February 26, 2020 • 34 mins
Pac-12 Networks’ Mike Yam and Don MacLean interview UCLA head coach Mick Cronin. Cronin talks about what has led to UCLA’s recent turnaround (2:17) and how the team has had to adjust to a new coaching staff without senior leadership (7:10). He also talks about simplifying things to eliminate excuses (10:30) and how proud he was of his team limiting turnovers in their win over Colorado (17:00). Cronin also discusses how the strength of the Pac-12 as a conference can help the Bruins get into the NCAA tournament (24:30). Lastly Cronin sends out a recruiting pitch by showcasing the Westwood weather in February (27:38).
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Ah, Jill right the ball,baby, let's go. This is inside
the Pack twelve podcast. Put ona pair of your headphones and fall baggets
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(00:24):
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(00:45):
go far and you're on the storesto take you from conference play all the
way to the final four with somehoop kind of swords, just walking you
through the game. I hear yourhost Mike Gamming the boar dumb acclaim,
hey talk to couldn't be more excitedto talk to our game us today they
are on an absolute tear in thesecond half of conference play, not only
(01:06):
rising into a conversation for a firstround buy in a top four seed in
Vegas. But the way UCLA isplaying right now, they're starting to grab
some attention from a lot of thebracketologists kind of talking the part of the
conversation for the NC Double A Tournament. Some opportunities still remaining on their schedule,
but they won five straight games nineof their last eleven, and the
head coach of the Bruins, mccronin, joins us here on the podcast.
(01:30):
Coach, congrats on the success andthanks so much for spending some time with
us. Well, thank you,guys. It's what an honor. I've
never been on a show with thatkind of opening. You guys got your
own rap song. Yeah, Donwrote the lyrics. Dot Don's the one
who freestyled, and then we justhad someone with a better voice actually lay
it down. So, uh,I get a guy. Gotta get with
(01:51):
your guy. Man, he canhelp us on our recruiting ever produce that.
It's good to be Hey, it'sit's good to be on a role.
You know how it is. We'rerather win and lose. Man.
It's amazing too. Your friendship basegoes way up to when they're winning.
So why Mick, I guess that'sthe that's the easiest question. You know,
what what What's what's turned around foryou guys in the last month.
(02:15):
Uh, just experience. You know, I think I tried. I always
operate from the from the back pedalfrom okay. Uh, kids want to
win. Guys want to win.Uh, First they don't know how to.
Then they know how to, butthen you're not you're not quite tough
enough or experience enough, smart enough. And we've just we've gained experience and
(02:39):
through that we we've take better shots, we make less mistakes. Um,
we don't get tired, is easy. We don't give in when the other
team drives and impose their will onus. Uh. So you know that
that's really been the difference for usand on this run. And you know,
Jayalen didn't play against her on thestate and Tiger didn't play against the
(03:00):
organ played four minutes. So arewe're missing and you're missing key guys and
both of the losses we've had inthe winning nine of eleven. So just
proud of the guys and their commitmentto doing what it takes to win.
We've had more you know, donyou watch us, So we've had a
lot of different guys step up forso it hasn't really it hasn't really been
(03:21):
one guy so to speak. Uh, just we have so many freshmen and
sophomores, and then Chris Smith asa young junior. You haven't just turned
twenty and you know, being abit player his first two years at UCLA.
So it's just the progression that thatthat we've been on. But I
give kids a lot of credit becausethis day and age, it's there's a
(03:42):
lot more people that pack it inthat than there are to dig in and
get better and fight and turn yourseason around. So give my players a
lot of credit. Coach. Iremember being down on campus with you before
the season started. We sat down, we did an interview, and I
remember one of the questions I askedyou was about expectations in year number one,
and I remember you telling me it'sabout setting the foundation and having guys
(04:03):
do the things that you want themto do, and it was still a
work in progress. How how wouldyou assess kind of the goals of the
season and have they changed? Knowingthat all of a sudden things seem to
be clicking for your team here downthe stretch, Well, just stay focused
on the process, not get caughtup in the results while we were struggling,
(04:24):
and just try to continue to demanda certain attitude and a certain effort
level from our players and teach guyshow to play smart. And then obviously
there's been adjustments. I mean,as Tiger has gotten the knee brace off
and gotten better, you know,he has the ball on our offense a
lot more, and for us figuringout who can do what, and you
(04:49):
know, some of that's got tobe it's got to be worked out.
We had some guys probably dribbling thatdidn't need to be dribbling, had some
guys shooting it maybe didn't need tobe shooting. And I think our role
definition and just our selection of shotsthat we take has really improved on the
(05:09):
offensive end. Because a lot's beentalked about our defense and how we've improved
defensively over the last ten eleven games, but our shot selection and our execution
has really improved on offense. Youknow, take me back, Mick to
the beginning of the season. Ithink you and I've talked about this that,
and I've been around a long timeand I don't think I've ever seen
a coaching change with such a drasticapproach to the game, meaning that the
(05:33):
previous coach and his staff were kindof offense based and offense oriented and you're
a complete one eighty from that whereit's it's defense based. We got to
dig in. And I know youhaven't had a lot of coaching jobs,
but how difficult was that to changethe mentality? And I guess the second
part for me was, now thatyou've started winning, are they believing in
(05:54):
what you're saying even more because they'reseeing the success. Whenever you whin,
it reinforces the things you're teaching.So that's great that we're that we've been
able to turn it around. Andyou sit there and show them and it's
in game as well. Don Soyou know, like the Colorado game,
we're winning early first TV time outand we had six deflections defensively, uh
(06:16):
and next for the next twenty minutes, we had one deflection and we're on
the verge of getting blown out.And you know, I'm pointing to the
deflation. You know, we keepit on on the You see me holding
that board on the top of it, and every the guys know we're sitting
there with seven deflections. Were twelveminutes left in the game. You know,
that that's this isn't us. Youknow that this is not who we
(06:40):
are. This you know, weknow how we went that this board doesn't
change. We got no chance.In the last twelve minutes of the game.
We got fourteen deflections and we shutColorado down and we're able to execute
and play a second half with noturnovers, which was amazing. Um.
So yeah, definitely the guys knowbecause they're there, they think about it
now. Um. And like Idefend the players because I don't know,
(07:03):
you know, I wasn't here,so it's hard for me to say we
all do things differently. But Ithink for our young guys, they didn't
play with veteran players like like youyou know, they didn't walk in and
there, you know last year,and Aaron Holliday wasn't here, who's a
warrior, and you know, playedin r n SA tournaments I think,
(07:25):
or at least two in those threeyears. So they just didn't have the
senior leadership of you know, here'syou got to play hard, just how
to practice, let alone how toplay in a game. You know,
I think that their reference point justwasn't there, you know, for what
what will work is? I mean, so there was so many things that
we had to learn, and that'swhy I think some guys, you know,
(07:47):
guys like David Singleton getting healthy hasbeen great for us because he's an
old soul. I mean that David, he wants you to coach him hard.
He plays hard. Uh, he'sall about team and leadership. I
mean, he's a tremendous glue guyin your program that can make shots.
And then obviously Haime Haakes has beenthat for us all year. So you
(08:09):
know, I'm talking about getting youknow, usually your tough role guys or
your veteran guys that have been around, But for us, we just had
to do it with our younger players. That's just the facts of the situation
we're in. And teaching Cody andJail and how to be rough and tough
on the interior, you know,teaching them how to defend without filing in
the post. That's something we reallystruggled with earlier in the year. Then
(08:33):
you've got to double and now you'regiving up threes. We've gotten much better
with our post defense. We don'thave to help as much, much better
with our on the ball defense.We don't have to help as much because
help is death. You know,this day and age, you know everybody
can shoot it. You know today'skids skilled. They allow players to carry
the ball when you're trying to guarda dribblers, it's a comedy show.
