University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes: UCLA 88, UAB 76
November 29, 2014 | Men's Basketball
UCLA 88, UAB 76
November 28, 2014
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
on his initial thoughts on Friday night's win
“I'm just really proud of the guys. It's 10:30 at night here, and this is our seventh game in 15 days. To go through that stretch at 5-2, we would have like to have got more here. As we have mentioned, Oklahoma had a bunch of experienced, returning starters. And North Carolina is just as good as anybody. To get this one and to rebound with our third game in three days, I'm really pleased with the guys. We played with high energy. The effort was tremendous. We wanted to get to 5-2 going home and into our next homestand and we did that. We were able to see different opponents, and we can break down these tapes. They are different from the games that we played [before the Bahamas tournament]. It's going to really help us moving forward.”
on what sophomore Isaac Hamilton showed with his performance
“Character. That is what we have always talked about. You're going to have rough ones and tough days. When you have adversity, how will you respond? That is the type of kid that he is. He's a guy of great character. His teammates got him going early, and that was great. He played a really good game. He made a lot of good plays.”
on UCLA having played seven games in the last 15 days
“It tells me the kind of guys that I've got. That is what I'm excited about. We have a great group of young men. We have a high ceiling. There are some teams here with really good experience, and they're doing it with juniors and seniors. We are not there yet. We are growing. That is what we are trying to grow towards. For us to respond at 10:30 at night at the end of the tournament, the way that we responded, I'm just very pleased.”
on UCLA's offense against UAB
“We had five guys back in double figures. We got back to sharing it. The ball moved better tonight. I thought that we were a little more stagnant in the Carolina game. We have to continue to help the players. Carolina did some things to us that had not been done to us all year. There were a lot of things that came out of that tape that will really help us moving forward.”
on freshman center Thomas Welsh
“I thought this was a breakout tournament for Thomas. His numbers were tremendous against both Carolina and then tonight against UAB. You hope that these kinds of things happen. If there was one guy that really developed in this tournament here, it was Thomas. He was terrific tonight.”
on whether UCLA went into the North Carolina game wide-eyed
“I'm sure. There is no question, I'm sure that has happened. It affected a lot of them. We needed this tournament. It was a great tournament, and we would have liked to have gone 2-1 or 3-0. There were some good teams that went 1-2 in this tournament – Florida and Georgetown. We are glad that we were invited and played in this tournament.”
on playing a lineup that features Thomas, Kevon and Tony
“Kevon can play the big guard, and we played him there tonight. That provides us some versatility. I wish I had done that against Carolina. That's one thing that we talked about as a staff. We are learning this team, as well. We need more games.”
on what stood out about his team the last three days
“The good thing is the character of guys that I have. This is seven games in 15 or 16 days, with travel from Los Angeles to the Bahamas on the back end of it. We have some tired guys. For them to come out at 10:30 at night and give the effort that they did, it tells me the quality of character that we have. We had five guys in double figures again. We got back to who we were. We know that we probably aren't ready for Carolina. I think we were right there with Oklahoma. We were up eight with about nine minutes to go, and Norman gets his fourth foul. If that doesn't happen, who knows how this tournament ends up going for us. We know that we were one break here or there from being in a different situation. Carolina played us differently. They denied us, and we hadn't been denied and played on top. We were able to work on that today, and we were much better. I thought that we did a much better job of handling this tonight."
Isaac Hamilton (sophomore, guard)
on making adjustments after a difficult game against North Carolina on Thursday
“Tyus [Edney], who has played in the NBA for about four years, he told me that in the NBA [games] came back-to-back-to-back. It's about having short-term memory. I looked at the film, saw my flaws and made the adjustments. He told that to me before the game, when we went to eat. He said that the short-term memory is important when you play back-to-back like that. You have to just keep playing. Obviously, I didn't want to play bad. I knew what I needed to do. Those adjustments helped me be successful tonight.”
Norman Powell (junior, guard)
on the team possibly being wide-eyed when playing North Carolina the previous night
“I thought it was just a learning process. That is the first time that a team has played us like that. They were fully denying the wings. We had played a lot of transition back at home, so it was an adjustment getting back into our offense. Teams will start to do that now, as our season goes along. We will play teams like North Carolina and Oklahoma. We have to get guys open and get our offense to work for us.”
on reducing turnovers in Friday's game versus UAB
“It was a tough game [against North Carolina]. When you are playing three games back-to-back, it is going to wear on you. But, we watched film and saw what we need to do. We had to be tough wit hthe ball and create room. That is what this team came out and did.”
Thomas Welsh (freshman, center)
on what led to his improvement during the tournament
“I just played hard. I did my best in each game. I think that I'm feeling more comfortable out there.”
on getting more opportunities from his teammates
“As I'm getting more comfortable myself, they [teammates] are getting more comfortable with me. I just have to keep working hard, and we need to keep winning ballgames.”
on UCLA being able to reduce its turnovers against UAB
“I think that we got open a lot better. That was a key for us. And I know we keep saying it over and over, but we just feel more comfortable out there. Those two games against Oklahoma and North Carolina were good experiences for us. We need to improve going forward.”
on having potentially been wide-eyed against a team like North Carolina
“I don't think that we focus on the name. They're a phenomenal basketball team with a ton of great players. They did a great job on the defensive end of trying to deny our passes. I think that we learned from that. Tonight we did a better job for it. It was a good experience for us to just get that out of the way.”
