They were never more than a top 20 team all season talent wise. Unless they were completely healthy and all playing at their peak like last season it was going to be very difficult for them to get back to the final four.
Oh for sure not a stretch at all obviously once they got to that UNC game, I was just saying going into the tournament (before seeding/upsets etc.) that they didn't have a great chance of getting back.
I’ve been relatively quiet the last few games to end the season. I think it would be good to rate mick as a whole along with his development and usage of each player out of five stars.
Starting with players:
Jules Bernard
Development 3 stars
Usage 4 stars
- maybe the most consistent player all season due to lack of injury. Played to his abilities. Turned the ball over less. Shot worse as a percentage of made 3s and shots overall compared to the prior season.
Tyger Campbell
Development 5 stars
Usage 4 stars
- substantially improved his shot percentage. Decreased turnovers. Played within himself. Would like to see more up tempo, but this one ant really set up to be a run and gun offense.
Jaylen Clark
Development 5 stars
Usage 2 stars
- UCLA’s best defender played far too few minutes when ucla needed it the most. When asked to step in while Riley jaquez and juzang were injured, proved that he should get more play time. Given that mick is a defensive coach, this is the most puzzling player in terms of usage. Should arguably be starting over a player like Jules Bernard or juzang when they showed lack of hustle. Was on the bench too often.
Johnny juzang
Development 2 stars
Usage 2 stars
- stats almost identical to prior season with little significant difference. Defense remained the same. When juzang was on the court, the plan was to force it to him and let him go one on one. Would have expected more, but returning this year clearly hurt his nba draft potential.
David singleton
Development 2 stars
Usage 2 stars
Stats almost identical to prior season with little noteable difference. The best 3 pt shooter on the team shoots 2 times per game? In todays game, you need a capable 3 pt shooter. inability to use this in games hurt.
Cody Riley
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- clear regression from last season to this maybe due to injury (likely). Player was continually asked to play long stretches when others should have seen more play time.
Myles Johnson
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- stats declined coming to a new team. Grossly misused most of the season. One of the better team defenders that deserved far more play time then was given
Jaime jaquez
Development 5 stars
Usage 4 stars
- would give 5 stars for usage, but he clearly needed a lot more rest down the stretch due to the injuries. That took a toll on his ability. Rose his draft stock and is now on many draft boards for the nba
Jake kyman
Development 1 star
Usage 3 stars
- has clearly regressed across the board under cronin. Shot has gotten worse, confidence has tanked, and play time is minimal. Not enough minutes with so many other players, but sad to see such a sharp decline in development.
Kenneth nwuba
Development 3 stars
Usage 3 stars
- doesn’t see enough play time to really make any conclusions.
Peyton Watson
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- complete and utter failure. A projected preseason lottery pick has played himself out of some draft boards entirely. A complete lack of development and misunderstanding of how to develop talent by the staff
Mick cronin
Overall 4 stars
Clearly a better coach then the last guy. Has the ability to coach and players believe in his system. Has taken the team efficiency measurements up every year since starting. A preseason top 5 that finished below, a conference winner preseason favorite. 2nd in the conference, loss in the conference tourney, and a loss in the sweet 16. Two losses to Arizona, oregon…
Lots of things to be disappointed about, but with another crazy covid year, what more can you ask for? My only hope is that cronin figures out how to coach nba level talent and increase their draft stock. If he can’t do that, recruits will go elsewhere…
Mostly agree, but don't be surprised if Watson is a first round pick this year. I also think Juzang's expectations were artificially inflated because of his all decade performance last March. He was never going to duplicate that, much less improve upon it.
Totally agree on juzang… but there are zero nba scouting boards that have placed Watson going in the first round. It would take a miracle… unless you have some other scout that you know, there are zero stories of him going first round right now right?
those scouting boards are always pretty speculative. Watson still has the same potential that caused him to be viewed as a lottery pick coming in. He just didn't play that much this year...because of the guys in front of him. But it's not like NBA scouts devalued him. And i have actually seen a few articles from reputable publications (ESPN, CBS, etc) that have him going first round. The same ones have Juzang/Jaquez going anywhere from mid 2nd to undrafted.
ya it's kind of like looking at the recruiting rankings and then saying a 5 star freshman had a disappointing season because he only averaged 7 points.
also with the rise of the g-league and 2 way deals, draft spot is less important after the first round. not much difference, if any at all, between being a second round pick and undrafted.
