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Old 01-05-2021, 09:55 AM   #181
cincyguy13
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Originally Posted by justinhub2003 View Post
UCLA has the 11th best offense in the country. What ever Mick is doing over there, he should probably keep doing.

They just beat top 25 Colorado without their best NBA prospect who is now done for the season.


Recruiting to the AAC is absolutely brutal. And John Brannen is starting to realize that. His first failure in recruiting was recruiting a good recruiter to come to UC.. He said na, Ill stay in the SEC and at Alabama. And now we have a full on Mid Major staff, like his number one guy is not a young cat, he is a career long mid major coach.

But people on this very board used to hammer Mick's recruiting. They said Mick couldn't recruit and I always said that recruiting to this busted ass misfit league is always going to be a challenge. John Brannen is getting a lot of No's now. and now that we suck and look pitiful, its going to be harder to get those recruits.

But man, what mick is doing in year 2 with players who are just average by UCLA standards, is pretty remarkable. The dude now has a top 11 offense and yet doesn't have a 5 star on the team which is not normal for UCLA.



My question is: Why are bama, ucla & Arkansas better than us and seemingly on a better projected path than us??? All 3 of those schools were in worse shape than UC when they all took over.

Why are those schools picking up faster than UC?
I don’t know about bama, and Arkansas but I know UCLA had 8 4 stars on their roster last year. I’d said that would be a good place to start if you are looking for a reason.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:00 AM   #182
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This is what I’ve been saying for two years. You don’t have to play cronin ball to win. You don’t have to win on toughness. Be good at basketball. There are other ways.
I think what you're quickly finding out is Mick adapts to his league, the players he get to play for his current and the style that works for that league.


UCLA is 11 in offense and 66 in defense

I think Mick adapted to playing in the big east and it being a tough league. It worked, it kept him competitive. And then when we got moved to the AAC, he kept that style up because it also worked in the AAC and it worked at an even higher level. Mick's success in this league now fundamentally changed the entire league to play that style. Houston made its success by Mimicking what Mick Did with toughness, defense and rebounding. USF followed suit. WSU always played tough and defensive.

Mick defined a league that John Brannen recruits, so far have struggled in.


Now, Mick is at UCLA, he has access to players who have far more offensive upside. So offensively they are much improved. But Mick does 2 things well no matter what and thats offensive rebound and protect the ball.


I think Mick did exactly what it took to win in this league and also did the best with what he could get to come to this league. And the consistency speaks for itself. He is the coach at UCLA because of his successes at UC.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:03 AM   #183
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I don’t know about bama, and Arkansas but I know UCLA had 8 4 stars on their roster last year. I’d said that would be a good place to start if you are looking for a reason.
But stars don't matter right? You told me the other day they don't. We saw those guys play and they sucked..

Here is the record of UCLA before Mick got there: 17-16


Mick's group of 3 stars and mid major beat that team by 29 frickin points. They sucked.

And the team that UC beat by 29 points was lead by Moses brown, Jaylen hands & Kris Wilkes, all 5 stars, who all decided to go pro and leave when Mick took over.


These were losing players recruited by a losing coach.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:08 AM   #184
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Originally Posted by justinhub2003 View Post
But stars don't matter right? You told me the other day they don't. We saw those guys play and they sucked..

Here is the record of UCLA before Mick got there: 17-16


Mick's group of 3 stars and mid major beat that team by 29 frickin points. They sucked.

And the team that UC beat by 29 points was lead by Moses brown, Jaylen hands & Kris Wilkes, all 5 stars, who all decided to go pro and leave when Mick took over.


These were losing players recruited by a losing coach.
When did I say that? Rankings matter. It’s more of a sure thing to have a 5 star and more of a outlier the lower you go.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:12 AM   #185
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But stars don't matter right? You told me the other day they don't. We saw those guys play and they sucked..

Here is the record of UCLA before Mick got there: 17-16


Mick's group of 3 stars and mid major beat that team by 29 frickin points. They sucked.

And the team that UC beat by 29 points was lead by Moses brown, Jaylen hands & Kris Wilkes, all 5 stars, who all decided to go pro and leave when Mick took over.


These were losing players recruited by a losing coach.
I’m fine with 3 star players at this level. They take time to develop. Mix in some higher ceiling / 4 star kids and you can win. That’s obviously where you have to start. That’s why it’s hard to get a finished product in a year and a half
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:13 AM   #186
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How is any of this relevant? How about if you spend the same amount of time and effort analyzing any of the other top programs out there who don't use Cronin's style. We have a much better chance of becoming like any of those than UCLA. Cronin is not our coach!
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:19 AM   #187
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How is any of this relevant? How about if you spend the same amount of time and effort analyzing any of the other top programs out there who don't use Cronin's style. We have a much better chance of becoming like any of those than UCLA. Cronin is not our coach!
I think some people only think there is one way to win. Only one way and one man that can do it.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:40 AM   #188
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How is any of this relevant? How about if you spend the same amount of time and effort analyzing any of the other top programs out there who don't use Cronin's style. We have a much better chance of becoming like any of those than UCLA. Cronin is not our coach!
Gonzaga is unattainable IMO

So which other non power schools have a consistent culture we could look too?

Houston ?
WSU?
VCU?


All those teams have an identity to survive with toughness when you can’t always get top tier talent.

And Gonzaga gets top tier talent, it took a long while to build that program up. You won’t get that same time at UC

Ohhh Gonzaga though. Going back to 2013, they’ve had a top 30 defense in every year minus one and even then, that was top 50

Gonzaga even had the #1 defense in the country a few years ago.



So like... if you want to be a big time program that isn’t up & down all the time then you gotta play defense. And not just defense. You need to play elite defense.


I’m convinced that John brannen couldn’t coach a top 10 defense with 5 kawai Leonard’s. They’d still get back doored, there still press only to allow a wide bucket in the lane.


When I say toughness I mean defense. Because defense Is about will. It’s about ego. It’s about trying hard every possession when your exhausted. You will never find a great defense that’s isn’t also tough.


Success in the non power leagues will always come back to defense and culture.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:44 AM   #189
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UCLA is a power school. If we're limiting ourselves to comparisons with non-power schools, let's stop talking about UCLA. Ok?
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:48 AM   #190
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UCLA is a power school. If we're limiting ourselves to comparisons with non-power schools, let's stop talking about UCLA. Ok?
UCLA is also in LA. One of the biggest cities in the world. Nicest weather, best history of a basketball school, and recruits go there without asking.
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