Busting Brackets
Fansided

Pac-12 Basketball: 5 biggest questions for rest of 2019-20 season

By Tristan Freeman

ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mick Cronin of the UCLA Bruins (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mick Cronin of the UCLA Bruins (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

3. What does UCLA need to do for this to be considered a successful season?

Hope

A massive overhaul of their roster? Clinical hypnosis to get the players to play to their potential? Mick Cronin was not the shot in the arm that UCLA needed to get back to the top, and they may now be closer to Cal and Washington State than the other nine teams in the conference. As for this season, it would probably take at least nine wins, which is highly improbable with their current performance.

Cravalho

I’m so disappointed in UCLA. I was high (way too high) on the Bruins during the offseason and I completely regret it. Just hope to finish over .500 in conference play if you’re Mick Cronin and look forward to next season. You’re only (most likely) losing Prince Ali after this season and have a lot of good remaining pieces to build around for next season. I still think that Tyger Campbell and Shareef O’Neal will be the duo of the future for UCLA.

Dieckhoff

Buy a Delorean and call Dr. Emmett Brown? I don’t think Cronin was a bad hire for the program, but the chemistry just isn’t there with this roster. Honestly, though, there’s still time to turn it around. I don’t think they will, but I think that if they are able to stay around .500, they could be an interesting invite for the NIT.

Verboven

I don’t think that it’s possible for the Bruins to realistically turn this season into a “successful” one. UCLA is one of the most winningest programs in the history of basketball, and it looks like they are going to struggle to stay above .500 with Pac-12 play starting in January. Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati team’s identity was built on toughness and defense (ranked 161 in AdjD this year compared to 28th in 2019 with Cinci)*.

Home games in Fifth Third Arena were one of the toughest places to play, with the crowd screaming as teams were constantly held under their scoring average and forced into many turnovers night in and night out. I think that the only way the Bruins can call this a successful season is if the players buy into Cronin’s system by the end of this season. If this happens, I can feel safe saying that UCLA will compete in 2020-21.

Home/Pac-12