Bruins' Cronin Has Done Fabulous Job Keeping Role Players 'Ready'

The UCLA Bruins (13-6) recently received an unfamiliar pair of impact performances in their upset win over the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (15-4) at home on Tuesday night. A big reason for the role players' success is Coach Mick Cronin's ability to keep each guy ready to go at a moment's notice.

Bruins sophomore center Aday Mara had the best game of his UCLA career, pouring in a career-high 22 points with five rebounds and two blocks. After not playing a single minute in their previous game against Rutgers, Mara made sure to take advantage of the opportunity he received.

Following the win, Mara spoke to the media and was asked what Cronin said to him before the game and how that went into his career performance. He mentioned the dominant matchup that he had over the Badgers' 7-0 center Steven Crowl and the message that Cronin sent to him pregame.

"To be ready," Mara said following the win. "Because I didn't play last game, so he [Cronin] just told me to be ready this game. That it was a good matchup with No. 22 [Crowl] and I [was] just ready to play today. I get in the game, they find me, my teammates, and I was ready to score, so it was good."

The other standout performance came from junior forward William Kyle III, who did not see the floor a ton in this game but made the game-winning play to seal the win. Kyle played just 6 minutes with zero points but came in for the final defensive possession with 30 seconds left and a 2-point lead.

Kyle rose up and blocked the game-tying shot from Wisconsin's John Blackwell and the Bruins went on to earn the upset victory. Prior to practice on Thursday, Kyle was also asked what transpired on that game-winning play. He credited Cronin for a very similar message that he gave Mara.

"Coach Cronin, he had came up to me at ... halftime, he just told me to stay ready, just be ready to come in there and try to make a play," Kyle said. "So, my mindset was just what he said, staying ready and just making sure that whenever my team needs me, to go out there, and luckily, I was able to make a play a big play for the game against Wisconsin. That's just kind of how it worked out."

Cronin's ability to prepare his guys for big moments even during recent struggles is why he is such an elite coach. He made an effort to talk to both Mara and Kyle personally and let them know that their time was coming and when it did, they performed. That is the definition of good coaching.

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