(05-13-2019 12:41 PM)TubaCat Wrote: (05-13-2019 12:35 PM)stxrunner Wrote: I'll never understand why some people have such unabashed loyalty for people that had little to them.
I think it's ok to be annoyed at people who didn't appreciate what Cronin did for this program. I think it's weird for anyone to be so fiercely defending a guy that they go after our current AD who's seemingly only crime was not stroking Cronin's absolutely massive ego after one of the worst NCAA tournament losses in history. Because that's what happened.
Everyone seems to have 'sources' and are beating around it. I'm just going to put it out there. Cronin wanted a solid raise and extension on his deal after the Nevada loss. Bohn offered one that had significant performance based incentives (most of Cronin's raise would have come by advancing in March). Cronin was extremely surprised and insulted by that offer. He was done with UC and gone from that moment, especially since Bohn and him already had a history. If it wasn't UCLA, it would have been Arkansas, Virginia Tech, (etc) heck now even Michigan. Cronin was not going to be the coach of the UC program in 2019-2020. He put almost zero effort into scouting the 2020 class and it showed in our target list.
I personally don't see what Bohn did wrong. If Cronin had made a run in that tourney with that team, Bohn, with the support of the major donors, would have given Mick the massive contract (by UC standards) that he wanted. To ask for it after the disaster in Nashville was so tone deaf, I can't believe Cronin actually did it.
So I ask again, why in the world do we have some people in our fanbase who are so loyal to a guy that didn't have much for them in the end? Unless you are getting your facts from Dan Cronin, I just don't see it.
Agreed, on all counts.
#BohnDidNothingWrong
I mostly agree. I do think the primary reason Mick left could be summed up as a lack of appreciation - both in terms of his contract relative to the market and in the eyes and words of some number of particularly vocal UC fans and perhaps his AD. And obviously those are ego-driven motivations, but that doesn't mean they aren't also valid.
I do believe there had to be some sort of middle ground that would have made everybody (aside from the Cronin haters or whatever they like to be called) reasonably happy and also provided the most likely path to continued and even enhanced success for the UC basketball program. I think that's more on Bohn (who I also support) for not trying better to get there but I also acknowledge the fact that in the end, it was much more Mick who chose to jump than Bohn/UC pushing him out. PERHAPS there was a very slight nudge, but it wasn't a push. In the end, Mick CHOSE to leave UC and by extension, us.
As far as those UC fans hypercritical of Mick, of course, we all want to UC do better at everything from recruiting to long tourney runs. But I think we supporters were also more acutely aware that the grass very often isn't greener. And changing from Mick makes both the current and desired level of success less likely without Mick than it would have been with him, generically speaking. Of course, there were hypothetical if perhaps unrealistic, exceptions (e.g. going out of the box with a guy like Pitino who would have made that desired success more likely). But I do think we got the best conventional candidate out there for the UC job in Brannen. My take is that he's more likely than not to bring us at least slightly worse results than Mick did, but he's also got a real chance (albeit slightly on the unlikely side imo) to do as well or better than Mick did. In any case, he deserves our support (and he has mine) to show what he can do for at least a year or two if not longer before passing judgment. But it's also fair to note that the grass is clearly browner than it was a few months ago and that it didn't necessarily have to be that way so it's hard not to have some "I told you so" feelings as well. I think we all hope it's a case of taking at least one step back before taking several forward.
So even though I was a Mick supporter, I can still see both sides and hopefully retain some level of objectivity. I 100% appreciate the job Mick did for us at UC, but I'm still on the fence about how much, if any, I'll be rooting for him to do well at UCLA. However, I'm 100% rooting for Brannen to do as well or even better than Mick did. I'm dejected to understand that as well as next year, in particular, seemed to be setting up for Mick to thrive, it's probably not going to be that way under Brannen for reasons not fully under his control. But I'm eager and hopeful to see what Brannen can do anyway and I hope he has a very long and very successful tenure at UC.
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LoJo in the transfer portal
