I am going to stick with my belief that the program is in good hands. We don’t have elite talent and our inside game struggles against big teams because Jaquez and Riley are our 2 best post up players. Both are undersized. We are still playing primarily of a roster recruited by Steve Alford. And yet, we had a miracle run to the Final Four. Our coach didn’t suddenly become poor.
UCLA is quite frankly, overrated. This season has seen ucla regress across the board as the season goes on. While a loss to usc hurts, it also highlights that ucla just isn’t that good. They are third in the pac-12, right where they belong. A preseason top 5 team, they will end up a 5-7 seed come tournament time.
This game, like the last few, have been extremely painful to watch. Where is the coaching? Where are the easy dunks? The steals that lead to fast break layups? The good passing? Good defensive plays?
The games aren’t fun when ucla is constantly playing down to their opponents level. The win against Arizona was a rare occurrence with cronin who doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of running up a score. He constantly gets a lead only to turn on the brakes.
A magical run in march is now the only thing that can save what has turned into an abysmal season. Why has it come to this?
Defensively, ucla is awful on the switch at the top of the key. Bigs are constantly getting caught double teaming with an easy pass down low or a mismatch that allows a guard to shoot an easy three when the big stays up there. They are also awful at covering the three when there is a dribble drive. Don’t give easy layups, but don’t come in to help a layup attempt only to leave a wide open look.
Offensively, there isn’t a game plan. They spend far too much time going one on one.
As for player grades:
Riley seems to be in better shape. He actually had zero fouls? A miracle. He also made his first three of the season. He seems to have lost a step inside and doesn’t bully on the offensive layups. His defense is still soft and he gets caught out of position at the top of the key.
Myles seems to be getting better, but he is the quintessential “soft” player. Good kid who plays hard but too timid to provide any spark.
Watson is an absolute coaching fail as far as I’m concerned. An athletic player with a massive wing span that has a lot of potential. Was touted as a high first round nba draft pick coming into the season. I’d be shocked if he stays at ucla another season. Hasn’t been developed at all this year and is used sparingly and inappropriately. Should have been coached to be the player that goes up for oops and is under the basket as we saw in the very first game of the season. Instead, he’s put into a black box that doesn’t fit his skill set. Shame on cronin for failing with Watson.
Singleton has continued to be used sparingly in a way that actually fits his style. However, he isn’t used on the pass out play as often as he should be. He’s one of the best 3 pt shooters on the team but rarely used in the drive and dish as it’s not a play the team is coached to look for. On defense he’s gotten better, but he is still too slow to guard an athletic wing.
Nwuba is just another big that always looks lost on the court… but he’s way down the depth so this isn’t surprising.
Jules is a dumpster fire right now. Has been allowed to try and shoot himself out of a slump and it’s not working. He has regressed significantly this season and his shot is a train wreck right now. Defensively he hustles, but is usually out of position. He gets beat to the hoop and is too short to recover.
Juzang is an amazing shooter, but if the rest of the team is struggling, it’s easy to just double team him and get him to force plays that lead to turnovers. His defense is usually meh, but you can tell he’s worked on it this year. UCLA basketball was far more fun to watch when they weren’t so dependent on him early in the season. Now that he’s the go to guy every play, they are easy to defend.
Kyman hasn’t played enough minutes to comment on really. Another player that could go somewhere else to actually develop better. He needs some offensive play sets to allow him shots… ucla doesn’t seem to have anything like that these days.
Jaquez is still hustling but has been inconsistent all season. 2-11 this game isn’t going to cut it. He had some wide open looks and missed them all badly. He looks good defensively and may be ucla best all around player. Shooting like this isn’t going to cut it though.
Clark has played well. He probably needs more play time and development down low as a post player. He plays big and should be athletic enough to at least pass it around. He’s also their best defender and plays so much bigger than he looks.
Campbell comes and goes. This was a game that he played well, but he was also asked to do too much. It’s why he tried to take the final three because he had been the go to guy. Defensively he actually plays well for his size, but he also allows opposing teams to get wide open looks due to his size and inability to fight through the screen. He didn’t get many assists, but that’s a by product of the abysmal shooting display.
UCLA has potential, but this season now needs another miracle March run to save the season. The pac-12 title is out of reach at this point. It shouldn’t come down to a miracle in march to make a good season. The last few weeks have been a train wreck and now cronin needs to actually do some coaching. No more rolling the ball out on the court and letting ucla beat each other up on the court.
