It must be maddening, a coach who fancies defense watching his team give up one basket after another.
That’s the situation thatUCLA’s Mick Croninfinds himself in these days.
His team has too many players who struggle with lateral quickness, natural defensive instincts and rim protection. Cronin acknowledged that his team won’t do anything meaningful this season unless it can defend at a much higher level than it has through the season’s first three months.
But significant help could be on the way.
Skyy Clark, the team’s best defender, might be able to return starting with the Bruins’ game againstNo. 2 Michigan on Saturdayin Ann Arbor.
“He’s got to stack practices,” Cronin said Wednesday of the guard who has been sidelined since Jan. 3 by a hamstring injury. The hope is that Clark can practice four days in a row without setbacks, putting him on track to play against the Wolverines.
Clark has become such a high-level defender that Cronin said San Diego State coaches — known for defensive wizardry — showed their team footage of Clark as a teaching tool.
“The guy’s our best defender,” Cronin said, “by light years.”
Without Clark, the Bruins have been searching for ways to get stops.
This bunch is on pace to represent one of the worst defenses of Cronin’s seven seasons in Westwood, according to the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy. Cronin’s only worse UCLA defenses came his first season and two years ago during the season he imported four European freshmen, none of whom remain on the roster.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
