Ireland does not break news and he always says he's just a fan like everyone else. He doesn't know anything more than we do. He has no access to undisclosed news sources except within the Lakers and he would never compromise his Laker job by breaking his NDA.
This is an intriguing moment for UCLA basketball. What Chenalex said indeed make sense. One way or the other, there must be some reason why they are delaying an announcement on Jaylen's status as of we have found out from the athletic department.. But you're right, Dimitri. We will fight on, with or without Jaylen and see if we can still go a long way, if not all the way to the FINAL FOUR. It remains the mantra, if not our battle cry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that Jaylen recovers in time to rejoin the team as they progress through the tournament.
I've read nothing that confirms the injury was to his Achilles tendon. It could very well be something else. Instead, he's listed as day-to-day, which IMO is a good sign. If it was a complete tear of the Achilles, my guess is that Jaylen would have had surgery by now.
Kobe tore his Achilles tendon on April 12, 2013. He had surgery on April 14, 2013.
Players who blow out their Achilles tendon usually end up on the floor and they don't get up. They're not able to walk because a torn Achilles results in a foot that is completely unstable. The foot simply flops around with no ability to rotate in any direction. When Kobe severed his Archilles, he ice-skated his left foot to the free throw line and to the locker room; his left foot would simply dangle towards the ground if he tried to lift it.
There is not a lot of tissue and nerves around Achilles tendon. Guys who don't pop their Achilles don't feel pain, what they instead hear or feel is a pop and a sudden loss of instability. And they almost always go to the ground in confusion, wondering what the heck just happened?
Jaylen landed funny, but he hopped his way straight to the bench in pain, which actually might be a good thing. I'm no doctor, but his injury didn't look like a ruptured Achilles. Perhaps it was a STRAIN of the Achilles or something else. Strains can be treated and players can make it back to the floor relatively quickly.
Usually an Achilles tear occurs when an athlete is pushing off on one foot, trying to get max thrust and acceleration off that plant foot. i.e. Kobe and KD's injuries, when the Achilles tendon is completely stretched. But with Jaylen's injury, it's hard to tell what happened. He went in for an easy two handed flush, and I'd be hard pressed to call it a dunk since he was unguarded on a breakaway. He simply laid it over the rim. It didn't seem like enough effort on takeoff to cause an injury. And when he landed, he actually took 2 steps downcourt before he veered off to the bench.
Jaylen immediately hopped his way to the bench after that awkward landing, but he did use that injured foot a few gingerly placed steps towards the bench, and then he was leaning on the trainer or coach in apparent pain. Like I said, complete Achilles ruptures are typically not painful.
Did the injury occur during the takeoff or the landing? I can't really tell. Perhaps there's a news article out there that has a better breakdown of how the injury occurred, but perhaps I'm just trying to make myself feel better by conjuring a notion that this is an injury that Jaylen can recover from and make it back to the team during its tournament run.
Good for you. " I'm no doctor, but his injury didn't look like a ruptured Achilles " Your comments made the most sense, whether you are or your are not a doctor. I hope people read your comments carefully. You analyzed precisely from the video. You did. As to people saying they have the video, blah blah blah ... this is purely prejudging.
Where I can't see an achilles rupture is the fact that Jaylen landed, then took 2 steps with both feet going downcourt, then makes a right turn to the bench semi-hopping, but his right foot does make contact with the ground, albeit gingerly. Achilles ruptures usually stop players dead in their tracks because they have zero mobility in the injured foot.
Hey buddy, you seem to know so much regarding this sort of of mishaps. You speak with insights and experience too. Two thumbs up for you. As you know, I was at the game but so many things went on at the same time that you folks watching TV at home have the advantage of replay and commentaries that we didn't have. What you said altogether matched with our ( not just me alone ) instant, on the spot impression that they held him up out of an abundance of caution, and what others said, exiting the game, that it looked more serious than what it really was.
Agree. I don’t think they boot him up and let him return to the bench if its that serious. He’d be at the medical center. At any rate, I’m not believing in any rumors until someone with real credibility chimes in. Has Joe Lunardi reported anything?
Is Lunardi a news breaker? Seems to me all he does is bracketology and typically all he's good for is the initial seedings.
The guy I would follow is Ben Bolch of the Times. He's probably the only guy who would get in his car, drive to Westwood, and camp out in front of Cronin's office until he got a story.