Jacquez needs to rest for a few weeks. We’ll be fine without him but his ankle has really affected his play - or at least it can’t possibly get any worse than losing 3 of 4.. One of our best players missing point-blank layups and air balling shots in a 3-point loss is definitely cause for concern.
And I agree that Riley’s play has been abysmal. Johnson is rebounding and defending better and he should get the start. But usc had multiple players slap rebounds out of his hands. This is elementary school shit, and Johnson needs to be better at hanging onto the ball.
I don’t agree that there’s no offensive game plan, I said at the beginning of the season that our team will be susceptible to shooting slumps because we are a team of good to great shooters and not much inside presence. Our team won’t much up well with a team that have lengthy defenders like usc. But last night the offensive game plan still lead to open shots and layups that were mostly bricked. The pieces are still there for a good run in the tourney, just need to get our shot back. If it doesn’t come back we’ll be bounced before the end of the first weekend.
Sure hate losing to U$C yet again. Mobley not playing helped, but even with their horrible shooting, the Bruins kept the game relatively close and nearly tied it at the end. UCLA may still have Alford's recruits (currently, our best player is a Kentucky transfer), but *THANK GOODNESS* the Bruins don't have Alford. Last season, Cronin took this mediocre, 11-seeded Cinderella team past the play-in game, reached the Final Four, and nearly got them into the championship game. No way Alford could ever pull off the same feat with these same players. Year-3 of the Cronin era has been more challenging because of the higher expectations, injuries, and COVID interruptions. They're overmatched against some teams and got absolutely schooled by Gonzaga earlier this season, but still hopeful these Bruins can play with more focus and consistency and use their grit and determination to make another deep run in the tournament. Just beat $C at Pauley first--Go Bruins!
I find it quite disturbing that some fans are already taking Cronin to the woodshed the last few weeks. Many of the same who were singing Cronin's praises after a final four appearance last year now think he is a failure. Jaime has weak ankles, Cody still is bothered by his meniscus sprain and Bernard is in a slump. Those things are not Cronin's fault. Yes, you can argue that you think you could do better in terms of the rotations if you were coach--but bluntly, I do not think anybody posting here is qualified in any way to make such a ridiculous comment.
Cronin lost this one, again! Stop riding the guys who are shooting like dogshit!
I am going to stick with my belief that the program is in good hands. We don’t have elite talent and our inside game struggles against big teams because Jaquez and Riley are our 2 best post up players. Both are undersized. We are still playing primarily of a roster recruited by Steve Alford. And yet, we had a miracle run to the Final Four. Our coach didn’t suddenly become poor.
UCLA is quite frankly, overrated. This season has seen ucla regress across the board as the season goes on. While a loss to usc hurts, it also highlights that ucla just isn’t that good. They are third in the pac-12, right where they belong. A preseason top 5 team, they will end up a 5-7 seed come tournament time.
This game, like the last few, have been extremely painful to watch. Where is the coaching? Where are the easy dunks? The steals that lead to fast break layups? The good passing? Good defensive plays?
The games aren’t fun when ucla is constantly playing down to their opponents level. The win against Arizona was a rare occurrence with cronin who doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of running up a score. He constantly gets a lead only to turn on the brakes.
A magical run in march is now the only thing that can save what has turned into an abysmal season. Why has it come to this?
Defensively, ucla is awful on the switch at the top of the key. Bigs are constantly getting caught double teaming with an easy pass down low or a mismatch that allows a guard to shoot an easy three when the big stays up there. They are also awful at covering the three when there is a dribble drive. Don’t give easy layups, but don’t come in to help a layup attempt only to leave a wide open look.
Offensively, there isn’t a game plan. They spend far too much time going one on one.
As for player grades:
Riley seems to be in better shape. He actually had zero fouls? A miracle. He also made his first three of the season. He seems to have lost a step inside and doesn’t bully on the offensive layups. His defense is still soft and he gets caught out of position at the top of the key.
Myles seems to be getting better, but he is the quintessential “soft” player. Good kid who plays hard but too timid to provide any spark.
Watson is an absolute coaching fail as far as I’m concerned. An athletic player with a massive wing span that has a lot of potential. Was touted as a high first round nba draft pick coming into the season. I’d be shocked if he stays at ucla another season. Hasn’t been developed at all this year and is used sparingly and inappropriately. Should have been coached to be the player that goes up for oops and is under the basket as we saw in the very first game of the season. Instead, he’s put into a black box that doesn’t fit his skill set. Shame on cronin for failing with Watson.
