Alexander: Maybe UCLA’s Mick Cronin should dial things back a bit
The world according to Jim:
• Mick Cronin stepped in it the other night at Michigan State, and the UCLA men’s basketball coach at least has acknowledged the fact. But how long can this continue?
Understand, I’m not a critic of his coaching style. He is uncompromising, he is anything but easy on his players, but part of his explanation as he put it after his 500th career victory last year, is this:
“Sometimes I say stuff I shouldn’t say. I’m well aware of that. I can be too hard on them, OK? But I’d rather err on that side because I wake up worried about what they think when they’re 28, not when they’re 18. ‘When you’re 28, what was Mick Cronin all about? Did he let me do things I shouldn’t have been doing just because I was scoring points for him? Or did he sit me down and try to change my ways as a man?’ And to me, that’s way more important than winning 500.” …
• That first sentence is certainly accurate. I cringe when I hear Cronin lambaste his players publicly for being “soft” or “delusional,” or when he goes on another of his rants about Big Ten scheduling. He’s not wrong about the latter – I hate the crazy-quilt nature of that schedule, too – but complaining about it won’t change it. It only serves to give your players a handy rationalization. …
• Cronin told reporters Friday morning that he did apologize to Stephen Jamerson II – a player whose spirit and commitment shouldn’t be questioned, given all that he has done to earn a spot on a Division I roster – after yanking him from the game and sending him to the locker room following a hard foul in a lopsided loss at Michigan State on Tuesday night. Cronin noted that after seeing the play on film, he was mistaken in thinking Jamerson “tried to wipe the guy out.”
And he also acknowledged that he can be “too candid.” I don’t know if he apologized to the reporter he accused of raising his voice while asking a followup question. In my opinion, upon hearing the clip of the postgame session, that reporter didn’t raise his voice. But those of us in the media don’t expect such apologies. It’s part of the cost of the give-and-take between reporter and source. …
• But as the face of the program, Cronin can’t afford those emotional outbursts, especially in an age when technically every player is a free agent every season. I think he recognizes that, because he noted, “I’m a good fit here because I know I’m not bigger than the brand. The brand matters here. The school matters. The last thing I want to do is bring negative publicity to the school.”
Or to drive prospective players away. …
• By the way, as of Friday morning ESPN’s men’s Bracketology listed both UCLA (17-9) and USC (18-8) as 11 seeds slated for play-in games in Dayton, Ohio. So there could be a lot at stake when the Bruins and Trojans meet Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion and again on March 7 at Galen Center.
It also listed UC Irvine (18-9) as a 14th seed and California Baptist (19-8) as a 13, though both of those depend on the outcomes of the Big West and WAC tournaments, respectively. …
• In ESPN’s women’s bracketology, No. 2 UCLA (26-1) would be a No. 1 seed and host, while USC (17-9) would be a No. 7 seed and play in Louisville. (The Bruins and Trojans have one more head-to-head meeting on March 1 at Galen). Other Southern California teams currently in that projected bracket: Loyola Marymount (18-8), which would be a No. 15 and would be sent to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and California Baptist (17-10), which would have to survive a play-in game against UC San Diego – a future Big West Conference foe – with the winner playing UCLA in the first round. …
• And have we mentioned that UCLA’s women’s basketball team is the best in town right now, in any sport? …
• One big benefit of working from home when the Winter Olympics are in Europe? Mid-day hockey! …
• Today’s quiz: How many Kings and Ducks came away with medals from the hockey competition in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics? Answer below.
• Somehow I’m not surprised that the Angels will not televise any spring training exhibitions from Arizona, given the uncertainty of the TV landscape and a franchise that hasn’t been relevant in this market for years. Owner Arte Moreno did tell our Jeff Fletcher that, essentially, the situation is still in flux.
I’d be curious if they’ve considered emulating their neighbors across the 57 freeway, the Ducks, who are in their second season of putting the majority of their games on free TV (Channel 13) as well as a free ad-supported streaming service (Victory+). …
• Meanwhile, ESPN – which gave up the Sunday Night Baseball slot that NBC ultimately grabbed – is now touting Women’s Sports Sundays, using WNBA and NWSL games to fill that prime time Sunday slot. Which is imaginative, and there’s certainly an audience.
But have ESPN’s programmers thought about what happens if the collective bargaining stalemate in the WNBA turns into a work stoppage? What do they fill with then? …
• The Athletic recently ran a story ranking the “hardest coaching job in world sport” – hardest as in most demanding fan bases – and most of the top spots were occupied by the globe’s biggest soccer clubs, many of those in the Premier League.
Among the 21 jobs listed (in no particular order), seven were based in North America: The New York Jets, Yankees and Knicks, Alabama football, the U.S. women’s national soccer team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and – well, let’s just say Lakers Exceptionalism is alive, well and recognized worldwide. …
• Quiz answer: Drew Doughty of the Kings and Scott Niedermayer, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks won gold medals as members of Canada’s championship team. Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown from the Kings and Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney from the Ducks were silver medalists for the U.S., and the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu won bronze medals for Finland. …
• Finally, a shout-out to Manhattan Beach’s Olivia Lagao, a former star at Windward High and now a member of a record-setting NYU women’s basketball team. The program has won 84 consecutive games going into Friday night’s home game against Washington University, which held the record of 81 that NYU surpassed on Feb. 8.
Lagao, a freshman, is averaging 9.0 points and 13.8 minutes per game and scored a season-high 17 in the game that tied the record, a 73-65 victory over Case Western Reserve on Feb. 6. And she and her teammates will be going for their very own three-peat when the Division III tournament gets underway next month.
jalexander@scng.com