The Leprechaun Ts Off

[UCFan1513]

Hate him or not, Cronin is better than a middling coach

He’s Steve Alford with one more final four appearance. I’m not saying he’s a bad coach, but he’s certainly not at the pinnacle of the profession nor probably a top 15/20 coach in the country right now, so it feels a bit silly for him to say that he doesn't “need to do anything else” because he has 500 wins

 

[RuffRuff]

He’s Steve Alford with one more final four appearance. I’m not saying he’s a bad coach, but he’s certainly not at the pinnacle of the profession nor probably a top 15 coach in the country right now, so it feels a bit silly for him to say that he doesn't “need to do anything else” because he has 500 wins

The weirdness of the presser wasn't as much him trying to light a fire under his teams @ss as much as it is was propping himself up to do it.

On a related note, Michigan kicked their butt and Vlad the Impaler netted 36. He, Wolf and Donaldson (all transfers) are doing some good work together and they currently lead the nation in FG%, and passing the heck out of it. Their issue is that they are generally a 3-4 person team. Keep an eye on the Wolverines.

 

[gsmooth]

The weirdness of the presser wasn't as much him trying to light a fire under his teams @ss as much as it is was propping himself up to do it.

On a related note, Michigan kicked their butt and Vlad the Impaler netted 36. He, Wolf and Donaldson (all transfers) are doing some good work together and they currently lead the nation in FG%, and passing the heck out of it. Their issue is that they are generally a 3-4 person team. Keep an eye on the Wolverines.

I am keeping an eye on Michigan because next year UConn will have some similarities to them with Eric Reibe (Danny Wolf) and Tarris Reed (Vlad Goldin) on the court together. BTW, it was great seeing Reibe on the court at halftime of the PC game pumping up the crowd.

 

[superjohn]

It’s is a lot more fun when you have a few old school nuts out there, brings you back to the days of unfiltered and authentic pressers, some personality to the sport. Too many times coaches go PC in today’s world, which is canned boredom. I'll take the elf, at least he's interesting.

There's really nothing to see here.

This is part of his coaching style. It won't work with all kids but he's been pretty successful with it over the years.

 

[uconnfan68]

Isn't this his responsibility as Head Coach? Hire guys and recruit guys that do have energy, want to win, etc? I know who sounds delusional in this clip...

Not sure about that. Geno says he’ll never coach effort, they’ll just never play. Some kids get it, some never do.

 

[EricLA]

I mean, I am all about calling a spade a spade. But I don’t think we can sit here and throw stones in a glass house when the rest of the country thinks Dan is essentially the same guy. The delusional comments would never come from Hurley, but let’s not say he’s above a good sideline tantrum himself.

Sorry but I disagree. After the horrible trip to Maui, Hurley did some reflecting...

"I think criticism of me, based on how hard I push from a competitive standpoint, I think some of it was warranted," Hurley said via CTInsider.com. "But, the people that took shots, and were waiting years for their opportunity, I guess my mistake was giving them the opening by losing three in a row."

He has admitted to coaching mistakes and has corrected it:

“It would have made more sense to start him (Diarra) from the opener," Hurley said. "Just have him at that natural point guard position rather than put a square peg on a round hole. Trying to force that on Aidan. I screwed up the early part of the season there. Hass is the heart and soul of the team along with Sam (Johnson). Just the passion that they put into it."

IIRC he's made other comments regarding mistakes in his approach, but can't find them at the moment. But my point stands...

People may call him whatever they like, and hate on him, but part of it is just jealousy. He owns it when he screws up, and then goes about fixing it.

 

[Pistolpete]

I’ve always liked Mick, had some great teams at Cincinnati and has always been complimentary to the Uconn program and picked Uconn to win it all last year.

 

[gtcam]

Sorry but I disagree. After the horrible trip to Maui, Hurley did some reflecting...

"I think criticism of me, based on how hard I push from a competitive standpoint, I think some of it was warranted," Hurley said via CTInsider.com. "But, the people that took shots, and were waiting years for their opportunity, I guess my mistake was giving them the opening by losing three in a row."

He has admitted to coaching mistakes and has corrected it:

“It would have made more sense to start him (Diarra) from the opener," Hurley said. "Just have him at that natural point guard position rather than put a square peg on a round hole. Trying to force that on Aidan. I screwed up the early part of the season there. Hass is the heart and soul of the team along with Sam (Johnson). Just the passion that they put into it."

IIRC he's made other comments regarding mistakes in his approach, but can't find them at the moment. But my point stands...

People may call him whatever they like, and hate on him, but part of it is just jealousy. He owns it when he screws up, and then goes about fixing it.

I don't care how much Dan Hurley reflects.
His actions have been weird at best and to think the guy has changed since Maui, I've got some nice ocean beachfront property in South Dakota to sell you.
Winning all their games since Maui hasn't allowed him to really blow his top since that time.
I hope your right with your observations, but it isn't easy to change one's stripes in such a short time.

