Missing a 5 with talent. Missing defense. Missing execution. Missing ball movement and a game plan that works. Missing chemistry. Missing the right coach. Missing a coat thrown off by said 'coach.' Missing an AD who has a shred of courage or integrity. Yep, something is definitely missing.
I think a critical team characteristic that hasn't been fully and consistently exhibited so far is mental toughness. It may take a while for them to develop it (if at all), but could help explain why they often start out flat, allow a lot of easy baskets on defense, or tend to fall apart at the end of games.
Hopefully, ucla has figured out how to defend in the B10. Their defense looked quite good in the second half, and Iowa’s best players sat for long stretches of the second half due to foul trouble, but they were active and hustled. If they can improve their rebounding that would really take their defense to another level. Even the best defensive teams in the world will wilt if they keep giving up offensive rebounds.
There also needs to be a conversation about the quality of the refereeing in college basketball. It’s just flat out garbage. Dent got mugged several times, and ucla got a lot of late calls when it looked like they got a stop but was called for a foul. They completely inserted themselves and stifled the Bruins run.
But it’s not jsut this game or the B10. Yesterday, Cal beat Notre Dame on a very controversial 4 point play where Cal made a 3 and was awarded a FT despite the ND player not touching the shooter. The refs called the foul, reversed the foul, and then reversed the reversal. At this point the refs are just making it up as they go along. Something needs to change because these refs should not be making themselves the story. We just rid ourselves of Tony Padilla and now it’s an entire country full of Padillas
Maybe the bad/no calls from some of these refs are occurring because they're jealous of players getting so much NIL money. Mentioning Tony Padilla brings back some bad memories...
Ah Tony Padilla...always groaned when he was listed as one of the officials in our games. However I did love the time he tossed Bobby Hurley from on our meetings with ASU.
Agreed on witnessing what seems to be some atrocious refereeing Chen. I noticed some significant home cooking last year as we played through the Big 18. This game was a prime example. First, we need to stay in front of the ball handler. We can't have guys driving around us, while we reach in to tip the ball. We are giving refs too many opportunities to make questionable ticky-tack calls. But compare this to D. Dent, who was hacked on multiple occasions and hit with bodies (not jumping straight up) trying to block his shot while he was driving to the hole in this game, and the only calls he was getting would be considered criminal assaults off the court. I hate the fact that in the back of my mind I get this feeling of dread that the massive proliferation of sports gambling may be impacting our games (meaning refs). Hopefully its just me being a subjective fan watching my team.
Disappointing to see the Bruins still hibernating to start the game and couldn't overcome both the Hawkeyes and SBTRs in the 2nd half. I think they're capable of doing it, but this team still hasn't shown that they can deliver a solid/convincing win against a quality (ranked) opponent. At least the Lady Bruins did their part in contributing to a perfect weekend.
Didn’t watch the game, but ucla is going to be extremely lacking in quality wins this year. Will be lucky to make the dance. I did say this is a roster that needs to be a 3 pt shooting team. 14 3pt attempts isn’t going to get the job done against any quality opponents with true centers. If ucla can’t exploit teams from the outside, they don’t play good enough defense to compete.
The days of being excited for ucla seem like a distant memory. The last entertaining season for me was the season lonzo ball was at ucla… that was a fun season… alas, the days of entertaining men’s basketball at ucla are no more. Is it really 4 more years??? Maybe I’ll start cheering for the players that cronin failed on… Michigan seems like a team that I would be entertained by. At least they run organized offensive sets instead of worthless iso ball offense
We have plenty of chances for quality wins. UCLA had played 5 Quad 1 or Quad 2 games this year. They have about 15 left. We have 3-4 Top 25 teams still coming to Pauley this season. If they don't make the dance it's going to be because of record, not a lack of quality wins.
Didn’t watch it not surprised at the outcome. Bunch of players that don’t mesh. Sorry to bruin fans. Not fixable at this point. Tired of driving to Pauley to watch this.
Not quite as down on this team yet, as you (and others on this site) are FDB. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this team got me out of my seat against Arizona, when we fell down by 7 and looked overmatched, when “boom,” they played a breathtaking stretch, over 2 minutes in the 2nd half, using a stifling half court, blitzing the guards style defense, triggering up tempo offense, with a combination of dunks and threes and we went from 7 points down to a 5 point lead. It happened again against the “Zags;” we were losing touch, down 11, then over 2 and ½ minutes in the 2nd half, we implemented full court pressure alternating with the half court blitzing, again triggering up tempo offense with a combination of dunks and threes and we went from 11 points down to a 1 point lead.