(08:54):
I wish I could go back andplay the way they let guys dribble the
ball nowadays. But so so therereally is. There's so many areas of
things we had to teach these guys. That's why I defend them because the
more we got into it done,the more I realized that they just didn't
know and it was just going totake us time to build habits, to
just just to build how important itis to listen to the scouting report and
(09:18):
then be able to impart it duringthe game, and how how much that
impacts whether you win or lose thatyou know what, I'm trying to guard
a guy that can score h andhe's your garden legitimate guys in this conference
now there's some serious offensive players.You better know who you can help off
(09:39):
of, and you better know what'sgoing to give you a chance to be
able to guard. Some of theseguys are so good. So that's been
a big part of it as well. Coach. I'm listening to you talk
about the teaching that's involved, andyou said, hey, you know,
we got to the point where theguys just didn't know. And I started
to think about, you had suchsuccess at Cincinnati and you were there for
a long period of time. We'reable to work guys into your system that
(10:01):
we're you know, and like theykind of knew that when they get there,
like all right there there, yougot to teach them, and you're
gonna learn. All of a sudden, you got a brand new squad that
you're that you have to go andteach. Did have you adjusted the approach?
Did you find that maybe what youwere doing at Cincinnati because guys are
more familiar, there was maybe lessteaching at the end, and now all
of a sudden a UCLA right fromthe start, You're like, WHOA,
(10:22):
Like, how come these guys don'tknow? Did you adjust your philosophy and
how you do things? Well,we definitely simplified some things. You know.
We talked about it as a staff, like, you know, we
have to eliminate excuses. I thinkwhat you got to do for young people
in all walks of life is eliminateexcuses. It's too easy, it's too
(10:43):
easy to grab them if they're hangingright in front of you. So we've
had to change some things defensively towhere we couldn't make to where guys couldn't
have an excuse and where maybe whatwe were doing day they could say,
well it's too complicated. Well okay, well so we're gonna really this is
going to be real simple. Okay. So yeah, we did do that.
(11:03):
We definitely made some adjustments to tryto simplify some things to eliminate excuses.
Uh. I think that's a bigthing that you have to do,
uh with with players, you can'tgive them an out. Uh. You
know, some guys they're there's they'regoing to grind. But you know,
other kids got bad habits, sothey'll find, you know, find a
way to point the finger at somebodyelse. So we made some changes definitely,
(11:26):
um on the defensive end in particular, and some on the offensive end.
But it's a good point because youknow, Cincinnati, you got two
things. You got veterans teaching theyoung guys and in the locker room when
you're not around telling them what theyyou know, you need to listen.
You know, this is how wedo things. This is why we win.
(11:50):
There's a reason we win here,and you don't have that when you
do, when you take over aprogram, you don't you don't have that
person in your locker room. Youdon't have anybody like that in your locker
that that believes in you, youknow. So it's just going to take
some time. And then the secondpart of that, it's just habits.
Like don know's as a player,you've been taught a certain way and now
a sudden somebody's going to tell youyou got to do it differently. It
(12:13):
takes time to build habits. Soit's it's definitely twofold. Some of its
physical training of habits. The otherthing, like you say, is just
you know, the mental part ofsimplifying it, you know, teaching it
and so the guys actually know whatthey're doing because it's their first time doing
it, you know. So nextyear, obviously you would think that it's
(12:35):
going to be a little bit moreadvanced because you've got guys that have been
trained on how you do things.Speaking of how you do things, Mick,
where were you at in your careercoaching career when you said yourself,
all right, this is how Iwant my teams to play well. And
it's funny you say that my firstyear is the head coach. I inherited
(13:00):
a team that had won but didn'twin the title at Murray State. But
they had a good team, andI inherited a bunch of veteran players,
signed a few junior college guys,uh brought that. I brought in and
won twenty eight games my first yearand went to the NCAA tournament and won
our conference tournament. All that stuff. Eighty two points a game, second
(13:22):
the nation, and assist in fieldgoal percentage. And you know, I
thought I was the second coming withcoach Wooden. I mean, if I
could teach offense, I mean Iwas, you know, I was at
guru. Them guys graduated, Myone returning senior had a misshapp and got
(13:43):
dismissed. My senior point guard.None of that offensive stuff that we were
running. It just didn't work anymore. So you know, it's really player
based. I think, uh,what you'd love to be able to be,
you know, number one in efficiencyon both ends of the floor,
I mean, no doubt about it. But to really get to the crutch
(14:05):
of your question, I mean,when you can't if you can't have the
best players. If you don't havethe best players, and I've never been
in a situation, part of thereason I came to you said they hoping
to be able to get the bestplayers. But when you don't and your
background is coaching at places where youdon't have the best players, how do
you win? Well? Tough?You better be tough, and you better
(14:26):
eliminate mistakes, and you better beyou better not give up easy baskets.
Um. You know it says it'snot that you don't want to have guys
that can make every shot. AndLord knows you can't win if you can't
score the ball. So efficiency isimportant on offense. But you know,
I will say this in whole honesty, I would not I don't care how
(14:46):
good you are on offense. It'lljust never be in my DNA to coach
a team that doesn't defend. Youknow, I just don't. I don't
see how you could ever win thatway, you know, I just don't.
You know, I watch watch theNBA, you know, and I
have talked down It's like, Idon't know how the Rockets ever really win
it the way they're playing, right, you know, I know they're fun
to watch and obviously I'm rooting forRussell Westbrook. He's been great to me
(15:09):
since I got the job at UCLA. But I just don't know how you
ever cut and cut the nets downif you don't have to defend, and
then you're really in any sport.Glad you bring that up because Don told
me something before I went down tocampus about watching your practice mick Um,
and you sort of touched on itwhen you reference the Colorado game and the
deflections. But the things that you'retracking in practice to encourage defense deflections is
(15:33):
one of those things. What aresome of the other things that you're doing
around the team to not only teachwhat you want on the defensive side,
but to kind of hammer home whatyou expect from them. Well, we
have a turnover chart up on thewall, and the guys knows they run
out of turnovers. They got toget on the line and run and it's
it's visible. So, uh,you know, Cody Riley didn't like to
(15:54):
run, so he sees that hesees them running out of turnovers, he
starts telling guys they better slow downand take care of the ball. His
internal pressure is better than it's thancoaching pressure. You know when your teammates
are doing it, and it's amazing. It doesn't matter if you're coaching fourth
grade or UCLA. Guys don't liketo run in practice. I mean,
(16:17):
it's just amazing. The threat ofrunning to get guys to do something right
as amazing. You think that theyjust try to take care of the ball
because they're there, you know,that's how you play basketball. But that
thread of that line is amazing.Man. You put them on it and
they don't like doing it. Soif you keep turning it over, you're
gonna make me run. I'm gonnahave something to say to you. So
(16:37):
it's great that it holds them accountable. But we coach rebounding. You know,
it's not just defense and deflections.I would tell you the four things
that we focus on defensively would beour communication. That would be one when
we focus on our defensive rebounding,We focus a lot on our offensive rebounding,
and the last thing be our offense. You know, you got to
(17:00):
take care of the ball. AndI was as proud as I've been all
year of our guys to be ableto play at Colorado. In the second
half of the game against a teamthat's as good as they are. I
mean, they're really good. They'rereally well coached, and a sold out
senior day. To be able togo in there and have no turnovers in
the second half when you theoretically that'swhen he would be somewhat fatigued. And
(17:23):
to be able to play that wayon offense and take care of the balls
probably the thing I'm probably most proudof on the whole season so far for
our team. Mick. You mentionedCody Riley. I did your Washington State
game a week and a half ago, and I was saying during that game
that you know, yes, there'sa lot of stuff, and you guys
are teaching a lot of stuff,and you want things done a certain way,
(17:44):
but but sometimes it comes down to, you know, just play hard,
man, and if you play hardthings good things will happen. And
in that game, I swear itwas like a perfect example. Cody Riley
decided he was going to play hisass off and he affected it, affected
the game and want it for youguys in overtime period, end of story,
and people thought about coaching, youknow, he just said, you
(18:07):
know what I'm getting There was tworebounds. Don he just he just outmanned
the guy and now he got offensiverebounds. He just outmanned the guy,
got it and put it back in. I mean, you know, at
some point, uh, it's aboutJimmy and Joe, not not the xneo,
right, I mean, you knowit's it's it's about you know that
(18:27):
Don and Tracy, you know,not the xing and the somebody got to
just go get the ball and putit in the basket or somebody just got
to get a bay. They're notscoring, you know, you try to
bring it in here, I'm blockingit, end of story. You know,
Jalen Hills had a few trips likethat. Defensively, Tody had a
big, a big, huge blockthe other day as well. So I
(18:47):
agree with you totally, you know, but teaching guys how to play hard,
to me is the difference between collegeand NBA coaching. NBA coaches strategized.
