In Reply to: Anyone else screaming at Cronin to put Mara in on defense posted by mh on February 14, 2025 at 21:29:56
I've not done this, writing about the negatives with Cronin. I like the guy - not so much on the court but like him outside of game action fine. He clearly can coach the game and is a strong member of the Rick Pitino coaching tree.
But.
1) His temper.
That's a trigger for him and it doesn't always work in his team's favor. Perfect illustration was last night. Aday Mara got caught up high in the key and IU snuck a guy in behind him for an uncontested layup. Had to be some fault by the guard involved - but Cronin turned angrily and waved three guys off the bench to get in that game NOW. Fortunately, no whistle blew right away which left that group out there a bit and led to a couple excellent plays including a score by Mara and a three pointer by Dylan Andrews before the next timeout when Mick could pull them off the court (where he pretty much forgot about Mara).
2) He gets locked into things
There are times Mack has absolutely carried his team the last two years. Those are largely times when the guys stop moving (cause first then effect) and the ball stops moving and the offense stops producing. Sebastian's aggressiveness and fearlessness is a plus in such situations as he has seemed the only Bruin who operates in that mode. BUT with 44 seconds to go iirc Mick called a time out to set up a play - a score would increase our lead from 2 to 4. After the time out you know what he ran - same thing he nearly always runs late in a game - Mack charging into a crowd of opposing players, throwing up a prayer and hoping he'll at least draw a foul. (Once it was Dailey and thank goodness it worked that time. All the other times it seems to be Mack. And the results aren't nearly as good.)
The offense worked pretty well last night (and the second half at Illinois) when we moved the ball around, involved all the players, moved without the ball in our hands and probed to find weaknesses in the defense.
In late game situations we inevitably give the ball to one guy, everyone else gets out of the way and stands around watching, and as the clock runs down that one guy - Mack - tries to be the hero and do it all by himself.
You got an advantage with that guy, great. His name is Jaime Jaquez, terrific. But a guard who is as apt to mess up a play as make it work? Not so good an idea. Certainly not every time (well, perhaps if we play opponents who don't have film rooms or scouts to know exactly what we're about to try to do....
Mack is slowly becoming a better player. He's slowly learning to be part of the offense not the guy the offense pays so everyone else can watch him do his solo thing. He's even made the occasional pass this season - not very often, but sometimes. But usually he's the guy who still just takes the ball, puts his head down and is going to drive it to the hoop no matter how many defenders are waiting to meet him there.
3. Kyle not Mara in late game situations? Must be a better Free Throw shooter, right?
Doesn't even require a comment.
Sorry for the rant. But it seems to me Mick makes his mind up about some players, some situations and then he defaults to them no matter what. Mara is more mobile and his game involves hedging, using his agility and size to get out and contest shots relying on his ability to get back in time to guard his man underneath.
I get it. This leaves openings - potential vulnerabilities- for a team to exploit that time before he can get back inside to guard the hoop. And with time running down and the game on the line, he trusts Kyle to hold his place more and stay inside.
Thing is Kyle is not 7'3" and Mara has come a long way.
I fully agree that Mara should have had more play in the second half and especially with the game on the line. In fact Mick at least had him in there some but that was just to guard the inbounds pass, make it harder on the passer. He does trust him to do that at least