In Reply to: Only some slight disagreements... posted by Cachorro on September 19, 2024 at 13:12:44
I completely agree on Howland. I don't think he should've been fired, and I think that decision set the program back. You don't fire a coach who goes to three straight FFs. You just don't. I think doing that may've scared away other, better coaches who might've leapt at the chance to coach UCLA.
I think Alford was up and down. I like Alford as a person, and I think he was a good ambassador for UCLA hoops.
One of the low points of UCLA hoops, in recent history, was Etienne spitting on fans. For some reason, this incident has stayed with me as a stain on our program, and since it happened on Cronin's watch, it's made me wonder if Cronin himself is doing enough to teach his players about appropriate conduct. Coupled with Cronin's own misconduct (on the sideline, at press conferences), this incident just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. And Etienne remained on the team after that. He wasn't really disciplined in a meaningful way, imo.
As I've said repeatedly, Cronin was not a guy on UCLA's coaching radar until multiple others said no. He was either on our B or C list. He was a name that came up over the years when vacancies arose at midwestern schools, but hardly ever the Pac. In fact, I would assume that Cronin never interviewed for Pac openings at Oregon, Arizona, Washington, Stanford...all schools that had openings while Cronin was at Cincy. I've always seen Cronin as a decent coach, but certainly not a great one. Cincinnati was good under Bub Huggins for many years, and then Cronin inherited a program that was 25-8 the year before he got there. Cronin didn't reach the NCAA tourney at Cincy until his 5th season there. At UCLA, he inherited an even more favorable situation, beginning his tenure with guys like Jaquez, Campbell and Singleton already on the roster. That UCLA team was trending upward, and Cronin basically just had to figure out sub patterns and get the guys to play defense. Which he did.
But in the years since, I've been increasingly dismayed by Cronin's temperament, in-game decision making, and overall management of the program. He often blames his players publicly, rather than accepting responsibility for losses. And now he's built a roster out of disparate pieces that may or may not fit together. This is maybe the most mysterious Bruin team I can remember for a while.
Having said all of that, I don't expect Mick Cronin to be the head coach at UCLA much longer. He's always been in a little over his head, I don't think he has the intellect or disposition to make UCLA a national contender again.