College coaches, to me, thereal, the real the college coaches
that when the most their teams playextremely hard all the time, and when
you see them on your schedule,you know it's going to be a dog
(19:11):
fight because they're they're they're just notgoing to let you beat them. They're
going to just refuse to lose,and you're gonna you're gonna be in for
World War three when you play,which are tall state? Why Greg Marshall
wins all the time? Talent changes, but certain programs win all the time.
They went at different levels depending ontheir talent level. And you know
(19:33):
the guys that are on their teamthose in certain particular years. But Tom
Izzo and Michigan State they win consistently. And you would say because the way
Don says it right, they playtheir ass off, So I think I
agree with you, you know.And and the other thing is I think
Cody's been He's worked. It doesn'tshow the fans even when you're not winning,
(19:56):
is the work that's being put in. And when we were struggling,
we were still practicing hard. Guysare still trying to get better. It
just didn't manifest itself in the victory. It took time to do that for
us. But you know, Cody'sa guy you bring him up. I
mean, he puts his time inthe guys into he's always he's one of
the first in the gym every dayand he's the last to leave. And
(20:19):
that's you know, he and Jailand Hill don guys are always in the
gym. So I'm happy when guyslike that have success. You're happy for
him. And to be honest withyou, talking about our offense, you
got a lot more options when youcan throw Cody the ball and you know
he's going to get baskets. He'seight for twelve in Colorado, he's ate
for twelve. You know, well, you can go down there and get
(20:41):
paid and he can get it upand he's not turning it over, he's
finishing, and then he's finding theopen man against the double team. All
of a sudden, as a coach, your playbook opens up. You got
a lot more You've got a lotmore things you can do when guys are
getting it done with the ball inher hands. So he changed obviously.
You know he won us the WashingtonState game. He did a good job.
(21:03):
They try to really be physical withtheir post defense. It bothered jailing.
Cody embraces that and he was definitelya difference in that game. Coach,
you're talking about some of your personneland the hard work that they're putting
in. Tiger Campbell's actually just namedplayer the Freshman of the Week in the
conference. He's obviously had some reallygood moments down the stretch here and part
(21:23):
of your winning streak. Is theresomething that you would point to in his
development that's impressed you maybe the most. Yeah, I thought maybe he'd win
Player of the Week, but Ithink you know, Tiger just he's got
inner toughness about him. You know, he's been through a lot, moved
around a lot in high school.Obviously, the ACL injury was tough on
(21:45):
him, had a rough recovery earlybefore I got here, which I found
out once I got the job.As far as the early months of his
recovery after his ACL wasn't the smoothest. Got his effort and his work to
get back from that was great,And I think people don't realize the guy
didn't get back on the court tilmid September. You know that nowadays you
(22:08):
open up five weeks six weeks afterthat. So you got to give him
a chance, you know, inthis day and age, and you know
the game and most programs, he'scoming off the bench here. He had
to start from day one. He'splaying all those minutes and just learn on
the job, buddy, I meangood, you know, And by the
way, you don't really have veteranleaders around you to make it easy on
(22:32):
you. You know. So hewas put into a really hard situation and
I've tried to just help him getthrough it and down down the stretch.
I got to keep him as freshas I can keep him because he's logging
a lot of minutes and there's somegreat guys in our league that he has
to defend. I mean, youlook, he just had to guard McKinley.
Right now, he's got Remmy Martincome to town then become man,
(22:52):
and so it's not like he canhide on the defensive end either. But
I've been really impressed with how hejust continues to keep scrapping and fighting.
My last my last question, mechI guess is you know you went from
you know, some disappointing losses inthe non con you didn't start conference great.
Now you're rolling. And I thinkMike mentioned it earlier that now you
(23:15):
know there's some consideration that you couldget into the tournament. You might you
might get a top four seed inVegas for the PAC twelve tournament. Do
you keep going along the path interms of the message that you've been on
or can you use these things aseven extra motivation to keep guys going with
that kind of that carrot in frontof him. Well, we had you
(23:36):
know, we we let the ArizonaState team get away from us down in
Tempe. Now, they had alot to do with it. They can
really shoot the ball and they're ona roll, as you know. So
I don't know when the last timethey lost is. But we had a
little meeting when we got the Tucsonand we showed some film and talked about,
(23:56):
you know, some things we justyou know, here's we were winning
and now we just lost, andhere's it's real clear why we lost.
And we're not going down that roadagain. We're just we're just not doing
it. You know, We're goingto commit to what we gotta do to
win games. We went out thatin the next night and obviously dominated Arizona.
Now they didn't make shots that night, but you know, to be
(24:18):
able to win the way we wantedin two signs, it's almost impossible.
And when you look at it reallyis, because the record proves it at
home over the last five or sixyears. But we talked about it since
then. We just talked about thesame thing. Just you know, if
we do the things that we knowwe're capable of the result will be what
(24:38):
we wanted to be. And weare in one game tournaments. I mean,
we are in a one game tournamentand now somebody, you know,
somebody told us the Leonard he hadus on the next four hours. You
know, none of that stuff mattersif you win. When you're in a
quality league. In our last threeopponents were whole tournament teams. You just
gotta win. You know. Backin the day people talking about my my
(25:00):
RPI high, back in the daysof the RPI and the Big East,
and I'd laugh if it doesn't matter. The RP doesn't matter. You're when
you're playing tournament teams all the time. If you win games, you're gonna
make the tournament. There's you know, with us, we're playing the teams.
We play to finish the year.We win if we win, if
we win three games, we're alock. We go from not even on
the board to the lock lick ifyou win those games. So they's just
(25:25):
trying to focus on winning Thursday.You know, we go focus on winning
Thursdays. All we can worry about. Just stay focused on our journey.
And I will say that we havedefinitely played with urgency, which was a
new thing for these guys because asyou know, you know veterans, they
sensed the moment. They play withmore urgency. Colleges, you know,
(25:47):
your seniors, they know it's theirlast years. They're going to play with
a sense of urgency. We didnot play with a sense of urgency early
in the season. That was aproblem for us. We hadn't learned how
to do it to where team.You know, a team comes in with
Hofstra, they got twenty two winsalready on the year. They come in
playing at Pauli Pavilion with a senseof urgency. I mean, this is
(26:10):
the highlight of their career. Youknow, we didn't have the same sense
of urgency and paid the price forit. So it's just a whole learning
experience. We cannot revert back orwe're going to go right back to the
to getting beat again. So Ithink we got to maintain that sense of
urgency with our players, ensure youknow, we're gonna do everything we can
(26:30):
to. I'm a big believer.We got to keep them fresh legged.