It goes without saying. We win one from here on, we will have to win them all. I am betting on everything we will. #11 had been hung sometime ago. I am hungry and impatient. I want #12 !!!!!!
With a completer Achilles Tear the staff would never had allowed him to walk with a boot and crutches to the bench. Injury is most like season ending for Clark. Coach Cronin needs to protect the Bruins seeding by announcing “ day to day.”
Agree not a tear ,but a strain of the lower leg and foot. Anthony Davis had the Achilles Strain and was out for over a month February 2021. I looked at the video as he exited to the locker room, and he was leaning forward ,and walking gingerly with the assistance of the 2 trainers. Strains take 6 weeks or longer for athletes to heal. The PAC-12 Tournament will be an excellent time to work on which players give UCLA the best defensive and offensive rotations. Curious if Csonka a 6’6”” guard can accelerate his play. I know he can score.
Even with Jaylen Clark being out for most of the 2nd half of the AZ game, the Bruins still performed well without him. Indeed, toughness and resilience have been essential keys to success under Cronin's leadership. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the team stays healthy through all of March Madness. Go Bruins!
It should be a nice drive from Sacramento to the T-Mobile stadium on the strip where the tournament is being played. If you leave now, you might make it. :P
I shared your words with missus. She too laughed and said this guy - you - are funny. So here is what I will do. Wednesday evening after we we check into our Sacramento hotel, I will get onto this MB website with a loud screaming headline - MISTERIOSO, WE ARE HERE !!!!
LOL !!! Oh boy oh boy, you're right. Why did I keep saying Sacramento ?!? Two friends of ours will be coming down from Sacramento to join us in LA going to Vegas and then we will take them back all the way up there and stay over the weekend there ! Jeez, the planning must have overwhelmed me. I am concerned about the weather there too. Anyway, yeah after we check into the hotel at VEGAS, I will still write to my friend Misterioso as I originally planned.
I’m trying to be positive and hold out hope that it’s not as bad as the speculation, but realistically I know the odds are he’s done for the season. It’s a shame as Jaylen has been so improved this year and you can see how hard he works. As we don’t know if he’s out for a week, or out for a year, it’s hard to know how this affects his staying or leaving for the pros, but I will say that if he doesn’t suit up again for the Bruins, it is fitting that his last play was a steal and dunk. I think that this year’s team has developed into a great group of players that all have a clear role. It’s hard to see who can be the defensive trigger that Clark is, but at least we’ve got some good depth to lean on. It seems like UCLA gets no love from the ‘experts’ when it comes to seeding, and it feels like the injury will just be an excuse to give the Bruins a lower seed. I’ve got confidence in our character though, and even if he can’t play, I expect Jaylen will be right there supporting this team on a deep run.
Lol, I love your humor, my friend. This is in addition to your insightful analysis of what may or may not be the medical situation with Jaylen. You are an experienced observer. We are leaving Wednesday afternoon for Sacramento. But if weather up there seems iffy, we may leave sooner to make it there by nightfall. I love the team chemistry and individual personality of the players. They deserve our unrelenting support
Thank you for an excellent update and analysis. Basketball has become much more competitive since the Wooden days (when I was at UCLA). This UCLA team with Jaylen Clark, in my opinion, was clearly the best in the country. Without him, hopefully the Bruins can still win -- but now it will be a lot more difficult. Go Bruins! To Jaylen -- best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery. Meanwhile, I'll be watching for you to be leading cheering from the bench.
I agree. I was a freshman when Walton was a senior. So we are roughly in the same generation of UCLA basketball. We need to adapt Win One for The Gipper to Win One for Jaylen. We didn't get this far ( perfect home game record / longest win streak ) without him.
Let's be honest. Bruins are done. A potentially historic season just blew up. Look how the team struggled w/o Bailey. Clark is far more important. Bruins will survive the first weekend, but anything beyond a Sweet 16 is wishful thinking.
We are still a lot better team than 2 years ago that went to the final 4. It is 10x harder without Clark but NCAA tournament can get crazy, we’ll still have a shot.
Rest assured, we will fight all the way. Remember Freddie Mercury & The Queens ? Their uncompromising swagger, their triumphantly shrill chants of " We will we will rock you ...... " ? I wanna play it during our drive to Vegas. But you-know -who will say turn it down, turn it down, LOL !!!!!!!!! March Madness is March madness, honey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bailey was pretty important too. We did not lose a single game after November with Bailey in the starting lineup. And we went 6-1 in games without Bailey - not really the definition of struggling.
