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Dimitri Dorlis's avatar

I just want to get into the comments here before you all go crazy and let you know that I love every single one of you. Yes, even you.

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bruinballer's avatar

U!!! C!!! LLLL!!! A!!! UCLA Fight! Fight! Fight!! I am sooo proud to be a Bruin right now, and have these outstanding young men and Coach Cronin to thank for that. Go, Bruins!!

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bruinballer's avatar

And a huge shout out to all those wonderful people from The Mighty Bruin, who have given us a new home to gather together at, hang out during the games, and cheer on our young men!! Thanks, all of you!

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gbruin's avatar

100%. It is so much better sharing this with our Bruin family!

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Dimitri Dorlis's avatar

Lol we didn't do shit. A community is only as good as its members.

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Bruin4ever's avatar

You kind of sound like Coach Cronin--in the postgame interview, he gave all the credit to his players. We all know that without him, this magical run during March Madness wouldn't have been even thinkable. Great job guys!

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Dimitri Dorlis's avatar

Can you tell I am a fan?

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kingjim1954's avatar

You gave us a place to hang and savor our team.

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Joe Piechowski's avatar

Well, I will say this...tomorrow marks the 1st birthday of The Mighty Bruin. I'd like to thank all of you for joining our birthday party tonight!

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bruinballer's avatar

Happy bday, TMB!!!

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gbruin's avatar

I don't even know what to say. This is just so awesome. Thanks to Coach Cronin and his staff and all the TEAM for an amazing ride so far. So much heart. I'm certain Coach is smiling.

Gonzaga looks unbeatable, but we met them in the tournament before...

https://youtu.be/Vt0VUSyVIr4

Don't stop believing...

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Bruin4ever's avatar

Hard to believe it was 15 years ago, but I never get tired of hearing "LAST CHANCE TO DANCE!!!" and "HEART-BREAK-CITY!!!" during that epic comeback by UCLA. Wish it were possible for CBS to borrow Gus Johnson from Fox Sports just to call Saturday's game...

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TxBruinFan's avatar

I remember thinking to myself that entire game, "If they get down by 20, I am turning it off"....needless to say, I did actually watch that whole game!

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Bruin87's avatar

I'm sure Cronin believes. Juzang believes. Jaquez believes. The Bruin faithful believe. I can't wait for the game. Cronin is a great coach and he'll have a solid game plan. Go Bruins!

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Bruin4ever's avatar

Thank goodness no one had to go bananas over how the Bruins defended any last-second, wide-open makes by Michigan... :-) The Wolverines sure blew quite a few shots right near the basket and those two jumpers at the end. The Bruins' ultimate challenge is next--to make the overall tournament 1-seed Gonzaga go home crying again. Hope UCLA remains competitive and doesn't fumble and flop in a total blowout loss like U$C . Good luck Bruins!!!

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mgibby's avatar

Is there any doubt now that Cronin is the right coach for this program?

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ArmyBruin's avatar

I don’t know. Can I think about it a bit more?

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Hugo L. Ramirez Palma's avatar

I like how he has made in game adjustments to counter whatever the opposing team was throwing UCLA’s way. Today, when he called that time out at around the 9 minute mark in the second half, with Michigan scoring at will in the paint, really helped the team find proper solutions to Michigan’s big men.

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ArmyBruin's avatar

I was kidding. I’ve been on the Cronin bandwagon from day 1. I wasn’t excited about Calipari, Dixon or Barnes. I wanted Cronin because I liked how his teams competed and beat up on Alford’s soft and poorly coached players.

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kingjim1954's avatar

I like us getting back to defensive grit.

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Bruin4ever's avatar

I can just imagine Coach Calipari cringing every time an announcer, reporter, or writer uses the words "Kentucky transfer, Johnny Juzang". Great clutch shooting night, so glad he's a Bruin!

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Joe Piechowski's avatar

To his credit, Calipari did congratulate Juzang.

https://twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari/status/1377247145837879300

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Bruin4ever's avatar

Yep, saw that earlier this morning. Classy gesture from a coach to his former team member to publicly show his support. You see the after-tweets from some of the Kentucky fans? Geez...

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winkelman's avatar

What a run UCLA has had in this tournament. I woke up this morning thinking for a moment thinking this was all just some sort of dream. Then reality kicked in and I smiled.

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kingjim1954's avatar

I still have the box score up just to make sure.

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TxBruinFan's avatar

I am still waiting to watch the game (thank God someone invented recording live tv)...so I won't comment on any specifics...a thought that has been made by many, but is still true is this is the difference between being coached, and being coached up. It was really easy to despair the last couple weeks while the Team was losing leads, and games...but, Coach Cronin has definitely been able to impart his process, and the Team has bought in 100%.