You know, people look at me, said Cronin. He's he's a fiery
guy, a tough guy, butwe did. We did. Last Friday,
we got the Colorado. We walkedthrough in the hotel. Saturday morning,
we walked through in the hotel.We didn't even go to go to
Boulder until it was time to playthe game. So I'm a big believer
(26:55):
in got to keep guys mentally focusedand prepared. But you gotta be fresh
legged late in the season, especially, I have a young team, and
I'm really you know a guy,I'm worried about guys getting run down because
hockeys Smith and and Tiger Campbell,those guys, you know, the christ
and hidem guy there. I mean, they're playing thirty five minutes a game,
so I gotta be careful with theirlegs. Well, coach at ten
(27:18):
wins opportunity to win the regular seasoncrown, which would be a terrific accomplishment.
It could happen this season with theArizona's an sc to close things out.
I will leave you with this pact. Twelve media day, you said
something to me on set. Hesaid, winning is fun. You guys
have one five straight, nine ofeleven. You're having fun down to Westwood,
right, Oh gosh, yeah,yeah. Plus I wore shorts to
(27:40):
work today. Just remember that,you know, it's my recruiting pits.
I just stop and take a littlequick video while I'm walking through campus.
I'm about to do when we hangup and I send it out to some
of our recruits. And where elsewould you rather be? You know?
Dot don can he can second thatone. On February work shorts to work,
(28:06):
Brother shorts to work. You know, now I got to the problem
with my attire nowadays. I needa hat because you get sunburned. The
west Wood I don't have. Idon't have that television hair like you guys.
Yeah sothern California is there. You'reworried about sunburn. I can tell
you that because it's it's is thetemperature a little bit older in Cincinnati right
now, I'd say it's in thethirties with a light I don't even I
(28:29):
can tell you the temperature. Don'tneed to look somewhere in the thirties with
a with a light snow or adrizzle, a light dusting, light dusting.
And then that's why my dad willbe on a plane. He can't.
He's I'm gonna be at the Pactwelve. Then uh, he came
out for the Colorado, Utah,and he saw the weather. Next thing
(28:51):
you know, hes, hey,I'll be back for the Arizona game.
But I figured you can. Hepurchase sunscreen at home right now before he
gets onto the plane to head tosouthern California. Oh, man, I
come him from practice. He's layingoutside. I mean, he's got it.
It's a heck of a deal.Man. It's fun so the but
(29:12):
there's plenty of sunscreen around my house. You've seen me, man, I
bet gol coach. I gotta tellyou, Don and I both have have
loved watching your team during this winningstreak and obviously the last couple weeks of
the regular season. Continued success downat UCLA. Looking forward to seeing you
guys in Vegas, hopefully as atop four season. Maybe regular season champs
(29:34):
be unbelievable. But I would tellyou our league is really good. You
know. I don't know what.I don't know what my luck is as
far as bringing it to the backtwelve. But there's some really good players
and really good teams. I mean, great games in our league. And
uh, you know, with theSilva back at Stanford, they're they're back
at full full strength. I thinkthere's some there's as good a league as
(29:57):
there is in the country. Wedon't get in our conference, we don't
get the credit. And I don'tknow, Don, you're you guys are
in the medium like this, Uh, the West Coast bias thing. It's
for real, man, I neveryeah, I know, you know,
Don, I heard it and Iwas like, hey, why they always
say that. Now I'm here,Oh, it's real, it's real,
(30:18):
real, Yeah, it's it's it'sreal when you they do those they write
those articles and then they go tosleep. So they talk about big wins
over the weekend and you open upyou know, USA today, and you
know the biggest winners from the weekend, and nobody's mentioned from the West Coast.
Well, somebody had to be abig loser, a big winner out
here. I mean, you know, come on, But the guy wrote
the article and went to bed beforeour games. So I mean, it
(30:42):
is definitely real. But hopefully we'llget all get our chance, uh get
you know in March, and hopefullythe Bruins find a way to be part
of it. But uh, coachingis great, really, I'm really impressed
with the talent and the coaching inour league. Two. I'll coach,
You've been crushing it in year numberone. So thanks again for coming on
with us. Really appreciated Mick.See on Thursday, we'll say it,
(31:03):
thank you for having me. Don. He was awesome. He was he
was terrific and I look, you'vespent more time with him than I have.
It was media day for me andthen we were down there for a
football game and I got to hangout with coach for a little bit.
But the team is bought in andI can't help but think and Don,
you probably would agree with this.Like there, I had to schedule right.
(31:25):
Well, And here's the thing,you know, and I've seen a
lot of coaches. I've been aroundthis league for a long time, and
you hear coaches and their message andwhat they believe in and what they dig
in in on. And you know, the first time I went to UCLA
practice, I came away blown awaywith not just the practice, but the
message and all that stuff. Andthen they start the season and it looked
okay, and then they lost aHofstra and then lost to Fullerton, and
(31:48):
you know, we just heard abouthim. You know, we're continuing the
process of building the foundation of thisprogram. That's all you heard, and
then all of a sudden, herelike five six weeks ago he started seeing
some winning and then more winning,and you know, so, yeah,
they're ahead of schedule based on thefact that he's still trying to build the
foundation of the program with not payingattention. I mean, obviously you want
(32:13):
to win, but not more importantthan building that foundation. But guys bought
in, they got it, andnow they're winning, which is a bonus.
And Mick Cronin, for all thepeople that we're asking me and second
guessing is he the right guy forthe job? I think you're seeing why
I thought he was the right guyfor the job, and how this isn't
(32:34):
just a one year thing. Yamto me like Cronan the way he talks
about it and the way he's doingit and the way he's doing it right
now, this is a sustainable modelof how you build a foundation of a
college basketball program. And so ifthey start better next year, what's it
gonna look like? Right and yeartwo? And so you have to be
excited if you're a UCLA fan withwhat Mick Cronin's done so far. Well,
(32:57):
A Juggernaut game Thursday and I pattwelve Network apm Pacific time. ASU
will be at Pauli for this matchup. Don, You're going to be on
the call for it, so Iknow you're dupped up and should be because
this could help determine who wins theregular season crown. It's kind of wild
to be talking about these two teams, in particular, knowing what we saw
from them about a month a monthand a half ago. Just absolutely wild
(33:21):
and continued success for both of theseteams. Someone's going to have to lose,
and of course you'll be able towatch who wins once again pac twelve
Network Thursday night. It's a doubleheaderaction for us because it's six pm Pacific.
We got Colorado coming off that lossagainst the Bruins. They will be
in Berkeley to match up against thecow Bears, So looking forward to that.
One case of Jacobson's going to bein studio with me on Thursday for
the pregame starting at five thirty Pacifictime. Don, awesome job working with
(33:45):
you, my friend. Always greatto have a basketball conversation with you.
Really getting good now, Yeah it'sbeen good all year, but it's really
getting good now. These last twoweeks are going to be awesome. Heading
into Vegas. Yeah, really lookingforward to and now I'm glad you mentioned
Vegas. You're gonna be with meup there for the PAC twelve tournament.
Believe me, if you are,if you've been listening to this podcast,
(34:06):
then you are a basketball fan.It is an awesome, awesome event to
be there over the course of acouple of days team Mobile, just to
be able to watch these teams,the intensity of the crowds. It's been
a real treat the last couple ofyears for us to be broadcasting from there.
Don you and I will be doingthat this year. But encourage people
to check out tickets, pack Dashtwelvepacdashtwelve dot com, slash tickets. Say
(34:28):
it nice and smooth, all right, take out the website. Appreciate everyone
checking out our podcast. If yousee it on social media, give it
a retweet, share with some ofyour friends, and of course, always
appreciate the reviews that you're leaving onApple Podcasts or wherever you check out your
podcast. Thanks again and we'll catchyou next week.