Great article, DD. I agree the season was largely successful, and at the same time I agree they could have achieved more. The basic problem with this team to me was inconsistency and the inability to avoid the awful floor moments, which was puzzling given the veteran players with deep Tourney experience who you would imagine would be regularly reliable and immune to laying an egg. The same Bruins that made a FF4 run last year and which beat a FF team in Nova and a 1 seed in Az this year was the same team that lost at ASU and Oregon twice and wasn't competitive with Gonzaga, 4 games with a better performance could have earned the Bruins a 3 or even 2 seed and a better run through this year's tourney. Even with the 4 seed and second place P-12 finish, we made a huge leap from last year's play-in status, Tyger and Jaquez made really big improvements, and we had a pathway to the FF4 in our hands. This big difference this time was that we didn't have Johnny Juzang playing at (or beyond?) his absolute peak for 5 games to make up for the other areas of inconsistency/injury/unlucky bounces/hot opponents. In the end, we still basically outplayed or were even with UNC for just over 38 minutes, and then a minute and a half of execution issues and a poor defensive scheme ended our season, otherwise that could very well have been us playing Kansas tonight instead of the Tar Heels. Certainly Cronin needs to improve in areas of personnel usage. Retaining Jaquez, Clark, and Payton (Juzang would be a bonus but I'm not expecting it) is key going forward and will show us a lot about what next season might bring.
It’s a shame that we tend to evaluate the entire season based upon how far a team advances in the tournament. By most metrics, this season was better than last season. With a few bounces going our way and a couple more shots made, we could have been back in the Final Four. A couple of missed shots and we could have lost to Akron in the 1st round.
it's possible to have a successful season without winning the championship. Kansas also had a more successful season than Gonzaga by the only metric that matters. So did Villanova and others.
I'm with ArmyBruin on this one - disappointing to lose the way we did against an "on a magical run" UNC team. That's where my disappointment ends.
I would love for the Bruins to win another Championship in the next 1-8 years - but NO ONE can EXPECT that. See Gonzaga. See Kansas being under 50% in the finals (4 wins, 6 losses). It was only 14 years between Bill Self's first Championship and his second.
Let's do a little simple comparison between 2008 and 2022 for your "only metric that matters":
Kansas: No tournament misses in the intervening years (12 tourneys, 5 first weekend exits).
UCLA: 8 tourneys, 4 first weekend exits).
Sorry, in those twelve years UCLA doesn't compare to Kansas. Kansas it what we should aspire to be. The last 12 years is what we've actually been.
What have we been in those 12 seasons? Extremely inconsistent. Often unwatchable. The 2021 tourney was magic. 2022 not so much.
The Bruins are WELL on their way to returning to realm of Elite PROGRAMS. This is the first year and what seems like forever that the Bruins have been watchable ALL SEASON. Ups and downs to be sure. Heartache and head scratchers? No Doubt. Disappointment? Absolutely.
I recommend patience and enjoyment in watching a program re-emerge from the darkness of Alford and the "end of the Howland years". Enjoy watching them reclaim their place as a "blue blood of basketball"
If Kansas is what we should aspire to be, than we REALLY shouldn't give a crap about anything other than championships. Indeed, we do not hang Final 4 banners. Reclaiming are spot of the blue blood of college basketball is all for not if we never reach the promised land. See eg, tenure of Howland, Ben.
I think you missed what I was attempting to say -- even Kansas over the past 15 years (making the tournament every one of those) didn't regularly win championships. Most (maybe all of those) seasons, they were in a position to compete and win the brass ring. And that's damn good. Really good. Like what UCLA should aspire to be good.
To me, if the only mark of a successful season is "NCAA championship" -- then it's (almost) always disappointment. And then what's the point of being a fan? Life's too goddamn short for that.
I'm there for my team. As long as they are on a path to excellence, compete, and have a moral center, I'll take the disappointing games in stride. The championships will come. And if they don't, I'm still having a really good time seeing whatever the team can achieve.
I’m often guilty of this… my biggest disappointments of the season overall were:
lack of usage for best defenders in Clark, Johnson and Watson. They didn’t really get as much time as they should have. Very strange that the defensive minded coach didn’t rotate them in more in the big games.
Poor development with bigs and Watson. Sure Riley was injured, but Watson showed almost zero growth. Johnson also didn’t show much improvement throughout the season imo.
I think Watson showed growth, perhaps not as much as you had hoped, but the year end Watson improved enough to where some were complaining he should have played more against UNC. Johnson improved quite a bit on D, but not on offense. Clark showed signs of a solid player but did struggle a bit after he broke out against some of our weaker opponents. All 3 need to improve on the offensive side of the floor.
Not sure how much another coaching staff would be able to help develop 23-24 year old bigs that have low ceilings but maybe I'm wrong.
Watson turned out to be an overrated prospect and probably not even a 5 star. He still has potential but his poor shooting and decision making probably will keep him from being drafted this year. Hopefully Cronin and the staff can put him in better positions to succeed if he sticks around and he can build on those flashes he showed this season.