Cronin is Pac 12 Coach of The Year ! Jaime is Pac 12 Player of The Year ! Jaylen Clark is Pac 12 Defensive Player of The Year !
Bravo ! Bravo ! Now let's take it one game at a time. The hell with naysayer's talk about our doomed prospects because of Jaylen's injury. We are U. C. L. A. From what I learned, many bruin fans are also making their travel plans to Vegas ( no, not Sacramento, LOL ). My colleague's kids are taking that day off from work, will leave 6 am from Thousand Oaks, where they live, to get to Vegas for brunch with their grandparents and then the noon time game before returning the same day. I wish I had the energy that they have but in my day, I did it almost the same way for coach Wooden's 10th coronation in San Diego too. I still managed to turn in my term project the very next morning before the 9 am deadline. Not too shabby you say ????
Cronin’s only announcement today is that Clark is out for the PAC-12 tournament. No update on type of injury and he says “the ncaa can call me” if they want more info. Definitely a bit of gamesmanship going on.
Anyways, congrats to Jaime, Jaylen, Adem (a bit of a surprise), and coach Cronin for their individual awards and Tyger and Amari making the all-conference teams!!!
See, some of you read the situation so shrewdly. I don't blame Cronin for withholding any news about the injury. NCAA is watching and other teams too. Keep them guessing, dude. Honesty is indeed not the best policy in this case.
Seems Cronin is still pissed off at the NCAA tournament selection committee's initial seeding projection for UCLA (ranked them 8th overall and gave them a 2-seed in the East Region) and apparent disdain for the Bruins joining the Big-10. Even if the Bruins don't win the Pac-12 tournament, I think they still should be at least a solid 2-seed in the West Region. And yes, congratulations to those who were singled out for this season's conference awards and representing the best of the Pac-12. Go Bruins!
It will be interesting to see who Cronin puts in the starting lineup in place of Clark.
Personally, I'd like to see McClendon start over Singleton to have a scoring threat coming off the bench. We've seen the starting 5 come out flat in a few games this season, and it's often when Jaime and Tyger start off slowly or one of them gets into early foul trouble. With the starting 5, there should be enough offense with Jaime and Tyger providing most of the punch and with Bona and Bailey capable of adding to the offense. McClendon's key value would be playing defense which is his strong suit.
IMO, Andrews will play a critical role moving forward with the absence of Clark. I would like to see Singleton pairing up with Andrews to give Dylan a weapon on the floor that he can use when playmaking. Cronin has to find a way to weaponize his bench. Singleton, working alongside Andrews, helps to accomplish this.
It's often said that this is a deep Bruins team. I have never thought this was accurate. Last season's team had Clark, Singleton, Riley, Watson, Kyman, and Nwuba. This year's team, with a healthy Bailey and Clark starting, had a bench consisting of Singleton, Andrews, a late addition in McClendon, Nwuba, and glimpses of Canka. I think this season's bench isn't as strong as last season's, at least from an experience standpoint, and the loss of Clark makes it worse. Of course, if Clark comes back during the tournament run, that certainly helps the bench depth.
If it were me coaching the team, I would try to find minutes for Canka in the games where UCLA jumps out to a big lead against lesser opponents. Considering he's one of the bigger wings on the team and possibly one of the best shooters, the fact that he is still an unknown quantity so late in the season was disappointing to me. Yes, I would play him with the hopes that he's got a couple of Jake Kyman vs Arizona performances in him.
If Cronin can get Andrews, McClendon, Etienne, and Canka to level up within the next 2-3 weeks, that would be a huge shot in the arm as we await Clark's return (fingers crossed). But I just don't know if Cronin will give these guys long minutes, especially when he's had a less than stellar track record of trusting freshmen. I'm sure starting Bona and Bailey took Cronin way out of his comfort zone, but he did start them, so perhaps he might be more willing to take this type of risk. Who knows...
I said throughout the season bench depth would be an issue and here we are.
As usual, you comment insightfully. You understand well coaching strategy. Cronin is holding his cards close to his chest. I can see how he and his coaching staff are busy preparing his players and Rod Palmer, from what I heard, is a good planner.
