UCLA Basketball: Why Mick Cronin Skipped Postgame Interview After Cal Loss

Originally posted on FanNation All Bruins
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated 1/9/24

Your UCLA Bruins are in a pretty darn epic slump. At 6-9 and fading fast, it's conceivable Mick Cronin's 2023-24 squad could miss this spring's NCAA Tournament, a far cry from the 31-6 finish of the 2022-23 vintage.

After the Blue and Gold's latest loss, a 66-57 upset at home against the California Golden Bears, the Bruins' head coach opted to forgo postgame presser duties. Instead, he stayed with the young Bruins in the team locker room for an extensive conversation, while assistant coach Rod Palmer was left to answer for the loss.

Today, Cronin addressed his absence in a new conversation with gathered reporters.

Here's footage of Cronin's latest presser, via Tracy Pierson of 247Sports:

"Yeah it's rare," Cronin said of his skipping an interview after a game. "I remember doing it [while I was the head coach] in Cincinnati one time, it lasted all night. "They need me right now... And I apologize [for not attending the presser], I know you guys work hard... But at that time, they needed to see that I wasn't concerned with anything else but the situation. They know I'm trying to help them... But I thought the other night was the first time that we got out-hustled, which is not acceptable. I take it personally... Look, we have our challenges as a team, you guys understand that -- we struggle to score."

After identifying the Bruins' biggest weakness, Cronin went on to highlight the Bruins' biggest attribute this season: their defense.

"We lead the Pac-12 in defense... So our effort's been pretty good all year. But you can't give up 14 offensive rebounds. I didn't like our defense, obviously I didn't like our offense, especially to start the game, after we spent two days on it after the Stanford game. I didn't like our defense, and I really didn't like our rebounding... which are two effort statistics that we can control."

This article first appeared on FanNation All Bruins and was syndicated with permission.

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