Watson still earned the 5-star designation. People always confuse the recruit ranking system as a signal of which player will do well in college, but it's actually a ranking of pro potential, and Watson still has a ton of that. Even in flashes, it was obvious Watson was the most athletic guy on the team. But it was pretty clear this year that Watson had missed a year of development (he didn't play his senior year of HS ball due to COVID). Watson was raw but there were flashes where you could see exactly why he was so highly rated as a prospect.
I know championships are all that matters, but after a decade+ of mediocrity (outside of one year) and unlikeable coaches, it's just nice to see them in national conversation all year long. Most of the season in the top 10, all in the top 15, no sweating out selection Sunday, beating all of the nonconference teams they're supposed to beat, handily for the most part, and a successful but tough conference season. That's not a lot to ask for, but more than has been provided for a long time. It's nice to be able to look forward to the next season again.
So I evaluate the season based on whether I received entertainment and enjoyment commensurate with the level of my expectations, and whether they were worth the time I spent watching and reading about them, then for me it was a successful season.
This is kind of managed expectations in reverse. You hold top programs to a higher standard. When a top 5 program loses in the Sweet 16, that is not a successful season, no matter how appealing to compare to past mediocrity.
Everything seemingly were suppose to align for UCLA this year, it’s a disappointing season on many factors. Mediocrity will always make excuses for not winning it all, the goal is to always win it all or what the point of the season ? This was Cronins year, he will never have a team like this again. Cronin got exposed as a stubborn coach who doesn’t use his bench properly, which in part drove some of his players to exhaustion. Due to Watsons development, next years class will be under a microscope to see how they turn out. UCLA is getting the players, the name sells itself, but that perfect coach to take us to that championship that will be a battle. This coming year will be telling, Cronins coaching style needs improvement, plain and simple.
“This was Cronin’s year, he will never have a team like this again.” If that’s the case and he has peaked, Jarmond should have fired him, not extended him.
It’s the ability to win the big games. I’ve seen a lot of red flags with the guys. This was a special team, one that should’ve competed in the championship if coached right. Time will tell, just giving my take.
He coached victories against Villanova, Marquette, Arizona, USC, St Mary's......all Tournament teams in big games. It's not like he can never coach a victory in a big game. I guess you forget he coached victories against several higher seeded teams in last year's tournament. He beat Izzo, FFS.
He had a solid senior class, a special one, you can’t duplicate that. It’s making predictions, nothing far fetched here. He doesn’t use his bench properly, his rotations are horrid. This was his year to win it all. It’s hard to see that window open up again for him.
More like Juzang, Jacquez, Tyger. Although. With the Covid rules its made it difficult to understand which distinction they all have now. Showing the fore mentioned are jrs, with Tyger being a redshirt. I might’ve spoke to quick. Still hard to see Jazquez and Juzang coming back. If they do Cronin can’t have a repeat of this year.
Criticisms about his rotations and bench usage are valid but the idea that he won't have another window like he did this year is silly if you ask me. Sure he might not always have such a veteran team in the future but he's also likely to have more athletic/talented teams going forward with better front court depth.
That’s too bad then, between basketball and football what has UCLA done in the last 20 years ? I guess it’s just a way of defining ourselves within the two sport groups. Here is too another 20 years of what you seem to approve off
I’m old enough to remember why Coach Wooden retired at the age of 64. He could have had several more successful seasons. But, he no longer wanted the pressure of the monster he created. The expectation of a National Title being the measure of success was not something he believed in. The greatest coach in all of sports never defined success as measured by the number of championships won. If you vall tgat being satisfied with mediocrity, so be it. I will go with Coach’s definition of success over yours. Feel free to take a look at the Pyramid of Success.
He could say that, but what defined him beyond the lessons he taught the players were those championships. No casual fan, or majority of UCLA fans will have that type of reflection. Wooden was the best, his record clearly showed that. He was known for his dominance.
I was not around, but does not limit my knowledge of what he established. As a basketball coach he was perfect, to a point that it spear headed the man with all these great philosophies that go beyond basketball. Of course people would want to listen. If not for his dominance as a coach, and in the manner he won games his impact wouldn’t have been the same. If he never won those championships, do you think people would view him the same ? His winning catapulted him as the greatest coach of all time. We are lucky his influence goes beyond basketball.
It seems to me that, at the very least, Cronin has returned us to a place where we are among those with a reasonable and real shot of winning #12 each season - the place we belong and the same place that our fellow true bluebloods (say, those with 10 title game appearances) and other strong Programs - like 'Nova and yes, Gonzaga - have occupied while we've been in the wilderness. But this isn't football where the Alabama's, Georgia's, Ohio State's, and Clemson's play what amounts to a two-game season against each other - annually there are lots of teams that can reasonably win the tourney. I'm just glad we're back to being one of them.