Yesterday, even without Skyy’s shooting, we ratcheted up our defense again in the second half, triggering up tempo offense with layups, dunks and mid-range shots and this time sustained it for over 14 minutes to bring a 21 point lead to 4. The thing is that we have the athletes to play a pressing defense and run an up-tempo offense, even at the 5 (which could eliminate the height advantage several Big 18 teams have on us).
Maybe we need to continue to evolve this squad to model Nolan Richardson’s 1995 Arkansas "40 Minutes of Hell" team that we played in the ’95 final. That system relied on constant pressure and forced turnovers to create fast-break opportunities, which effectively neutralized their opponent’s half-court sets and any relative size advantage. We have demonstrated an effective form a such an approach (given our team’s present construct) against quality opponents this year. The question would be whether we could sustain "the Hell" for an entire game.
P1, respectfully, this team will never be 40 minutes of Hell for anyone. UCLA also beat the Hell out of Arkansas that year in the National Championship game.
What we have is a senior laden, make shift team without a true center. And we have Cronin and his flaws are the gifts that keep giving.
This team is not consistent, lacks talent in key areas, and lacks chemistry. They lack passion and discipline. This is not a team that will go deep in the Tourney. We will likely get bounced early or potentially not even make it.
It is very difficult to create magic from ingrained bad habits and Cronin can't seem to overcome the issues of the players he recruited.
Cronin hasn't had true leaders on a team since JJJ and Tyger who masked his flaws. Even during those seasons, UCLA would have huge scoring droughts but JJJ and Tyger were great iso players and could pull out many of those games.
This season is the same old, same old, excuses, poor play and losses.
I can't look that far ahead yet...........but when I "peek" with you here; if this season implodes, it could get really ugly without a big NIL commitment.
I get it SeaU, but you can't develop teams over 3 or 4 years like he did with that team. The deck gets shuffled almost every year due to the Portal and NIL.
This is the 3rd year since the "what if" season of injuries. Since then we've had the Euros debacle, last year's mismatches and misfits (a talent lack brutally exposed by Tennessee), and now this mercenary squad (nod to your remark on portal and NIL) hand selected. Look at next year. The calvary ain't comin'. What is the trajectory of this program?
You’ve touched upon something that is not just a UCLA problem, but one of the disheartening things about college sports today (football and basketball); unless you have wealthy NIL participating alumni, there will always be little in the way of a cavalry. With inadequate NIL, how can a coach or a program view its trajectory? The very good players you try to develop will likely get poached and you won’t be able to afford the transformative players (Dybantsa-BYU). It seems that coaches today face a "yearly" challenge, especially in basketball; once the dust settles from Portal acquisitions and high school recruits, can I put together a cohesive, winning (much less championship) team with the players I have “this year,” as opposed to “how will my team (these players) look after 2 to 3 years of development.”
With all due respect T, no one on that floor that night for us or in the stands would tell you “they beat the hell out of Arkansas.” It was a one-point game at half and the Bruins did take a lead in the second. But recall Arkansas was the defending National Champion, with Corliss Williamson, going for his second straight Title. With less than 5 minutes it was a 3 point game. With the loss of Edney, our short bench (6-man rotation at best), Arkansas' experience, Richardson's system, that one was the “guttiest” of our 11 National Championships IMHO. I only referenced Arkansas because our brief moments of “breathtaking” play that I pointed out previously, was reminiscent of their style of play in ’94 and ’95.
T, I know you dislike Cronin and his ways, but, his UCLA teams have always seemed to improve as the season goes on. We need some "evolution" as well, now that we are without Skyy. I’m just not willing to give up on this group only 3 games into the Big 18 season. We have some talent, some of it not yet unlocked for some reason (Daily Jr). There is still time to come together, but it is going to be a rough road in this Conference.
It does seem like the best version of this roster against good/better teams (discounting the pre-conference schedule fillers) is playing "small" with Bilodeau at the 5, having all of Dent, Skyy, and Perry together on the floor more often than not, including Brown, BWill and Dailey - when he's right/"on" in a game - in the main rotation between the 4 and relieving the guards with limited minutes for Booker and Jamerson and playing fast - pressing and denying the entry pass out top defensively and prioritizing shooting from 3 while making opposing bigs chase the perimeter defensively. That configuration and style has tended to fuel the runs and effective basketball we've played against Top 25 opposition... certainly solving the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma that is Dailey's inconsistency would go a long way towards unlocking this roster - for a season and a half, we have been so much better when he plays well.
