In Reply to: What's your assessment of what happened to him? posted by klkl on December 15, 2025 at 20:42:12
I think the criticism of Cronin is legitimate. A player like Dent wants to play fast. He thrives in an up-and-down game. A wide-open floor allows him to use his quickness, especially in transition, where he can get matched up against bigger defenders in space and they simply have no chance. A quick Google search shows that New Mexico ranked 23rd nationally in offensive pace last year, while UCLA ranked 306th. That’s a massive adjustment.
In one of his recent press conferences, Cronin mentioned that Dent isn’t going to get into the paint against major-conference competition as easily as he did last year. There’s probably some truth to that, but how many true Big Conference teams have we actually played so far? Does the evidence really support that claim yet? From what I’m seeing, Dent is getting into the paint at a reasonable rate, he’s just struggling once he gets there. He’s having his shot blocked far too often. For all his speed and athleticism, he doesn’t show much explosiveness at the rim. He would benefit from adding some craft to his game: using his body to shield defenders, drawing contact, and learning how to use the rim and glass to his advantage. Guys like Curry have mastered getting the ball high off the glass, and Dent needs to develop similar touch and deception.
As an aside, this isn’t meant to be a hit piece on Cronin. He brings a lot to the table, and I firmly believe defense wins championships, one of the reasons Dent came here in the first place. Dent needs to develop a defensive identity. It’s unfortunate that he’ll only be here for a year, because with his foot speed he could have grown into a true ball hawk. We see flashes of it, but it’s unlikely to fully materialize in such a short window.
If you’ve read my posts, you know I don’t think the offense is the real issue. Looking at the numbers from the last game, we actually shot a solid percentage. UCLA is never going to be an offensive juggernaut under Cronin — that’s simply not his philosophy — but what we’re getting offensively from this team is more than acceptable. The real problem is that the defense has a glaring hole.