the-hole Kenyon Martin speak some harsh truth about Mick Crnin.
50 second clip for those of you who skip the YouTube link above:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8UmocvE/
I listen to LAFB all the time. Madman and Thriller are great! And Madman is correct in his assessment of Cronin.
Jamal was against firing your nemesis, Chip Kelly. So I don't put stock into anything he says. He also said we would beat Nebraska in football. 🤣
True. I don't agree with him all the time. In fact sometimes I hugely disagree. I also think, however, he has some really good takes. Jamal and Thriller did an episode about the Rose Bowl nightmare and it was pretty darn worthy.
Gibbs, your Kelly point is a "Squirrel!" distraction, not an argument on the matter at hand. To the topic, what are your arguments against the UCLA LAFB take on Crnin? What are your disagreements with Gil's Arena that UCLA is not a landing spot for 5* because of the coach?
I personally don't really care what noted felon and Arizona Wildcat (though I repeat myself) Gilbert Arenas has to say about the UCLA job.
Consider the point, not the source. Is the pipeline of 5* flowing to UCLA?
(I appreciate your "setting the record straight" replies. I understand that as an Admin you don't want to engage in back and forth. Thank you for what you do.) How will Crnin restock with the departure of Dent, Skyy, Bilo, Jamar and Jamerson? I suppose I will have to wait for next year's Season Preview to find out.
Re: next year
Another rebuild with the loss of 3 starters and 2 top subs.
Cue the excuses.
Again, I would argue that Arenas isn't exactly the perfect messenger for that point, especially since his son is at Southern Cal. He has no reason to speak positively about the head coach of UCLA, no matter who is in that position.
That said, I do think there is something of a point to the idea that Cronin is not landing 5* talent out of high school, but he's also not really going after it. I have a feeling he thinks the same way I do, which is that the market for high school talent is severely inflated in the current NIL era, and that you are getting better bang for your buck by targeting established college transfers. You can count on one hand the number of incoming high school players who can come in and immediately contribute to a national championship contender, and those guys are commanding multi-million dollar NIL deals (for reference, AJ Dybantsa got a $7 million NIL deal from BYU). To give you a reference, UCLA was very much in on Brayden Burries, who ultimately decided on going to Arizona for a bigger NIL deal. To date, Burries has been ok, putting up good numbers against bad teams and then scoring a grand total of 12 points against the three decent teams they've played (Florida, UCLA, UConn). This is not to state that Burries will end up a bad player, but this season he is nowhere near the price tag he signed for, which is the problem with 5* talent - that rating is a reflection of their NBA potential, not college potential, so the things that make great NBA players are not the same as great college players.
You compare that to Michigan, who got a few high school players but have built their juggernaut on the backs of some highly-paid transfers (they basically paid Yaxel Lendeborg to not be a late first-round selection and instead head to Ann Arbor) and you can see how investing more in established college players may be the smarter play.
My feeling in Cronin's situation is that, given he is basically running the program with an administration that is actively hostile to the current NIL landscape, he is making a conscious decision to target more proven college players than the lottery tickets that are high school prospects. I don't think this is the right play, and think you need a backbone of high school prospects that the transfers exist to supplement, but I can understand the logic.
To disregard someone’s opinion because they have a felony record is asinine. Gilbert arenas with a wonderful basketball career knows more about basketball than you ever will and has the stats and network to prove it. His opinion is more valid than yours. Just because you don’t like who he is as a person doesn’t mean he’s wrong or an idiot when it comes to basketball he’s done quite well for himself
Gilbert Arenas is a thug.
Who gives a shit what gun toting Gilbert Arenas says? Yeah Jamal was so idiotic defending Chip Kelly, he lost all credibility with me. I don't listen to that jagoff anymore. Okay SEA, you want Cronin gone? You really want idiot Jarmond hiring his replacement? LOL. When he hires a cheap ass LOSER, you and Baskets can come back here and complain. 🤣
Your defense of Crnin because of Jarmond just proved my point.
What's wrong SEA, you can't fully spell the name? Here, I'll help you out, it's Cronin. What's the matter? Too chicken to name a replacement?
If you disregard their 8-0 deficit during the initial 2:32 to start out the game and their 20-6 effort to give the game away over the final 4:45, the Bruins played and coached an excellent game against the Huskies and look very tough and well prepared to compete for a national championship.
LOL
The general diagnosis shows UCLA's current blueblood status to be anemic, and the anti-Cronin fever is spreading and could potentially linger through the 2027-28 season. Symptoms of mediocrity are evident, and hopium may only bring temporary Sweet-16 relief at best. It also feels worse when their crosstown rival is still undefeated and ranked in the Top-25. I'm praying for a strong and consistent recovery for the UCLA men's basketball program!
