In Reply to: It's not that simple. posted by ej on July 11, 2025 at 15:29:50
However, I do have two minor quibbles. The first—and more significant—relates to just how much Cronin actually adjusted. From my perspective, Mara received so many offensive touches simply because he was the best option on the floor. On defense, though, it felt like Cronin was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. To be fair, I don’t blame him for that. Cronin’s coaching success has largely been built on his defensive principles, and it wouldn’t make much sense to overhaul an entire philosophy for one player. I’m sure he believed he could get Mara to at least be serviceable within his system.
But let’s be honest: asking Mara to bump and hedge out to the three-point line is never going to play to his strengths. There are plenty of defensive schemes that would suit his skill set far better. So rather than pointing fingers, I think it’s more accurate to chalk this up to a poor fit—one that didn’t play to Mara’s capabilities on that end of the court.
My second (and more minor) point of contention is with the characterization of Mara as immature and blaming him for how things ended. As a UCLA fan, I understand the impulse to be upset when a player leaves. But in truth, I think Mara made a mature decision. Whether it ends up being the right one remains to be seen. The easier path would’ve been to return and hope for improvement. Instead, he clearly felt that more of the same wasn’t in his best interest. And let’s be real—there was a very real chance he’d continue to see limited minutes.