UclanDoIt
Joined: 1/13/14 Posts: 3,922
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Posted Thu, May 15 1:52 pm
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Been on vacation and after catching up on my BG reading on UCLA basketball and recruiting under HC Cronin, my comments below.
Regarding 5-star HS recruits, especially local players - I agree Cronin's style of basketball and his behavior may not appeal to every top HS recruit. He places an emphasis on defense and fitting into his system. I feel many of today's 5-star recruits view themselves as one and dones. With this mentality, many are going to programs that allow them to score points, show up on national television, plus pay NIL. And should this not work out, they will transfer to a program offering this opportunity.
Duke and Kentucky (notably under HC Calipari) have built up their images with one and dones. They have produced many lottery picks in the NBA draft (Duke may have three this year) but have they won many NCAA championships using this approach? Are these players crushed when they lose in the tournament before moving on to their NBA careers?
Cronin has stated he is at UCLA to win NCAA championships, not produce lottery NBA draft picks. Has he succeeded? No, but would supporters be happier with top recruiting classes and no titles? Or would the complaints change to how he could lose with the talent on the team and/or how the lack of roster continuity is diminishing their interest since you don't develop any bonds with the players anymore?
For now, I'm giving Cronin a chance to see what he can do with this roster. He deserves criticism when he went international even though he should have planned better knowing the team was going to be gutted once the Jaquez-Tyger-Juzang group left. He reviewed, reassessed, and rebuilt the roster this past season. Besides trying to develop continuity with this new roster, it was also UCLA's first season in the Big 10 and the travel factor (longer flights and playing in virtually all new arenas/cities) had to impact the team as well.
I think several on this forum believe the best way to win a title is with a roster consisting of returning players combined with a key addition or two. While a top HS recruit could be this addition, this player would have to be willing to play defense at UCLA and fit into the team (not play for his NBA draft position). For this year, the player is hopefully transfer Dent. He is considered to be one of the best college PGs and UCLA lacked one this past season as Andrews failed to make much progress from his freshman season.
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