Thanks Dmitri for your insightful analysis on our Bruins and the depth you bring to the conversation. Let’s hope for the best this offseason and Go Bruins!
Question for you Dimitri, do you think Mack's nagging injuries are partially to blame for his defense in the back half of the season? It seems like I saw flashes of good defense from him, so I'm wondering if it is a case of lack of effort or physical limitations, or even just gassed freshman legs.
I think the issue with the offense running through Bona is that isn't the ideal position for him to be in. It was the best option we had this year, but Bona is ideally a 3rd or 4th option, rim running and being a terror on the offensive glass, while being the disruptor on defense. I think the turnovers show that.
The draft is going to be an interesting question for him this year. I could see some teams throwing a late first draft grade on him based off the defensive ability, but the 6'8 1/4 draft measurement was a crusher for him last year.
Judging by first round action, I'd say that you have a better chance winning when you can score rather than winning when you can't score but have to rely on your defense. And you nearly always have a chance to win when you score in the 70s and 80s, but less so when you score in the 40s and 50s. But that's just me.
Oh the sweet irony of the SEC commissioner giving an interview where he says they need to explore eliminating auto bids because the power conferences are better and serve those bids. The SEC is currently 1-5 with 2 massive upsets to auto bids.
Huge thanks to DD for the post season write ups, and to all the folks commenting. It's been a great discussion so far, and It'll be interesting to see where things go now with the portal opening up. I have plenty of my own opinions about Cronin regarding his roster construction and his offensive and defensive capabilities, and two of those three aren't very complimentary.
I do feel pretty good about Cronin's ability to teach defense and employ a solid defensive scheme, but it is imperative he has the right players to execute it, which was clearly a shortcoming this season and jumps to the issues with roster construction. It's also crucial that he has the recognition and courage to adapt ingame when his pregame plans aren't working (see UW's center go for another wide open dunk with no defensive adjustment). Cronin's stubbornness and insistence on his way or the highway helps when he's right, but it is a big pitfall when he meets a coach with a better gameplan or has a player who unexpectedly gets hot.
The problem with a defensive focused team, if you have the right players in the first place, is that games tend to be lower scoring affairs with little separation that don't allow much leeway for a poor offensive night, and so the offense must necessarily be an important factor (see, Virginia, University of). Ben Howland had this same issue with far better defenses and players who fit. And my devil's advocate impression is that the Bruins were highly successful the last 3 years because we had really high end offensive talent (if not a high end offensive scheme). In the 20-21 season, Johnny Juzang went nuclear and carried us to a FF. The next two years, a junior and senior laden mature experienced squad that played its roles very well and had a unicorn in Jaime Jaquez Jr provided enough offense to win the large majority of close games. But the core of those players were recruited by a guy I won't name, not by Cronin. So I don't think the successes from the prior 3 years were due to Cronin but rather due to the talents and leadership of the players. Of course Cronin added an Amari Bailey and an Adem Bona who played key roles, but his recruiting has fallen far short of a complete roster. See Etienne and Canka and Watson and Myles Johnson as guys who made little to no contribution in Westwood. Look what happened to the offense this season with a roster comprised only of Cronin's players. Nearly every game featured prolonged scoring droughts, little offensive imagination or diversity, and even when the defense played well we still went down to the wire almost every night.
Can Cronin's style make legit runs at another coveted NCAA title? Yes, because it has. If it weren't for 2 crushing injuries last year, I'm certain we had another FF team and maybe more (FU, Gonzaga). But can Cronin himself continue to lead the Bruins to consistent excellence and competitive teams, given the way he recruits and runs an offense to complement his defense? That part I have real doubts about, because he isn't getting the kind of players he had success with the last 3 years. I'd keep a very close eye on what this roster looks like going into next year.
U of aaaa, we fell short of the Final Four again! 😂
Bears repeating (pun intended) we've been to as many Final Fours in the 21st century as they have in their school history.... Thanks Clemson! Schadenfreude rules! Go BRUINS
Interesting how nobody on UCLA has entered the transfer portal now that we're at the end of the second week of the portal being open. Almost like our players actually LIKE playing for Mick despite the in-game yelling, and his being publicly critical of the team.
At this point, I think anyone who transfers out now will be those who were (politely) asked to leave to make scholarship room for transfers.
When we find out which players wind up transferring to UCLA one of us will get the chance to say I told you so… will I be the one that gets to say it? Let’s see what sucker ucla gets to come play at ucla. Will we get a few more stefanovich’s? Or will we land someone that we’ve all actually heard of
Thanks Dmitri for your insightful analysis on our Bruins and the depth you bring to the conversation. Let’s hope for the best this offseason and Go Bruins!
Question for you Dimitri, do you think Mack's nagging injuries are partially to blame for his defense in the back half of the season? It seems like I saw flashes of good defense from him, so I'm wondering if it is a case of lack of effort or physical limitations, or even just gassed freshman legs.
