UCLA Basketball: Mick Cronin Details Plan To Build On 2023 Success
With roughly three weeks until the season starts, UCLA Men's Basketball Coach Mick Cronin is burning the proverbial midnight oil ahead of what appears to be a monstrous schedule.
The Baby Bruins have eight (!) new faces this year -- which happens to correspond with a loaded schedule featuring tournament games, neutral site clashes, tough non-conference home games, and one tough non-conference road game across the country.
A few days ago in normal Cronin fashion, he answered a plethora of questions in what turned out to be a mini-practice press conference. Thoughtful, insightful, and cheeky in his responses, you know you'll always get a great interview from Cronin.
Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times was there -- and he compiled a few noteworthy nuggets that speak to the process Cronin is overseeing.
Being a defensive coach, Cronin is big on 'training' his team to build proper habits. With such a young group, he echoed some of those challenges:
"They have no defensive habits and it’s not their fault. So, you can’t just think, ‘Well, we worked on that yesterday.’ It takes, like, sometimes two months, sometimes two years to get guys to habitually do the right things defensively -- on the ball, off the ball, blocking out, just all the fundamental things. So that’s why older teams tend to have the advantage."
- Cronin per LA Times
Cronin naturally touched on a number of topics -- whether that included praising Lazar Stefanovic and his maturity on the court, the overall game of freshman Brandon Williams, making it a point to talk about the shooting of combo guard Will McClendon, and also speaking to the skill level Aday Mara brings to the table.
He also lauded senior big man Kenny Nwuba. Nwuba is the only guy on the roster who played on the Cronin Final Four team a few years ago. While he's likely the third big on this team behind Bona and Mara, Nwuba holds a lot of value -- namely because he's mature, in great shape, and has past experience cutting his teeth against some really good players.
“Kenny’s the best nonstarter in America, is what I would tell you -- America’s backup, But … I’m not saying he’s not going to start this year.”
- Cronin on Kenny Nwuba
While Cronin admits that this team has a lot to work on before the season starts, the upside for the group looks to be immense. It'll take some time for this group to gel, but once it does (assuming it does), UCLA figures to be a tough out for anyone.
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