In Reply to: Re: What is your definition of competing for a title? posted by BruinsFTW on May 08, 2024 at 15:27:22
I do agree about this massive turnover being a leap for Cronin and that we could easily not gel until late in the season, if at all, again.
But, I have long said that Cronin needs to grow as a Coach, and learn to be better at assimilating these disparate new pieces if he wants to succeed at UCLA. He flailed this year, but was it the players or the Coaching?
Per Guardians of the Galaxy, it's a bit of both, IMHO. And because being able to grow a team from underclassmen to seniors has been less and less possible for top programs (and I'm including us there), he NEEDED to adapt in this fashion, and by all accounts he's done very well.
BUT, he also needs to develop into a better offensive Coach. Even the extremely experienced Campbell/JJJ teams had some massive offensive holes to address (for 1, we haven't been a good fast-break team since Cronin arrived, it's like we don't even practice it, back door cuts and moving without the ball have also been rarely seen, maybe due to fear of turnovers).
I'm hoping he can continue to improve, and that talented newcomers don't suffer the same fate as Berke, or Watson, or even Bailey (who really didn't shine until Clark got injured and we had to give him more freedom).
I still think Cronin is a very good coach, but if we want to compete for championships, he's going to have to make a leap to great. He's not there yet.