oskidunker said:

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The Nil will hurt ucla. Players don't care about the ucla name anymore. They want the money. Good, fucla.

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2023/12/23/national-commentator-blasts-ucla-basketballs-nil-failures-speculates-about-mick-cronin/

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Only until they get rid of Cronin. There are still big UCLA basketball boosters around. With a little creativity working with the right coach, the boosters make being a basketball player at UCLA a lead in to acting jobs, fame and fortune, and/or the NBA, but they need to be in a high scoring fun offense. Generally LA understands that sports is part of the entertainment business. Cronin doesn't and will be back in the Midwest eventually.

….and then there was the director* of majestic films who said f@uck it! to the Mac or Mc.

*David Lean

sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

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Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

Has anyone had their name butchered more in modern history than Don MacLean?

SFCityBear said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

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Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

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On my survey, Monty comes in number one. Best knowledge, usually points out something that I would have not noticed, and in addition has a great dry wit.

MacLean second. Doesn't try to get too complicated, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks. (Note: the other night he was really off. I think UCLA's team play has gotten to him.)

Casey Jacobsen COULD be good, but he ultimately goes over the top in his comments to the point of being annoying.

Ben Braun, was a decent coach, appears to be a super nice guy, but his comments are as generic as can be. Wish he would come with a little more criticism.

Bill Walton. Don't care how great of a player he was, or how much he knows. Hit the MUTE button.

concernedparent said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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SFCityBear said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

---

Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

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On my survey, Monty comes in number one. Best knowledge, usually points out something that I would have not noticed, and in addition has a great dry wit.

MacLean second. Doesn't try to get too complicated, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks. (Note: the other night he was really off. I think UCLA's team play has gotten to him.)

Casey Jacobsen COULD be good, but he ultimately goes over the top in his comments to the point of being annoying.

Ben Braun, was a decent coach, appears to be a super nice guy, but his comments are as generic as can be. Wish he would come with a little more criticism.

Bill Walton. Don't care how great of a player he was, or how much he knows. Hit the MUTE button.

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For me, Walton makes bad games fun with his deep fried deadhead nonsense. More than any other color commentator he sells a vision of what makes west coast basketball (and the west coast) unique. He also loves Berkeley.

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I would rank them similar as Redless, but with the same exception as concernedparent. I enjoy Walton and I love his love for the Pac12 (and especially Berkeley). But I can see how he could be very annoying. For whatever reason, it usually doesn't annoy me and I enjoy it. His banter with Plaschke is fun.

For anyone who wants more schadenfreude about Cronin, here you go...

Quote:

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Digging into film and numbers, it's not hard to understand what ails the Bruins. There is no point guard to be found on the roster, it's one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in college basketball, there are few easy baskets to be had with the snails' pace the team plays at, and they either post-up or shoot 2-point jumpers more than virtually any team in the country. The Bruins play an archaic style of offense that doesn't fit their personnel and has been easy for opponents to stop.

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Quote:

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Cronin's previous inability to utilize Peyton Watson, who entered college a projected top-five pick in 2021 but saw his draft stock fall after averaging just 3.3 points in 13 minutes per game, will give NBA teams some pause in evaluating UCLA's current crop of prospects. Watson looks like a major steal for the Denver Nuggets in his second season after looking unplayable for the Bruins. How effectively Cronin can reel in NBA talent moving forward, and from where, will be a big question moving forward, as quite a few bridges have been burned in Southern California and now in Europe with Cronin's Bob Knight style team management and unattractive style of play.

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From https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/39268683/2024-nba-draft-notebook-ucla-prospects-failing-latest-injured-topic-sarr

sounds a lot like Howland...

bearister said:

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ducky23 said:

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You are THE MAN, bearister. You're an absolute credit to all old people everywhere.

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….and the total tuition cost of my 4 years at Cal was less than $3G, I paid $300/month for my two bedroom furnished apartment on Benvenue for the 6 years I lived there after graduation, my first house in Walnut Creek cost $137K (FMV today $1.6M) and my current house has increased in value 4 fold since I bought it 32 years ago. HOW DO YOU LIKE DEM APPLES? OLD GUY'S RULE!

