Postgame Quotes - UCLA 70, California 57
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 70, California 57
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 25, 2018
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Extremely proud of our guys. We’ve spent the better part of the last three days trying to get back to our identity and who we are. Offensively we haven’t been that far off in the last three games, but defensively we’ve been way off. We haven’t been very tough to play against and we’ve had slippage in our principles. Tonight we really fought. We missed some open shots and I told the guys that that’s 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.”
on Thomas Welsh suffering injury
“You 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 don’t know the extent, but it’s 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. He’s an amazing guy. He just gives him everything he’s 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. He’s an incredible teammate.”
on runs for both teams in first half
“I’ll have to look at it but I think we didn’t 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, we’ve been really good defensively. So now, it’s 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.”
on UCLA’s 18-0 run in first half
“Not 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 that’s what he can do because he has such a good basketball IQ. I thought he played extremely hard tonight. That’s 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.”
on new starting lineup
“We decided to change things up. I’m not sure if it’s the answer, not so much Jaylen [Hands], but if it’s starting four guards is the answer. It’s not the ideal weekend to be starting four guards because they’re huge and Stanford is big. It’s not easy. If anything it got [Kris] Wilkes out of the flow and we don’t want that. He’s too valuable to what we’re doing. So we’ll 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 can’t have Wilkes getting out of the flow and getting in foul trouble guarding guys that are three and four inches taller than him.”
UCLA freshman guard Kris Wilkes
on what sparked UCLA’s 18-0 and 24-4 runs
“That 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, ‘He’s playing hard.’ He’s getting banged up—got a messed up nose, messed up knee. The next person’s got to step up. Fortunately, everybody stepped up and we were able to get the win.”
on team’s struggles to start games, halves
“I think it’s more of just a concentration thing. That’s been our point of emphasis all season. I think a couple of these games, our concentration wasn’t always there and that’s 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.”
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on team’s first-half run after Welsh went down
“Yeah, we really came alive after that. Just to play for Tom. We didn’t know how bad it was. Just for him to go down like that… we stepped it up for him. It was great to have him back.”
on how it felt to start rather than come off the bench
“We got the win, so that’s the most important part. Starter or coming off the bench. As long as we win, that’s the biggest thing. We got the win.”
“It’s all the same. You want to come in and play the same way regardless, so it’s all the same to me.”
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on team’s response to Welsh going down
“We did great. Right when he left, we went on a run. So that was a good sign.”
on how he felt personally about Welsh going down
“It’s 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 it’s next-man-up mentality after that. I knew we were going to fight either way, so we would have been fine either way.”
on team’s slow starts to games, halves
“That’s on me. I’ve got to get my guys ready and try to get them hyped up and play with more energy. So that’s my goal.”
on what team can learn from performance
“Just to play hard. It’s never over, obviously. Just to play hard and make your free throws and play defense. I know if we play defense, we’re going to win. That’s all we’ve got to focus on and obviously moving the ball on offense will help a lot, too.”
California head coach Wyking Jones
opening statement
“Compared to the last game, I think we had a lot more focus on the defensive end. I felt like we defended very well, and I’m happy that we defended. We had 19 offensive rebounds, but we just have to make shots.”
on Aaron Holiday
“Aaron Holiday is the guy – night in and night out, he is their go-to guy. I know the type of player he is, so I’m not surprised by the way he played tonight.”
on their ball movement
“I 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.”
on sitting Lee after he picked up his second foul in the first half
“I felt like this game was going to go to the wire, so I felt like I couldn’t risk it. I’ve 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 didn’t want to roll the dice. For us, the overall problem was when Marcus went out. I was happy with Darius (McNeill); he didn’t force any shots. As a matter of fact, he took some great shots; he just couldn’t make them.”
on unforced turnovers
“Our team is young. It’s their first time in this atmosphere, so I kind of expected it.”
California forward Justice Sueing
on Marcus Lee sitting early with foul trouble
“I felt like I had to hang in there and make an impact, but the guys that were playing, they really stepped up.”
on playing near home
“I really didn’t feel any pressure. I’m 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.”
on Marcus Lee’s absence in the rotation
“It puts pressure on our guards, especially when the defensive pressure comes.”
on last year’s game against UCLA
“Before when we were here, we weren’t 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 couldn’t get the win.”
