I’m honestly surprised Indiana doesn’t have a better record. They have a lot of talent at all their positions, which is why they gave ucla a run near the end.
But Mike Woodson is not a good coach and he’s already quit on the team to avoid being fired at the end of the season. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year’s Indiana team will be much better than this years team.
Indiana has apparently been a disappointing underachiever, as they were widely picked to finish among the top-3 or top-5 in fhe B1G Conference before this season started. I think how well they perform next season depends on who their next coach will be and what their roster will look like. With the transfer portal and NIL, it'll be interesting to see which players stay/leave, what high school talent can be recruited, and who transfers in. Anyway, the Bruins *finally* got a decent Quad-1 road win, but just barely. After playing well in the 1st half, they sure seemed intent on giving the game away in the 2nd half.
The Bruins are no longer soft and delusional, but need to work on being consistent. I know I'm looking too far ahead, but I think if the Bruins can win out (or maybe absorb only 1 more loss?) the rest of the way, they might have a shot at securing a top-4 seed and the important double-bye in the conference tournament. Other teams ahead of them in the conference standings still have to face off against each other, so I'd expect one or more of those teams to fall from the top 4.
Consider - Mara went for 8 pts and 5 boards in 13 minutes... Ballo had 9 pts and 5 boards in 26 minutes... who would have imagined that watching them a year ago?
Because of his height, long arms, and emerging skillset, Mara is an impactful player who will only get better with more playing time. Lucky to have him on the team!
Cronin was asked about the Indiana job opening last night. He did say it would be inappropriate for him to comment on it. UCLA could be screwed if he takes it. They might lose players like Bilodeau, Dailey, Clark, Perry, etc. Then UCLA would have to rebuild with whichever coach the incompetent AD picks. I don't trust Jarmond to make a good hire. UCLA needs to keep building with Cronin.
Jelly Jarmond 2.0 would be a disaster in picking a new coach. I have softened on Cronin (still don't like his methods) but I do believe he loves his players and they seem to love him too. We would be in a real mess if he left.
i gotta disagree with all these comments about Mick at UCLA for the long run. He has repeatedly complained about the Big Ten travel problems. He's a mid west guy who likes the mid west. He came to UCLA because it was by far the best job available to him. But don't be so sure that he's going to hang up the phone if a blue blood program calls. And the call will come.
Is UCLA, which should have all the advantages of recruiting--coaching, tradition, SoCal talent hotbed --now at a disadvantage because of the grind of travel it faces in the B1G?
The BIG doesn't feel welcoming at all. Maybe one day, but it feels a bit icy cold - no pun intended. I live in Utah but our winters are beautiful and don't dip
to below zero.
If other schools use the travel issue as a recruiting tool against us, I think that's a fairly weak stance. Traveling doesn't have to be negative if all is handled effectively in terms of meals, rest, etc.
I'm in Seattle. Half my life I've had to deal with "Don't Californicate Washington!" and the Seattle Freeze. And now the cold shoulder from the B1G, not to mention their unkindly officiating? Double ugh
yeah it's really dumb. going to take years before I give a crap about beating Rutgers or refer to "the Maryland game." We have a really long non-conference schedule that coincidentally repeats itself on a year to year basis, in my view.
Coach Cronin had already answered your question in a press conference last month... ;-)
"Have you ever looked at the NBA stats, with the gamblers and what all those people do with west versus east? Talk to (USC coach) Eric Musselman. Ask him that question. He coached in the NBA. Good luck west going east. Ask me UCLA’s record east of the Mississippi in the last 20 years because when I got the job, I looked it up for scheduling purposes. It’s under .500.
We have to go back four times. The Big Ten teams get to come to Los Angeles, where it’s 70 degrees, one time a year. They don’t even have to switch hotels. We’re 12 miles apart. Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding me. Is this a plant? Is this a planted question? You cannot be serious. Meanwhile, we’ve seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks while we were landing. We also saw the Capitol building. And we’re still got to go back. And then we’ve got to go back for the Big Ten tournament."
BTW, the comment thread, mostly haters, is priceless. The overriding salient point: money grab over feasibility--joining the B1G was a move to enrich themselves, not to improve the programs.
