Fran Fraschilla rips Mick Cronin for complaint on start time: 'It affects your team'

On a Saturday filled with college basketball, several games were still going as it approached midnight on the east coast. Much to the dismay of UCLA coach Mick Cronin.

Cronin was quite vocal earlier this week that his team’s 11:30 p.m. ET start time was absurd. One college basketball analyst was listening. Listening and shaking his head.

“You know, Mick’s a friend,” said Fran Fraschilla on air Saturday night during the Alabama–Arizona game. “When you do that, you complain about stuff like that, it affects your team. I’m sorry.”

Mick Cronin is no stranger to voicing his complaints. He’s had them about his team at various times, as well as other things in the past like Big Ten travel.

The issue for Fraschilla is that the mentality that goes into the complaint is sometimes tapped into by players. He was worried Mick Cronin’s squad might not be ready to play as a result of the head coach’s mentality.

“You’ve got to want to have a team that wants to play at 3 in the morning, or 5 in the morning,” Fraschilla said. “Remember the old 24-hour marathon?”

So what were Mick Cronin’s original comments? Well, he aired them on Thursday ahead of the game.

“Don’t get me started, trying to stay positive. It’s ridiculous,” Cronin said. “Why don’t we just play at midnight? I mean, what are we doing? It’s so disappointing, it’s so crazy. Let’s tip it off at 11:30. My dad’s real happy about it. He’s 84; he’s going to have to take two naps on Saturday to watch us play Saturday night. I mean, what are we doing? I’ve got no words.”

UCLA enters tonight’s game against Gonzaga with a 7-2 overall record. The program is coming off back-to-back wins at Washington and Oregon, getting off to a great start to conference play.