No TMB Bracketology contest this year.
March Sadness.
I think the issue with the offense running through Bona is that isn't the ideal position for him to be in. It was the best option we had this year, but Bona is ideally a 3rd or 4th option, rim running and being a terror on the offensive glass, while being the disruptor on defense. I think the turnovers show that.
The draft is going to be an interesting question for him this year. I could see some teams throwing a late first draft grade on him based off the defensive ability, but the 6'8 1/4 draft measurement was a crusher for him last year.
by the way, when he was a soph and junior (and even a senior) i would have never dreamed that Jules Bernard would score 16 points in an NBA game.
Holy Alford collapse. Nevada was outscored 24-2 over the last 7:19 to lose 63-60
I hope CMC hits the portal hard so we can read Post Mortem Part 3: New Faces!
Tony Padilla is reffing in the NCAA tourney. He’s currently working the Kansas/Samford game. Called a foul on an obvious block. Pretty typical
Judging by first round action, I'd say that you have a better chance winning when you can score rather than winning when you can't score but have to rely on your defense. And you nearly always have a chance to win when you score in the 70s and 80s, but less so when you score in the 40s and 50s. But that's just me.
Oh the sweet irony of the SEC commissioner giving an interview where he says they need to explore eliminating auto bids because the power conferences are better and serve those bids. The SEC is currently 1-5 with 2 massive upsets to auto bids.
How is Tony Padilla allowed to ref the Arizona game? I thought refs can’t work games with teams from the same conference?
I find it amusing that every Pac-12 win gives Wazzue and Oregon St each another million dollars. Beavs are sitting at home getting paid.
Huge thanks to DD for the post season write ups, and to all the folks commenting. It's been a great discussion so far, and It'll be interesting to see where things go now with the portal opening up. I have plenty of my own opinions about Cronin regarding his roster construction and his offensive and defensive capabilities, and two of those three aren't very complimentary.
I do feel pretty good about Cronin's ability to teach defense and employ a solid defensive scheme, but it is imperative he has the right players to execute it, which was clearly a shortcoming this season and jumps to the issues with roster construction. It's also crucial that he has the recognition and courage to adapt ingame when his pregame plans aren't working (see UW's center go for another wide open dunk with no defensive adjustment). Cronin's stubbornness and insistence on his way or the highway helps when he's right, but it is a big pitfall when he meets a coach with a better gameplan or has a player who unexpectedly gets hot.
The problem with a defensive focused team, if you have the right players in the first place, is that games tend to be lower scoring affairs with little separation that don't allow much leeway for a poor offensive night, and so the offense must necessarily be an important factor (see, Virginia, University of). Ben Howland had this same issue with far better defenses and players who fit. And my devil's advocate impression is that the Bruins were highly successful the last 3 years because we had really high end offensive talent (if not a high end offensive scheme). In the 20-21 season, Johnny Juzang went nuclear and carried us to a FF. The next two years, a junior and senior laden mature experienced squad that played its roles very well and had a unicorn in Jaime Jaquez Jr provided enough offense to win the large majority of close games. But the core of those players were recruited by a guy I won't name, not by Cronin. So I don't think the successes from the prior 3 years were due to Cronin but rather due to the talents and leadership of the players. Of course Cronin added an Amari Bailey and an Adem Bona who played key roles, but his recruiting has fallen far short of a complete roster. See Etienne and Canka and Watson and Myles Johnson as guys who made little to no contribution in Westwood. Look what happened to the offense this season with a roster comprised only of Cronin's players. Nearly every game featured prolonged scoring droughts, little offensive imagination or diversity, and even when the defense played well we still went down to the wire almost every night.
Can Cronin's style make legit runs at another coveted NCAA title? Yes, because it has. If it weren't for 2 crushing injuries last year, I'm certain we had another FF team and maybe more (FU, Gonzaga). But can Cronin himself continue to lead the Bruins to consistent excellence and competitive teams, given the way he recruits and runs an offense to complement his defense? That part I have real doubts about, because he isn't getting the kind of players he had success with the last 3 years. I'd keep a very close eye on what this roster looks like going into next year.
In other news...
U of aaaa, we fell short of the Final Four again! 😂
Bears repeating (pun intended) we've been to as many Final Fours in the 21st century as they have in their school history.... Thanks Clemson! Schadenfreude rules! Go BRUINS
Interesting how nobody on UCLA has entered the transfer portal now that we're at the end of the second week of the portal being open. Almost like our players actually LIKE playing for Mick despite the in-game yelling, and his being publicly critical of the team.
At this point, I think anyone who transfers out now will be those who were (politely) asked to leave to make scholarship room for transfers.
When we find out which players wind up transferring to UCLA one of us will get the chance to say I told you so… will I be the one that gets to say it? Let’s see what sucker ucla gets to come play at ucla. Will we get a few more stefanovich’s? Or will we land someone that we’ve all actually heard of