Do not know if anybody has read today's article by Greg Doyle, sports writer for the Indianapolis Star. He is convinced Cronin will be the next Hoosier coach. Makes some interesting arguments including that Cronin is tired of being at UCLA and signaling other teams that they should try to hire him as he is done at UCLA. His reasoning is the press conferences after the Michigan loss where he called the players "soft", "delusional" and so on in a "sneering and dismissive way" and Cronin's comments about the Bruin's exhausting travel schedule(s) back East. Doyle also goes down the list of "A" candidates who are unlikely and then concludes Cronin is the best "B" candidate . Predicts it will happen April 1 when Cronin's buyout drops to 10 million. Here is the link--do not know if it is allowed to post links and if not, my apology in advance:
Interesting article. Thank you for linking it. I will say that the guy cites an early January press conference where CMC called out players. While it got a lot of press traction, many people have now come out and said it worked and that it was what the team needed. He also references an interview so kindly posted by Waiting4ever where most people believe that CMC wasn't lobbying for a job but pointing out facts and trying to impact future schedules. I will say the student engagement and crowd enthusiasm at Pauley has been lacking at times, and the gyms in the midwest are clearly packed. I don't believe CMC is lobbying for a job but might be playing chess with his current employer to remind him how good he is at his job. I could be entirely wrong, but that's my take. Last season CMC was clearly gone and headed to Louisville. None of these coaching hot boards ever talk about where his daughter might go to college or maybe wanting to geographically be closer to his father. Those might be a factor in my opinion.
Whether Crnin is lobbying for the IU position or raising awareness to the B1G honchos to be more accommodating to the PAC teams now in the Conference, one thing is certain: If Crnin leaves come April 1, Martin Guerrero will be caught entirely off guard, unprepared, and without a list of targets for a UCLA mbb vacancy.
I edited my comments because it looked like I thought CMC was lobbying for a job which I don't believe. I should have enabled the sarcasm font on my first pass. lol
UCLA inherited the longer-distance traveling when they signed up to join the B1G Conference (money talks), so all of the coaches and student-athletes just have to deal with it going forward. Coach Cronin's complaint about the east/west travel was simply his colorful retort triggered by a pretty dumb question from an Iowa reporter. Here's the tail end of that exchange before he walked out of the press conference:
"You know how much people vacation here? Trust me, I got a lot of friends, I have to tell them no, I'm focused. Everybody from back in Cincinnati wants to come out here all the time. I have to ration them out, okay. Nobody wants to be back there--how well--how's the weather in Iowa City? Come on, you kidding me? Got comedians in the in the mix..."
And over the past 6 seasons, we've witnessed his ranting, public berating, withholding UCLA athletic gear from players, intentionally getting tossed from games, etc., so all of the drama is typical for him and not evidence of him signalling a desire to move on from UCLA. The nice thing for him now is that his name will more likely come up for any new HC job opening, so AD Martin Guerrero has to be wary of that.
By the way, congrats to the women's team on gutting it out without Lauren Betts and narrowly avoiding the upset by Sparty (with a little help also from the no-call by the SBTRs with 17 seconds left).
That is a legendary distantly sad point, Sea. Texas would have been a great addition to the Pac-12. Ahhh what could have been if the Pac-12 leadership would have been eveb semi-decent. 😞
or that the Pac 12 didn't pounce on that. And Oklahoma. That might be the one decision of all these conferences that paved the way for the bullshit we are now dealing with.
I’m honestly surprised Indiana doesn’t have a better record. They have a lot of talent at all their positions, which is why they gave ucla a run near the end.
But Mike Woodson is not a good coach and he’s already quit on the team to avoid being fired at the end of the season. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year’s Indiana team will be much better than this years team.
They can't close. Their win against MSU in East Lansing was a fluke.
Indiana has apparently been a disappointing underachiever, as they were widely picked to finish among the top-3 or top-5 in fhe B1G Conference before this season started. I think how well they perform next season depends on who their next coach will be and what their roster will look like. With the transfer portal and NIL, it'll be interesting to see which players stay/leave, what high school talent can be recruited, and who transfers in. Anyway, the Bruins *finally* got a decent Quad-1 road win, but just barely. After playing well in the 1st half, they sure seemed intent on giving the game away in the 2nd half.
Go Bruins!
