The UCLA Bruins started the season with a bang. They had one of the best — if not the best — defenses in all of college basketball and looked like a legitimate dark horse.
That’s no longer the case. They’ve lost multiple games, and to add insult to injury, head coach Mick Cronin has made the rounds for all the wrong reasons, calling out his players and throwing them under the bus after every loss.
That’s why it wasn’t much of a surprise to see him do the same again after losing to Rutgers. In spite of all the criticism he’s gotten for this, Cronin continued to blame his players.
UCLA coach blames three players for loss to Rutgers
“We’re missing wide open shots,” Cronin said. “I mean, go on the road, take care of the ball, you only get nine turnovers. Obviously Tyler [Bilodeau] had a tough night. Their physicality bothered him, clearly, but he missed some open looks too, had a lot of open looks.”
UCLA Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin expresses his feelings during the NCAA game between the UCLA Bruins and Washington Huskies.
Cronin continued to point the finger at his players. Never once did he also acknowledge that the coaching staff had something to do with yet another avoidable setback:
“Lazar [Stefanovic] off a play we ran. He’s unguarded, Eric Dailey [Jr] unguarded top of the key. He was 0-for-3… we had a lot of open looks. We never trailed the first half. Maybe we could have got up 10 or so. He [Kobe Johnson] made a really bad decision with his foul in the backcourt. 75 ft from the basket to just, he just whacked the guy, it was a foul. You know it’s a bad decision. Didn’t help,” he added.
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Needless to say, these comments will continue to rub people the wrong way. And while accountability is important, the coach should also lead by example, and he might lose his players’ trust with these kinds of statements.