University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 70, California 57
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 70, California 57
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 25, 2018
ย
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
โExtremely proud of our guys. Weโve spent the better part of the last three days trying to get back to our identity and who we are. Offensively we havenโt been that far off in the last three games, but defensively weโve been way off. We havenโt been very tough to play against and weโve had slippage in our principles. Tonight we really fought. We missed some open shots and I told the guys that thatโs going to happen. We turned them over 10 times at Cal and tonight 15 times. They are a very good offensive rebounding team but I thought we fought and had some toughness to us tonight. Really proud of them taking what we did in practice this week and taking it into the game.โ
ย
on Thomas Welsh suffering injury
โYou always hate any of your players going down. Tom has worked so hard. Back in September, he broke his nose and sat out a little while for that. And in January, he breaks his nose and then has to wear a mask for every league game except for two. But, he just continues to get a double-double. Tonight, he got seven points and five rebounds and came back to make some huge plays for us, both offensively and defensively. He dives on the floor for a ball in the second half. We donโt know the extent, but itโs probably good news that he was able to come back. We will let the medical staff do what they have to do to figure out where we go from here. That nose has been stitched three times this year already. Heโs an amazing guy. He just gives him everything heโs got. When I went out to see him, I know that he was most frustrated, not for him, but he was upset because he knows what he means to this team. Heโs an incredible teammate.โ
ย
on runs for both teams in first half
โIโll have to look at it but I think we didnโt get the stops we needed to start both halves. Once we settled down defensively we were better. The last three to four minutes of the last three games, weโve been really good defensively. So now, itโs just about the starts. The first row of subs that came in just were not on point defensively, but we also missed some open shots. Whenever you miss open shots, being a player once, I know what it does to your demeanor. Then we got some stops, relaxed a little bit, starting making some shots and our energy picked up. All in all defensively we were pretty good tonight.โ
ย
on UCLAโs 18-0 run in first half
โNot sure if that was our best 11 minutes, but it was our most critical, especially to do that without Tom [Welsh]. I thought G.G. [Goloman] brought a lot more toughness and thatโs what he can do because he has such a good basketball IQ. I thought he played extremely hard tonight. Thatโs what we have to have. To do that with Tom not out there was at least encouraging so some of these guys can start building some confidence.โ
ย
on new starting lineup
โWe decided to change things up. Iโm not sure if itโs the answer, not so much Jaylen [Hands], but if itโs starting four guards is the answer. Itโs not the ideal weekend to be starting four guards because theyโre huge and Stanford is big. Itโs not easy. If anything it got [Kris] Wilkes out of the flow and we donโt want that. Heโs too valuable to what weโre doing. So weโll look at it. Maybe make some tweaks to it because maybe it is something that we can go to because we are fast, long and athletic. As long as we can rebound and defend without getting in foul trouble I think we can do more of that. But we canโt have Wilkes getting out of the flow and getting in foul trouble guarding guys that are three and four inches taller than him.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Kris Wilkes
on what sparked UCLAโs 18-0 and 24-4 runs
โThat first half, [we] started off sluggish at the beginning. We did that a couple other games and we just kept along with that. And then Tom (Welsh), he started playing hard, and then he got hurt and it was like, โHeโs playing hard.โ Heโs getting banged upโgot a messed up nose, messed up knee. The next personโs got to step up. Fortunately, everybody stepped up and we were able to get the win.โ
ย
on teamโs struggles to start games, halves
โI think itโs more of just a concentration thing. Thatโs been our point of emphasis all season. I think a couple of these games, our concentration wasnโt always there and thatโs why we start off sluggish, but as the game progresses, we get that concentration back and somebody steps up. The leaders, Tom and Aaron (Holiday), we feed off of them.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on teamโs first-half run after Welsh went down
โYeah, we really came alive after that. Just to play for Tom. We didnโt know how bad it was. Just for him to go down like thatโฆ we stepped it up for him. It was great to have him back.โ
ย
on how it felt to start rather than come off the bench
โWe got the win, so thatโs the most important part. Starter or coming off the bench. As long as we win, thatโs the biggest thing. We got the win.โ
ย
โItโs all the same. You want to come in and play the same way regardless, so itโs all the same to me.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on teamโs response to Welsh going down
โWe did great. Right when he left, we went on a run. So that was a good sign.โ
