In Reply to: Updated UCLA roster preview posted by mh on June 22, 2024 at 11:05:00
Cronin's most obvious weakness as a coach -- and likely the reason that next season's team won't achieve very much -- is that he lacks the ability to remain composed when his team struggles or doesn't execute. For examples of coaches who do this well, look at Mark Few, Tony Bennett, Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, Tommy Lloyd, Kelvin Sampson, Nate Oats, Matt Painter, John Wooden, et al. When a player makes a mistake (which always happens because these guys are, well, quite young), Cronin seethes and often screams at the player or removes him from the game. This approach does not work in 2024, and it's arguable it's never really worked. Bobby Knight could not be a successful coach in today's game. The culture of college hoops has changed, but Cronin hasn't changed with it. It could be because he's simply too far along in his career, or it could be because he has a personality flaw that makes him ill-adaptive to competitive sports.
The reason we underachieved last year, starting the season ranked and finishing under .500, is because our coach is not a good leader and not a good teacher.
Here's hoping the next coach is a better fit for our program and for the current culture of college hoops.