I don’t understand why Jaquez would want to come back. He represented the team so well, left his heart kn the floor. He needs to to head to that next step. That’s also part of the process within the college basketball ranks, what type of pros does your school produce. Juzang, should’ve gone last year after his stock rose up so high. You lose these guys, and you’re back to rebuilding. Cronin does not seem like a coach who can do well in rebuild mode, he prefers his veterans who he plays to the ground.
Juzang's stock wasn't that high after last year. It was perceived to be because of his all world performance in the tournament. But he would have been in the g-league all year, not even on a 2 way deal.
I think some draft boards had him end of first round, 2nd round. He reminds me of Klay Thompson light. A lot of these guys when they leave will have to then edge their way into the league via gleague. I do believe a few of the seniors on this roster will be solid rotation players on the next level.
Those draft boards meant nothing. He heard right from the source. Nobody was going to draft him even in the second round. I think Watson and Clark will have the longest NBA careers of anyone on the roster.
I don't see Juzang having enough quickness to play defense at the next level. Maybe he can be good enough offensively but he's going to have to work on his spot up shooting as well as his ball handling. He can't even really get his own shot off at this level without using his off arm to create space so I really don't see him getting meaningful minutes in the league. I think you meant "juniors" instead of seniors since Bernard/Campbell/Riley/Johnson/Singleton/Nwuba have little to no chance of making an NBA roster.
Jaquez has a shot at being an end of the bench guy if he can develop a reliable three point shot but I think he still lacks the overall size and athleticism to ever get significant minutes.
Watson is obviously still raw but has the highest ceiling out of anyone. I'll wait and see how he works on his game in the offseason but as of now I don't think he'll stay in the league for long if at all.
Clark is close to being a next level defender but he doesn't have a natural offensive game and has a long way to go on his jumper to be a reliable three and D guy. I think his lack of length and fluidity on the court may also keep him from making a roster.
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment whenever a good team loses in the tournament. If Gonzaga fans had to respond as to whether their team had a successful season or not, I'm guessing most of them would lean towards no. I thought the Bruins had a good season overall--it's just unfortunate that they fell apart in the last few minutes against UNC, otherwise they would likely have beaten up on a St. Peter's and a St. Mary's to get back to the Final Four. Cronin seems to have gotten the most out of what were mostly Alford's recruits over the past few seasons, eventually getting them to play tough team defense and restoring pride to the UCLA basketball program. Can't wait to see what he and next season's roster can accomplish. Go Bruins!
How to consider DD's review of the season to gauge whether the season was successful?
I agree with Army, that if success is defined as winning the Tournament, then only one team can be considered successful each year. That cannot stand.
I instead use the Woodenism measure: Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
Did the team under CMC meet that eye test? I think not.
This team was as good as it ever was going to be early on with its victory over Nova, and made no further improvement over the course of the year. This experienced, veteran team played inconsistently, confoundingly disinterestedly at times. CMC utterly and completely failed to develop Watson, as Baskets put it, misused the bench and rotations, was out coached at times, played favorites (Riley), mismanaged Jacquez's ankle condition, and stubbornly would not make adjustments to Howlandesque proportions. It's no wonder Mick is so defensive minded when his offense is "please someone get hot."
Aside from my disappointment with the loss to UNC, my disappointment more rests with my opinion that the team just didn't develop to its potential.
Looking ahead, and with respect to having a better chance to win a FF, CMC must improve on the offensive side of play, and find trust in his bench, or he will risk losing the level of recruits that ordinarily give UCLA the edge.
Spot on analysis. Thank you!
The Bruins were a Final Four team which failed to get past the Sweet Sixteen.
Parity. Lost a game that we could have won. Could doesn’t necessarily mean should win.
They were never more than a top 20 team all season talent wise. Unless they were completely healthy and all playing at their peak like last season it was going to be very difficult for them to get back to the final four.
If they held on to beat UNC, it's not a stretch to think they probably would have beaten St Peter's. That would have gotten them to the Final Four.
Exactly. We were a couple shots from the Final Four. But....coulda shoulda woulda
Oh for sure not a stretch at all obviously once they got to that UNC game, I was just saying going into the tournament (before seeding/upsets etc.) that they didn't have a great chance of getting back.
I’ve been relatively quiet the last few games to end the season. I think it would be good to rate mick as a whole along with his development and usage of each player out of five stars.
Starting with players:
Jules Bernard
Development 3 stars
Usage 4 stars
- maybe the most consistent player all season due to lack of injury. Played to his abilities. Turned the ball over less. Shot worse as a percentage of made 3s and shots overall compared to the prior season.
Tyger Campbell
Development 5 stars
Usage 4 stars
- substantially improved his shot percentage. Decreased turnovers. Played within himself. Would like to see more up tempo, but this one ant really set up to be a run and gun offense.
