Having revealed their small-sized starting lineup, Mick Cronin, UCLA basketball coach You will soon have to make a decision when you want to make it big.
Are you going with the biggest boy on the team? Aday Maraa 7-foot-3 sophomore whose intense offseason training should prevent all the huffing and puffing he had as a freshman.
Or does he go with William Kyle III, a 6-foot-9 junior transfer who is trying to take a giant step forward in competition after spending the last two seasons at South Dakota State?
That choice could come as soon as Friday night, when the Bruins face an opponent that started three players 6-foot-9 or taller.
“I anticipate we’ll need to play more big teams like New Mexico,” Cronin said Thursday, referring to the game between the No. 22 Bruins (1-0) and Lobos (1-0) at the Las Vegas Hoopfest on Family Forum. Lee in Henderson, Nevada.
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Every great man has his strengths and drawbacks.
Kyle offers the most athletic option and was the first player off the bench during the Bruins’ season-opening win over Rider. He is a natural jumper who showed his defensive aptitude with three remaining blocks and five rebounds in 11 minutes against the Broncs.
But Cronin suggested that Kyle needed to work on a bad streak after the game, noting that he was too nice and that he should think less and be more assertive. The message seemed to have been delivered as Cronin said Kyle on Wednesday had his best practice in a long time and was dominant with his rebounding.
Mara is a better passer and more polished scorer than Kyle. A constant lob threat, Mara could thrive in the pick and roll and has developed a variety of moves around the basket, including jump hooks and drop steps. He matched Kyle with three blocks in the opener along with five points and two rebounds in nine minutes.
But even with his new and improved conditioning, Mara is much less agile than Kyle and susceptible to being beaten off the dribble by his more athletic counterparts.
Both bigs could play a bigger role on Friday.
Unlike Rider, the Wolves feature a massive starting lineup, including 6-foot-10 center Nelly Junior Joseph along with 6-foot-9 forwards Mustapha Amzil and Filip Borovicanin. Joseph was a force with 28 points and 16 rebounds during New Mexico’s 91-84 win over Nicholls in which Amzil added his own double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
UCLA’s smaller options at the five spot include Tyler Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward whose quickness and skill make him a nightmare for traditional big men, and Eric Dailey Jr., a 6-foot-8 forward who has more of a wing player makeup, but spent a considerable amount of time at the five last season at Oklahoma State. Bilodeau and Dailey got the starting nod in the first game, Cronin said, because they were currently better players than Kyle and Mara.
But Cronin said who starts isn’t as important as how his team finishes.
“I look at us right now as having at least eight starters,” Cronin said, “so I can pick who I’m going to start, but during the game everyone’s going to play.”
Still adjusting
One newcomer fighting for minutes is redshirt senior Dominick Harris, a transfer from Loyola Marymount who was expected to add long-range shooting but barely played against Rider.
Not entering the game until 11 minutes and 59 seconds remained and his team holding a 22-point lead, Harris missed his only shot but finished with four rebounds and some active defense in 6 ½ minutes.
Cronin said Harris’ arrival relatively late in the summer after graduating from Loyola Marymount and the time required to learn the coach’s demanding defense were contributing factors to his lack of playing time.
“We’re extremely responsible defensively and that’s been the biggest adjustment for him,” Cronin said. “But he’s trying.”
Etc.
Cronin said he considered himself part of the family of his New Mexico counterpart, Richard Pitino, as he had known Pitino since Cronin joined his father, Rick’s, staff at Louisville in 2001. Cronin helped Richard Pitino get his first coaching job at St. Andrew’s High outside of Providence. RI, while Pitino attended college. Cronin could have done him a bigger favor by covering for him with his father. “I told his dad he had a horrible headache,” Cronin said. “His dad is calling the doctors and I say (to Richard), ‘Dude, be honest and tell your dad you’re hungover.’ …Your dad thinks you have some strange illness, you have a hangover.” He says, ‘I can’t tell you, I can’t tell you.’ ” … Cronin, on the idea of honoring UCLA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton with statues alongside John Wooden outside Pauley Pavilion: “Behind the scenes, there’s a lot of push from their teammates and I agree with them on everything. that. What you find in public schools is incredibly difficult to paint a wall, much less build a statue.”
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
