Mick Cronin blasts arrogance, lack of humility from UCLA players after win: ‘I’d like to fire myself’

Mick Cronin isn’t one to mince words. After UCLA‘s 80-74 win over Eastern Washington in its season-opener, Bruins head coach Mick Cronin blasted his team for their lack of effort and focus.

“Unfortunately, we won that game easily,” Cronin said. “When you have the wrong attitude in life, it shows up – so I blame myself. I knew this was coming and I couldn’t stop it, so I failed miserably. I tried in shootaround. Arrogance. Lack of humility. Don’t want to defend, don’t want to rebound, don’t want to play defense.

“There are so many mistakes, I’d like to fire myself for our defense. … Went off in shootaround today about intensity. Pros show up every day. Nick Saban 101 – the process is more important than the opponent. I lost them with three easy exhibition games. I knew I lost them. I could tell I lost them all week. We’ll see if this will humble them a little bit tonight.”

In the win, UCLA allowed EWU to shoot 53.7% from the field. The Bruins especially had trouble stopping the Eagles in the paint, where they tallied 38 points.

UCLA is ranked No. 12 in the country and entered the game as a massive favorite. Thus, the tight outcome was surprising to some fans. Cronin believes his team overlooked Eastern Washington and he’s taking full responsibility for the error.

“When you lose your team mentally and they’re worried about other things—‘We’re going to win anyway, we’re a great team, so I’m going to worry about whatever I want to worry about. I’m not going to worry about fighting around the post and the scouting report, because I have no fear of losing,'” Cronin mocked.

“Every time we took a step forward, we took two back. … Our saying is you have to win the fight to be able to win the game. You got to be able to win the fight, and you got a chance to win the game. We had no interest in getting in the ring tonight. We were too good for Eastern Washington. Cool loses, man, in everything in life.”

Mick Cronin’s relentless drive for excellence is the reason he’s had so much success as a head coach. After losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Cronin won’t settle for anything less than his players’ best.

On Friday, UCLA will have a chance to redeem itself as it squares off against Pepperdine at 7:30 p.m. PT. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network.