In Reply to: I think he'll be fine - when he plays posted by barrya on April 12, 2025 at 11:35:38
But his upside is tremendous. Just how much he improves is mostly up to him. Even if he's less than stellar in his work ethic he is still going to improve. There's a maturation process that moves along even without stringent measures. We saw the difference between his freshman and sophomore seasons. We'll probably see as much improvement in his junior year. If he works hard we may see even greater improvement.
I think it was unfortunate that Mara left. We don't know the ins and outs about what actually occurred. Perhaps there was nothing to be done. Perhaps it could have been avoided. Who knows, but still IMO it was unfortunate.
I think if I had been Cronin in this situation I would have tried to devise systems to try and incorporate and accommodate Mara more fully. I think the offense should have or should in the future go through Mara. There may be a lot of bumps along the process but I think the gamble could have been worth it.
In return I think I would have required Mara to make more of a commitment to his regimen to improve and to the team in general. In other words - stay in LA, work on his strength, and be present while new schemes were put in place. Maybe that's were the problem was. Who knows.
Mara isn't the second coming of Kareem but IMO he is a significant talent potentially to justify taking a gamble on him. I'm sorry to see him go, maybe Cronin has no choice, right now he isn't anywhere near where he could be IMO, and I guess we'll see how this plays out.
Mara is a double edged sword for someone like Cronin. In some ways they're not a good match. Both could have benefited from both of them leaning toward each other and meeting somewhere in the middle. Mara presented an opportunity for Cronin, but he was also a problem to be solved. Mara would have been a better all around player under Cronin's tutelage but there would have been some significant growing pains. Perhaps it's better all the way around the way it played out. It's a moot point now. We'll see what happens.