Ah, Jill right the ball,baby, let's go. This is inside
the Pack twelve podcast. Put ona pair of your headphones and fall baggets
and to some ballcasts having the ballchat about the best conference in the nation
all facts. This is truly forthe whole bluff was get who running?
(00:24):
Then gunn they didn't get in Buggers. How about we discussing the Trojans,
Huskies, Ducks to Cardinal then theCoga, Bears, Beavers, Sun Devil's
casts influence the Buffalos and Uns.I won't ever forget got insight, opinions
and plenty of special guests, coachesand players. Be right as an Inside
is cold and young Pack twelve legendsin the lums book that analysis. We
(00:45):
go far and you're on the storesto take you from conference play all the
way to the final four with somehoop kind of swords, just walking you
through the game. I hear yourhost Mike Gamming the boar dumb acclaim,
hey talk to couldn't be more excitedto talk to our game us today they
are on an absolute tear in thesecond half of conference play, not only
(01:06):
rising into a conversation for a firstround buy in a top four seed in
Vegas. But the way UCLA isplaying right now, they're starting to grab
some attention from a lot of thebracketologists kind of talking the part of the
conversation for the NC Double A Tournament. Some opportunities still remaining on their schedule,
but they won five straight games nineof their last eleven, and the
head coach of the Bruins, mccronin, joins us here on the podcast.
(01:30):
Coach, congrats on the success andthanks so much for spending some time with
us. Well, thank you,guys. It's what an honor. I've
never been on a show with thatkind of opening. You guys got your
own rap song. Yeah, Donwrote the lyrics. Dot Don's the one
who freestyled, and then we justhad someone with a better voice actually lay
it down. So, uh,I get a guy. Gotta get with
(01:51):
your guy. Man, he canhelp us on our recruiting ever produce that.
It's good to be Hey, it'sit's good to be on a role.
You know how it is. We'rerather win and lose. Man.
It's amazing too. Your friendship basegoes way up to when they're winning.
So why Mick, I guess that'sthe that's the easiest question. You know,
what what What's what's turned around foryou guys in the last month.
(02:15):
Uh, just experience. You know, I think I tried. I always
operate from the from the back pedalfrom okay. Uh, kids want to
win. Guys want to win.Uh, First they don't know how to.
Then they know how to, butthen you're not you're not quite tough
enough or experience enough, smart enough. And we've just we've gained experience and
(02:39):
through that we we've take better shots, we make less mistakes. Um,
we don't get tired, is easy. We don't give in when the other
team drives and impose their will onus. Uh. So you know that
that's really been the difference for usand on this run. And you know,
Jayalen didn't play against her on thestate and Tiger didn't play against the
(03:00):
organ played four minutes. So arewe're missing and you're missing key guys and
both of the losses we've had inthe winning nine of eleven. So just
proud of the guys and their commitmentto doing what it takes to win.
We've had more you know, donyou watch us, So we've had a
lot of different guys step up forso it hasn't really it hasn't really been
(03:21):
one guy so to speak. Uh, just we have so many freshmen and
sophomores, and then Chris Smith asa young junior. You haven't just turned
twenty and you know, being abit player his first two years at UCLA.
So it's just the progression that thatthat we've been on. But I
give kids a lot of credit becausethis day and age, it's there's a
(03:42):
lot more people that pack it inthat than there are to dig in and
get better and fight and turn yourseason around. So give my players a
lot of credit. Coach. Iremember being down on campus with you before
the season started. We sat down, we did an interview, and I
remember one of the questions I askedyou was about expectations in year number one,
and I remember you telling me it'sabout setting the foundation and having guys
(04:03):
do the things that you want themto do, and it was still a
work in progress. How how wouldyou assess kind of the goals of the
season and have they changed? Knowingthat all of a sudden things seem to
be clicking for your team here downthe stretch, Well, just stay focused
on the process, not get caughtup in the results while we were struggling,
(04:24):
and just try to continue to demanda certain attitude and a certain effort
level from our players and teach guyshow to play smart. And then obviously
there's been adjustments. I mean,as Tiger has gotten the knee brace off
and gotten better, you know,he has the ball on our offense a
lot more, and for us figuringout who can do what, and you
(04:49):
know, some of that's got tobe it's got to be worked out.
We had some guys probably dribbling thatdidn't need to be dribbling, had some
guys shooting it maybe didn't need tobe shooting. And I think our role
definition and just our selection of shotsthat we take has really improved on the
(05:09):
offensive end. Because a lot's beentalked about our defense and how we've improved
defensively over the last ten eleven games, but our shot selection and our execution
has really improved on offense. Youknow, take me back, Mick to
the beginning of the season. Ithink you and I've talked about this that,
and I've been around a long timeand I don't think I've ever seen
a coaching change with such a drasticapproach to the game, meaning that the
(05:33):
previous coach and his staff were kindof offense based and offense oriented and you're
a complete one eighty from that whereit's it's defense based. We got to
dig in. And I know youhaven't had a lot of coaching jobs,
but how difficult was that to changethe mentality? And I guess the second
part for me was, now thatyou've started winning, are they believing in
(05:54):
what you're saying even more because they'reseeing the success. Whenever you whin,
it reinforces the things you're teaching.So that's great that we're that we've been
able to turn it around. Andyou sit there and show them and it's
in game as well. Don Soyou know, like the Colorado game,
we're winning early first TV time outand we had six deflections defensively, uh
(06:16):
and next for the next twenty minutes, we had one deflection and we're on
the verge of getting blown out.And you know, I'm pointing to the
deflation. You know, we keepit on on the You see me holding
that board on the top of it, and every the guys know we're sitting
there with seven deflections. Were twelveminutes left in the game. You know,
that that's this isn't us. Youknow that this is not who we
(06:40):
are. This you know, weknow how we went that this board doesn't
change. We got no chance.In the last twelve minutes of the game.
We got fourteen deflections and we shutColorado down and we're able to execute
and play a second half with noturnovers, which was amazing. Um.
So yeah, definitely the guys knowbecause they're there, they think about it
now. Um. And like Idefend the players because I don't know,
(07:03):
you know, I wasn't here,so it's hard for me to say we
all do things differently. But Ithink for our young guys, they didn't
play with veteran players like like youyou know, they didn't walk in and
there, you know last year,and Aaron Holliday wasn't here, who's a
warrior, and you know, playedin r n SA tournaments I think,
(07:25):
or at least two in those threeyears. So they just didn't have the
senior leadership of you know, here'syou got to play hard, just how
to practice, let alone how toplay in a game. You know,
I think that their reference point justwasn't there, you know, for what
what will work is? I mean, so there was so many things that
we had to learn, and that'swhy I think some guys, you know,
(07:47):
guys like David Singleton getting healthy hasbeen great for us because he's an
old soul. I mean that David, he wants you to coach him hard.
He plays hard. Uh, he'sall about team and leadership. I
mean, he's a tremendous glue guyin your program that can make shots.
And then obviously Haime Haakes has beenthat for us all year. So you
(08:09):
know, I'm talking about getting youknow, usually your tough role guys or
your veteran guys that have been around, But for us, we just had
to do it with our younger players. That's just the facts of the situation
we're in. And teaching Cody andJail and how to be rough and tough
on the interior, you know,teaching them how to defend without filing in
the post. That's something we reallystruggled with earlier in the year. Then
(08:33):
you've got to double and now you'regiving up threes. We've gotten much better
with our post defense. We don'thave to help as much, much better
with our on the ball defense.We don't have to help as much because
help is death. You know,this day and age, you know everybody
can shoot it. You know today'skids skilled. They allow players to carry
the ball when you're trying to guarda dribblers, it's a comedy show.
