The 10-5 UCLA Bruins are in a deep funk. The team once had aspirations of making a deep run in March, now they’re just hoping to get there. Everything is up for question, and Mick Cronin is open to anything that can get the Bruins back to playing clean basketball.
A season filled with disappointments
There’s been several letdowns for UCLA this season. A surprising loss to Cal, falling short against Arizona and Gonzaga before falling apart on the road this week against Iowa and Wisconsin. UCLA’s defense hasn’t been up to par and Cronin doesn’t yet know what the fix is.
By any means necessary
“We will embrace becoming a good defensive team at all costs. At all costs,” Cronin said during media availability on Friday. “Whether it’s we don’t practice offense the rest of the year. We will not win giving up 45 or 42 in the first halves of games on the road in the Big Ten. You will not win. So we have to do whatever we have to do, change defenses, change players, change the way we practice.”
It’s now or never for this year’s Bruins squad
Cronin’s intensity is at the right level. If things don’t change soon for the Bruins, it’ll become too late and if this UCLA team can’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament then it will go down as one of the most disappointing seasons in program history.
This team is too good to be this mediocre
The Bruins have the ninth ranked scoring defense in Big Ten action, while things could be worse, with how much UCLA has invested into this roster and Cronin, it’s incredibly underwhelming.
Mick Cronin needs defensive greatness
“We have great guys on our team,” Cronin said. “With that being said. I’m not running the peace corps at the Salvation Army. I’m not running the Boys and Girls Club. I need great defenders.”
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Mick Cronin’s search for UCLA’s defensive intensity continues
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