 

[Magic32]

I mean, I am all about calling a spade a spade. But I don’t think we can sit here and throw stones in a glass house when the rest of the country thinks Dan is essentially the same guy. The delusional comments would never come from Hurley, but let’s not say he’s above a good sideline tantrum himself.

Hurley may have wild sideline antics but he would never throw his whole team under the bus, he would take blame for not coaching them the right way.

 

[Dogdeacon]

It worked for Coach Rick at St John's late last season, why can it not work for Cronin now?

Exactly what I was thinking. Not only did it work, but it somehow added albeit laterally to the legend of Pitino.

 

[storrsroars]

Mildly surprised to learn that Mick and Jaime Dixon have both coached D1 for 22 years. Dixon has 15 more wins.

 

[RuffRuff]

I don't care how much Dan Hurley reflects.
His actions have been weird at best and to think the guy has changed since Maui, I've got some nice ocean beachfront property in South Dakota to sell you.
Winning all their games since Maui hasn't allowed him to really blow his top since that time.
I hope your right with your observations, but it isn't easy to change one's stripes in such a short time.

Weird is the new black

 

[pj]

Mildly surprised to learn that Mick and Jaime Dixon have both coached D1 for 22 years. Dixon has 15 more wins.

Yes, Mick has the higher winning percentage, but Dixon has more games played due to coaching better programs and getting more tourney games.

Both excellent coaches. I would think Mick is a top 20 coach, and a little better than Dixon.

 

[HooperScooper]

High Knees sends the angry Leprechaun to the showers.

"In defense of my guys, I didn't think we were given any chance to win in the second half," Cronin said. "I let [official] Jeff Anderson know, I hit the showers."

UCLA's Cronin rips refs after ejection: 'Tired of it'

Three days after ripping his team following a home loss to Michigan, UCLA coach Mick Cronin turned his disdain toward the officials after being ejected at Maryland.

www.espn.com

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Darling Micki....never fails to miss the mark

 

[JMick]

High Knees sends the angry Lepreshaun to the showers.

"In defense of my guys, I didn't think we were given any chance to win in the second half," Cronin said. "I let [official] Jeff Anderson know, I hit the showers."

UCLA's Cronin rips refs after ejection: 'Tired of it'

Three days after ripping his team following a home loss to Michigan, UCLA coach Mick Cronin turned his disdain toward the officials after being ejected at Maryland.

www.espn.com

I hope coaches keep bringing it up

 

[housekeys]

I hope coaches keep bringing it up

"And take nothing away from Maryland, a really good team at home, but you got to defend my players. If you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it's hard to run any offense."

Note he is complaining about non-calls. Good or bad defense is a function of the way the refs call it. He should know. His teams at Cincinnati played great, "ref supported", defense.

 

[Hoophound]

"And take nothing away from Maryland, a really good team at home, but you got to defend my players. If you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it's hard to run any offense."

Note he is complaining about non-calls. Good or bad defense is a function of the way the refs call it. He should know. His teams at Cincinnati played great, "ref supported", defense.

I like Mick, but this isn’t an argument he should be making.

 

[hookshot]

A lot of middling coaches can rack up 500 wins, but he acts like that’s all he needs to accomplish. Ironic to say your players think they’re better than they are

I think we may be misinterpreting that he is patting himself on the back for his 500 wins. He is talking directly to his players and saying he has more passion to win the the game next at-hand than they are showing even though they have only a limited time to experience the joy of winning, while he is an aging guy that has won more than his share (yet wakes up each morning passionate to win the next one)

 

[Hoophound]

I think we may be misinterpreting that he is patting himself on the back for his 500 wins. He is talking directly to his players and saying he has more passion to win the the game next at-hand than they are showing even though they have only a limited time to experience the joy of winning, while he is an aging guy that has won more than his share (yet wakes up each morning passionate to win the next one)

Yep. It doesnt matter exactly how he meant it. You watch Mick coach and you know he’s giving it everything he has. He just wants that from his team. He’s all in. He’s a maniac.

 

[SixRings]

I’m watching the UCLA Rutgers game, cuz I like to bleed. Mick just berates his players constantly. Not sure why anyone would want to play for him. Can‘t be any fun for a kid.

 

[Dove]

I remember Jim Calhoun telling his players he cared more about winning then they do and criticizing them that they needed to have passion.

That was a special needs hoops camp back in 1988, I think. It was shocking to see.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Bilas does not hold back lol

 

[dennismenace]

Have to admit that when he took the UCLA offer he wasn't too farsighted about the West Coast "laid back and cool." Maybe he can come back to the Big East, rebuild one of the failing teams and add more color to some of our broadcasts. I get the biggest kick out of him for his ranting and stage antics and the leprechaun shtick we have assigned to him. He did a pretty decent job at Cincy and is so "A" type that he belongs back east. Come home
Carrot Top!

 

[Hoophound]

I’d love to see Mick at Providence.