(08:54):
I wish I could go back andplay the way they let guys dribble the
ball nowadays. But so so therereally is. There's so many areas of
things we had to teach these guys. That's why I defend them because the
more we got into it done,the more I realized that they just didn't
know and it was just going totake us time to build habits, to
just just to build how important itis to listen to the scouting report and
(09:18):
then be able to impart it duringthe game, and how how much that
impacts whether you win or lose thatyou know what, I'm trying to guard
a guy that can score h andhe's your garden legitimate guys in this conference
now there's some serious offensive players.You better know who you can help off
(09:39):
of, and you better know what'sgoing to give you a chance to be
able to guard. Some of theseguys are so good. So that's been
a big part of it as well. Coach. I'm listening to you talk
about the teaching that's involved, andyou said, hey, you know,
we got to the point where theguys just didn't know. And I started
to think about, you had suchsuccess at Cincinnati and you were there for
a long period of time. We'reable to work guys into your system that
(10:01):
we're you know, and like theykind of knew that when they get there,
like all right there there, yougot to teach them, and you're
gonna learn. All of a sudden, you got a brand new squad that
you're that you have to go andteach. Did have you adjusted the approach?
Did you find that maybe what youwere doing at Cincinnati because guys are
more familiar, there was maybe lessteaching at the end, and now all
of a sudden a UCLA right fromthe start, You're like, WHOA,
(10:22):
Like, how come these guys don'tknow? Did you adjust your philosophy and
how you do things? Well,we definitely simplified some things. You know.
We talked about it as a staff, like, you know, we
have to eliminate excuses. I thinkwhat you got to do for young people
in all walks of life is eliminateexcuses. It's too easy, it's too
(10:43):
easy to grab them if they're hangingright in front of you. So we've
had to change some things defensively towhere we couldn't make to where guys couldn't
have an excuse and where maybe whatwe were doing day they could say,
well it's too complicated. Well okay, well so we're gonna really this is
going to be real simple. Okay. So yeah, we did do that.
(11:03):
We definitely made some adjustments to tryto simplify some things to eliminate excuses.
Uh. I think that's a bigthing that you have to do,
uh with with players, you can'tgive them an out. Uh. You
know, some guys they're there's they'regoing to grind. But you know,
other kids got bad habits, sothey'll find, you know, find a
way to point the finger at somebodyelse. So we made some changes definitely,
(11:26):
um on the defensive end in particular, and some on the offensive end.
But it's a good point because youknow, Cincinnati, you got two
things. You got veterans teaching theyoung guys and in the locker room when
you're not around telling them what theyyou know, you need to listen.
You know, this is how wedo things. This is why we win.
(11:50):
There's a reason we win here,and you don't have that when you
do, when you take over aprogram, you don't you don't have that
person in your locker room. Youdon't have anybody like that in your locker
that that believes in you, youknow. So it's just going to take
some time. And then the secondpart of that, it's just habits.
Like don know's as a player,you've been taught a certain way and now
a sudden somebody's going to tell youyou got to do it differently. It
(12:13):
takes time to build habits. Soit's it's definitely twofold. Some of its
physical training of habits. The otherthing, like you say, is just
you know, the mental part ofsimplifying it, you know, teaching it
and so the guys actually know whatthey're doing because it's their first time doing
it, you know. So nextyear, obviously you would think that it's
(12:35):
going to be a little bit moreadvanced because you've got guys that have been
trained on how you do things.Speaking of how you do things, Mick,
where were you at in your careercoaching career when you said yourself,
all right, this is how Iwant my teams to play well. And
it's funny you say that my firstyear is the head coach. I inherited
(13:00):
a team that had won but didn'twin the title at Murray State. But
they had a good team, andI inherited a bunch of veteran players,
signed a few junior college guys,uh brought that. I brought in and
won twenty eight games my first yearand went to the NCAA tournament and won
our conference tournament. All that stuff. Eighty two points a game, second
(13:22):
the nation, and assist in fieldgoal percentage. And you know, I
thought I was the second coming withcoach Wooden. I mean, if I
could teach offense, I mean Iwas, you know, I was at
guru. Them guys graduated, Myone returning senior had a misshapp and got
(13:43):
dismissed. My senior point guard.None of that offensive stuff that we were
running. It just didn't work anymore. So you know, it's really player
based. I think, uh,what you'd love to be able to be,
you know, number one in efficiencyon both ends of the floor,
I mean, no doubt about it. But to really get to the crutch
(14:05):
of your question, I mean,when you can't if you can't have the
best players. If you don't havethe best players, and I've never been
in a situation, part of thereason I came to you said they hoping
to be able to get the bestplayers. But when you don't and your
background is coaching at places where youdon't have the best players, how do
you win? Well? Tough?You better be tough, and you better
(14:26):
eliminate mistakes, and you better beyou better not give up easy baskets.
Um. You know it says it'snot that you don't want to have guys
that can make every shot. AndLord knows you can't win if you can't
score the ball. So efficiency isimportant on offense. But you know,
I will say this in whole honesty, I would not I don't care how
(14:46):
good you are on offense. It'lljust never be in my DNA to coach
a team that doesn't defend. Youknow, I just don't. I don't
see how you could ever win thatway, you know, I just don't.
You know, I watch watch theNBA, you know, and I
have talked down It's like, Idon't know how the Rockets ever really win
it the way they're playing, right, you know, I know they're fun
to watch and obviously I'm rooting forRussell Westbrook. He's been great to me
(15:09):
since I got the job at UCLA. But I just don't know how you
ever cut and cut the nets downif you don't have to defend, and
then you're really in any sport.Glad you bring that up because Don told
me something before I went down tocampus about watching your practice mick Um,
and you sort of touched on itwhen you reference the Colorado game and the
deflections. But the things that you'retracking in practice to encourage defense deflections is
(15:33):
one of those things. What aresome of the other things that you're doing
around the team to not only teachwhat you want on the defensive side,
but to kind of hammer home whatyou expect from them. Well, we
have a turnover chart up on thewall, and the guys knows they run
out of turnovers. They got toget on the line and run and it's
it's visible. So, uh,you know, Cody Riley didn't like to
(15:54):
run, so he sees that hesees them running out of turnovers, he
starts telling guys they better slow downand take care of the ball. His
internal pressure is better than it's thancoaching pressure. You know when your teammates
are doing it, and it's amazing. It doesn't matter if you're coaching fourth
grade or UCLA. Guys don't liketo run in practice. I mean,
(16:17):
it's just amazing. The threat ofrunning to get guys to do something right
as amazing. You think that theyjust try to take care of the ball
because they're there, you know,that's how you play basketball. But that
thread of that line is amazing.Man. You put them on it and
they don't like doing it. Soif you keep turning it over, you're
gonna make me run. I'm gonnahave something to say to you. So
(16:37):
it's great that it holds them accountable. But we coach rebounding. You know,
it's not just defense and deflections.I would tell you the four things
that we focus on defensively would beour communication. That would be one when
we focus on our defensive rebounding,We focus a lot on our offensive rebounding,
and the last thing be our offense. You know, you got to
(17:00):
take care of the ball. AndI was as proud as I've been all
year of our guys to be ableto play at Colorado. In the second
half of the game against a teamthat's as good as they are. I
mean, they're really good. They'rereally well coached, and a sold out
senior day. To be able togo in there and have no turnovers in
the second half when you theoretically that'swhen he would be somewhat fatigued. And
(17:23):
to be able to play that wayon offense and take care of the balls
probably the thing I'm probably most proudof on the whole season so far for
our team. Mick. You mentionedCody Riley. I did your Washington State
game a week and a half ago, and I was saying during that game
that you know, yes, there'sa lot of stuff, and you guys
are teaching a lot of stuff,and you want things done a certain way,
(17:44):
but but sometimes it comes down to, you know, just play hard,
man, and if you play hardthings good things will happen. And
in that game, I swear itwas like a perfect example. Cody Riley
decided he was going to play hisass off and he affected it, affected
the game and want it for youguys in overtime period, end of story,
and people thought about coaching, youknow, he just said, you
(18:07):
know what I'm getting There was tworebounds. Don he just he just outmanned
the guy and now he got offensiverebounds. He just outmanned the guy,
got it and put it back in. I mean, you know, at
some point, uh, it's aboutJimmy and Joe, not not the xneo,
right, I mean, you knowit's it's it's about you know that
(18:27):
Don and Tracy, you know,not the xing and the somebody got to
just go get the ball and putit in the basket or somebody just got
to get a bay. They're notscoring, you know, you try to
bring it in here, I'm blockingit, end of story. You know,
Jalen Hills had a few trips likethat. Defensively, Tody had a
big, a big, huge blockthe other day as well. So I
(18:47):
agree with you totally, you know, but teaching guys how to play hard,
to me is the difference between collegeand NBA coaching. NBA coaches strategized.