Jaylen Clark
Development 5 stars
Usage 2 stars
- UCLA’s best defender played far too few minutes when ucla needed it the most. When asked to step in while Riley jaquez and juzang were injured, proved that he should get more play time. Given that mick is a defensive coach, this is the most puzzling player in terms of usage. Should arguably be starting over a player like Jules Bernard or juzang when they showed lack of hustle. Was on the bench too often.
Johnny juzang
Development 2 stars
Usage 2 stars
- stats almost identical to prior season with little significant difference. Defense remained the same. When juzang was on the court, the plan was to force it to him and let him go one on one. Would have expected more, but returning this year clearly hurt his nba draft potential.
David singleton
Development 2 stars
Usage 2 stars
Stats almost identical to prior season with little noteable difference. The best 3 pt shooter on the team shoots 2 times per game? In todays game, you need a capable 3 pt shooter. inability to use this in games hurt.
Cody Riley
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- clear regression from last season to this maybe due to injury (likely). Player was continually asked to play long stretches when others should have seen more play time.
Myles Johnson
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- stats declined coming to a new team. Grossly misused most of the season. One of the better team defenders that deserved far more play time then was given
Jaime jaquez
Development 5 stars
Usage 4 stars
- would give 5 stars for usage, but he clearly needed a lot more rest down the stretch due to the injuries. That took a toll on his ability. Rose his draft stock and is now on many draft boards for the nba
Jake kyman
Development 1 star
Usage 3 stars
- has clearly regressed across the board under cronin. Shot has gotten worse, confidence has tanked, and play time is minimal. Not enough minutes with so many other players, but sad to see such a sharp decline in development.
Kenneth nwuba
Development 3 stars
Usage 3 stars
- doesn’t see enough play time to really make any conclusions.
Peyton Watson
Development 1 star
Usage 1 star
- complete and utter failure. A projected preseason lottery pick has played himself out of some draft boards entirely. A complete lack of development and misunderstanding of how to develop talent by the staff
Mick cronin
Overall 4 stars
Clearly a better coach then the last guy. Has the ability to coach and players believe in his system. Has taken the team efficiency measurements up every year since starting. A preseason top 5 that finished below, a conference winner preseason favorite. 2nd in the conference, loss in the conference tourney, and a loss in the sweet 16. Two losses to Arizona, oregon…
Lots of things to be disappointed about, but with another crazy covid year, what more can you ask for? My only hope is that cronin figures out how to coach nba level talent and increase their draft stock. If he can’t do that, recruits will go elsewhere…
Mostly agree, but don't be surprised if Watson is a first round pick this year. I also think Juzang's expectations were artificially inflated because of his all decade performance last March. He was never going to duplicate that, much less improve upon it.
Totally agree on juzang… but there are zero nba scouting boards that have placed Watson going in the first round. It would take a miracle… unless you have some other scout that you know, there are zero stories of him going first round right now right?
those scouting boards are always pretty speculative. Watson still has the same potential that caused him to be viewed as a lottery pick coming in. He just didn't play that much this year...because of the guys in front of him. But it's not like NBA scouts devalued him. And i have actually seen a few articles from reputable publications (ESPN, CBS, etc) that have him going first round. The same ones have Juzang/Jaquez going anywhere from mid 2nd to undrafted.
ESPN currently has Jaquez #52 and Watson #53 overall, Juzang is at #80 https://www.espn.com/nba/draft/bestavailable/_/position/ovr/page/3
Obviously so much depends on need and the old "it just takes one team to fall in love" and not everyone has declared/much can change, etc... Just FYI
ya it's kind of like looking at the recruiting rankings and then saying a 5 star freshman had a disappointing season because he only averaged 7 points.
also with the rise of the g-league and 2 way deals, draft spot is less important after the first round. not much difference, if any at all, between being a second round pick and undrafted.
Great article, DD. I agree the season was largely successful, and at the same time I agree they could have achieved more. The basic problem with this team to me was inconsistency and the inability to avoid the awful floor moments, which was puzzling given the veteran players with deep Tourney experience who you would imagine would be regularly reliable and immune to laying an egg. The same Bruins that made a FF4 run last year and which beat a FF team in Nova and a 1 seed in Az this year was the same team that lost at ASU and Oregon twice and wasn't competitive with Gonzaga, 4 games with a better performance could have earned the Bruins a 3 or even 2 seed and a better run through this year's tourney. Even with the 4 seed and second place P-12 finish, we made a huge leap from last year's play-in status, Tyger and Jaquez made really big improvements, and we had a pathway to the FF4 in our hands. This big difference this time was that we didn't have Johnny Juzang playing at (or beyond?) his absolute peak for 5 games to make up for the other areas of inconsistency/injury/unlucky bounces/hot opponents. In the end, we still basically outplayed or were even with UNC for just over 38 minutes, and then a minute and a half of execution issues and a poor defensive scheme ended our season, otherwise that could very well have been us playing Kansas tonight instead of the Tar Heels. Certainly Cronin needs to improve in areas of personnel usage. Retaining Jaquez, Clark, and Payton (Juzang would be a bonus but I'm not expecting it) is key going forward and will show us a lot about what next season might bring.
