Bruin Articles April 2nd

I don't typically do this, but here's the Register story:

Mick Cronin had UCLA fans at “yes.”

It didn’t really matter that Cronin had not coached in a Final Eight during his 13 years at Cincinnati, or that he collected thick-muscled, NFL-looking guys who gobbled up loose basketballs better than they shot them. What mattered was that Cronin thought the UCLA job was something more than a 1961 Kansas City Athletics baseball card. He wanted it when nobody else seemed to.

But since it’s UCLA, “yes” would only last so long.

Cronin was charged with blending Cincinnati substance into UCLA style. Would either body reject the operation? Or would UCLA’s more famed recruits willingly agree to participate on the non-scoring side of the floor, the one that doomed Steve Alford’s and Lonzo Ball’s 2017 team against Kentucky in the Final 16?

In January of 2020, nobody was sure yet. That was when Cronin visited Etiwanda High, the cathedral of man-to-man defense in Southern California.

He went to a game by himself and he sat in the front row and he watched a very grown-up 6-foot-5 senior named Jaylen Clark, a transfer from Centennial High in Corona, play center because nobody else could.

“At the end of the night, Mick offered Jaylen a scholarship,” said Dave Kleckner, the Etiwanda coach. “That was it.”

To Cronin, Clark exhumed memories of cold, hard evenings against Memphis or Houston. He would bring a Bearcat ethic to a Bruin jersey. No re-programming was needed.

Clark hasn’t played a lot in this UCLA adventure, which moves to an NCAA Tournament semifinal against Gonzaga on Saturday. But when he does play, he rebounds, defends, takes charges and often is the best supporting actor. The night Cronin visited, Clark had eight points and six assists and was proud of it.

“He scored a lot for us and I think he’ll develop into that type of player there,” Kleckner said. “But I saw him against Washington State this year and he’s out there guarding the point guard, and keeping him in front of him. He’s guarding all five positions. I thought, ‘Wow, Mick has him doing what he wants him to do.’

“UCLA plays defense like we do. They don’t switch a lot and they stick with their principles. But really, all coaches know the X’s and O’s. Some people teach defense. Some people demand it. It often comes down to that.”

Ironically, the Bruins were winning with offense, not defense, for most of the season. But in five NCAA Tournament wins, their opponents are shooting 41.9%. Some of them have outshot UCLA, but it hasn’t really mattered because the Bruins have turned it over just 36 times. If you score against them, you have to score against all five. And if you don’t score against them, and if the time is getting tight, you will go close to 30 seconds before you see the ball again.

Meanwhile, Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard and Jaime Jaquez Jr. take turns playing one-on-one basketball and scoring, and the night’s hottest man gets most of the shots. Juzang scored 28 on Michigan, and the rest of UCLA scored 23.

Center Cody Riley fights the good fight underneath and point guard Tyger Campbell made the biggest plays against Alabama, but UCLA can play well for long stretches without either.

“They’re free offensively,” Kleckner said. “You earn that right when you play as hard as they do defensively.”

This should feel familiar to UCLA fans who remember their Final Fours, which isn’t hard because there’s only been five in the past 40 years. In 2006, the Bruins needed only 50 points to beat Memphis in the Elite Eight game. The coach was Ben Howland, who had trademarked Pittsburgh with steel-driving defense. He came to L.A., signed Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo, and gave them the same choice: Defend or sit.

It took Howland three seasons to get to the Final Four. But he didn’t greet the same talent that Cronin did at UCLA. The Bruins closed fast last season, too. They have won 31 of their past 43 games. The loss of Chris Smith was painful and traumatic, but it has given more basketballs to Juzang, who is averaging 21.4 points in the tournament and doesn’t need the 3-point line to thrive.

Smith is the only senior. Juzang and Jaquez might be playing themselves into the draft, to be sure, but the Bruins can now recruit to an identity. It is forged on a combination of Bearcat and Bruin, a beast that’s anything but mythical.
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Would Alford have offered a kid after watching him score 8 points in a game?