In Reply to: I think the whole posted by ClockBlocker on January 13, 2026 at 17:35:44
I found several of your points interesting. That said, there are two in particular I’d like to address, the first being the question you raised about physical play.
The way I look at it, physicality shows up when a player is able to use his strength to gain an advantage over a weaker opponent. A good example is our rebounding issues. It’s not that our guys aren’t boxing out; it’s that they can’t hold their position once they do. Time and again, you’ll see our bigs get walked under the basket. As a result, they’re out of position, and the stronger player doesn’t need to go over the back, he simply goes straight up. There’s nothing our guys can do but watch.
Tyler, in particular, struggles here because of his weak lower body. He’s resorted to facing the rebounder and shoving him with both hands. Aside from the fact that this is a foul, even when he manages to keep the opponent out of prime rebounding position, his back is to the ball as it comes off the rim. It’s a real problem because all of our bigs-Jamerson maybe being the exception-have trouble holding their ground against most Big Ten frontcourts, which deliberately recruit players who may not be highly skilled but can bang inside.
This issue carries over to the backcourt as well. Take Dent, for example. He has the quickness to stay in front of most guards, but that only works if you can keep your body square. An offensive player needs just a sliver of an angle, something easily created with a change of direction. If you’re not strong enough to stop his forward momentum-which happens to Dent often-the offensive player simply takes you to the basket on his hip.
As for Mara, he has gotten much stronger, but he can still be bullied at times. What helps is that there are other players on the floor who can provide support. However, if you look at the Penn State game, a big reason Michigan lost was because Juric had his way with him. Juric scored 20 points in that game; he’s averaging nine on the season. Go back and watch it and you’ll see much of what fueled the criticism of Mara here at UCLA. That said, Mara is an excellent player who contributes in so many other ways that, in my opinion, he needs to be on the floor.
It will be interesting to see how we keep Penn State off the boards tonight, but this goes beyond rebounding. As you noted, basketball isn’t supposed to be a contact sport, but it is. Officials allow quite a bit, especially in the post. It’s common to see an offensive player back a defender down by going straight into his chest, then bumping again to create space for an easy jump hook. This happens to our players consistently. They aren’t strong enough to absorb the initial contact and hold their ground, so they get knocked back easily.
On other teams, defenders don’t move on that first bump. That forces the offensive player to go harder, making the plow into the chest more obvious. At that point, the defender does a little acting and draws the offensive foul.
Cronin need to bring in some physical players to compete not only in this league but in the tournament where many teams have these type of guys. That isn't to say there aren't other ways to beat these strong frontlines, take the way Alabama for example plays ball.