Can that be sustained over the majorities of games rather than a few minutes?
Would it put too much defensive pressure on our frontcourt in the B1G, given how vulnerable Bilodeau is defensively?
I don't know but it sure seems like a potentially more effective path than extended minutes for the two bigs (who remind me of the Riley (offense but little post defense) and Johnson (post defense but little offense) combo of a few years ago) and more "traditional" sets.
Great breakdown Clio. In addition to a healthy Skyy; and a consistent, high end Daily Jr, we need a better psyche profile on Booker. Here is a former high school 5-star, McD All American, No. 11 nationally rated, 6 ft. 11 inch, 245 lb athletic freak, who can shoot the three, rim protect and is the fastest guy on our team; yet, neither Izzo nor Cronin to this point have been able to “unleash the beast” in this kid. We need need a 5 closer to a godzilla than a bambi busting up and down the floor. Maybe an up-tempo approach where his sheer athleticism gives him an advantage against other 5’s could work for his confidence and aggressiveness.
love the fire showed by Cronin. really motivated the guys in the second half. unfortunately first half just dug too deep a hole. maybe worst half of basketball in 10 years for ucla. need to come out strong against Wisconsin.
If nothing else E, you know it eats at him when they lose. He's probably shaved 5 years off of his life since the Euro experiment in the '23-'24 season. Without Skyy, and this being their first real road trip, he's going to have to tap into something to pull this team together. Wisconsin is always tough at home. Huge gut check here.
It was a great second half. Hope that Skyy is okay. There’s something missing with this team, but if it’s found I see a very high ceiling.
What's missing are consistency, 40 minutes of play, and talent.
Missing a 5 with talent. Missing defense. Missing execution. Missing ball movement and a game plan that works. Missing chemistry. Missing the right coach. Missing a coat thrown off by said 'coach.' Missing an AD who has a shred of courage or integrity. Yep, something is definitely missing.
There is more than enough talent on the team, there is not enough physicality and soundness with the fundamentals.
Actually, there’s not much talent, especially in defense and shooting.
What’s missing is a 7’ center that scores bigly and rebounds.
I think a critical team characteristic that hasn't been fully and consistently exhibited so far is mental toughness. It may take a while for them to develop it (if at all), but could help explain why they often start out flat, allow a lot of easy baskets on defense, or tend to fall apart at the end of games.
Hopefully, ucla has figured out how to defend in the B10. Their defense looked quite good in the second half, and Iowa’s best players sat for long stretches of the second half due to foul trouble, but they were active and hustled. If they can improve their rebounding that would really take their defense to another level. Even the best defensive teams in the world will wilt if they keep giving up offensive rebounds.
There also needs to be a conversation about the quality of the refereeing in college basketball. It’s just flat out garbage. Dent got mugged several times, and ucla got a lot of late calls when it looked like they got a stop but was called for a foul. They completely inserted themselves and stifled the Bruins run.
But it’s not jsut this game or the B10. Yesterday, Cal beat Notre Dame on a very controversial 4 point play where Cal made a 3 and was awarded a FT despite the ND player not touching the shooter. The refs called the foul, reversed the foul, and then reversed the reversal. At this point the refs are just making it up as they go along. Something needs to change because these refs should not be making themselves the story. We just rid ourselves of Tony Padilla and now it’s an entire country full of Padillas
Maybe the bad/no calls from some of these refs are occurring because they're jealous of players getting so much NIL money. Mentioning Tony Padilla brings back some bad memories...
Ah Tony Padilla...always groaned when he was listed as one of the officials in our games. However I did love the time he tossed Bobby Hurley from on our meetings with ASU.
Not sure the ACC is willing to do Notre Dame any favors these days...
Agreed on witnessing what seems to be some atrocious refereeing Chen. I noticed some significant home cooking last year as we played through the Big 18. This game was a prime example. First, we need to stay in front of the ball handler. We can't have guys driving around us, while we reach in to tip the ball. We are giving refs too many opportunities to make questionable ticky-tack calls. But compare this to D. Dent, who was hacked on multiple occasions and hit with bodies (not jumping straight up) trying to block his shot while he was driving to the hole in this game, and the only calls he was getting would be considered criminal assaults off the court. I hate the fact that in the back of my mind I get this feeling of dread that the massive proliferation of sports gambling may be impacting our games (meaning refs). Hopefully its just me being a subjective fan watching my team.
