Mick Cronin tore his UCLA basketball team to shreds after a 94-75 loss to Michigan on Tuesday night. Cronin unleashed a familiar and typical barrage of quotes which took direct aim at the toughness level of his players. All the details of Cronin’s fiery remarks have been documented here at UCLA Wire. You can see them for yourself.
Now the big question emerges: Will this scathing criticism of his players actually work, or will it backfire? All athletes are different. Some need a gentle hand, while some need to be pushed and challenged. Some athletes might bristle at criticism in public, but they might privately know — deep down — that the coach is right and that they have to perform.
Ultimately, what matters when a coach criticizes his players is that the players respect the coach enough to accept the criticism, even if they might disagree with parts of it. If the players respect the coach, they will play harder. They will play better. They will play the right way. That’s what Mick Cronin hopes will happen.
There’s a notable and recent precedent for this. In mid-February of 2024, St. John’s basketball coach Rick Pitino went in on his players in a full-on takedown. He did not pull any punches. His rant was described as “cruel.”
It was vicious and nasty, or at least, one could have interpreted it that way.
However, St. John’s did immediately start to play better. The Red Storm improved by a large degree after Pitino’s verbal acid bath. They very nearly made the NCAA Tournament after being on the wrong side of the bubble for much of the regular season.
Mick Cronin hopes his words on Tuesday after the UCLA loss to Michigan will have a similar effect, but what if they don’t? What if players mentally check out? Not only would this season be a disaster, but Cronin’s ability to bring quality players into the program might be hurt. You know other coaches are negatively recruiting against Cronin because of his penchant for throwing players under the bus. If this bus doesn’t start driving in the right direction, it could go into a ditch.
Mick Cronin is playing high-stakes poker at UCLA. Let’s see how this all turns out.