College coaches, to me, thereal, the real the college coaches
that when the most their teams playextremely hard all the time, and when
you see them on your schedule,you know it's going to be a dog
(19:11):
fight because they're they're they're just notgoing to let you beat them. They're
going to just refuse to lose,and you're gonna you're gonna be in for
World War three when you play,which are tall state? Why Greg Marshall
wins all the time? Talent changes, but certain programs win all the time.
They went at different levels depending ontheir talent level. And you know
(19:33):
the guys that are on their teamthose in certain particular years. But Tom
Izzo and Michigan State they win consistently. And you would say because the way
Don says it right, they playtheir ass off, So I think I
agree with you, you know.And and the other thing is I think
Cody's been He's worked. It doesn'tshow the fans even when you're not winning,
(19:56):
is the work that's being put in. And when we were struggling,
we were still practicing hard. Guysare still trying to get better. It
just didn't manifest itself in the victory. It took time to do that for
us. But you know, Cody'sa guy you bring him up. I
mean, he puts his time inthe guys into he's always he's one of
the first in the gym every dayand he's the last to leave. And
(20:19):
that's you know, he and Jailand Hill don guys are always in the
gym. So I'm happy when guyslike that have success. You're happy for
him. And to be honest withyou, talking about our offense, you
got a lot more options when youcan throw Cody the ball and you know
he's going to get baskets. He'seight for twelve in Colorado, he's ate
for twelve. You know, well, you can go down there and get
(20:41):
paid and he can get it upand he's not turning it over, he's
finishing, and then he's finding theopen man against the double team. All
of a sudden, as a coach, your playbook opens up. You got
a lot more You've got a lotmore things you can do when guys are
getting it done with the ball inher hands. So he changed obviously.
You know he won us the WashingtonState game. He did a good job.
(21:03):
They try to really be physical withtheir post defense. It bothered jailing.
Cody embraces that and he was definitelya difference in that game. Coach,
you're talking about some of your personneland the hard work that they're putting
in. Tiger Campbell's actually just namedplayer the Freshman of the Week in the
conference. He's obviously had some reallygood moments down the stretch here and part
(21:23):
of your winning streak. Is theresomething that you would point to in his
development that's impressed you maybe the most. Yeah, I thought maybe he'd win
Player of the Week, but Ithink you know, Tiger just he's got
inner toughness about him. You know, he's been through a lot, moved
around a lot in high school.Obviously, the ACL injury was tough on
(21:45):
him, had a rough recovery earlybefore I got here, which I found
out once I got the job.As far as the early months of his
recovery after his ACL wasn't the smoothest. Got his effort and his work to
get back from that was great,And I think people don't realize the guy
didn't get back on the court tilmid September. You know that nowadays you
(22:08):
open up five weeks six weeks afterthat. So you got to give him
a chance, you know, inthis day and age, and you know
the game and most programs, he'scoming off the bench here. He had
to start from day one. He'splaying all those minutes and just learn on
the job, buddy, I meangood, you know, And by the
way, you don't really have veteranleaders around you to make it easy on
(22:32):
you. You know. So hewas put into a really hard situation and
I've tried to just help him getthrough it and down down the stretch.
I got to keep him as freshas I can keep him because he's logging
a lot of minutes and there's somegreat guys in our league that he has
to defend. I mean, youlook, he just had to guard McKinley.
Right now, he's got Remmy Martincome to town then become man,
(22:52):
and so it's not like he canhide on the defensive end either. But
I've been really impressed with how hejust continues to keep scrapping and fighting.
My last my last question, mechI guess is you know you went from
you know, some disappointing losses inthe non con you didn't start conference great.
Now you're rolling. And I thinkMike mentioned it earlier that now you
(23:15):
know there's some consideration that you couldget into the tournament. You might you
might get a top four seed inVegas for the PAC twelve tournament. Do
you keep going along the path interms of the message that you've been on
or can you use these things aseven extra motivation to keep guys going with
that kind of that carrot in frontof him. Well, we had you
(23:36):
know, we we let the ArizonaState team get away from us down in
Tempe. Now, they had alot to do with it. They can
really shoot the ball and they're ona roll, as you know. So
I don't know when the last timethey lost is. But we had a
little meeting when we got the Tucsonand we showed some film and talked about,
(23:56):
you know, some things we justyou know, here's we were winning
and now we just lost, andhere's it's real clear why we lost.
And we're not going down that roadagain. We're just we're just not doing
it. You know, We're goingto commit to what we gotta do to
win games. We went out thatin the next night and obviously dominated Arizona.
Now they didn't make shots that night, but you know, to be
(24:18):
able to win the way we wantedin two signs, it's almost impossible.
And when you look at it reallyis, because the record proves it at
home over the last five or sixyears. But we talked about it since
then. We just talked about thesame thing. Just you know, if
we do the things that we knowwe're capable of the result will be what
(24:38):
we wanted to be. And weare in one game tournaments. I mean,
we are in a one game tournamentand now somebody, you know,
somebody told us the Leonard he hadus on the next four hours. You
know, none of that stuff mattersif you win. When you're in a
quality league. In our last threeopponents were whole tournament teams. You just
gotta win. You know. Backin the day people talking about my my
(25:00):
RPI high, back in the daysof the RPI and the Big East,
and I'd laugh if it doesn't matter. The RP doesn't matter. You're when
you're playing tournament teams all the time. If you win games, you're gonna
make the tournament. There's you know, with us, we're playing the teams.
We play to finish the year.We win if we win, if
we win three games, we're alock. We go from not even on
the board to the lock lick ifyou win those games. So they's just
(25:25):
trying to focus on winning Thursday.You know, we go focus on winning
Thursdays. All we can worry about. Just stay focused on our journey.
And I will say that we havedefinitely played with urgency, which was a
new thing for these guys because asyou know, you know veterans, they
sensed the moment. They play withmore urgency. Colleges, you know,
(25:47):
your seniors, they know it's theirlast years. They're going to play with
a sense of urgency. We didnot play with a sense of urgency early
in the season. That was aproblem for us. We hadn't learned how
to do it to where team.You know, a team comes in with
Hofstra, they got twenty two winsalready on the year. They come in
playing at Pauli Pavilion with a senseof urgency. I mean, this is
(26:10):
the highlight of their career. Youknow, we didn't have the same sense
of urgency and paid the price forit. So it's just a whole learning
experience. We cannot revert back orwe're going to go right back to the
to getting beat again. So Ithink we got to maintain that sense of
urgency with our players, ensure youknow, we're gonna do everything we can
(26:30):
to. I'm a big believer.We got to keep them fresh legged.
