In Reply to: Yep, he's counting on a decent amt of improvement, assuming posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on April 18, 2025 at 17:02:52
Mara is gone. UCLA put their money and the ball in Donovan Dent's hands. Mara's view of his role on the team and his pay for his role and that of Mick Cronin diverged. Not on the same page or even the same time zone going forward. He's gone. He isn't part of the equation going forward.
The question is what do you do with the guys we have going forward.
If you want to play Dailey at PF, that is also Bilodeau's best position (except against opponents who have no tall and decent centers). That means if we play Dailey at the 4 spot, where do we play Bilodeau? If also at the 4 spot, and if that is a priority for the HC, then the question is where do we play Dailey,
Question to be answered #1: how effective can Booker be at center? It all follows depending on that.
Bilodeau can move up for a bit a game and vs. teams without imposing front lines but Dailey has to move down a spot, to the 3, to get additional minutes when Bilodeau is at the 4.
I would love to see us rotating those three so Bilodeau and Dailey play the 4 (Bilodeau maybe 25 minutes, Dailey maybe 15 there) and Booker plays the 5 spot with Bilodeau subbing for him there perhaps 5 minutes to 8 or so a game and Dailey getting additional minutes at the 3 spot subbing for Brown.
But Mick will start the season with Dailey at the 3 spot (Brown off the bench there) and Bilodeau at the 4, Booker at the 5, Dent and Clark at the two guard spots. What worries me is Dailey may very well not be a perfect match for the wing spot but he may just be too good a player not to get a lot of minutes.
But Mara is gone. For whatever reasons, it's over. We have to deal with what he have going forward