CSNbbs

so much gold here

Mick may not give a f aboot that $h!t but the UCLA fanbase sure will. Welcome to the real world, Mick. No homies to have your back in Westwood !

Quote:News reports that he wasn’t UCLA’s first choice as a new head coach. Message boards that balk at his lack of NCAA tournament success at Cincinnati. Pundits who believe his grit-over-flair style won’t win over a hard-to-satisfy fanbase.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t give a (expletive) about that (expletive),” Cronin tells USA TODAY Sports.

You better win the [expletive] first weekend of the dance or that [expletive] will make what you heard in Cincinnati seem like crickets chirping.

Quote:Cronin says he expects to coach a mix of chip-on-their-shoulder players who develop into All-Americans as he did at Cincinnati along with the five-star talent.

“We tried to recruit five-star guys at Cincinnati. We just never got them,” Cronin says. “Obviously, I came here for a lot of reasons. The recruiting is easier. The real reason is there’s a better chance to cut the nets down that you don’t have at other places.

I wish him all the best but a change of scenery doesn't always result in better outcomes. If it were easier, UCLA would have won more national chips than the 1995 season [Harrick] after Wooden's last title in 1975.

So much love for his alma mater that he took several shots about not being able to recruit to UC.

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He is a PR trainwreck.
You'd think UC or UCLA would've worked with him so he handled media and interviews better.
Just sucks at them.

(06-13-2019 08:31 PM)mptnstr@44 Wrote: [ -> ]He is a PR trainwreck.
You'd think UC or UCLA would've worked with him so he handled media and interviews better.
Just sucks at them.

How do you know they didn’t? Some people are really stupid and can’t get out of their own way.

(06-13-2019 08:31 PM)mptnstr@44 Wrote: [ -> ]He is a PR trainwreck.
You'd think UC or UCLA would've worked with him so he handled media and interviews better.
Just sucks at them.

He could be funny and approachable when there was never any questioning his teams/play. I'm really trying hard not to bash him but this interview piece was more about him deflecting criticisms and essentially saying he can do better at UCLA because of the brand, resources, and recruiting. Again, after Jim Harrick, no coach won a chip at UCLA. You have to believe Mick's leash will be a lot shorter [pardon the pun] at UCLA because he was their 6th choice for head coach. He's got his big boy pants on so best of luck to him.

I can see it now, Mick serving hot meals aka Sam Wyche to all the folks down on skid row in downtown LA before games.

For the elite programs, the tournament doesn't even begin until the second weekend. Making the S16 is pretty much the baseline expectation, and you are judged by how far and how often you advance from there. You are expected to amass the necessary talent by any means necessary; soliloquies about being clean are not an acceptable substitute.

My prediction is that his tenure at UC will be seen as the zenith of his career and his reputation will decline from here. I realize that many on this board disagree. We shall see.

OMG ! Who cares what Mick has to say?

lol lil' Micky

see how "Top 25 rankings are for fans", "Scoring is for fans", "Recruiting stars are for fans", etc etc etc al. flies in Westwood.....

(06-13-2019 09:59 PM)Former Lurker Wrote: [ -> ]For the elite programs, the tournament doesn't even begin until the second weekend. Making the S16 is pretty much the baseline expectation, and you are judged by how far and how often you advance from there. You are expected to amass the necessary talent by any means necessary; soliloquies about being clean are not an acceptable substitute.

My prediction is that his tenure at UC will be seen as the zenith of his career and his reputation will decline from here. I realize that many on this board disagree. We shall see.

This. But he negotiated a contract that will set him up for life. Thank god it's not on UC's dime. Great Job Mike!

He’s an angry guy. Good luck to him.

Sounds like he felt he was owed more by uc for always coming up short in the tournament.

It's very clear that Mick feels very underappreciated and is very defensive and full of excuses when discussing the shortcomings of his program. It's the worst side of Mick and it seems to really come out in this interview and hell, in many interviews after losses particularly after a shootout or at the end of the season.

Then you listen to him in an interview on Pardon My Take a few weeks ago where he's not on the defensive and just talking about basketball and life and you get the best side of him. That side comes out more than people admit and honestly I think its why many close to the program liked Mick so much. He can be funny, he works hard and is committed to the things he thinks you need to do to be successful. However, when he gets into the defensive, excuse making mode the worst comes out.

"For years, (Virginia) caught no breaks and then bang, they win it all. You put yourself in a position to win a title, and that’s what you can control."

So... all you have to do is put yourself in position and then hope you get the breaks? Wow. I had no idea.

I had thought he may have run out of excuses. I was wrong.

(06-14-2019 07:59 AM)Topcat Wrote: [ -> ]"For years, (Virginia) caught no breaks and then bang, they win it all. You put yourself in a position to win a title, and that’s what you can control."

So... all you have to do is put yourself in position and then hope you get the breaks? Wow. I had no idea.

To be fair, this is a reasonable point. HOWEVER, Mick's problem is his teams were in realistic position, with a true contender, one time. Nevermind that they lost in the second round, that team was the kind of team if he repeatedly put together would break through with deep runs. We've seen it with Villanova. We've seen it with Virginia. But both those programs had protected seed (Often 1 and 2 seed) type teams year after year.

Quote:As much as I want to win it all here, and I’m in Beverly Hills and all that, it’s not going to change who I am as a man and what I’m about,” Cronin says. “That’s what my players will see in me — not the coach who’s on TV yelling at his players, the one who cares about them individually and collectively. The one who will be honest with them and have their back.”

So... after a loss he won't throw the players under the bus? Seems like he did that a lot while at UC.