Jeff Goodman, a basketball reporter with Arizona ties, is reporting that Clark is out for the season with an achilles injury. Doesn’t say the severity or what his sourcing is. I don’t know if he’s just speculating because Mick has been keeping the injury close to the vest and if someone wanted to leak that info, they wouldn’t release it to a reporter from Stadium (which I didn’t even know was an outlet) as opposed to someone from espn, Fox or cbs.
Goodman is a longtime reporter with legitimate connections, so I would not dismiss his reporting out of hand (also Stadium went in on hiring well-known reporters - longtime college football scoops guy Brett McMurphy works for them as well, as does NBA reporters Shams Charania).
Like I said though, UCLA isn't going to release anything official until next Monday.
I have a problem with his tweet not citing his source; it's not enough to say a source told him. Sadly, it's this kind of ignorant tweet that could seriously mess with our seeding come the Dance. It is actually somewhat suspicious that he doesn't cite the source, but says enough to screw with us. Hope that UCLA comes after him for spurious reporting.
That’s…literally how every reporter would approach this? Like, if the sources want to remain anonymous then no reporter is going to burn them, and Goodman is a good reporter who likely got enough verification from people that he felt comfortable with reporting it. Other outlets have similarly reported on Clark, so it’s not like he’s alone on this (like, BRO was reporting the program believed it was a ruptured Achilles Saturday night). UCLA isn’t going to go after a reporter because some people in the AD gave him information, that’s just good reporting.
John Ireland just reported a ruptured Achilles on ESPN Radio. Nobody else is reporting anything though.
Ireland does not break news and he always says he's just a fan like everyone else. He doesn't know anything more than we do. He has no access to undisclosed news sources except within the Lakers and he would never compromise his Laker job by breaking his NDA.
You said it well !
Ireland is often wrong, so let’s hope. But there’s this:
https://twitter.com/SGVNSports/status/1632873660842409984?s=20
Makes sense, questioning Ireland's reporting on a tweet. Interesting that nowhere is there confirmation on Ireland's lil tidbit.
Win One for Jaylen !
This is an intriguing moment for UCLA basketball. What Chenalex said indeed make sense. One way or the other, there must be some reason why they are delaying an announcement on Jaylen's status as of we have found out from the athletic department.. But you're right, Dimitri. We will fight on, with or without Jaylen and see if we can still go a long way, if not all the way to the FINAL FOUR. It remains the mantra, if not our battle cry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that Jaylen recovers in time to rejoin the team as they progress through the tournament.
I've read nothing that confirms the injury was to his Achilles tendon. It could very well be something else. Instead, he's listed as day-to-day, which IMO is a good sign. If it was a complete tear of the Achilles, my guess is that Jaylen would have had surgery by now.
Kobe tore his Achilles tendon on April 12, 2013. He had surgery on April 14, 2013.
Players who blow out their Achilles tendon usually end up on the floor and they don't get up. They're not able to walk because a torn Achilles results in a foot that is completely unstable. The foot simply flops around with no ability to rotate in any direction. When Kobe severed his Archilles, he ice-skated his left foot to the free throw line and to the locker room; his left foot would simply dangle towards the ground if he tried to lift it.
There is not a lot of tissue and nerves around Achilles tendon. Guys who don't pop their Achilles don't feel pain, what they instead hear or feel is a pop and a sudden loss of instability. And they almost always go to the ground in confusion, wondering what the heck just happened?
Jaylen landed funny, but he hopped his way straight to the bench in pain, which actually might be a good thing. I'm no doctor, but his injury didn't look like a ruptured Achilles. Perhaps it was a STRAIN of the Achilles or something else. Strains can be treated and players can make it back to the floor relatively quickly.
Usually an Achilles tear occurs when an athlete is pushing off on one foot, trying to get max thrust and acceleration off that plant foot. i.e. Kobe and KD's injuries, when the Achilles tendon is completely stretched. But with Jaylen's injury, it's hard to tell what happened. He went in for an easy two handed flush, and I'd be hard pressed to call it a dunk since he was unguarded on a breakaway. He simply laid it over the rim. It didn't seem like enough effort on takeoff to cause an injury. And when he landed, he actually took 2 steps downcourt before he veered off to the bench.
Jaylen immediately hopped his way to the bench after that awkward landing, but he did use that injured foot a few gingerly placed steps towards the bench, and then he was leaning on the trainer or coach in apparent pain. Like I said, complete Achilles ruptures are typically not painful.
