In Reply to: I Did Expect This Convo To Go Nowhere, As You Keep Moving posted by NYBruin on January 05, 2025 at 15:15:22
approaching this game from different perspectives. You say Cronin has had one super year at UCLA. That year was his worst conference finish (4th) in his UCLA tenure. I, on the other hand, think he has had 4 very good years and appears to be on to his fifth. One final four year, another where UCLA was in the final four discussion before injuries put that to an end. That was Cronin's best win loss year. One year where he would have gone to the tournament but it was called off. And another year when they went to the sweet sixteen. Last year was an anomaly when UCLA wasn't prepared for the NIL era that rendered Cronin impotent in the portal and he had to go oversees.
Even though, like many others here, I would prefer a more up tempo offense with lots of fast breaks and in the half court a lot of ball and player movement and plays designed to take advantage of certain mismatches or hot streaking players, I see the Cronin's offense can occasionally get 80+ points, but more importantly almost consistently keep his teams in the game. It's no small feat to place one's team in a position to win almost every game. In other words, Cronin's offense works for him. He recruits his type of players and then coaches them up to perform in his system. Any type of offensive scheme will look like genius if shots are made. Cronin's offense as designed gets his players plenty of good looks.
With what Cronin does, for 20+ seasons he has won at a pace that has him in the top 100 winning percentage of all college coaches of all time - both men's and women's. He indeed knows what he is doing. From my perspective, even if I would prefer a different offensive approach, he does what he does well. He is who he is. I think if we want a different offense or different recruits UCLA is probably going to have to get a new coach. I know some here might welcome that. I'm not of that opinion.
If that, as you say, is moving the goalposts - well, so be it. But I thought the goal here is to win. I think we probably all agree on that. And I think, in essence, that has always been what I've talked about.