8-1 in the last 9 games and first win east of the Mississippi. Bruins have life yet…
The Bruins are no longer soft and delusional, but need to work on being consistent. I know I'm looking too far ahead, but I think if the Bruins can win out (or maybe absorb only 1 more loss?) the rest of the way, they might have a shot at securing a top-4 seed and the important double-bye in the conference tournament. Other teams ahead of them in the conference standings still have to face off against each other, so I'd expect one or more of those teams to fall from the top 4.
Purdue lost at home to Wisconsin today. We beat Wisconsin, so I am liking our chances more ans more to win out.
But we can't have any more lengthy scoring droughts and the defense can't allow 40+ points in a half.
Go Bruins!!! 💙💛
19-7! Beat Minnesota and Ohio State next week!
Consider - Mara went for 8 pts and 5 boards in 13 minutes... Ballo had 9 pts and 5 boards in 26 minutes... who would have imagined that watching them a year ago?
Mara has really improved.
Absolutely - credit to him but also to coaching, development, and game script.
Totally agree.
Because of his height, long arms, and emerging skillset, Mara is an impactful player who will only get better with more playing time. Lucky to have him on the team!
Cronin was asked about the Indiana job opening last night. He did say it would be inappropriate for him to comment on it. UCLA could be screwed if he takes it. They might lose players like Bilodeau, Dailey, Clark, Perry, etc. Then UCLA would have to rebuild with whichever coach the incompetent AD picks. I don't trust Jarmond to make a good hire. UCLA needs to keep building with Cronin.
The question, itself, was inappropriate.
Anyway, Mick isn't leaving the Southland to return to Midwest winters. He's made that clear. I've also no faith in Martin Guerrero.
Jelly Jarmond 2.0 would be a disaster in picking a new coach. I have softened on Cronin (still don't like his methods) but I do believe he loves his players and they seem to love him too. We would be in a real mess if he left.
I think Cronin is at UCLA foras long as they will have him.
i gotta disagree with all these comments about Mick at UCLA for the long run. He has repeatedly complained about the Big Ten travel problems. He's a mid west guy who likes the mid west. He came to UCLA because it was by far the best job available to him. But don't be so sure that he's going to hang up the phone if a blue blood program calls. And the call will come.
Is UCLA, which should have all the advantages of recruiting--coaching, tradition, SoCal talent hotbed --now at a disadvantage because of the grind of travel it faces in the B1G?
I can see fellow B1G schools negatively pitching UCLA for the travel required.
"Fellow B1G schools." Ugh. I don't think I'll ever embrace that. I'm still trying to accept the additions of ASU and Arizona into the PAC!
🤣 Or Utah and Colorado!
The BIG doesn't feel welcoming at all. Maybe one day, but it feels a bit icy cold - no pun intended. I live in Utah but our winters are beautiful and don't dip
to below zero.
If other schools use the travel issue as a recruiting tool against us, I think that's a fairly weak stance. Traveling doesn't have to be negative if all is handled effectively in terms of meals, rest, etc.
I'm in Seattle. Half my life I've had to deal with "Don't Californicate Washington!" and the Seattle Freeze. And now the cold shoulder from the B1G, not to mention their unkindly officiating? Double ugh
yeah it's really dumb. going to take years before I give a crap about beating Rutgers or refer to "the Maryland game." We have a really long non-conference schedule that coincidentally repeats itself on a year to year basis, in my view.
Coach Cronin had already answered your question in a press conference last month... ;-)
"Have you ever looked at the NBA stats, with the gamblers and what all those people do with west versus east? Talk to (USC coach) Eric Musselman. Ask him that question. He coached in the NBA. Good luck west going east. Ask me UCLA’s record east of the Mississippi in the last 20 years because when I got the job, I looked it up for scheduling purposes. It’s under .500.
We have to go back four times. The Big Ten teams get to come to Los Angeles, where it’s 70 degrees, one time a year. They don’t even have to switch hotels. We’re 12 miles apart. Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding me. Is this a plant? Is this a planted question? You cannot be serious. Meanwhile, we’ve seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks while we were landing. We also saw the Capitol building. And we’re still got to go back. And then we’ve got to go back for the Big Ten tournament."