And for any recruits out there that are on the bubble, or were not even looking at UCLA...you need to stop and take look!

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Bruin Bro's avatar

Do you think Dasien Nix is kicking himself right now?

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xXaerox's avatar

Unfortunately, his G-league performance hasn't been great. He's not even projected to be 1st round at this point.

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Bruin Bro's avatar

I'm guessing that he is kicking himself even more then...he could have had a year to develop under Cronin and "would be" going to the Final Four.

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TxBruinFan's avatar

In addition to the signing money he got, remember...at the time there was talk about not playing at all in 20/21. It's hard to fault him for that decision. Bigger concern is Jaylen Hill and what happened with him....hope he is ok.

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misterioso's avatar

I doubt it. If I remember correctly, he made $300,000 to sign with the G-League Elite. That's life changing money for many people.

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kingjim1954's avatar

Thriller of a game, and, yes, our Bruins reached deep inside themselves to grind out this win. BTW, Mich shot 6 of 11 for free throws, we were 6 of 7. On to Saturday!

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Bruin Bro's avatar

I hate the way the announcers were already expecting us to lose. They way they commented things like "Michigan needs to get going" and other nonsense. Talk about remaining objective.

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Stephen Jacobs's avatar

The narrative continues as all the media is talking about is a Baylor v. Gonzaga showdown. Bulletin board material for our guys!

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Bruin4ever's avatar

Yep, lots of wishful talk going around on how great a Gonzaga vs. Baylor matchup would be. There's also the ongoing pressure for Gonzaga to remain unbeaten all the way through to the championship. The relative ease of Gonzaga's dismantling of U$C and the fact that UCLA wasn't even supposed to be in the Final Four and again not expected to advance any further also works in the Bruins' favor, I think. They really have nothing to be ashamed of if they lose, while all of the pressure is on Gonzaga to advance and win it all.

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Bruin Bro's avatar

agreed, they are the "cinderella" story this year and have nothing to lose.

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winkelman's avatar

Watching how Juzang has performed in the tournament. Playing better than most of the guys who are projected lottery picks. Makes me wonder if he is going stay at UCLA next season or go pro? Clearly he has the skills that would translate well for the NBA.

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mgibby's avatar

I hope he stays.

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winkelman's avatar

I agree I hope he stays. But even before last nights game even Barkley was raving about him. He is on the radar now nationally. He left Kentucky after one year for a better situation. And it turned out to be a great decision of course. But the team does seem like a really close group. Perhaps for that he might opt to stay another year.

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Bruin4ever's avatar

If Juzang leaves, we need more Kentucky transfers just like him. ;-)

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winkelman's avatar

After the year Kentucky had and how well UCLA is still playing that may happen.

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Bruin4ever's avatar

Coach Calipari helping out with recruiting at UCLA? LaFamilia! LOL

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Chenalex's avatar

UCLA has never really had that kind of luck where players stay. Maybe Mick can change that culture but who knows? If I was Juzang, I would definitely declare but not hire an agent and see what nba scouts think

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winkelman's avatar

Alford had that problem. Howland did when he went for the one and dones. Everyone came back from last season. Chris Smith could have gone pro. And I guess he could come back next year if he wants to. Juzang has gotten banged up a lot. Started the season injured. I don't know if that will factor what he does. UCLA has a 5 and 4 start recruit coming next year at a 2022 5 star recruit who is going to reclassify to 2021. No matter what Juzang does there is a lot of talent on the way. And you have to figure this run will help for 2022.

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Bruinbaskets's avatar

Nobody expected this... especially not me. I’ve been eating crow for my celebratory meal for a few weeks now. This team has outperformed when it matters most and it’s been a joy to watch... go bruins!

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Chenalex's avatar

David Woods of BRO just posted some interesting stats on Twitter: up to this point of the season and postseason, UCLA has played the 17th toughest schedule in the country according to Kenpom, which is tougher than the schedules of any of the other final four teams. UCLA holds the best win (Michigan) of the remaining teams and doesn’t hold the worst loss (Houston has losses (yes, plural) worse than UCLA’s worst loss at Wash. St)

Given all that, it’s pretty impressive what the short handed Bruins have accomplished this season and definitely puts their season into a different perspective.

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VICTOR MORENO's avatar

I'm looking for a single ticket to Saturday's game...Any hookups???? I live in Wisconsin and Indy is only a 4-hour drive...Go Bruins: dr.vicmoreno@gmail.com

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Victor Moreno's avatar

I'm looking for 1 ticket for Saturday's game...Driving from WI to Indy...Any hookups?? dr.vicmoreno@gmail.com

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