It’s a shame that we tend to evaluate the entire season based upon how far a team advances in the tournament. By most metrics, this season was better than last season. With a few bounces going our way and a couple more shots made, we could have been back in the Final Four. A couple of missed shots and we could have lost to Akron in the 1st round.
isn't that kind of the name of the game? North Carolina had a better season than Gonzaga by the only metric that matters.
It’s not the only metric that matters to me. If the tournament is the only metric, there’s only 1 team that has a successful season every year.
it's possible to have a successful season without winning the championship. Kansas also had a more successful season than Gonzaga by the only metric that matters. So did Villanova and others.
I'm with ArmyBruin on this one - disappointing to lose the way we did against an "on a magical run" UNC team. That's where my disappointment ends.
I would love for the Bruins to win another Championship in the next 1-8 years - but NO ONE can EXPECT that. See Gonzaga. See Kansas being under 50% in the finals (4 wins, 6 losses). It was only 14 years between Bill Self's first Championship and his second.
Let's do a little simple comparison between 2008 and 2022 for your "only metric that matters":
Kansas: No tournament misses in the intervening years (12 tourneys, 5 first weekend exits).
UCLA: 8 tourneys, 4 first weekend exits).
Sorry, in those twelve years UCLA doesn't compare to Kansas. Kansas it what we should aspire to be. The last 12 years is what we've actually been.
What have we been in those 12 seasons? Extremely inconsistent. Often unwatchable. The 2021 tourney was magic. 2022 not so much.
The Bruins are WELL on their way to returning to realm of Elite PROGRAMS. This is the first year and what seems like forever that the Bruins have been watchable ALL SEASON. Ups and downs to be sure. Heartache and head scratchers? No Doubt. Disappointment? Absolutely.
I recommend patience and enjoyment in watching a program re-emerge from the darkness of Alford and the "end of the Howland years". Enjoy watching them reclaim their place as a "blue blood of basketball"
Go Bruins!
If Kansas is what we should aspire to be, than we REALLY shouldn't give a crap about anything other than championships. Indeed, we do not hang Final 4 banners. Reclaiming are spot of the blue blood of college basketball is all for not if we never reach the promised land. See eg, tenure of Howland, Ben.
I think you missed what I was attempting to say -- even Kansas over the past 15 years (making the tournament every one of those) didn't regularly win championships. Most (maybe all of those) seasons, they were in a position to compete and win the brass ring. And that's damn good. Really good. Like what UCLA should aspire to be good.
To me, if the only mark of a successful season is "NCAA championship" -- then it's (almost) always disappointment. And then what's the point of being a fan? Life's too goddamn short for that.
I'm there for my team. As long as they are on a path to excellence, compete, and have a moral center, I'll take the disappointing games in stride. The championships will come. And if they don't, I'm still having a really good time seeing whatever the team can achieve.
Go Bruins!
I’m often guilty of this… my biggest disappointments of the season overall were:
lack of usage for best defenders in Clark, Johnson and Watson. They didn’t really get as much time as they should have. Very strange that the defensive minded coach didn’t rotate them in more in the big games.
Poor development with bigs and Watson. Sure Riley was injured, but Watson showed almost zero growth. Johnson also didn’t show much improvement throughout the season imo.
I think Watson showed growth, perhaps not as much as you had hoped, but the year end Watson improved enough to where some were complaining he should have played more against UNC. Johnson improved quite a bit on D, but not on offense. Clark showed signs of a solid player but did struggle a bit after he broke out against some of our weaker opponents. All 3 need to improve on the offensive side of the floor.
Agreed about the usage of Clark/Johnson/Watson.
Not sure how much another coaching staff would be able to help develop 23-24 year old bigs that have low ceilings but maybe I'm wrong.
Watson turned out to be an overrated prospect and probably not even a 5 star. He still has potential but his poor shooting and decision making probably will keep him from being drafted this year. Hopefully Cronin and the staff can put him in better positions to succeed if he sticks around and he can build on those flashes he showed this season.
