Five fixes may right UCLA’s ship

When his team lost three consecutive games during what was shaping up as a rocky debut season, Mick Cronin made players and coaches go through practices without the UCLA logo on their tank tops and shorts.

- BEN BOLCH

MICK CRONIN must focus on what needs to be done to salvage UCLA's season.

(CHARLIE NEIBERGALL Associated Press)

There's currently no need to strip anyone of anything.

This already looks nothing like what UCLA basketball is supposed to be.

The defense is lagging, the roster is lacking and nobody seems to know what to do about it.

A second consecutive loss has dropped the Bruins squarely into bubble territory for the NCAA tournament, somewhere a team that wears these four letters across its chest should never be.

They are a middling 10-5 with no compelling victories and a .500 record early in Big Ten play.

Barring a major midseason course correction, UCLA is in danger of missing the only postseason tournament that matters for the second time in three seasons.

The last Bruins coach to survive that scenario was Ben Howland, who immediately entered the next season on the hot seat, his fate seemingly a fait accompli. Even a Pac-l2 regular-season title couldn’t save Howland, who was dismissed after the Bruins lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Cronin doesn’t appear in danger of a similar destiny given his recent contract extension that runs through the 2029-30 season.

Unless both sides negotiated a settlement of his buyout or Cronin took a job elsewhere, UCLA would owe him $22.5 million if it moved on before April 1 and $18 million at the same point in 2027.

Since Cronin is probably going to be around for a while unless things completely bottom out, it’s far more productive to focus on what he needs to do to salvage his current conundrum. So here are five fixes designed to get a team that entered the season ranked No. 12 playing closer to expectations:

Get Dent rolling

There were tantalizing glimpses in the second half against Iowa.