Did the injury occur during the takeoff or the landing? I can't really tell. Perhaps there's a news article out there that has a better breakdown of how the injury occurred, but perhaps I'm just trying to make myself feel better by conjuring a notion that this is an injury that Jaylen can recover from and make it back to the team during its tournament run.
Good for you. " I'm no doctor, but his injury didn't look like a ruptured Achilles " Your comments made the most sense, whether you are or your are not a doctor. I hope people read your comments carefully. You analyzed precisely from the video. You did. As to people saying they have the video, blah blah blah ... this is purely prejudging.
Where I can't see an achilles rupture is the fact that Jaylen landed, then took 2 steps with both feet going downcourt, then makes a right turn to the bench semi-hopping, but his right foot does make contact with the ground, albeit gingerly. Achilles ruptures usually stop players dead in their tracks because they have zero mobility in the injured foot.
Hey buddy, you seem to know so much regarding this sort of of mishaps. You speak with insights and experience too. Two thumbs up for you. As you know, I was at the game but so many things went on at the same time that you folks watching TV at home have the advantage of replay and commentaries that we didn't have. What you said altogether matched with our ( not just me alone ) instant, on the spot impression that they held him up out of an abundance of caution, and what others said, exiting the game, that it looked more serious than what it really was.
Hi my friend, we are leaving shortly for Vegas. Just received the tickets last night. WE will talk some more after the game.
Agree. I don’t think they boot him up and let him return to the bench if its that serious. He’d be at the medical center. At any rate, I’m not believing in any rumors until someone with real credibility chimes in. Has Joe Lunardi reported anything?
Is Lunardi a news breaker? Seems to me all he does is bracketology and typically all he's good for is the initial seedings.
The guy I would follow is Ben Bolch of the Times. He's probably the only guy who would get in his car, drive to Westwood, and camp out in front of Cronin's office until he got a story.
I was being comical.
I once duplicated Lunardi's bracket predictions in Yahoo's Tournament Pick'em for giggles and ended up in last place. So yeah, I know what you mean.
LOL
Win One for Jaylen !
Win One for Jaylen !
LOLOL
Win One for Jaylen !
Win 'em all for Jaylen!
It goes without saying. We win one from here on, we will have to win them all. I am betting on everything we will. #11 had been hung sometime ago. I am hungry and impatient. I want #12 !!!!!!
With a completer Achilles Tear the staff would never had allowed him to walk with a boot and crutches to the bench. Injury is most like season ending for Clark. Coach Cronin needs to protect the Bruins seeding by announcing “ day to day.”
Agree not a tear ,but a strain of the lower leg and foot. Anthony Davis had the Achilles Strain and was out for over a month February 2021. I looked at the video as he exited to the locker room, and he was leaning forward ,and walking gingerly with the assistance of the 2 trainers. Strains take 6 weeks or longer for athletes to heal. The PAC-12 Tournament will be an excellent time to work on which players give UCLA the best defensive and offensive rotations. Curious if Csonka a 6’6”” guard can accelerate his play. I know he can score.
Even with Jaylen Clark being out for most of the 2nd half of the AZ game, the Bruins still performed well without him. Indeed, toughness and resilience have been essential keys to success under Cronin's leadership. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the team stays healthy through all of March Madness. Go Bruins!
Yeap ! I second that ! Let's fight on, baby ! We are making preparation to go to Sacramento for Thursday's game
It should be a nice drive from Sacramento to the T-Mobile stadium on the strip where the tournament is being played. If you leave now, you might make it. :P
I shared your words with missus. She too laughed and said this guy - you - are funny. So here is what I will do. Wednesday evening after we we check into our Sacramento hotel, I will get onto this MB website with a loud screaming headline - MISTERIOSO, WE ARE HERE !!!!
I'm confused what your saying, as the pac-12 tournament is being played in Las Vegas, as misterioso says
LOL !!! Oh boy oh boy, you're right. Why did I keep saying Sacramento ?!? Two friends of ours will be coming down from Sacramento to join us in LA going to Vegas and then we will take them back all the way up there and stay over the weekend there ! Jeez, the planning must have overwhelmed me. I am concerned about the weather there too. Anyway, yeah after we check into the hotel at VEGAS, I will still write to my friend Misterioso as I originally planned.
Win One for Jaylen !
Better yet, Henry: WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR JAYLEN!!! GO BRUINS!!!
