Mick Cronin shreds UCLA's team attitude: 'It's been a problem for a month'

When UCLA dropped a game to No. 5 Arizona there was no real panic. After dropping one to California on Tuesday night, the tenor has changed a bit.

Coach Mick Cronin was blunt about where his team stands a month into the season. He’s not liking what he’s seeing so far.

“Our team attitude was terrible. It’s been a problem for a month,” Cronin said. “It affects performance. Get in the ring against somebody that wants to fight, give them confidence early you’re in for a fight. Aside from the fact we can’t make a free throw.”

UCLA finished 13-of-23 at the free-throw line against the Golden Bears. A better approach there could have easily been the difference in the game, which finished 80-72 in favor of California.

Otherwise not a ton jumps off the page in the loss. UCLA maintained a decent rebounding edge, although it did give up 11-of-22 from 3-point range. That’ll cost you.

Cronin broke down the exact nature of his team’s problem. It’s all mental.

“I think that we, right now, we’re good if things go well. I don’t think we’re very good if things don’t go well,” Cronin said. “Until we learn how to; until we get some leadership on our team, at the guard position would help, and not panic with the ball… Things didn’t go well. We tried to go one-on-five, get our shot blocked, get our fourth foul. We go one-on-five and get six, seven turnovers.”

There just isn’t anyone stepping up right now for UCLA to be that calming voice of reason when things get intense. Worse, there’s not that voice before things get intense.

Instead of having a readiness that any game could turn into a dogfight, UCLA seems a touch entitled, per Cronin. Whether he can change that remains to be seen.

“When things don’t go well we fold,” he said. “We get soft and panic real quick. So we’re not, although we’re an older team, we lack a toughness right now.

“But I just think what happens, our guys didn’t think this was going to be a game in my opinion. In my opinion they thought they were going to come in here and rah rah rah, they’re just way better. That’s my opinion. Everybody’s got one, right? You know what they say about them. They’ve got something in common with something else.”