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Pac-12 Basketball: 3 bold predictions for 2019-20 season

By Brian Rauf

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 10: Mick Cronin speaks to the media after he was introduced as the new UCLA Mens Head Basketball Coach at Pauley Pavilion on April 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 10: Mick Cronin speaks to the media after he was introduced as the new UCLA Mens Head Basketball Coach at Pauley Pavilion on April 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 10: UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero introduces Mick Cronin as the new UCLA Mens Head Basketball Coach at Pauley Pavilion on April 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 10: UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero introduces Mick Cronin as the new UCLA Mens Head Basketball Coach at Pauley Pavilion on April 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

1) Mick Cronin will look like the right hire for UCLA – for now

UCLA‘s decision to hire Mick Cronin away from Cincinnati concluded one of the worst-run coaching searches in recent memory and, for the most part, the hire was met with skepticism. After all, it felt like the Bruins had already been turned down by 25 coaches (an exaggeration, but not a huge one) and Cronin wasn’t exactly being sought out by other programs.

I’m still not high on Cronin’s long-term potential in Westwood – but I also think this year will be the best he’ll have during his tenure with the Bruins.

For starters, this will be the most talent Cronin has ever dealt with. Former UCLA head coach Steve Alford was a great recruiter but terrible with actual X’s and O’s. Cronin was never able to lure top-end talent to Cincinnati (it remains to be seen how much of that is a reflection of Cronin’s recruiting ability and how much is due to it being Cincinnati and them playing in the American) but routinely got the most out of his teams.

Alford and Cronin are also vastly different when it comes to their focus – Alford was all about free-flowing offense and finding playmakers on that end of the court, while Cronin has made his mark on the defensive end.

The biggest problem with Cronin’s teams at Cincinnati was their consistent offensive struggles against quality competition. It’s why they never advanced past the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend since 2012. This Bruins team has talented players that are natural scorers and, if Cronin can get them to buy in to his hard-nosed defensive style, we could see them overachieve because of the balance it will bring them.

I still have questions about Cronin’s ability to succeed at UCLA long-term because of his recruiting (though five-star point guard Daishen Nix’s commitment is a good start in proving me wrong) and, ultimately, I think the Bruins will come to resemble his Bearcats teams that never made a long tournament run.

But, if Cronin elevates the defensive play of UCLA’s current offensively talented group, they could return to the NCAA Tournament.

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