[Note: I am not a doctor!]
Go Bruins.
It took the best shooting game of Skyy's career to defeat the Dawgs.
I know we're throwing out hyperbole all over the place, but it wasn't.
It was certainly the most points Clark has scored in a UCLA uniform, beating out his previous best of 22 points, which he had this year against Presbyterian, but he also shot better in that game. His six three-pointers were also beat out by what I think was his real best performance, a conference tournament loss while at Louisville, where Clark scored 36 points on 12-17 shooting, including hitting 7 of his 9 three-point attempts.
I concede! It wasn't his best game. It merely was a monster of a game.
I know… he had to go into the record books just to show that he’s smart and you’re dumb… how dare you call this monster game his best game when it wasn’t… he clearly missed the point you were trying to make and had to go into the record books to make it look like you’re a nobody who knows nothing about basketball
The truth is that I am a nobody who knows nothing about basketball. (The truth hurts!) I'm just a homer for our Bruins.
Haha! Me too SEA… I’m a nobody as well
Hey baskets, if you are going to choose to be an asshole, you can choose to do it somewhere else. Consider this a warning on that front because I really don’t have the patience for your shtick anymore.
Fair… I’ll work on it. Can I ask a question though? What was your intent with your response? What was your goal with the way you responded? It’s ok that you call me an asshole because I am… but I’m truly interested in how your passive aggressive response and tone is so much different than mine.
Good thing Bilodeau woke up in the 2nd half and both Clark and Dent played much better than they did in the Cal game, but this time the Bruins had Perry out and Dailey Jr. had the awful game. Now if the Bruins weren't suffering from inconsistent performances and injuries, I think they beat both Cal and Washington with ease, and I wouldn't be cracking dumb jokes about the team looking so ill and dropping out of the Top-25 rankings. In any case, can always count on the anti-Cronin vs. "Croninista" (LOL) points of view to provide some entertainment after every loss and underperforming win.
When you hire a coach with a napoleon complex who berates players, coaches, refs
When you hire a 5” coach and your teams bigs have no idea how to box out and rebound
When you hire a defensive coach who plays boring basketball
When you hire a coach who plays out of fear of losing
When you hire a coach who only plays iso
When you hire a coach who as the uncanny ability to play a style of basketball that leads to players getting injured in practices
When you hire a coach who berates his players and throws them under the bus
When you hire a coach who take zero responsibility for his own flaws
When you hire a coach who has the uncanny ability to squander his 5* talent and lose these players early or to the transfer portal
When you hire a coach who is more afraid to lose than play fun uptempo
When you hire a coach who benches his players within the first minute of the game
When you hire a coach that takes zero responsibility
When you hire a coach who can’t adapt to the current recruiting style of the nil
When you hire a coach that doesn’t have respect from the California player pool….
I could go on, but this is what you get!!!
None of this is new… new year, new players, same coach that is over his head, is not the right fit, that nobody wants to play for. I’m like a broken record. I’m just chastised less now that yall starting to see the light. Go figure
"A broken record" from a broken, hate filled source.
Baskets makes a lot of solid points. No need to bash him because his opinion differs from yours.
I would add this to Baskets list...
Cronin does not have the capacity to use the correct verb with a subject, when he speaks.
He is the anithesis of Wooden. He is an embarrassment to UCLA.
Yes, he sometimes makes good points (depending on one's opinions) but even a broken clock has the correct time twice a day. I could have given my opinion of why I think most of these 15 statements were not correct but not worth the effort.
My opinion/observation of Baskets comments since I first started reading them years ago is that the great majority are negative and ill spirited. I stoped
commenting on his, for the most part, after the comments about women's basketball being not worthy of watching.
BTW I personally knew Wooden because he lived near me and would say that there are few coaches anywhere that could hold a candle to him. However, there were some things, like his use of certain not politically correct words or his situation with Sam Gilbert that showed nobody is a saint.
Look, I’m just sick of people continuing to make excuses for all his shortcomings. I’ve been right on a lot of points and those like you have constantly berated me or argued just to argue. I’m actually curious how you’d dispute each of the 15 points I made… is it that you don’t have the time, or that you’re afraid more people actually agree with me now than they do with your stance
Not worth my time responding to your 15 statrements and "I could go on". You clearly have too much time on your hands . And BTW, I have received quite a few "Like" from my posts.
It is a little strange that you stopped chatting with me because I don’t like women’s basketball. It’s a completely different game than men’s basketball. Because I don’t like watching women’s basketball a completely different game… I’m not worthy of your time?
