In Reply to: Typical Cronin...... posted by bluebellknoll on January 18, 2026 at 07:28:04
He took responsibility and he also held his players accountable as well. Perhaps the last part should have been stated privately, and I can only guess that it was, but that's his style. Like Phil Jackson, Cronin like to challenge his players publicly, like throwing down the gauntlet, and yet he still mostly retains the ones he wants. They seem to want to play for him. I believe they genuinely like and/or respect him. There must be some level of enjoyment there as well or else they wouldn't stay. From where I sit it looks like the only player who left that wasn't, for all intents and purposes, asked to leave was Mara.
In this age that's pretty remarkable. I know that on this board there's a popular notion that players don't like to play for Cronin. Maybe there's some truth to that where it concerns some of the offensive minded 5 star players just coming out of high school - maybe, but all evidence seems to point toward that notion being false for those who have actually experienced him actually coaching them.