Bear Down Wildcats

Jefe wrote:So Shareef "gets" our Assistant fired but he's good to play for UCLA?

He had to sit out a year - the "rest of the story" wasn't shared....

Beachcat97 wrote:
UCLA has been getting more international applicants, thus elevating its status worldwide. It's not as though Berkeley has plummeted in the rankings; they're obviously right up there. These squabbles over who's ahead are very silly. If you get into UCLA, Berkeley or UofM, you did incredibly well in high school.

All this focus on international academics rankings is mishandled at a cost to the Bruins sports programs. Compare their current student allegiances to those of Alabama or Auburn whose students who grew up learning the program histories and are planning on attending the pep rallies and games. UCLA continues to foster such a large foreign student body a lot of their incoming student have no idea what it’s like to attend a college football game, don't buy the jerseys, don’t know the names of coaches or players, and don’t stay Bruins in the sense of following their sports programs after graduation. (Compare this to Michigan’s very sizable foreign student population who due in fact pick up the fandom of Michigan’s sports culture).

At this point something is inherently wrong with UCLA (see the tweet posted here by MrBug: "UCLA basketball's APR situation is more dire than you might realize. The Bruins are in real danger of an NCAA Tournament ban.") Sure there's BruinsNation and the Alumni groups spread across the larger Metro Areas that form a serious core of fandom, but as a whole Bruins sports culture is on a serious wane (See Cal Bears too) that its less academically ambitious conference foes aren't - Arizona, ASU, Utah, Oregon.

Good post, Catsby.

Yeah, it’s just gotten much harder for these schools to maintain both elite academics and elite athletics.

Michigan is one that has. I’d put UW/Madison up there too. Also UT/Austin, Duke, UNC, UVA, and Washington. None of these are easy schools to get into, and they’ve also continued to feature a number of top tier sports programs.

UCLA has historically been in this group, and to a lesser extent Cal. But the UC system is losing its athletics mojo. It’s been trending this way for a while.

love me some Vanderbilt - don’t forget Vandy

Damn. Nix to UCLA

MrBug708 wrote:Damn. Nix to UCLA

Choo told us that three weeks ago. Where ya been?

DG is retiring!

MrBug708 wrote:DG is retiring!

Congrats! Should have been let go years ago.

MrBug708 wrote:DG is retiring!

Why you gotta gloat? That’s terrible news.

Oh my!!!!!! https://247sports.com/college/ucla/Arti ... 136473915/" target="_blank

Next up,

"Trae young being investigated for improper benefits. Allegedly his mother gave him 50 bucks and let him use her car to take a girl to the movies while enrolled at Oklahoma."
Not trying to minimize the story. Just can't wait for that one to show up.

TheCat wrote:Oh my!!!!!! https://247sports.com/college/ucla/Arti ... 136473915/" target="_blank

Not stressing this, though it will take Steve Alford's best year coaching, off the official record.

UCLA has no ability to score. the best player for UCLA didn't appear in a singe game for Alford last year.

If not for the lopsided FT #s they'd have lost.

UCLA is traaaaaash

Cronin isn't a bad coach. I'd expect they'll be better than some are predicting. Definitely not a tournament team, but probably not a bottom tier Pac team either.

Beachcat97 wrote:Cronin isn't a bad coach. I'd expect they'll be better than some are predicting. Definitely not a tournament team, but probably not a bottom tier Pac team either.

I know ppl bitch about Miller's offensive chops, but Cronin has never had a top 25 offense and has only had a top 50 offense three times in his career.

They'll grind out some ugly wins with their toughness and defense, but they'll be hamstrung by a lack of offense. This year in particular - there are maybe two playmakers on that team.

I mean they hated Howland ball in Westwood when the recruiting well became tainted...I can't imagine how Cronin Ball is gonna go...

UCLA has a very tough game vs. UCSB this weekend.

