In Reply to: Giving Cronin a pass ? * posted by jerseybruin on May 10, 2026 at 21:41:09
He clearly didn't play Mara enough that last season he was here but there was at least a verbal agreement between the HC and the player before the player took off for him in the summer and when he returned there was no longer any agreement at all. And Cronin didn't renege on it.
So certainly Cronin erred - in not playing him enough to satisfy him, a lesson Cori Close learned the hard way season before last. As ej and traprh have been discussing, it's just what the game is today in the absence of governance (when any time a rule is enforced, the player just goes to court and finds a local judge to rule in his favor. And I agree with Ed's terrific post below on what the NBA's emphasis on stars and individual play has created in the minds of kids today - it's all about offense and it's all about individual showmanship and ability - that's how the money is made.
Cronin has a lot of adapting to do and it remains to be seen if he's willing or able to do it. But he stayed focused on building a team concept and he had an understanding with Mara before the kid left for Spain so that's on Mara (and perhaps on May and Michigan). And both those things can be - and in my view are - true