You should try watching the UCLA Women. I’ve become even more negative about the UCLA men than you, if that’s possible. I got 2 season tix in the 6th row for either $200 or $300 for a team that actually plays an entertaining style of basketball.
The embarrassment to UCLA is Jarmond.
I would say both are huge embarrassments.
Okay, let's hear it. What head coach would elevate the program? As far as antithesis to Wooden, they could have hired Pitino or Calipari. Both slime balls.
Gibbs... great question.
True, Pitino and Calipari are both slimey balls.
While I don't have a name for you, I would like the basketball equivalent of Bob Chesney.
💙💛
Jamie Dixon would have. Maybe his buyout is less?
Is this tongue-in-cheek? Jamie Dixon hasn’t made it out of the first weekend of the ncaa tournament since the Bush Administration.
He did win the NIT and made the final four of the NIT recently so he’s had at least some tournament success 😂
Jamie Dixon is a solid coach at a school with zero basketball pedigree. Chris Collins at Northwestern is very good at one if the toughest job in America.
He just likes to talk shit.
Yes I do a lot of talking… but it doesn’t matter, most of my points above are hard to dispute at this point in time
Baskets, you compile huge lists, it would take over an hour to refute each one. I am not going to waste my time doing that. Just say you don't like him and GIVE the name of the coach who would elevate the program. I have asked several times over the years and you don't answer the question. Lmao.
I have answered with some ideas in the past. Right now I don’t have any ideas you’d like. I am in agreement that the next hire will probably be worse… so I guess it’s just learning to settle for mediocre boring basketball.
Overall I would look to hire a nobody. An assistant coach from a good offensive minded program… or a coach in D-2 basketball that’s doing something new that nobody’s heard of. The pipeline of coaches that ucla would look at are all overpaid and will underperform. Hell, I’d rather hire you to replace cronin.
LOL. Is there another Jim Harrick out there?
Being hate filled and being wrong are not the same… the defense against my broken record opinions is thinner and thinner by the day. More and more people agree with me every day. Even Dimitri now agrees with me on some of my opinions
It's not secret you have a disdain for Cronin. LOL.
Are you posting facts or feelings? He is 5'7" not 5 foot. LOL.
🤣
Obviously feelings… that all you post as well my friend… of course I know he’s not actually 5 foot… but whatever… giving him as 5’7” is extremely generous.
5 star talent typically doesn't stay more than 1 year.
True.
The projected NBA 2026 draft is littered with freshmen.
It was patheticly stupid to start to run out the clock with 5 minutes left instead of running offense. And why call a timeout when Kepnang was limping? Silliness.
Oh come on gib say what you really feel… it wasn’t silliness! It was downright awful coaching!
It appears that the only defenses from the Croninistas is the fear of a disaster hire by the feckless Martin, or the "Who we gonna' get? Who would want to coach UCLA mbb?" argument.
Those, in fact, are not actual defenses of Crnin.
His shortcomings, limitations and ceiling are the same shortcomings, limitations and ceiling that he was criticized for as the Bearcats HC.
There has been no growth, no adaptation, and the game and landscape have changed.
This is on point, Sea.
It’s all they have left… even Dimitri finally wrote an article about this being cronins possible last season after all the times he’s berated me for saying the same thing… again, it’s amazing how far they’ll go just to refuse to admit they were wrong and that they’ve been wrong all along… I’m certainly not right all the time, but I’ve been spot on with cronin on many of my opinions from the beginning and people just don’t want to admit that I was right. Sure, I may have a strong hatred for cronin, but that doesn’t make me wrong.
As far as waiting for others to admit and fess up that they’ve been wrong, I’ll be waiting forever because all the cronies will never admit any of their shortcomings, delusions, or misplaced support of the failure that cronin is. He and all the cronies have fooled you for years and he’s the winner in all of this because he gets paid extremely well for how bad of a coach he actually is. He has all the cronies tricked… STILL!!!
They're not going to fire him. Lmao. Do you pay attention at all to the financial situation at UCLA? If they were to fire him, you would get a cheap ass hire.
He will probably leave of his own accord… he’s clearly not an idiot. You can’t get to wear he is without doing something right. He’ll jump ship before he gets fired…
It's not a defense. You want him gone, name the replacement. So I can have a good laugh.
All this bitching. I wonder what the comment section would look like if they lost. 🤣
The comments after a loss to the mighty Dawgs after holding a 16 point lead at the 4:45 minute mark would be deserved. Here's hopiuming that our Bruins don't suffer another melt down.