YES !!!!!!!!!!! Win One ( national championship ) for Jaylen !!!!!!!!!!
I’m trying to be positive and hold out hope that it’s not as bad as the speculation, but realistically I know the odds are he’s done for the season. It’s a shame as Jaylen has been so improved this year and you can see how hard he works. As we don’t know if he’s out for a week, or out for a year, it’s hard to know how this affects his staying or leaving for the pros, but I will say that if he doesn’t suit up again for the Bruins, it is fitting that his last play was a steal and dunk. I think that this year’s team has developed into a great group of players that all have a clear role. It’s hard to see who can be the defensive trigger that Clark is, but at least we’ve got some good depth to lean on. It seems like UCLA gets no love from the ‘experts’ when it comes to seeding, and it feels like the injury will just be an excuse to give the Bruins a lower seed. I’ve got confidence in our character though, and even if he can’t play, I expect Jaylen will be right there supporting this team on a deep run.
Win One for Jaylen !
Lol, I love your humor, my friend. This is in addition to your insightful analysis of what may or may not be the medical situation with Jaylen. You are an experienced observer. We are leaving Wednesday afternoon for Sacramento. But if weather up there seems iffy, we may leave sooner to make it there by nightfall. I love the team chemistry and individual personality of the players. They deserve our unrelenting support
Prayers for Jaylen!
Win One for Jaylen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for an excellent update and analysis. Basketball has become much more competitive since the Wooden days (when I was at UCLA). This UCLA team with Jaylen Clark, in my opinion, was clearly the best in the country. Without him, hopefully the Bruins can still win -- but now it will be a lot more difficult. Go Bruins! To Jaylen -- best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery. Meanwhile, I'll be watching for you to be leading cheering from the bench.
I agree. I was a freshman when Walton was a senior. So we are roughly in the same generation of UCLA basketball. We need to adapt Win One for The Gipper to Win One for Jaylen. We didn't get this far ( perfect home game record / longest win streak ) without him.
Let's be honest. Bruins are done. A potentially historic season just blew up. Look how the team struggled w/o Bailey. Clark is far more important. Bruins will survive the first weekend, but anything beyond a Sweet 16 is wishful thinking.
It ain't over until the fat lady sings ! Don't jump to the conclusion so fast.
We are still a lot better team than 2 years ago that went to the final 4. It is 10x harder without Clark but NCAA tournament can get crazy, we’ll still have a shot.
Rest assured, we will fight all the way. Remember Freddie Mercury & The Queens ? Their uncompromising swagger, their triumphantly shrill chants of " We will we will rock you ...... " ? I wanna play it during our drive to Vegas. But you-know -who will say turn it down, turn it down, LOL !!!!!!!!! March Madness is March madness, honey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bailey was pretty important too. We did not lose a single game after November with Bailey in the starting lineup. And we went 6-1 in games without Bailey - not really the definition of struggling.
That guy is something, so sneakily quick.
Cronin is Pac 12 Coach of The Year ! Jaime is Pac 12 Player of The Year ! Jaylen Clark is Pac 12 Defensive Player of The Year !
Bravo ! Bravo ! Now let's take it one game at a time. The hell with naysayer's talk about our doomed prospects because of Jaylen's injury. We are U. C. L. A. From what I learned, many bruin fans are also making their travel plans to Vegas ( no, not Sacramento, LOL ). My colleague's kids are taking that day off from work, will leave 6 am from Thousand Oaks, where they live, to get to Vegas for brunch with their grandparents and then the noon time game before returning the same day. I wish I had the energy that they have but in my day, I did it almost the same way for coach Wooden's 10th coronation in San Diego too. I still managed to turn in my term project the very next morning before the 9 am deadline. Not too shabby you say ????
Cronin’s only announcement today is that Clark is out for the PAC-12 tournament. No update on type of injury and he says “the ncaa can call me” if they want more info. Definitely a bit of gamesmanship going on.
Anyways, congrats to Jaime, Jaylen, Adem (a bit of a surprise), and coach Cronin for their individual awards and Tyger and Amari making the all-conference teams!!!
See, some of you read the situation so shrewdly. I don't blame Cronin for withholding any news about the injury. NCAA is watching and other teams too. Keep them guessing, dude. Honesty is indeed not the best policy in this case.
