蜜柚直播

That is, he could just fire up some video of old Xavier-Cincinnati games. The ones where he led Xavier into annual dogfights with crosstown rival Cincinnati, coached by UCLA鈥檚 Mick Cronin during Miller鈥檚 final three seasons there. Miller鈥檚 Musketeers won two of the three matchups, none decided by more than 10 points.

Or even the ones after he left. Like the one in 2011-12, when a brawl erupted late in Xavier鈥檚 blowout win, resulting in each team suspending four players 鈥� including a Xavier suspension of Tu Holloway for his post-fight analysis.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what you鈥檙e going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati,鈥� Holloway said. 鈥淲e got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We鈥檙e a tougher team. We鈥檙e grown men over here. We got a whole bunch of gangstas in the locker room, not thugs but tough guys on the court. We went out there and zipped 鈥檈m up at the end of the game.鈥�

From 蜜柚直播, even Miller chipped in on that one. During a weekly news conference in what was his third season with the Wildcats, Miller said he was not surprised the rivalry game featured a brawl that resulted in eight player suspensions.

鈥淗appens every game. I鈥檓 proud of those guys, I really am,鈥� Miller said of Xavier. 鈥淚 would fully expect there to be a fight.鈥�

Miller later clarified that he wasn鈥檛 condoning the fight but was making comments in 鈥渁dmiration of their on-the-court toughness and their respective approach to giving great effort as a team.鈥�

Toughness was probably the key word there. In talking about the Wildcats鈥� inability to sustain high-level play after sweeping Washington and Washington State last week, Miller indicated he wanted to see more of that.

More toughness, more winning, no let-ups.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just hard because there鈥檚 so much at stake for players individually,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淲hat they don鈥檛 understand until it鈥檚 over is that respect in college basketball has always been given to those teams that win. Not win a few games but 鈥� be able to get into that tournament and win.

鈥淲hen your team wins big, the accolades and the individual things that you really sometimes chase and dream, really happen. But when you don鈥檛 win or you win a few and you lose a few, not until sometimes that period is over do you completely understand that you鈥檙e not going to get out of this what you really want.鈥�

Even though UCLA was in the process of an 18-point loss at 蜜柚直播 State on Thursday when Miller made his comments, he made it clear that Cronin has begun to instill the same sort of all-out sort of mentality in the Bruins as he did with Cincinnati.

鈥淏ased on our team tonight, we have to be better in some areas and be more ready for UCLA, because UCLA, they play hard,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚 admire how hard they play.

鈥淎nd playing against Cincinnati the eight times that I did, I鈥檝e never been in games like that. Ever. They鈥檙e the hardest, nastiest games and a lot of that is just a credit to the coach. I feel like UCLA is really going down that path and I mean that in a complimentary way.鈥�

It would appear inevitable that some tension from such a 鈥渘asty鈥� rivalry might carry over to the coaches involved, too. During his first year with 蜜柚直播 in 2009-10, Miller appeared to take a subtle dig at Cronin when asked late that season about whether youth was affecting the Wildcats鈥� mistakes.

鈥淲e鈥檙e young,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, you know, I came from this area where there was a coach where I was the last five years, where every time he lost he would keep saying how young his team was. And when they won, he would never talk about how young his team was.鈥�

But this week, Miller and Cronin expressed plenty of mutual respect. Miller even worked in a reference to Cronin during his weekly news conference on Tuesday, a forum in which he usually stays away from commenting in detail about the second game of a weekend.

鈥淢ick Cronin, for those that haven鈥檛 followed him at Cincinnati, what he did is remarkable,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淗e took over the program in a very uncertain time. They jumped conferences multiple times which is very difficult for a program to go through and he went to 11 NCAA Tournaments鈥� between Murray State and Cincinnati.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a really good coach and his teams play with great effort. They are one of the best defensive teams in the country. You can see it developing right now with UCLA, that they鈥檙e a different team now than they were a month ago, and they鈥檙e only going to keep getting better. They are physical in rebounding, they鈥檙e very, very good defensively, and they鈥檙e a smart group.

鈥淚 think they鈥檙e taking on what he wants their program to be. Cincinnati was like that, and you could see UCLA moving into that mode as a program. I have great respect for Mick Cronin.鈥�

After losing in Tempe on Thursday, Cronin told the Los Angeles Times that he and Miller discussed last summer having to play each other again, that they鈥檝e known each other far longer than just as head coaches.

But while Cronin also spoke highly of Miller, he also said Saturday鈥檚 matchup would be about the players involved.

鈥淚 know you guys have to search for storylines, but the guy鈥檚 a great coach and they鈥檝e got three guys on the draft board in the first round,鈥� Cronin said. Dylan 鈥淪mith鈥檚 a great player, the transfer from Asheville. The other guys are like fifth-year seniors, so they鈥檝e got like seniors or pros. They鈥檝e got a really good team and he does an excellent job, so we鈥檒l be up against it.鈥�

Miller may know Cronin鈥檚 players even better, because he recruited forwards Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, along with guard David Singleton.

While UCLA was just 8-9 overall after a home loss to Stanford on Jan. 15, Miller said it wasn鈥檛 because the Bruins were too soft or otherwise incompatible with Cronin鈥檚 tough-minded defensive style.

The transition was just taking a while.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of good kids and good players,鈥� Miller said of the Bruins. 鈥淚t takes time for a new coach to kind of implement his style and his system. 鈥� But I do believe they鈥檙e the most improved team in our conference, if you look at maybe where they were a month ago and where they are today.鈥