Disappointing to see the Bruins still hibernating to start the game and couldn't overcome both the Hawkeyes and SBTRs in the 2nd half. I think they're capable of doing it, but this team still hasn't shown that they can deliver a solid/convincing win against a quality (ranked) opponent. At least the Lady Bruins did their part in contributing to a perfect weekend.
Didn’t watch the game, but ucla is going to be extremely lacking in quality wins this year. Will be lucky to make the dance. I did say this is a roster that needs to be a 3 pt shooting team. 14 3pt attempts isn’t going to get the job done against any quality opponents with true centers. If ucla can’t exploit teams from the outside, they don’t play good enough defense to compete.
The days of being excited for ucla seem like a distant memory. The last entertaining season for me was the season lonzo ball was at ucla… that was a fun season… alas, the days of entertaining men’s basketball at ucla are no more. Is it really 4 more years??? Maybe I’ll start cheering for the players that cronin failed on… Michigan seems like a team that I would be entertained by. At least they run organized offensive sets instead of worthless iso ball offense
We have plenty of chances for quality wins. UCLA had played 5 Quad 1 or Quad 2 games this year. They have about 15 left. We have 3-4 Top 25 teams still coming to Pauley this season. If they don't make the dance it's going to be because of record, not a lack of quality wins.
Didn’t watch it not surprised at the outcome. Bunch of players that don’t mesh. Sorry to bruin fans. Not fixable at this point. Tired of driving to Pauley to watch this.
Not quite as down on this team yet, as you (and others on this site) are FDB. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this team got me out of my seat against Arizona, when we fell down by 7 and looked overmatched, when “boom,” they played a breathtaking stretch, over 2 minutes in the 2nd half, using a stifling half court, blitzing the guards style defense, triggering up tempo offense, with a combination of dunks and threes and we went from 7 points down to a 5 point lead. It happened again against the “Zags;” we were losing touch, down 11, then over 2 and ½ minutes in the 2nd half, we implemented full court pressure alternating with the half court blitzing, again triggering up tempo offense with a combination of dunks and threes and we went from 11 points down to a 1 point lead.
Yesterday, even without Skyy’s shooting, we ratcheted up our defense again in the second half, triggering up tempo offense with layups, dunks and mid-range shots and this time sustained it for over 14 minutes to bring a 21 point lead to 4. The thing is that we have the athletes to play a pressing defense and run an up-tempo offense, even at the 5 (which could eliminate the height advantage several Big 18 teams have on us).
Maybe we need to continue to evolve this squad to model Nolan Richardson’s 1995 Arkansas "40 Minutes of Hell" team that we played in the ’95 final. That system relied on constant pressure and forced turnovers to create fast-break opportunities, which effectively neutralized their opponent’s half-court sets and any relative size advantage. We have demonstrated an effective form a such an approach (given our team’s present construct) against quality opponents this year. The question would be whether we could sustain "the Hell" for an entire game.
P1, respectfully, this team will never be 40 minutes of Hell for anyone. UCLA also beat the Hell out of Arkansas that year in the National Championship game.
What we have is a senior laden, make shift team without a true center. And we have Cronin and his flaws are the gifts that keep giving.
This team is not consistent, lacks talent in key areas, and lacks chemistry. They lack passion and discipline. This is not a team that will go deep in the Tourney. We will likely get bounced early or potentially not even make it.
It is very difficult to create magic from ingrained bad habits and Cronin can't seem to overcome the issues of the players he recruited.
Cronin hasn't had true leaders on a team since JJJ and Tyger who masked his flaws. Even during those seasons, UCLA would have huge scoring droughts but JJJ and Tyger were great iso players and could pull out many of those games.
This season is the same old, same old, excuses, poor play and losses.
Too late for a transformation, but not too early to consider next year's roster (not a projected starting lineup, but it could be!):
Xavier, Dailey, BWill, Trent (will he bail?), Freeny. No bench.
Transfers and offers are not beating down the door to this program.
I can't look that far ahead yet...........but when I "peek" with you here; if this season implodes, it could get really ugly without a big NIL commitment.
