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per Matt Norlander - ranking Cincy 12 & UCLA 80
UCLA: The Bruins are a wild card. I'm ranking them low out of expectation that Mick Cronin's style will need a little time to adjust to the players on this roster, and vice versa, but making the NCAAs wouldn't stun me at all. Cronin gets there way more often than not.
Doesn't this go both ways? How good could a Northern Kentucky Head Coach be ... to get this kind of ranking.
From my experience - in my great and unmatched wisdom phase - it is easier to get a TEAM to play a tough grind them out Defense and low-scoring game than a wide open efficient offensive style ... GIVEN the same prowess of head coach. And, I actually think Mick Cronin is very good. While I agree that Jarron Cumberland COULD be a all-American stud player (with the right system), this is the bizarro look that strikes me as wrong. I expect Mick to grind out a bunch of wins; that is what he does. He will have talent (maybe kids who didn't think they would play that way). My view of UCLA (I have a UCLA degree & UConn degree) is that the fanbase is starving for someone to really get good basketball played. Could UCLA really linger at near 80th best? Sure. Taking over a Program - particularly this one laden with high expectations always - is not easy. The real burn is "how good is John Brannen" that is he going to outperform Cronin?
UCLA: The Bruins are a wild card. I'm ranking them low out of expectation that Mick Cronin's style will need a little time to adjust to the players on this roster, and vice versa, but making the NCAAs wouldn't stun me at all. Cronin gets there way more often than not.
Cincinnati |
No coach at a new spot inherits a better situation this season than 45-year-old John Brannen, who bumped up from Northern Kentucky to UC after Mick Cronin left his alma mater to take the UCLA job. Brannen will have a potential All-American in senior tweener Jarron Cumberland (18.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 38.8% 3-point shooting). Cumberland will probably put up gaudy enough stats that, if UC can be a top-15 team (I'm probably higher on Cincinnati than anyone else in national media), he'll have a chance at national player of the year. The Bearcats should have a nice blend of size, shooting, depth and a jolt from Brannen's system/style. |
Doesn't this go both ways? How good could a Northern Kentucky Head Coach be ... to get this kind of ranking.
From my experience - in my great and unmatched wisdom phase - it is easier to get a TEAM to play a tough grind them out Defense and low-scoring game than a wide open efficient offensive style ... GIVEN the same prowess of head coach. And, I actually think Mick Cronin is very good. While I agree that Jarron Cumberland COULD be a all-American stud player (with the right system), this is the bizarro look that strikes me as wrong. I expect Mick to grind out a bunch of wins; that is what he does. He will have talent (maybe kids who didn't think they would play that way). My view of UCLA (I have a UCLA degree & UConn degree) is that the fanbase is starving for someone to really get good basketball played. Could UCLA really linger at near 80th best? Sure. Taking over a Program - particularly this one laden with high expectations always - is not easy. The real burn is "how good is John Brannen" that is he going to outperform Cronin?
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