Watson still earned the 5-star designation. People always confuse the recruit ranking system as a signal of which player will do well in college, but it's actually a ranking of pro potential, and Watson still has a ton of that. Even in flashes, it was obvious Watson was the most athletic guy on the team. But it was pretty clear this year that Watson had missed a year of development (he didn't play his senior year of HS ball due to COVID). Watson was raw but there were flashes where you could see exactly why he was so highly rated as a prospect.
if Watson, Jaquez, Juzang all theoretically came back, i don't think it's far fetched to think that Watson would have the best season
I know championships are all that matters, but after a decade+ of mediocrity (outside of one year) and unlikeable coaches, it's just nice to see them in national conversation all year long. Most of the season in the top 10, all in the top 15, no sweating out selection Sunday, beating all of the nonconference teams they're supposed to beat, handily for the most part, and a successful but tough conference season. That's not a lot to ask for, but more than has been provided for a long time. It's nice to be able to look forward to the next season again.
So I evaluate the season based on whether I received entertainment and enjoyment commensurate with the level of my expectations, and whether they were worth the time I spent watching and reading about them, then for me it was a successful season.
Well said
This is kind of managed expectations in reverse. You hold top programs to a higher standard. When a top 5 program loses in the Sweet 16, that is not a successful season, no matter how appealing to compare to past mediocrity.
Everything seemingly were suppose to align for UCLA this year, it’s a disappointing season on many factors. Mediocrity will always make excuses for not winning it all, the goal is to always win it all or what the point of the season ? This was Cronins year, he will never have a team like this again. Cronin got exposed as a stubborn coach who doesn’t use his bench properly, which in part drove some of his players to exhaustion. Due to Watsons development, next years class will be under a microscope to see how they turn out. UCLA is getting the players, the name sells itself, but that perfect coach to take us to that championship that will be a battle. This coming year will be telling, Cronins coaching style needs improvement, plain and simple.
“This was Cronin’s year, he will never have a team like this again.” If that’s the case and he has peaked, Jarmond should have fired him, not extended him.
He can be here the next 10 years,
It’s the ability to win the big games. I’ve seen a lot of red flags with the guys. This was a special team, one that should’ve competed in the championship if coached right. Time will tell, just giving my take.
He coached victories against Villanova, Marquette, Arizona, USC, St Mary's......all Tournament teams in big games. It's not like he can never coach a victory in a big game. I guess you forget he coached victories against several higher seeded teams in last year's tournament. He beat Izzo, FFS.
Army, and people used to think I overreacted. LOL.
There's always someone better, or in this case worse. Only 1 person can be the GOAT!
"This was Cronins year, he will never have a team like this again." Wut???
He had a solid senior class, a special one, you can’t duplicate that. It’s making predictions, nothing far fetched here. He doesn’t use his bench properly, his rotations are horrid. This was his year to win it all. It’s hard to see that window open up again for him.
Lol. You can't duplicate Riley, Bernard, and Singleton. Ok.
More like Juzang, Jacquez, Tyger. Although. With the Covid rules its made it difficult to understand which distinction they all have now. Showing the fore mentioned are jrs, with Tyger being a redshirt. I might’ve spoke to quick. Still hard to see Jazquez and Juzang coming back. If they do Cronin can’t have a repeat of this year.
Funny, didn't realize Juzang, Jaquez, Tyger were seniors.
Criticisms about his rotations and bench usage are valid but the idea that he won't have another window like he did this year is silly if you ask me. Sure he might not always have such a veteran team in the future but he's also likely to have more athletic/talented teams going forward with better front court depth.
I honestly have no words for this type of "fan attitude". Can I press "unlike" on a post?
That’s too bad then, between basketball and football what has UCLA done in the last 20 years ? I guess it’s just a way of defining ourselves within the two sport groups. Here is too another 20 years of what you seem to approve off
I’m old enough to remember why Coach Wooden retired at the age of 64. He could have had several more successful seasons. But, he no longer wanted the pressure of the monster he created. The expectation of a National Title being the measure of success was not something he believed in. The greatest coach in all of sports never defined success as measured by the number of championships won. If you vall tgat being satisfied with mediocrity, so be it. I will go with Coach’s definition of success over yours. Feel free to take a look at the Pyramid of Success.
He could say that, but what defined him beyond the lessons he taught the players were those championships. No casual fan, or majority of UCLA fans will have that type of reflection. Wooden was the best, his record clearly showed that. He was known for his dominance.
Were you around when John Wooden was coaching?
I was not around, but does not limit my knowledge of what he established. As a basketball coach he was perfect, to a point that it spear headed the man with all these great philosophies that go beyond basketball. Of course people would want to listen. If not for his dominance as a coach, and in the manner he won games his impact wouldn’t have been the same. If he never won those championships, do you think people would view him the same ? His winning catapulted him as the greatest coach of all time. We are lucky his influence goes beyond basketball.
LOL. Now we're talking about football too?