It's almost as if this mid, second tier Big 10 team hasn't reloaded since the talent inherited on the Bubble Team departed.
I get it SeaU, but you can't develop teams over 3 or 4 years like he did with that team. The deck gets shuffled almost every year due to the Portal and NIL.
This is the 3rd year since the "what if" season of injuries. Since then we've had the Euros debacle, last year's mismatches and misfits (a talent lack brutally exposed by Tennessee), and now this mercenary squad (nod to your remark on portal and NIL) hand selected. Look at next year. The calvary ain't comin'. What is the trajectory of this program?
You’ve touched upon something that is not just a UCLA problem, but one of the disheartening things about college sports today (football and basketball); unless you have wealthy NIL participating alumni, there will always be little in the way of a cavalry. With inadequate NIL, how can a coach or a program view its trajectory? The very good players you try to develop will likely get poached and you won’t be able to afford the transformative players (Dybantsa-BYU). It seems that coaches today face a "yearly" challenge, especially in basketball; once the dust settles from Portal acquisitions and high school recruits, can I put together a cohesive, winning (much less championship) team with the players I have “this year,” as opposed to “how will my team (these players) look after 2 to 3 years of development.”
With all due respect T, no one on that floor that night for us or in the stands would tell you “they beat the hell out of Arkansas.” It was a one-point game at half and the Bruins did take a lead in the second. But recall Arkansas was the defending National Champion, with Corliss Williamson, going for his second straight Title. With less than 5 minutes it was a 3 point game. With the loss of Edney, our short bench (6-man rotation at best), Arkansas' experience, Richardson's system, that one was the “guttiest” of our 11 National Championships IMHO. I only referenced Arkansas because our brief moments of “breathtaking” play that I pointed out previously, was reminiscent of their style of play in ’94 and ’95.
T, I know you dislike Cronin and his ways, but, his UCLA teams have always seemed to improve as the season goes on. We need some "evolution" as well, now that we are without Skyy. I’m just not willing to give up on this group only 3 games into the Big 18 season. We have some talent, some of it not yet unlocked for some reason (Daily Jr). There is still time to come together, but it is going to be a rough road in this Conference.
We beat Arkansas by 11 points without Edney. I stand by my words.
It does seem like the best version of this roster against good/better teams (discounting the pre-conference schedule fillers) is playing "small" with Bilodeau at the 5, having all of Dent, Skyy, and Perry together on the floor more often than not, including Brown, BWill and Dailey - when he's right/"on" in a game - in the main rotation between the 4 and relieving the guards with limited minutes for Booker and Jamerson and playing fast - pressing and denying the entry pass out top defensively and prioritizing shooting from 3 while making opposing bigs chase the perimeter defensively. That configuration and style has tended to fuel the runs and effective basketball we've played against Top 25 opposition... certainly solving the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma that is Dailey's inconsistency would go a long way towards unlocking this roster - for a season and a half, we have been so much better when he plays well.
Can that be sustained over the majorities of games rather than a few minutes?
Would it put too much defensive pressure on our frontcourt in the B1G, given how vulnerable Bilodeau is defensively?
I don't know but it sure seems like a potentially more effective path than extended minutes for the two bigs (who remind me of the Riley (offense but little post defense) and Johnson (post defense but little offense) combo of a few years ago) and more "traditional" sets.
Go Bruins.
Great breakdown Clio. In addition to a healthy Skyy; and a consistent, high end Daily Jr, we need a better psyche profile on Booker. Here is a former high school 5-star, McD All American, No. 11 nationally rated, 6 ft. 11 inch, 245 lb athletic freak, who can shoot the three, rim protect and is the fastest guy on our team; yet, neither Izzo nor Cronin to this point have been able to “unleash the beast” in this kid. We need need a 5 closer to a godzilla than a bambi busting up and down the floor. Maybe an up-tempo approach where his sheer athleticism gives him an advantage against other 5’s could work for his confidence and aggressiveness.
love the fire showed by Cronin. really motivated the guys in the second half. unfortunately first half just dug too deep a hole. maybe worst half of basketball in 10 years for ucla. need to come out strong against Wisconsin.
If nothing else E, you know it eats at him when they lose. He's probably shaved 5 years off of his life since the Euro experiment in the '23-'24 season. Without Skyy, and this being their first real road trip, he's going to have to tap into something to pull this team together. Wisconsin is always tough at home. Huge gut check here.