When his group misplaced three consecutive video games throughout what was shaping up as a rocky debut season, Mick Cronin made gamers and coaches undergo practices with out the UCLA brand on their tank tops and shorts.
There’s at present no have to strip anybody of something.
This already seems to be nothing like what UCLA basketball is meant to be.
The protection is lagging, the roster is missing and no person appears to know what to do about it.
A second consecutive loss has dropped the Bruins squarely into bubble territory for the NCAA event, someplace a group that wears these 4 letters throughout its chest ought to by no means be. They’re a middling 10-5 with no compelling victories and a .500 document early in Huge Ten play.
Barring a serious midseason course correction, UCLA is in peril of lacking the one postseason event that issues for the second time in three seasons.
The final Bruins coach to outlive that situation was Ben Howland, who instantly entered the following season on the recent seat, his destiny seemingly a fait accompli. Even a Pac-12 regular-season title couldn’t save Howland, who was dismissed after the Bruins misplaced within the opening spherical of the NCAA event.
Cronin doesn’t seem in peril of an identical future given his latest contract extension that runs via the 2029-30 season. Except each side negotiated a settlement of his buyout or Cronin took a job elsewhere, UCLA would owe him $22.5 million if it moved on earlier than April 1 and $18 million on the identical level in 2027.
Since Cronin might be going to be round for some time until issues fully backside out, it’s much more productive to deal with what he must do to salvage his present conundrum. So listed below are 5 fixes designed to get a group that entered the season ranked No. 12 taking part in nearer to expectations:
