In Reply to: After yesterday's game, I'm not sure what to think. posted by ej on January 04, 2026 at 10:02:15
Just to build on your very good summary of the 5 position, I want to expand on a couple of other areas.
At the 4, Tyler is a defensive liability. On a good night, he’s scoring only slightly more than what he gives up in the post. Yesterday’s first half was especially rough. I don’t usually focus on plus/minus, but it had to be ugly for him—and honestly, it wasn’t much better for anyone else.
At the 3, we’re getting virtually no production from Dailey. He’s not a bad player, but he’s clearly not in a comfortable position to score. Nothing is being run for him. He gets a few open looks from three, but his confidence is shot. The one positive is that we haven’t seen him consistently beaten on the defensive end by quicker wings.
When comparing this year’s team to last year’s, there are a lot of similarities. Many are calling for the small lineup we used last season, and we are playing it quite a bit again. It can be effective if Tyler is scoring, but as we saw last year, it has real limitations. Teams like Purdue and Michigan are going to overwhelm us. This team has had a clear ceiling all season. The attempts to bring in a true post defender haven’t worked out, as you noted. As for the 3 spot, think about what Kobe gave us last year. Brown is much closer to that level than what we’re getting from Dailey. This team has had much better guard play than last year.
I think Cronin should be starting Jamerson, Tyler, Brown, Perry, and Dent. Dailey should come in when Tyler is off the floor. Jamerson is really our only option at the 5. Yes, he commits some dumb fouls, but I don’t think he’s going to learn any better sitting on the bench. I also don’t think he’s been given a full opportunity to compete.
All that said, as you suggested, this looks like a middle-of-the-conference team and likely a bubble team. We’re 1–3 in Quad 1 and 0–1 in Quad 2. A losing streak like the one we had early in conference play last year would be devastating. Unfortunately, we’re staring at a tough road game against a borderline Quad 1 Wisconsin team, the following Quad 1 opportunity won’t be until Purdue—no need to spell out how that’s likely to go.
I agree with you that Cronin is a good coach, but I think it’s fair to start questioning whether he’s the guy to take UCLA to the next level. I’m already looking ahead to next year. Playing Jamerson over Booker could make it hard to bring Booker back, and there’s real potential there. Sitting Dailey also complicates his return. On the positive side, Sky’s injury should give Perry extended minutes, which is good for his development and his chances of returning. I like Perry.
Given the recent extension, Cronin is almost certainly back next year. It sure would help if he could land a dynamic wing who can create his own shot. He’s clearly missed on the high school five-star market, and those players are extremely hard to find in the portal. The elite ones get drafted, and the next tier commands huge money. He’s going to need two wings next year unless you’re banking on Freely, and I don’t see him being ready yet. He is bringing in a 6'8 post player, but frontcourt guys rarely contribute right away. Seems to me it doesn’t matter how good a coach he is if he can’t get the players.
The more I look at it, the more pessimistic I become.