Watching the Bruins take on Pasternack and UCSB. You can see the Cronin mentality of muck it up. Not pretty but he will grind out wins. Wonder if the wine and cheese Bruin fans will accept ugly winning?

I like the look of the Jalen Hill kid. By the start of conference play I think UCLA will be a load for teams. Just the back street brawling style that most in this conference won’t like.

I don’t know who #21 is for UCSB but we could use him. He is a PAC 12 level shooter at minimum

azcat49 wrote:Watching the Bruins take on Pasternack and UCSB. You can see the Cronin mentality of muck it up. Not pretty but he will grind out wins. Wonder if the wine and cheese Bruin fans will accept ugly winning?

They don't have offensive stars but they played well. Hill looked good against a team that should make the tournament. Biggest thing is that we are rebounding well and Cronin has limited the hero ball. That alone should keep us in a lot of games

Defense looks solid, albeit against a bunch of scrubs. That being said, it was also the same group that couldn't play any defense last year.

I like Tom Izzo. I want the Mincy Trollops to beat Sparty. What's wrong with me?

Ucla not doing the conference any favors.

They look like garbage against Notre Dame.

UCLA doesnt have any scorers. Jaquez Jr is probably the closest thing to one and he's not a finish product either.

And now they have to play a UNC team that just lost to Wofford for the second time in a few years.

Well, Cronin was their, what, fourth choice? Fifth? It's not fair to be too hard on a guy in his first year, but I do wonder if Cronin is a good fit for that job. It was not the homerun hire UCLA fans were desperate for.

P.S. UCLA is a great example of what can happen when you fire a good coach (Howland) with no solid succession plan. It can set a program back a decade.

I’m too invested in Arizona to give two shits about UCLA and their sorry fanbase.

That wasn't a pretty loss.

MrBug708 wrote:That wasn't a pretty loss.

That was bad for the entire conference.

MrBug708 wrote:That wasn't a pretty loss.

Losing to a 3-10 Fullerton team never is.

MrBug708 wrote:That wasn't a pretty loss.

And what's worse is that UCLA will probably end up beating us.......twice.

Captain Obvious wrote:

MrBug708 wrote:That wasn't a pretty loss.

And what's worse is that UCLA will probably end up beating us.......twice.

But we’ll have an excuse, so there’s always that.

Yuck

Bump.

enfuego wrote:Bump.

This made me laugh audibly this morning - over a week later. You can sometimes be funny you bag of dicks. Your hate is odd & your game is weak but the sun shines, as they say.

Bear Down Vegas wrote:

enfuego wrote:Bump.

This made me laugh audibly this morning - over a week later. You can sometimes be funny you bag of dicks. Your hate is odd & your game is weak but the sun shines, as they say.

Sometimes comedy writes itself. Like this thread.

enfuego wrote:

Bear Down Vegas wrote:

enfuego wrote:Bump.

This made me laugh audibly this morning - over a week later. You can sometimes be funny you bag of dicks. Your hate is odd & your game is weak but the sun shines, as they say.

Sometimes comedy writes itself. Like this thread.

You do realize this is an Arizona board don't you? Why don't you go over to BRO if you want to troll UCLA fans.

First road sweep since the Howland years.

Great win for UCLA. They are a tourney team IMO. They are really coming together and they will be very tough next week

MrBug708 wrote:First road sweep since the Howland years.

That’s crazy. They are playing well and could be in the driver seat for the conference title.

WSU game is hurting. I think we need to win 2 of 3 remaining and then win another in the PAC-12 to have a shot at the tournament. Far cry from what happened in the Hofstra and Fullerton games. But sell out your culture to win those and we probably aren't sitting where we are now

3,000 tickets left for ASU, 1,000 left for Arizona

MrBug708 wrote:3,000 tickets left for ASU, 1,000 left for Arizona

https://www1.ticketmaster.com/ucla-brui ... 45FCDC3E56" target="_blank

Jake Kyman...damn

Damn, what an impressive win.

The rest of the season is the cherry on top. I think the culture has been transformed