You know, people look at me, said Cronin. He's he's a fiery
guy, a tough guy, butwe did. We did. Last Friday,
we got the Colorado. We walkedthrough in the hotel. Saturday morning,
we walked through in the hotel.We didn't even go to go to
Boulder until it was time to playthe game. So I'm a big believer
(26:55):
in got to keep guys mentally focusedand prepared. But you gotta be fresh
legged late in the season, especially, I have a young team, and
I'm really you know a guy,I'm worried about guys getting run down because
hockeys Smith and and Tiger Campbell,those guys, you know, the christ
and hidem guy there. I mean, they're playing thirty five minutes a game,
so I gotta be careful with theirlegs. Well, coach at ten
(27:18):
wins opportunity to win the regular seasoncrown, which would be a terrific accomplishment.
It could happen this season with theArizona's an sc to close things out.
I will leave you with this pact. Twelve media day, you said
something to me on set. Hesaid, winning is fun. You guys
have one five straight, nine ofeleven. You're having fun down to Westwood,
right, Oh gosh, yeah,yeah. Plus I wore shorts to
(27:40):
work today. Just remember that,you know, it's my recruiting pits.
I just stop and take a littlequick video while I'm walking through campus.
I'm about to do when we hangup and I send it out to some
of our recruits. And where elsewould you rather be? You know?
Dot don can he can second thatone. On February work shorts to work,
(28:06):
Brother shorts to work. You know, now I got to the problem
with my attire nowadays. I needa hat because you get sunburned. The
west Wood I don't have. Idon't have that television hair like you guys.
Yeah sothern California is there. You'reworried about sunburn. I can tell
you that because it's it's is thetemperature a little bit older in Cincinnati right
now, I'd say it's in thethirties with a light I don't even I
(28:29):
can tell you the temperature. Don'tneed to look somewhere in the thirties with
a with a light snow or adrizzle, a light dusting, light dusting.
And then that's why my dad willbe on a plane. He can't.
He's I'm gonna be at the Pactwelve. Then uh, he came
out for the Colorado, Utah,and he saw the weather. Next thing
(28:51):
you know, hes, hey,I'll be back for the Arizona game.
But I figured you can. Hepurchase sunscreen at home right now before he
gets onto the plane to head tosouthern California. Oh, man, I
come him from practice. He's layingoutside. I mean, he's got it.
It's a heck of a deal.Man. It's fun so the but
(29:12):
there's plenty of sunscreen around my house. You've seen me, man, I
bet gol coach. I gotta tellyou, Don and I both have have
loved watching your team during this winningstreak and obviously the last couple weeks of
the regular season. Continued success downat UCLA. Looking forward to seeing you
guys in Vegas, hopefully as atop four season. Maybe regular season champs
(29:34):
be unbelievable. But I would tellyou our league is really good. You
know. I don't know what.I don't know what my luck is as
far as bringing it to the backtwelve. But there's some really good players
and really good teams. I mean, great games in our league. And
uh, you know, with theSilva back at Stanford, they're they're back
at full full strength. I thinkthere's some there's as good a league as
(29:57):
there is in the country. Wedon't get in our conference, we don't
get the credit. And I don'tknow, Don, you're you guys are
in the medium like this, Uh, the West Coast bias thing. It's
for real, man, I neveryeah, I know, you know,
Don, I heard it and Iwas like, hey, why they always
say that. Now I'm here,Oh, it's real, it's real,
(30:18):
real, Yeah, it's it's it'sreal when you they do those they write
those articles and then they go tosleep. So they talk about big wins
over the weekend and you open upyou know, USA today, and you
know the biggest winners from the weekend, and nobody's mentioned from the West Coast.
Well, somebody had to be abig loser, a big winner out
here. I mean, you know, come on, But the guy wrote
the article and went to bed beforeour games. So I mean, it
(30:42):
is definitely real. But hopefully we'llget all get our chance, uh get
you know in March, and hopefullythe Bruins find a way to be part
of it. But uh, coachingis great, really, I'm really impressed
with the talent and the coaching inour league. Two. I'll coach,
You've been crushing it in year numberone. So thanks again for coming on
with us. Really appreciated Mick.See on Thursday, we'll say it,
(31:03):
thank you for having me. Don. He was awesome. He was he
was terrific and I look, you'vespent more time with him than I have.
It was media day for me andthen we were down there for a
football game and I got to hangout with coach for a little bit.
But the team is bought in andI can't help but think and Don,
you probably would agree with this.Like there, I had to schedule right.
(31:25):
Well, And here's the thing,you know, and I've seen a
lot of coaches. I've been aroundthis league for a long time, and
you hear coaches and their message andwhat they believe in and what they dig
in in on. And you know, the first time I went to UCLA
practice, I came away blown awaywith not just the practice, but the
message and all that stuff. Andthen they start the season and it looked
okay, and then they lost aHofstra and then lost to Fullerton, and
(31:48):
you know, we just heard abouthim. You know, we're continuing the
process of building the foundation of thisprogram. That's all you heard, and
then all of a sudden, herelike five six weeks ago he started seeing
some winning and then more winning,and you know, so, yeah,
they're ahead of schedule based on thefact that he's still trying to build the
foundation of the program with not payingattention. I mean, obviously you want
(32:13):
to win, but not more importantthan building that foundation. But guys bought
in, they got it, andnow they're winning, which is a bonus.
And Mick Cronin, for all thepeople that we're asking me and second
guessing is he the right guy forthe job? I think you're seeing why
I thought he was the right guyfor the job, and how this isn't
(32:34):
just a one year thing. Yamto me like Cronan the way he talks
about it and the way he's doingit and the way he's doing it right
now, this is a sustainable modelof how you build a foundation of a
college basketball program. And so ifthey start better next year, what's it
gonna look like? Right and yeartwo? And so you have to be
excited if you're a UCLA fan withwhat Mick Cronin's done so far. Well,
(32:57):
A Juggernaut game Thursday and I pattwelve Network apm Pacific time. ASU
will be at Pauli for this matchup. Don, You're going to be on
the call for it, so Iknow you're dupped up and should be because
this could help determine who wins theregular season crown. It's kind of wild
to be talking about these two teams, in particular, knowing what we saw
from them about a month a monthand a half ago. Just absolutely wild
(33:21):
and continued success for both of theseteams. Someone's going to have to lose,
and of course you'll be able towatch who wins once again pac twelve
Network Thursday night. It's a doubleheaderaction for us because it's six pm Pacific.
We got Colorado coming off that lossagainst the Bruins. They will be
in Berkeley to match up against thecow Bears, So looking forward to that.
One case of Jacobson's going to bein studio with me on Thursday for
the pregame starting at five thirty Pacifictime. Don, awesome job working with
(33:45):
you, my friend. Always greatto have a basketball conversation with you.
Really getting good now, Yeah it'sbeen good all year, but it's really
getting good now. These last twoweeks are going to be awesome. Heading
into Vegas. Yeah, really lookingforward to and now I'm glad you mentioned
Vegas. You're gonna be with meup there for the PAC twelve tournament.
Believe me, if you are,if you've been listening to this podcast,
(34:06):
then you are a basketball fan.It is an awesome, awesome event to
be there over the course of acouple of days team Mobile, just to
be able to watch these teams,the intensity of the crowds. It's been
a real treat the last couple ofyears for us to be broadcasting from there.
Don you and I will be doingthat this year. But encourage people
to check out tickets, pack Dashtwelvepacdashtwelve dot com, slash tickets. Say
(34:28):
it nice and smooth, all right, take out the website. Appreciate everyone
checking out our podcast. If yousee it on social media, give it
a retweet, share with some ofyour friends, and of course, always
appreciate the reviews that you're leaving onApple Podcasts or wherever you check out your
podcast. Thanks again and we'll catchyou next week.
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