"Gave up 45 points in second half". "We have to play defense." "Can't stop 'em gave up 8 on the glass."“we had a lot of open looks “
They are a tough team to figure out who plays defense and had big wins earlier in the season. But what I saw last night and the players on the floor, they looked pretty average. No go to scorer, seemed like a Pike team that plays hard and defends without a go to scorer. Bilodeau is their leading scorer and he looked pretty easy to stop, even Martini played some effective defense against him at times. Mack scored last night but half his points may have been the result of travel violations and offensive fouls (that’s not reliable offense). Kobe Johnson gave them 13 points but that was a season high and he’s just a role player. I am not so sure if UCLA ends up making the tournament when it’s all said and done as it looks like they have losses coming their way. They’re in the tourney now, but they have to pick it up to stay in. If we had hit free throws earlier on in the game like we did late in the game then we win that game easily by more than 10 and would not have been close at crunch time.They won at Oregon and knocked off Gonzaga this year so yes potential is there. Life isnt easy in Big 10 and do not discount having to adjust to long travel trips. I think their early season success put expectations on them that they were Big 10 title contenders but instead might be more 8th place material.
UCLA O and D metrics look a lot like what our program has been in the pastIt was much different seeing UCLA in the RAC and in person and how that style of play really mirrors most of what RU plays like under Pike. If you don't have playmakers against a Cronin type of team, you are going to struggle. So much of this level of basketball is about playmaking or doing something "off-schedule".
I think most of the UCLA and past Cincinnati fans have concerns with Cronin, are the lack of playmaking or unwillingness to allow some of their players to "go make a play". Sometimes being too rigid or structured handcuffs a lot of talent.
Some of this sounds familiar."Gave up 45 points in second half". "We have to play defense." "Can't stop 'em gave up 8 on the glass."
Some comments under the video--sounds like this forum--So does Cronin suck, or does the UCLA team suck, or are the players worried about the wildfire, which started the morning of Jan 7 (Michigan loss was Jan 8):
These players are playing hard. But the truth of the matter is there just not that good. Especially when they get in that half court offense. They have very few players that can create there own shot. And fast breaks in the Mick Croninv Era is non exisent.
It doesn’t help that Mick forces these guys to play iso ball and create something out of nothing. They’re not elite scorers, so it’s shocking how few offensive sets they run. Little to no off-ball actions and motion in the half-court to free up guys for better looks. This is not good offensive strategy and it’s appalling that Cronin hasn’t been able to adjust. Good coaches adapt to the abilities of their players.
Cronin has no accountablity. Our offense does the same thing on every possesion. We don't run any creative sets and have no designed plays.We're easy to guard with no creativity and no consistent 3 point shooting. Doesn't help that we almost never have the best player on the court in conference play.
Mick has always recruited good athletes who are tough kids who play hard and defend. When you do that, you are going to have some struggles. That's why the initial press conference where he called everyone out PUBLICLY made zero sense. In a locker room is one thing. In the media was head scratching. So it's not a surprise that it backfired. HE made this rough patch turn into a rough ROAD
I’m a Cincinnati Bearcats fan and I watch because I miss Mick. I know he deserves a certain amount of criticism, but he’s an excellent coach.
Cronin has no accountablity. Our offense does the same thing on every possesion. We don't run any creative sets and have no designed plays.We're easy to guard with no creativity and no consistent 3 point shooting. Doesn't help that we almost never have the best player on the court in conference play.
Cronin built this team. Wasted 2 years of recruiting and has nothing to show for it. It's mind blowing how Alford recruited far superior talent while losing than Cronin. I don't think he can relate to players or get the best out of them. Haven't seen a single player really develop under him.
great post.Last night was exactly what many on this board has been saying…get the defense to mediocre from atrocious and let the key guys go to work on offense. The defense was good enough to force the offense to miss some shots and then they finished the job on the glass.
last night everyone seemed to be comfortable in their role as well without much straying from it. Ogbole actually gave great, fairly confident minutes off the bench and Sommerville looked like a starting center. His effort was there all the way through on BOTH sides of the ball and just seems like he needed to be given the chance to prove it.
Hopefully this team doesn’t suffer from what Cronin is complaining about next game in thinking their individual offense is what won them the game.