ย
on how he felt personally about Welsh going down
โItโs always hard on us when you lose a family member, but at the end of the day we knew he was going to be alright and itโs next-man-up mentality after that. I knew we were going to fight either way, so we would have been fine either way.โ
ย
on teamโs slow starts to games, halves
โThatโs on me. Iโve got to get my guys ready and try to get them hyped up and play with more energy. So thatโs my goal.โ
ย
on what team can learn from performance
โJust to play hard. Itโs never over, obviously. Just to play hard and make your free throws and play defense. I know if we play defense, weโre going to win. Thatโs all weโve got to focus on and obviously moving the ball on offense will help a lot, too.โ
ย
California head coach Wyking Jones
opening statement
โCompared to the last game, I think we had a lot more focus on the defensive end. I felt like we defended very well, and Iโm happy that we defended. We had 19 offensive rebounds, but we just have to make shots.โ
ย
on Aaron Holiday
โAaron Holiday is the guy โ night in and night out, he is their go-to guy. I know the type of player he is, so Iโm not surprised by the way he played tonight.โ
ย
on their ball movement
โI thought the ball movement was great until Marcus (Lee) went out of the game. When he goes out of the game, it makes it more difficult for us to move the ball.โ
ย
on sitting Lee after he picked up his second foul in the first half
โI felt like this game was going to go to the wire, so I felt like I couldnโt risk it. Iโve done that before, and Marcus has a tendency to pick up his third foul. Because it was a game where we played man-to-man, I didnโt want to roll the dice. For us, the overall problem was when Marcus went out. I was happy with Darius (McNeill); he didnโt force any shots. As a matter of fact, he took some great shots; he just couldnโt make them.โ
ย
on unforced turnovers
โOur team is young. Itโs their first time in this atmosphere, so I kind of expected it.โ
ย
California forward Justice Sueing
on Marcus Lee sitting early with foul trouble
โI felt like I had to hang in there and make an impact, but the guys that were playing, they really stepped up.โ
ย
on playing near home
โI really didnโt feel any pressure. Iโm just glad to come back here. I just wanted to play here and get a win. It was really great to play in front of my family and friends.โ
ย
on Marcus Leeโs absence in the rotation
โIt puts pressure on our guards, especially when the defensive pressure comes.โ
ย
on last yearโs game against UCLA
โBefore when we were here, we werenโt in the game. We trailed the entire game. But I felt like today we played collectively much better on the defensive end. Unfortunately, we just couldnโt get the win.โ
UCLA 70, California 57
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 25, 2018
ย
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
โExtremely proud of our guys. Weโve spent the better part of the last three days trying to get back to our identity and who we are. Offensively we havenโt been that far off in the last three games, but defensively weโve been way off. We havenโt been very tough to play against and weโve had slippage in our principles. Tonight we really fought. We missed some open shots and I told the guys that thatโs going to happen. We turned them over 10 times at Cal and tonight 15 times. They are a very good offensive rebounding team but I thought we fought and had some toughness to us tonight. Really proud of them taking what we did in practice this week and taking it into the game.โ
ย
on Thomas Welsh suffering injury
โYou always hate any of your players going down. Tom has worked so hard. Back in September, he broke his nose and sat out a little while for that. And in January, he breaks his nose and then has to wear a mask for every league game except for two. But, he just continues to get a double-double. Tonight, he got seven points and five rebounds and came back to make some huge plays for us, both offensively and defensively. He dives on the floor for a ball in the second half. We donโt know the extent, but itโs probably good news that he was able to come back. We will let the medical staff do what they have to do to figure out where we go from here. That nose has been stitched three times this year already. Heโs an amazing guy. He just gives him everything heโs got. When I went out to see him, I know that he was most frustrated, not for him, but he was upset because he knows what he means to this team. Heโs an incredible teammate.โ
ย
on runs for both teams in first half
โIโll have to look at it but I think we didnโt get the stops we needed to start both halves. Once we settled down defensively we were better. The last three to four minutes of the last three games, weโve been really good defensively. So now, itโs just about the starts. The first row of subs that came in just were not on point defensively, but we also missed some open shots. Whenever you miss open shots, being a player once, I know what it does to your demeanor. Then we got some stops, relaxed a little bit, starting making some shots and our energy picked up. All in all defensively we were pretty good tonight.โ
ย
on UCLAโs 18-0 run in first half
