Tag Archives: Mick Cronin

And Then There Was UCLA

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Repping West Coast basketball.

The lowest point for my UCLA Bruins may have been 2013 when they came from behind and won on a buzzer beater in some Pac-12 conference game. In an otherwise forgettable season, Shabazz Muhammad glared at his teammates as he headed towards the locker room.

Why? Because he didn’t get the last shot. Muhammad, who didn’t give a shit about the team, only cared about his NBA prospects. Never one to play defense, Muhammad spent five years mostly warming NBA benches and then bounced around overseas.

Fast forward to Philadelphia tonight. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels are on a roll and may very well beat my Bruins, but that’s okay, because I get so much joy watching them compete.

They always make the extra pass and never quit. Credit Cronin. The worse things go, the more they lean on each other. And in their pressers, they continually talk about their bonds with Cronin and one another. They are the complete antithesis to the 2013 Bruins.

Yesterday, a college analyst picked the Heels to cover (UCLA is a 2.5 point favorite) and win because they’re playing with so much confidence and they’re a better rebounding team. He cited some other analytics, but he hasn’t watched the Bruins as much as me. You can’t quantify their unity and resolve to keep it going as long as possible.

Win or lose, I will relish the smiles, the affection, the team’s spirit. All of the intangibles.

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UCLA v Michigan @ 1900 Tonight

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A lot of people my age were enthralled with the idea of UCLA because of the unprecedented success of John Wooden’s basketball teams. 

When I moved into UCLA’s “Southern Suites” across from Rieber Hall when they opened in January 1981, I promptly put a poster of John Wooden and his “Pyramid of Success” on the bedroom wall I shared with Johnny Sun from South Pas (Pasadena for the uninitiated). The fact that Johnny moved to the U.S. from Hong Kong when he was 12 is no excuse for what he asked me a few months later, “Who is that on the poster?” “Shit!” I replied, “how the hell did they ever admit you!” 

Nine months earlier, at freshman orientation, I made friends with a shy Asian-American student who for our purposes we’ll call “Ken”. As some of us shot hoops, Ken stood at a distance and silently watched. Somehow I ended up chatting with him and we palled around during subsequent activities. In addition, we took a Social Psychology class together our first year, during which Ken napped through a majority of the lectures. 

Yesterday, from Japan, Ken one-upped Johnny Sun by asking a couple of questions about the absurd poster that celebrates UCLA’s surprising run in the NCAA tournament. It started innocently enough, “Whose beaming face is on the little cherubs?” But then things quickly escalated into Johnny Sun territory, “I’m glad I didn’t guess. I thought it was Joe Biden (you wrote ‘J brothers’).” And then he brought it home, “So Bill’s name has a silent J in front? Who are the 3 seated? Me thought the center was Justin Trudeau.”

And with that reference to the Canadian Prime Minister, “Ken” is the new leader in the Clueless UCLA Clubhouse (neither of them would get that golf reference).

So for Ken and anyone else similarly flumoxed, a brief explanation.

Left to right, Jules Bernand, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Johnny Juzang, three of the best players on this year’s team. Thus, the “J Brothers.” The little cherubs. . . Bill Walton, not 46. And for extra credit, note the tiny Mitch Cronin just below and to the left of Bernard. 

Ken, because I know you’re going to ask, Mick Cronin is the coach.

Go Bruins!