UCLA 70, California 57
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 25, 2018
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Extremely proud of our guys. We’ve spent the better part of the last three days trying to get back to our identity and who we are. Offensively we haven’t been that far off in the last three games, but defensively we’ve been way off. We haven’t been very tough to play against and we’ve had slippage in our principles. Tonight we really fought. We missed some open shots and I told the guys that that’s 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.”
on Thomas Welsh suffering injury
“You 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 don’t know the extent, but it’s 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. He’s an amazing guy. He just gives him everything he’s 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. He’s an incredible teammate.”
on runs for both teams in first half
“I’ll have to look at it but I think we didn’t 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, we’ve been really good defensively. So now, it’s 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.”
on UCLA’s 18-0 run in first half
“Not 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 that’s what he can do because he has such a good basketball IQ. I thought he played extremely hard tonight. That’s 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.”
on new starting lineup
“We decided to change things up. I’m not sure if it’s the answer, not so much Jaylen [Hands], but if it’s starting four guards is the answer. It’s not the ideal weekend to be starting four guards because they’re huge and Stanford is big. It’s not easy. If anything it got [Kris] Wilkes out of the flow and we don’t want that. He’s too valuable to what we’re doing. So we’ll 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 can’t have Wilkes getting out of the flow and getting in foul trouble guarding guys that are three and four inches taller than him.”
UCLA freshman guard Kris Wilkes
on what sparked UCLA’s 18-0 and 24-4 runs
“That 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, ‘He’s playing hard.’ He’s getting banged up—got a messed up nose, messed up knee. The next person’s got to step up. Fortunately, everybody stepped up and we were able to get the win.”
on team’s struggles to start games, halves
“I think it’s more of just a concentration thing. That’s been our point of emphasis all season. I think a couple of these games, our concentration wasn’t always there and that’s 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.”
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on team’s first-half run after Welsh went down
“Yeah, we really came alive after that. Just to play for Tom. We didn’t know how bad it was. Just for him to go down like that… we stepped it up for him. It was great to have him back.”
on how it felt to start rather than come off the bench
“We got the win, so that’s the most important part. Starter or coming off the bench. As long as we win, that’s the biggest thing. We got the win.”
“It’s all the same. You want to come in and play the same way regardless, so it’s all the same to me.”
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on team’s response to Welsh going down
“We did great. Right when he left, we went on a run. So that was a good sign.”
on how he felt personally about Welsh going down
“It’s 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 it’s next-man-up mentality after that. I knew we were going to fight either way, so we would have been fine either way.”
on team’s slow starts to games, halves
“That’s on me. I’ve got to get my guys ready and try to get them hyped up and play with more energy. So that’s my goal.”
on what team can learn from performance
“Just to play hard. It’s never over, obviously. Just to play hard and make your free throws and play defense. I know if we play defense, we’re going to win. That’s all we’ve got to focus on and obviously moving the ball on offense will help a lot, too.”
California head coach Wyking Jones
opening statement
“Compared to the last game, I think we had a lot more focus on the defensive end. I felt like we defended very well, and I’m happy that we defended. We had 19 offensive rebounds, but we just have to make shots.”
on Aaron Holiday
“Aaron Holiday is the guy – night in and night out, he is their go-to guy. I know the type of player he is, so I’m not surprised by the way he played tonight.”
on their ball movement
“I 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.”
on sitting Lee after he picked up his second foul in the first half
“I felt like this game was going to go to the wire, so I felt like I couldn’t risk it. I’ve 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 didn’t want to roll the dice. For us, the overall problem was when Marcus went out. I was happy with Darius (McNeill); he didn’t force any shots. As a matter of fact, he took some great shots; he just couldn’t make them.”
on unforced turnovers
“Our team is young. It’s their first time in this atmosphere, so I kind of expected it.”
California forward Justice Sueing
on Marcus Lee sitting early with foul trouble
“I felt like I had to hang in there and make an impact, but the guys that were playing, they really stepped up.”
on playing near home
“I really didn’t feel any pressure. I’m 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.”
on Marcus Lee’s absence in the rotation
“It puts pressure on our guards, especially when the defensive pressure comes.”
on last year’s game against UCLA
“Before when we were here, we weren’t 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 couldn’t get the win.”