Seems Cronin is still pissed off at the NCAA tournament selection committee's initial seeding projection for UCLA (ranked them 8th overall and gave them a 2-seed in the East Region) and apparent disdain for the Bruins joining the Big-10. Even if the Bruins don't win the Pac-12 tournament, I think they still should be at least a solid 2-seed in the West Region. And yes, congratulations to those who were singled out for this season's conference awards and representing the best of the Pac-12. Go Bruins!
It will be interesting to see who Cronin puts in the starting lineup in place of Clark.
Personally, I'd like to see McClendon start over Singleton to have a scoring threat coming off the bench. We've seen the starting 5 come out flat in a few games this season, and it's often when Jaime and Tyger start off slowly or one of them gets into early foul trouble. With the starting 5, there should be enough offense with Jaime and Tyger providing most of the punch and with Bona and Bailey capable of adding to the offense. McClendon's key value would be playing defense which is his strong suit.
IMO, Andrews will play a critical role moving forward with the absence of Clark. I would like to see Singleton pairing up with Andrews to give Dylan a weapon on the floor that he can use when playmaking. Cronin has to find a way to weaponize his bench. Singleton, working alongside Andrews, helps to accomplish this.
It's often said that this is a deep Bruins team. I have never thought this was accurate. Last season's team had Clark, Singleton, Riley, Watson, Kyman, and Nwuba. This year's team, with a healthy Bailey and Clark starting, had a bench consisting of Singleton, Andrews, a late addition in McClendon, Nwuba, and glimpses of Canka. I think this season's bench isn't as strong as last season's, at least from an experience standpoint, and the loss of Clark makes it worse. Of course, if Clark comes back during the tournament run, that certainly helps the bench depth.
If it were me coaching the team, I would try to find minutes for Canka in the games where UCLA jumps out to a big lead against lesser opponents. Considering he's one of the bigger wings on the team and possibly one of the best shooters, the fact that he is still an unknown quantity so late in the season was disappointing to me. Yes, I would play him with the hopes that he's got a couple of Jake Kyman vs Arizona performances in him.
If Cronin can get Andrews, McClendon, Etienne, and Canka to level up within the next 2-3 weeks, that would be a huge shot in the arm as we await Clark's return (fingers crossed). But I just don't know if Cronin will give these guys long minutes, especially when he's had a less than stellar track record of trusting freshmen. I'm sure starting Bona and Bailey took Cronin way out of his comfort zone, but he did start them, so perhaps he might be more willing to take this type of risk. Who knows...
I said throughout the season bench depth would be an issue and here we are.
As usual, you comment insightfully. You understand well coaching strategy. Cronin is holding his cards close to his chest. I can see how he and his coaching staff are busy preparing his players and Rod Palmer, from what I heard, is a good planner.
I trust the Pac12 coach of the year to handle the situation in the best manner.
Jeff Goodman, a basketball reporter with Arizona ties, is reporting that Clark is out for the season with an achilles injury. Doesn’t say the severity or what his sourcing is. I don’t know if he’s just speculating because Mick has been keeping the injury close to the vest and if someone wanted to leak that info, they wouldn’t release it to a reporter from Stadium (which I didn’t even know was an outlet) as opposed to someone from espn, Fox or cbs.
Goodman is a longtime reporter with legitimate connections, so I would not dismiss his reporting out of hand (also Stadium went in on hiring well-known reporters - longtime college football scoops guy Brett McMurphy works for them as well, as does NBA reporters Shams Charania).
Like I said though, UCLA isn't going to release anything official until next Monday.
I have a problem with his tweet not citing his source; it's not enough to say a source told him. Sadly, it's this kind of ignorant tweet that could seriously mess with our seeding come the Dance. It is actually somewhat suspicious that he doesn't cite the source, but says enough to screw with us. Hope that UCLA comes after him for spurious reporting.
That’s…literally how every reporter would approach this? Like, if the sources want to remain anonymous then no reporter is going to burn them, and Goodman is a good reporter who likely got enough verification from people that he felt comfortable with reporting it. Other outlets have similarly reported on Clark, so it’s not like he’s alone on this (like, BRO was reporting the program believed it was a ruptured Achilles Saturday night). UCLA isn’t going to go after a reporter because some people in the AD gave him information, that’s just good reporting.
The team should dedicate the tournament, both of them to their fallen warrior Jrock
I Agree with the post that said if it were a complete tear he would have had surgery immediately
standard protocol for anyone would be surgery within 3 weeks