Singleton has continued to be used sparingly in a way that actually fits his style. However, he isn’t used on the pass out play as often as he should be. He’s one of the best 3 pt shooters on the team but rarely used in the drive and dish as it’s not a play the team is coached to look for. On defense he’s gotten better, but he is still too slow to guard an athletic wing.
Nwuba is just another big that always looks lost on the court… but he’s way down the depth so this isn’t surprising.
Jules is a dumpster fire right now. Has been allowed to try and shoot himself out of a slump and it’s not working. He has regressed significantly this season and his shot is a train wreck right now. Defensively he hustles, but is usually out of position. He gets beat to the hoop and is too short to recover.
Juzang is an amazing shooter, but if the rest of the team is struggling, it’s easy to just double team him and get him to force plays that lead to turnovers. His defense is usually meh, but you can tell he’s worked on it this year. UCLA basketball was far more fun to watch when they weren’t so dependent on him early in the season. Now that he’s the go to guy every play, they are easy to defend.
Kyman hasn’t played enough minutes to comment on really. Another player that could go somewhere else to actually develop better. He needs some offensive play sets to allow him shots… ucla doesn’t seem to have anything like that these days.
Jaquez is still hustling but has been inconsistent all season. 2-11 this game isn’t going to cut it. He had some wide open looks and missed them all badly. He looks good defensively and may be ucla best all around player. Shooting like this isn’t going to cut it though.
Clark has played well. He probably needs more play time and development down low as a post player. He plays big and should be athletic enough to at least pass it around. He’s also their best defender and plays so much bigger than he looks.
Campbell comes and goes. This was a game that he played well, but he was also asked to do too much. It’s why he tried to take the final three because he had been the go to guy. Defensively he actually plays well for his size, but he also allows opposing teams to get wide open looks due to his size and inability to fight through the screen. He didn’t get many assists, but that’s a by product of the abysmal shooting display.
UCLA has potential, but this season now needs another miracle March run to save the season. The pac-12 title is out of reach at this point. It shouldn’t come down to a miracle in march to make a good season. The last few weeks have been a train wreck and now cronin needs to actually do some coaching. No more rolling the ball out on the court and letting ucla beat each other up on the court.
Also, spitting on fans? Come on cronin, do better
Jacquez needs to rest for a few weeks. We’ll be fine without him but his ankle has really affected his play - or at least it can’t possibly get any worse than losing 3 of 4.. One of our best players missing point-blank layups and air balling shots in a 3-point loss is definitely cause for concern.
And I agree that Riley’s play has been abysmal. Johnson is rebounding and defending better and he should get the start. But usc had multiple players slap rebounds out of his hands. This is elementary school shit, and Johnson needs to be better at hanging onto the ball.
I don’t agree that there’s no offensive game plan, I said at the beginning of the season that our team will be susceptible to shooting slumps because we are a team of good to great shooters and not much inside presence. Our team won’t much up well with a team that have lengthy defenders like usc. But last night the offensive game plan still lead to open shots and layups that were mostly bricked. The pieces are still there for a good run in the tourney, just need to get our shot back. If it doesn’t come back we’ll be bounced before the end of the first weekend.
Sure hate losing to U$C yet again. Mobley not playing helped, but even with their horrible shooting, the Bruins kept the game relatively close and nearly tied it at the end. UCLA may still have Alford's recruits (currently, our best player is a Kentucky transfer), but *THANK GOODNESS* the Bruins don't have Alford. Last season, Cronin took this mediocre, 11-seeded Cinderella team past the play-in game, reached the Final Four, and nearly got them into the championship game. No way Alford could ever pull off the same feat with these same players. Year-3 of the Cronin era has been more challenging because of the higher expectations, injuries, and COVID interruptions. They're overmatched against some teams and got absolutely schooled by Gonzaga earlier this season, but still hopeful these Bruins can play with more focus and consistency and use their grit and determination to make another deep run in the tournament. Just beat $C at Pauley first--Go Bruins!
I find it quite disturbing that some fans are already taking Cronin to the woodshed the last few weeks. Many of the same who were singing Cronin's praises after a final four appearance last year now think he is a failure. Jaime has weak ankles, Cody still is bothered by his meniscus sprain and Bernard is in a slump. Those things are not Cronin's fault. Yes, you can argue that you think you could do better in terms of the rotations if you were coach--but bluntly, I do not think anybody posting here is qualified in any way to make such a ridiculous comment.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-02-13/fix-fixes-that-could-help-ucla-pull-out-of-the-nosedive-that-threatens-its-season