LOS ANGELES — Skyy Clark has an affinity for history, Paul Tait, his high school coach at Heritage Christian, always noticed. As a ninth grader, he knew all about Mick Cronin, the preacher of defense, who had recently taken over the UCLA head coaching job.
That knowledge prepared a young Clark to lock in on that side of the ball when Cronin attended his games. It worked, but a family-oriented move to the south before his junior year of high school disrupted — postponed, rather —the potential for Clark to play under Cronin at UCLA.
“Had COVID not happened, had a move to the East Coast not happened,” Tait told the Southern California New Group. “I think (UCLA’s) probably where he goes anyway.”
Cronin didn’t let any factor get in the way when Clark entered his name in the portal for a second time following his sophomore season at Louisville. In fact, he was the first of the six acquisitions the Bruins made in the transfer portal and, despite shooting 5-of-17 through his first three games in Westwood, there’s no confusion as to why.
“He’s going to have games where he scores plenty of points,” Cronin said Monday. “But he’s really trying to embrace, today, what we’re trying to do.”
On one possession in the first half, he dove for a loose ball, failed to grab it, recovered, and switched three separate times before drawing a charge. He had 16 deflections on Monday, which, according to Cronin, was the second-most of any player he’s coached.
Sparked by Clark’s effort, the Bruins forced 28 turnovers and held Boston to 30% shooting from the field. In the Bruins’ last home game against Rider on Nov. 4, they scaled back their defensive effort in the second half. On Monday, they continued to hound the Terriers’ ball handlers throughout the game in a 71-40 win. It was the fewest points the Bruins have allowed in a game since Jan. 19, 2020 when UCLA defeated Cal in Pauley Pavilion 50-40.
“It was our emphasis to put more pressure on, and to press, and try to get a steal,” senior Lazar Stefanovic said. “So that was our game plan.”
Stefanovic entered the starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing Dylan Andrews who’s listed day-to-day with a left groin injury, which Cronin said he thinks is going to be fine. Cronin elected to go with Stefanovic “to get his confidence going.”
Stefanovic responded, leading the team with 13 points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Eric Dailey Jr. also had 13 points.
Even with a starting guard in Andrews out, Cronin kept Sebastian Mack in the sixth-man role and he remained confident, coming in and immediately driving for a layup and then knocking down a 3-point shot. He finished with 12 points.
UCLA (2-1) scored 36 points off those 28 Boston (0-3) turnovers. Those transition points, though, largely masked the Bruins’ struggles to execute their half-court offense.
“A lot of new guys on the team, and we’re still learning how to play with each other,” Stefanovic said. “All the mistakes we’re making offensively, in the half court, it’s all controllable stuff.”
He has a point. The Bruins are still building trust for one another and that has manifested itself in their slow processing speed when making decisions with the ball. They rarely zip it side-to-side during a possession, leading to a stagnant half-court offense. And a result of that is a lack of open, in-rhythm shots. UCLA was 5-of-22 from deep and is 20-of-74 (27%) on the season.
Through the first two games, the seasoning for that staleness was simply throwing the ball to Tyler Bilodeau. But he struggled on Monday, going 3-of-8 from the field.
UCLA turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, showing a similar carelessness to their 72-64 loss against New Mexico on Friday. Kobe Johnson lazily tossed a pass over his head that was tipped and taken the other way for a dunk. Cronin stomped his foot and hastily turned toward his assistants, in response.
Head-scratching lapses like that were the difference between the Bruins and the ultra-aggressive Lobos. Cronin tried to exhaust those types of mistakes out of his team with what Dailey referred to as an “intense” week of practice that followed the defeat.
“I didn’t like our competitive attitude in that game Friday,” Cronin said. “I basically told them, ‘If you’re going to play for me, this is how it’s going to be, or you’re not going to play for me.’”
Clark didn’t need to hear that twice. His dives and his hustle were the epitome of what Cronin is trying to build in Westwood. He’s repeated time and again that he could “care less about the missed shots” if it’s a direct trade for defense.
It’s true, the Bruins’ offense has yet to click. But if they can consistently suffocate teams in this way, a gradual process to gel will not be an issue. They have proven scorers like Mack and Stefanovic, and Clark, too, whose cold streak will turn.
They have a slew of chances to collectively find their shot during this upcoming stretch of lighter nonconference home games. The next one comes Friday as UCLA will host Lehigh University in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.
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