Obviously predicated on Jaquez and Juzang both staying as the articles note but UCLA is #1 in CBS "Never Too Early 2022-23 Top 25" https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-ucla-is-no-1-over-no-2-unc-in-never-too-early-preseason-2022-23-top-25-and-1/ and #3 in ESPN's https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/page/earlytop25040422/arkansas-razorbacks-no-1-way-too-early-top-25-college-basketball-rankings-2022-23 so it seems like "he will never have a team like this again" is a stretch... plus, Cronin seems far more self-assured in who he recruits and what he believes and far less likely to lose his way and start chasing the Shabazz Muhammad's and Reeves Nelson's of the world when Howland started "chasing the dragon"...
It seems to me that, at the very least, Cronin has returned us to a place where we are among those with a reasonable and real shot of winning #12 each season - the place we belong and the same place that our fellow true bluebloods (say, those with 10 title game appearances) and other strong Programs - like 'Nova and yes, Gonzaga - have occupied while we've been in the wilderness. But this isn't football where the Alabama's, Georgia's, Ohio State's, and Clemson's play what amounts to a two-game season against each other - annually there are lots of teams that can reasonably win the tourney. I'm just glad we're back to being one of them.
I don’t understand why Jaquez would want to come back. He represented the team so well, left his heart kn the floor. He needs to to head to that next step. That’s also part of the process within the college basketball ranks, what type of pros does your school produce. Juzang, should’ve gone last year after his stock rose up so high. You lose these guys, and you’re back to rebuilding. Cronin does not seem like a coach who can do well in rebuild mode, he prefers his veterans who he plays to the ground.
Juzang's stock wasn't that high after last year. It was perceived to be because of his all world performance in the tournament. But he would have been in the g-league all year, not even on a 2 way deal.
I think some draft boards had him end of first round, 2nd round. He reminds me of Klay Thompson light. A lot of these guys when they leave will have to then edge their way into the league via gleague. I do believe a few of the seniors on this roster will be solid rotation players on the next level.
Those draft boards meant nothing. He heard right from the source. Nobody was going to draft him even in the second round. I think Watson and Clark will have the longest NBA careers of anyone on the roster.
I don't see Juzang having enough quickness to play defense at the next level. Maybe he can be good enough offensively but he's going to have to work on his spot up shooting as well as his ball handling. He can't even really get his own shot off at this level without using his off arm to create space so I really don't see him getting meaningful minutes in the league. I think you meant "juniors" instead of seniors since Bernard/Campbell/Riley/Johnson/Singleton/Nwuba have little to no chance of making an NBA roster.
Jaquez has a shot at being an end of the bench guy if he can develop a reliable three point shot but I think he still lacks the overall size and athleticism to ever get significant minutes.
Watson is obviously still raw but has the highest ceiling out of anyone. I'll wait and see how he works on his game in the offseason but as of now I don't think he'll stay in the league for long if at all.
Clark is close to being a next level defender but he doesn't have a natural offensive game and has a long way to go on his jumper to be a reliable three and D guy. I think his lack of length and fluidity on the court may also keep him from making a roster.
Can't win it all every year.
what do you mean "due to Watson's development." Wtf?
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment whenever a good team loses in the tournament. If Gonzaga fans had to respond as to whether their team had a successful season or not, I'm guessing most of them would lean towards no. I thought the Bruins had a good season overall--it's just unfortunate that they fell apart in the last few minutes against UNC, otherwise they would likely have beaten up on a St. Peter's and a St. Mary's to get back to the Final Four. Cronin seems to have gotten the most out of what were mostly Alford's recruits over the past few seasons, eventually getting them to play tough team defense and restoring pride to the UCLA basketball program. Can't wait to see what he and next season's roster can accomplish. Go Bruins!
How to consider DD's review of the season to gauge whether the season was successful?
I agree with Army, that if success is defined as winning the Tournament, then only one team can be considered successful each year. That cannot stand.
I instead use the Woodenism measure: Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
Did the team under CMC meet that eye test? I think not.
This team was as good as it ever was going to be early on with its victory over Nova, and made no further improvement over the course of the year. This experienced, veteran team played inconsistently, confoundingly disinterestedly at times. CMC utterly and completely failed to develop Watson, as Baskets put it, misused the bench and rotations, was out coached at times, played favorites (Riley), mismanaged Jacquez's ankle condition, and stubbornly would not make adjustments to Howlandesque proportions. It's no wonder Mick is so defensive minded when his offense is "please someone get hot."
Aside from my disappointment with the loss to UNC, my disappointment more rests with my opinion that the team just didn't develop to its potential.
Looking ahead, and with respect to having a better chance to win a FF, CMC must improve on the offensive side of play, and find trust in his bench, or he will risk losing the level of recruits that ordinarily give UCLA the edge.
I can't wait until next season!