In Reply to: Hope this ain't Franco posted by UCLA91 on June 19, 2024 at 12:47:40
These extravagantly optimistic forecasts for UCLA next season are entertaining but mostly untethered to reality.
First and foremost, we're talking about a team coached by Mick Cronin, a guy who has never had a big season when his roster was mostly new and unfamiliar with his system and style.
Secondly, even setting aside the Cronin factor, it's very unusual in college hoops for a team with so many guys who've never played together before to do big things. Yes, some of our guys are older, hopefully more mature players than we had last season, but the fact remains that these guys will be getting to know each other for much of the season. I would expect things to start to gel by 2025-26.
Lastly, the Big 10 is an immeasurably more difficult league than we are used to. Now, we have at least five teams to worry about, whereas in the past it was usually just one or two (some combination of Arizona, Oregon and Colorado -- most recently). I do think we'll eventually adapt to the tougher competition and more burdensome travel schedule, but it's a little foolish to actually expect this to happen in season number one.