Mick Cronin on lack of fast break points: 'It kills you'

The UCLA basketball program continues to struggle early on in the 2023-24 season. The Bruins dropped a home game against Stanford on Wednesday, falling 59-53.

With the loss, UCLA is now 6-8 (1-2) overall and only 1-6 in its past seven games.

A contributing factor to its most recent loss was the fact that UCLA did not score any fast break points. After the game, head coach Mick Cronin discussed how that impacted the matchup.

“Oh, it kills you,” Cronin said. “Kills you.”

While Mick Cronin was disappointed with the lack of transition points, he did acknowledge that it’s hard to run on Stanford. The Cardinal make it a priority to not let teams get out in transition.

Stanford’s mindset is to sacrifice offensive rebounding opportunities in order to minimize transition opportunities for its opponent.

Still, Cronin was disappointed his team didn’t find a way to scores some transition points somehow, some way.

“I will tell you this, Stanford is a team – they sprint back,” Cronin said. “They’re a team that literally sends three or four guys back when you shoot, so it’s hard to get on a break against them on a miss. But it’d be nice to get some live ball steals where we could get out and run.”

UCLA will look to get back on track on Saturday night against Cal. The Bruins need to start a winning streak soon if they want to have a chance to turn their year around.

Mick Cronin on UCLA’s confidence: ‘You can’t call your mommy, she can’t help you’

Mick Cronin had some choice words following the 59-53 loss to open the new year in conference play during his postgame press conference. On one hand, he said all the team can do right now is try to continue to improve to fix its present circumstances.

“It is what it is,” said Cronin. “You’ve just got to keep trying to get better.”

However, on the other hand, Cronin said it’s also going to take some maturing from the Bruins as his evaluation turned more cross.

As far as his players’ confidence, Cronin pointed out that it’s up to them to maintain it themselves. No one is coming to save them in his mind and, as such, they need to take advantage of the moment that’s in front of them in their respective careers and in their season as a team.

“I know you’re going to ask me about, like, guys’ confidence,” Cronin said. “You know, it is what it is.”

“You can’t call your mommy. She can’t help you,” stated Cronin. “Got an opportunity of a lifetime. It may not last forever, depending on your performance.”