NotSure
Joined: 3/09/23 Posts: 1,147
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Posted Sat, May 10 7:20 am
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https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQbfBxFPTvSGVdTWxtLThHxDTTr
But X doesn't need to bulk up for down-low banging.
That's not how Cronin uses his bigs and why Mara made a mistake going to UCLA just as Booker made a mistake attending Michigan State.
If Booker can use the mobility he already has and add intensity and technique to it, he's already built to overplay, front and strip bigs who try to back him down in the post as the UCLA Gs swarm from the perimeter.
UCLA made a Final 4 and lost on a 40-footer with Cody at C and might've won a NC with a very mobile FR Adem at C if Jaylen and Adem don't go down at the very end of the year.
A single missed 3 here or there would have been a 3rd Final 4 in-between those 2 games; once again with Cody, who couldn't have been over 6-7 (but with a 7-4 wingspan, like Adem) at the C position.
Check the stats: Cody and Adem those 3 years put up Bilo-like rebounding. If you're often moving 20 feet from the basket or taking Js, whether from midrange or 3, you're simply not going to get a lot of rebounds.
Adem was dunk and layup city as a SO and missed so many cripples he improved his rebounding numbers mainly by getting his own misses under the basket.
As Duke is the only team to find success recruiting 5-stars (one Final 4 in 4 years), I don't think Cronin's future success at UCLA hinges on how many local 5-stars he signs or misses (money has more to do with that than anything else at this point and until Cronin has more money, he can't make magic).
The days when a player would go to UCLA because he was from LA ended in the 1980's. Cherokee Parks, Scott Williams and many other local stars have been heading out of town for years.
Howland's Final 4 run wasn't built on 5-stars. He got one 5-star recruit: Kevin Love from Oregon.
Farmar, Afflalo, Collison, Mbah A Moute, Shipp, Lorenzo-Mata, Hollins, Westbrook, Aboya and a never made it back Bozeman, these are the names of the players who filled those rosters. Farmar and Afflao were the only top 50 ranked players (no stars then) and Afflalo was I believe around 45.
The others weren't ranked over 70; some ranked below 100.
Bozeman was a Mickey D, but never got his ACL back.
Howland recruited to a system.
Cronin didn't for 2 cycles. Now he has for 2.
If he loses his job at UCLA, that will be his downfall.
His recruiting misses have and had more to do with lack of money than anything else. His money is increasing.
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