Mick Cronin Calls UCLA “Soft” After Loss to Michigan – Will His Criticism Spark Change?

One of the best and most hilarious moments of the 2023 college basketball season was when Saint John's head coach Rick Pitino called out his own team for being lazy and unathletic following a bad loss to Seton Hall. What made it particularly memorable is that he actually called out specific players that he had a gripe with.

Pitino said Chris Ledlum didn’t get to the free throw line a single time in 29 minutes, and said both Sean Conway and Drissa Traore were “slow laterally” in the game. My personal favorite was when he called Brady Dunlap “physically weak” and that he needed to get in the gym. Eventually, he apologized for his remarks by saying “I should have never, ever mentioned a name” and “I didn’t mean it. I was trying to talk typical clinic talk like I do.”

Of course, there are many people who think he was doing this on purpose to try and light a fire under his players. I can’t say for sure that was the case, but whether it was intentional or not, it certainly ended up being an effective message. Saint Johns just barely missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season, but were a Top 25 KenPom team at season’s end.

It seems UCLA head coach Mick Cronin has taken a page out of the Pitino playbook after their latest loss to Michigan. While the Bruins have been a top 25 team this year, Cronin was clearly furious after his team's blowout home loss to the Wolverines.

"Obviously, they shot the ball well," Cronin said in his post game interview, per ESPN. "But we're soft. We're too soft to play hard enough. Even in the [crucial moments], you can't get a rebound. ... So don't tell me you want to win. Just don't tell you want to win. I mean, we're soft. To be fair, they have a unique skill set. But we're soft."

The Bruins have lost three of their past four games and have started their first season in the Big Ten with a 2-2 record. It hasn’t been a walk in the park, and Cronin didn’t hold back on his players and who he can trust.

"Here's what you do: You play the guys that will play hard and do what you tell them," Cronin said. "But right now, I'm searching for some guys that'll play hard enough to win a Big Ten game. ... It's really hard to coach people that are delusional. The hungry dog gets the bone. We've got guys that think they're way better than they are. They're nice kids. They're completely delusional about who they are."

Cronin also ripped his own coaching staff along with the rest of the program.

"I have to run on the court to get guys to play hard," he said. "It's crazy. And it's every day. I'm tired of it. It's every day. I have the most energy of anybody at practice every day. I'm upset with everybody in that locker room: my assistant coaches and my players."

Let’s see if we get an apology from Cronin like we did from Pitino when he pulled this same stunt in a post game press conference. I will say that notably, he didn’t call anyone out specifically by name like Pitino did, so perhaps that will mean no sorrow is on the way. We’ll also see if the team responds to his criticism with better play, or a rebellion.

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