A gutting loss to Stanford in January isn’t always a bad thing.
One year ago, it might have saved UCLA’s season.
Bruins coach Mick Cronin savaged his players back then, calling them soft and selfish, inattentive and careless. Team meetings followed, lineup changes ensued, and UCLA won 11 of 14 games before the pandemic struck, ending hopes of March magic.
There’s no telling what might be in store for the current batch of Bruins in the wake of what happened Saturday, other than the image of Oscar da Silva flashing toward the basket lingering in their head like a bad breakup.