Watching Coach Cronin's reply is more entertaining... :-)
https://x.com/TheFieldOf68/status/1880494401220420002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1880494401220420002%7Ctwgr%5Eef49df317335e4212a8245b0e6cf969ec988096b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege-basketball%2Fucla-mick-cronin-postgame-rant-big-ten-travel-schedule
The transcript loses the punch and derision of Crnin's delivery. A good listen, for those who missed it.
Yu're Welcme! ;-)
BTW, the comment thread, mostly haters, is priceless. The overriding salient point: money grab over feasibility--joining the B1G was a move to enrich themselves, not to improve the programs.
Do not know if anybody has read today's article by Greg Doyle, sports writer for the Indianapolis Star. He is convinced Cronin will be the next Hoosier coach. Makes some interesting arguments including that Cronin is tired of being at UCLA and signaling other teams that they should try to hire him as he is done at UCLA. His reasoning is the press conferences after the Michigan loss where he called the players "soft", "delusional" and so on in a "sneering and dismissive way" and Cronin's comments about the Bruin's exhausting travel schedule(s) back East. Doyle also goes down the list of "A" candidates who are unlikely and then concludes Cronin is the best "B" candidate . Predicts it will happen April 1 when Cronin's buyout drops to 10 million. Here is the link--do not know if it is allowed to post links and if not, my apology in advance:
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2025/02/15/uclas-mick-cronin-wins-indiana-basketball-coaching-job-audition/78636789007/
Interesting article. Thank you for linking it. I will say that the guy cites an early January press conference where CMC called out players. While it got a lot of press traction, many people have now come out and said it worked and that it was what the team needed. He also references an interview so kindly posted by Waiting4ever where most people believe that CMC wasn't lobbying for a job but pointing out facts and trying to impact future schedules. I will say the student engagement and crowd enthusiasm at Pauley has been lacking at times, and the gyms in the midwest are clearly packed. I don't believe CMC is lobbying for a job but might be playing chess with his current employer to remind him how good he is at his job. I could be entirely wrong, but that's my take. Last season CMC was clearly gone and headed to Louisville. None of these coaching hot boards ever talk about where his daughter might go to college or maybe wanting to geographically be closer to his father. Those might be a factor in my opinion.
Whether Crnin is lobbying for the IU position or raising awareness to the B1G honchos to be more accommodating to the PAC teams now in the Conference, one thing is certain: If Crnin leaves come April 1, Martin Guerrero will be caught entirely off guard, unprepared, and without a list of targets for a UCLA mbb vacancy.
I edited my comments because it looked like I thought CMC was lobbying for a job which I don't believe. I should have enabled the sarcasm font on my first pass. lol
UCLA inherited the longer-distance traveling when they signed up to join the B1G Conference (money talks), so all of the coaches and student-athletes just have to deal with it going forward. Coach Cronin's complaint about the east/west travel was simply his colorful retort triggered by a pretty dumb question from an Iowa reporter. Here's the tail end of that exchange before he walked out of the press conference:
"You know how much people vacation here? Trust me, I got a lot of friends, I have to tell them no, I'm focused. Everybody from back in Cincinnati wants to come out here all the time. I have to ration them out, okay. Nobody wants to be back there--how well--how's the weather in Iowa City? Come on, you kidding me? Got comedians in the in the mix..."
And over the past 6 seasons, we've witnessed his ranting, public berating, withholding UCLA athletic gear from players, intentionally getting tossed from games, etc., so all of the drama is typical for him and not evidence of him signalling a desire to move on from UCLA. The nice thing for him now is that his name will more likely come up for any new HC job opening, so AD Martin Guerrero has to be wary of that.
By the way, congrats to the women's team on gutting it out without Lauren Betts and narrowly avoiding the upset by Sparty (with a little help also from the no-call by the SBTRs with 17 seconds left).
Go Lady Bruins!
To think that Texas once was a candidate to join the PAC 12 but ultimately was considered too geographically disparate.
That is a legendary distantly sad point, Sea. Texas would have been a great addition to the Pac-12. Ahhh what could have been if the Pac-12 leadership would have been eveb semi-decent. 😞
Texas? Unfeasible.
Rutgers? Maryland? Sign me up!
or that the Pac 12 didn't pounce on that. And Oklahoma. That might be the one decision of all these conferences that paved the way for the bullshit we are now dealing with.
Maybe I'll warm up to it (doubtful) by 2028 when the Conference Tournament is hosted in Las Vegas.