โNot sure if that was our best 11 minutes, but it was our most critical, especially to do that without Tom [Welsh]. I thought G.G. [Goloman] brought a lot more toughness and thatโs what he can do because he has such a good basketball IQ. I thought he played extremely hard tonight. Thatโs what we have to have. To do that with Tom not out there was at least encouraging so some of these guys can start building some confidence.โ
ย
on new starting lineup
โWe decided to change things up. Iโm not sure if itโs the answer, not so much Jaylen [Hands], but if itโs starting four guards is the answer. Itโs not the ideal weekend to be starting four guards because theyโre huge and Stanford is big. Itโs not easy. If anything it got [Kris] Wilkes out of the flow and we donโt want that. Heโs too valuable to what weโre doing. So weโll look at it. Maybe make some tweaks to it because maybe it is something that we can go to because we are fast, long and athletic. As long as we can rebound and defend without getting in foul trouble I think we can do more of that. But we canโt have Wilkes getting out of the flow and getting in foul trouble guarding guys that are three and four inches taller than him.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Kris Wilkes
on what sparked UCLAโs 18-0 and 24-4 runs
โThat first half, [we] started off sluggish at the beginning. We did that a couple other games and we just kept along with that. And then Tom (Welsh), he started playing hard, and then he got hurt and it was like, โHeโs playing hard.โ Heโs getting banged upโgot a messed up nose, messed up knee. The next personโs got to step up. Fortunately, everybody stepped up and we were able to get the win.โ
ย
on teamโs struggles to start games, halves
โI think itโs more of just a concentration thing. Thatโs been our point of emphasis all season. I think a couple of these games, our concentration wasnโt always there and thatโs why we start off sluggish, but as the game progresses, we get that concentration back and somebody steps up. The leaders, Tom and Aaron (Holiday), we feed off of them.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on teamโs first-half run after Welsh went down
โYeah, we really came alive after that. Just to play for Tom. We didnโt know how bad it was. Just for him to go down like thatโฆ we stepped it up for him. It was great to have him back.โ
ย
on how it felt to start rather than come off the bench
โWe got the win, so thatโs the most important part. Starter or coming off the bench. As long as we win, thatโs the biggest thing. We got the win.โ
ย
โItโs all the same. You want to come in and play the same way regardless, so itโs all the same to me.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on teamโs response to Welsh going down
โWe did great. Right when he left, we went on a run. So that was a good sign.โ
ย
on how he felt personally about Welsh going down
โItโs always hard on us when you lose a family member, but at the end of the day we knew he was going to be alright and itโs next-man-up mentality after that. I knew we were going to fight either way, so we would have been fine either way.โ
ย
on teamโs slow starts to games, halves
โThatโs on me. Iโve got to get my guys ready and try to get them hyped up and play with more energy. So thatโs my goal.โ
ย
on what team can learn from performance
โJust to play hard. Itโs never over, obviously. Just to play hard and make your free throws and play defense. I know if we play defense, weโre going to win. Thatโs all weโve got to focus on and obviously moving the ball on offense will help a lot, too.โ
ย
California head coach Wyking Jones
opening statement
โCompared to the last game, I think we had a lot more focus on the defensive end. I felt like we defended very well, and Iโm happy that we defended. We had 19 offensive rebounds, but we just have to make shots.โ
ย
on Aaron Holiday
โAaron Holiday is the guy โ night in and night out, he is their go-to guy. I know the type of player he is, so Iโm not surprised by the way he played tonight.โ
ย
on their ball movement
โI thought the ball movement was great until Marcus (Lee) went out of the game. When he goes out of the game, it makes it more difficult for us to move the ball.โ
ย
on sitting Lee after he picked up his second foul in the first half
โI felt like this game was going to go to the wire, so I felt like I couldnโt risk it. Iโve done that before, and Marcus has a tendency to pick up his third foul. Because it was a game where we played man-to-man, I didnโt want to roll the dice. For us, the overall problem was when Marcus went out. I was happy with Darius (McNeill); he didnโt force any shots. As a matter of fact, he took some great shots; he just couldnโt make them.โ
ย
on unforced turnovers
โOur team is young. Itโs their first time in this atmosphere, so I kind of expected it.โ
ย
California forward Justice Sueing
on Marcus Lee sitting early with foul trouble
โI felt like I had to hang in there and make an impact, but the guys that were playing, they really stepped up.โ
ย
on playing near home
โI really didnโt feel any pressure. Iโm just glad to come back here. I just wanted to play here and get a win. It was really great to play in front of my family and friends.โ
ย
on Marcus Leeโs absence in the rotation
โIt puts pressure on our guards, especially when the defensive pressure comes.โ
ย
on last yearโs game against UCLA
โBefore when we were here, we werenโt in the game. We trailed the entire game. But I felt like today we played collectively much better on the defensive end. Unfortunately, we just couldnโt get the win.โ