*The down side is that at my age it is too risky to buy green bananas.

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On several occasions, I've seen people well into their 70's buying bare-root fruit trees and I've thought, "Wow, that guy is really an optimist!" But I'll be 70 this year and it seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

drizzlybear said:

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concernedparent said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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SFCityBear said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

---

Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

---

On my survey, Monty comes in number one. Best knowledge, usually points out something that I would have not noticed, and in addition has a great dry wit.

MacLean second. Doesn't try to get too complicated, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks. (Note: the other night he was really off. I think UCLA's team play has gotten to him.)

Casey Jacobsen COULD be good, but he ultimately goes over the top in his comments to the point of being annoying.

Ben Braun, was a decent coach, appears to be a super nice guy, but his comments are as generic as can be. Wish he would come with a little more criticism.

Bill Walton. Don't care how great of a player he was, or how much he knows. Hit the MUTE button.

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For me, Walton makes bad games fun with his deep fried deadhead nonsense. More than any other color commentator he sells a vision of what makes west coast basketball (and the west coast) unique. He also loves Berkeley.

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I would rank them similar as Redless, but with the same exception as concernedparent. I enjoy Walton and I love his love for the Pac12 (and especially Berkeley). But I can see how he could be very annoying. For whatever reason, it usually doesn't annoy me and I enjoy it. His banter with Plaschke is fun.

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Seriously I respect both of your opinions on Big Bill. At times he is rather interesting and sometimes quite funny. I just feel he would be more bearable (no pun intended), if he flip flopped the quantity of his "analysis time" against his "off the wall time." Its just too much of the abstract stuff that ultimately distracts from the game. Also CP mentioned that he makes bad games good, but at least this season not every game is a bad game.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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drizzlybear said:

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concernedparent said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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SFCityBear said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

---

Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

---

On my survey, Monty comes in number one. Best knowledge, usually points out something that I would have not noticed, and in addition has a great dry wit.

MacLean second. Doesn't try to get too complicated, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks. (Note: the other night he was really off. I think UCLA's team play has gotten to him.)

Casey Jacobsen COULD be good, but he ultimately goes over the top in his comments to the point of being annoying.

Ben Braun, was a decent coach, appears to be a super nice guy, but his comments are as generic as can be. Wish he would come with a little more criticism.

Bill Walton. Don't care how great of a player he was, or how much he knows. Hit the MUTE button.

---

For me, Walton makes bad games fun with his deep fried deadhead nonsense. More than any other color commentator he sells a vision of what makes west coast basketball (and the west coast) unique. He also loves Berkeley.

---

I would rank them similar as Redless, but with the same exception as concernedparent. I enjoy Walton and I love his love for the Pac12 (and especially Berkeley). But I can see how he could be very annoying. For whatever reason, it usually doesn't annoy me and I enjoy it. His banter with Plaschke is fun.

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Seriously I respect both of your opinions on Big Bill. At times he is rather interesting and sometimes quite funny. I just feel he would be more bearable (no pun intended), if he flip flopped the quantity of his "analysis time" against his "off the wall time." It's just too much of the abstract stuff that ultimately distracts from the game. Also CP mentioned that he makes bad games good, but at least this season not every game is a bad game.

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Yeah, maybe his distraction has been particularly useful for Cal basketball games the last several years.

Does it freak you out we will be 70 this year? In my head I am still 20 (some would argue 12, at least sense of humor wise).

bearister said:

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Does it freak you out we will be 70 this year? In my head I am still 20 (some would argue 12, at least sense of humor wise).

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A friend of mine used to say, "You're only young once, but you can be immature forever"

bearister said:

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Does it freak you out we will be 70 this year? In my head I am still 20 (some would argue 12, at least sense of humor wise).

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I'll be 75 this year and I can testify it's worse than 70.

stu said:

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bearister said:

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Does it freak you out we will be 70 this year? In my head I am still 20 (some would argue 12, at least sense of humor wise).

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I'll be 75 this year and I can testify it's worse than 70.

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To quote the kid in "Eight Men Out."

"SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE(Stu)"

I'm enjoying this year until the end of September because until then when people ask me how old I am I get to say ….

"I'm the dirty number."

Big C said:

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Yeah, we won the game. Made me nervous that their center got four steals in the second half, but we won the game... against (F)UCLA... in Pauley. The question is now, where do we go from here in our next 17+ games?

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Who knows. Brown could be the wild card. Shooting 50% from three d making some excellent passes.

bearister said:

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ducky23 said:

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You are THE MAN, bearister. You're an absolute credit to all old people everywhere.

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….and the total tuition cost of my 4 years at Cal was less than $3G, I paid $300/month for my two bedroom furnished apartment on Benvenue for the 6 years I lived there after graduation, my first house in Walnut Creek cost $137K (FMV today $1.6M) and my current house has increased in value 4 fold since I bought it 32 years ago. HOW DO YOU LIKE DEM APPLES? OLD GUY'S RULE!

*The down side is that at my age it is too risky to buy green bananas.

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Beat you. Paid $54,000 in 1974 in san bruno.. neighbor just paid 1.8

stu said:

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bearister said:

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Does it freak you out we will be 70 this year? In my head I am still 20 (some would argue 12, at least sense of humor wise).

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I'll be 75 this year and I can testify it's worse than 70.

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Yes it is. Things come and go.

philbert said:

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sounds a lot like Howland...

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Or Fox, but more by choice, because UCLA

drizzlybear said:

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concernedparent said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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SFCityBear said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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I caught that also. Wasn't Mclean one of the announcers? I think he was. If that is the case, well, consider the source. He was a jackass at Fucla also IIRC, at least at Harmon

---

Who would you rather listen to, Casey Jacobsen? Bill Walton? MacClean knows his stuff, not as much as Walton, perhaps, and can't hold a candle to Montgomery. I'd rather listen to Monty or Braun. MacClean suffered from playing with less talented teams for the most part, at UCLA, and in much of his career in the NBA. Meh.

---

On my survey, Monty comes in number one. Best knowledge, usually points out something that I would have not noticed, and in addition has a great dry wit.

MacLean second. Doesn't try to get too complicated, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks. (Note: the other night he was really off. I think UCLA's team play has gotten to him.)

Casey Jacobsen COULD be good, but he ultimately goes over the top in his comments to the point of being annoying.

Ben Braun, was a decent coach, appears to be a super nice guy, but his comments are as generic as can be. Wish he would come with a little more criticism.

Bill Walton. Don't care how great of a player he was, or how much he knows. Hit the MUTE button.

---

For me, Walton makes bad games fun with his deep fried deadhead nonsense. More than any other color commentator he sells a vision of what makes west coast basketball (and the west coast) unique. He also loves Berkeley.

---

I would rank them similar as Redless, but with the same exception as concernedparent. I enjoy Walton and I love his love for the Pac12 (and especially Berkeley). But I can see how he could be very annoying. For whatever reason, it usually doesn't annoy me and I enjoy it. His banter with Plaschke is fun.

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Another agreement of rankings/analysis. My enjoyment of Walton ( i have historically been a fan of his antics) has waned over the years as he has become more of an 'act'.

For me, Walton makes BAD games palatable, but with good games, hit the MUTE button. For the majority of games in between, I don't mind the shtick, but it can overshadow the game itself (which is a criticism).

At this stage of his career, I think he would be better suited for in studio analysis/anecdotes during time-outs, pre and post game. Not doing color against play by play.

BeachedBear said:

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drizzlybear said:

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concernedparent said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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SFCityBear said:

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For me, Walton makes BAD games palatable, but with good games, hit the MUTE button. For the majority of games in between, I don't mind the shtick, but it can overshadow the game itself (which is a criticism).

At this stage of his career, I think he would be better suited for in studio analysis/anecdotes during time-outs, pre and post game. Not doing color against play by play.

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Walton would be a huge improvement over pretty much everyone ESPN has on its basketball studio shows now, whether it's for NBA or college games.

I hadn't heard Sean Farnham before last nite's game. Thought he was pretty decent.