UCLA Basketball: Absence Of This Major Element Inspired Mick Cronin To Ditch Press

We get it.

As we have discussed fairly frequently on this site, UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin opted to abandon his postgame press obligations in favor of a lengthy locker room sitdown with his team on Saturday, when it fell 66-57 against the 5-10 California Golden Bears at home.

In remarks to assemble journals Tuesday, Cronin explained that he was galvanized to do so when he recognized a total absence of hustle or effort from the team on either end of the hardwood, according to Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times.

“I didn’t think it was there,” Cronin explained. “That was alarming to me, so I felt I needed to address it immediately because your culture is the most important thing. … At that time, they needed to see that I wasn’t concerned about anything else but the situation.”

The 6-9 Bruins (1-3 in the Pac-12) have lost three games in a row and seven of their past eight contests.

“It’s still my job to deliver what the fans want,” Cronin added, “so that has me unable to digest food. The kids are trying but our effort [against Cal], that is the biggest problem. If you lose that, you lose your culture and we’ve been great all year with that regardless of scoreboard.”

UCLA's youth movement hasn't quite coalesced just yet. The Bruins are currently fielding seven freshmen and three sophomores.