Postgame Quotes: UCLA 75, San Diego 68
December 08, 2014 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 75, San Diego 68
December 7, 2014
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
"Before basketball, congratulations to Coach [Adam] Wright and his staff, the men's water polo team getting 112. That's bigtime, seeing UCLA get another national championship and beat USC today, congratulations to them. We have a lot going on right now with men's soccer and women's volleyball and the football team getting a bowl bid. So, it was a pretty special day on our campus with a lot of good things happening. But obviously, the biggest highlight was getting number 112, so congratulations to water polo.
"As for our guys, I thought we did some good things, but we got a couple quick fouls on Isaac [Hamilton] which put us a little out of rhythm. I thought he was tremendous in the second half which was really good for us. The play of Bryce [Alford] and Kevon [Looney] continues to be really consistent and we needed their consistent play today. We had some moments where we were struggling. We knew this was going to be a good test because coach [Bill] Grier and his staff do a good job and [San Diego] is a very dangerous team. Overall, very pleased that we were able to get that win in the second half, but I wasn't pleased with our toughness in the first 20 minutes. I thought we our players came out and answered the bell much better in the second half.”
On UCLA's toughness and rebounding…
“I think we've played nine games now and we haven't been outrebounded in any of them, so I think that's a strength of ours. We're starting to develop identities, we're still a young team and we're learning. I talked to the players after the game about the things that we have to continue to learn. I talked about not committing fouls in inopportune times and having to deal with foul trouble. The board play has been consistent though. Other than two free-throw block-outs in the second half, our board play in the second half was really good.”
On getting attacked in the paint in the first half…
“With Tony [Paker] and Thomas [Welsh], I thought both of them were much better in the second half. In the first half, [San Diego] had their way with us, but the second half was much better. You have to do your work early, both offensively and defensively. You can't play behind. We have to make catches in the post a little bit harder. We didn't force very many turnovers or deflections in the first half, but I thought in the second half we were much better.”
On Johnny Dee's performance…
“He's such a good shooter. He comes in averaging 21 points a game. He doesn't come in and impose his will at 6'5”, he's about 6'0” or 6'1”, but he cuts extremely hard. This is an individual that if he stays healthy, you're looking at a 2000 point scorer. He's special and he's doing it where he's getting everybody's best.”
Norman Powell (Senior, Guard)
On toughness in first half…
“Coach said that we were playing soft and that we didn't have that toughness in the first half. As a player, you have to take it personal and realize that you've just got to play better defense.”
On playing a close game…
“It was really good for us to play in a close contest. It was good to see a team challenge us and be battle-tested here at home. I think that sometimes guys think we can just come out and score at home and get the crowd into it, but this was good for a team to come in here and challenge us.”
On being outrebounded in the first half…
“We have outrebounded teams the last eight games, so it's really big for us. By getting the rebounds, it helps us get into our offense an establish our transition game.”
Bryce Alford (Sophomore, Guard)
On Coach's halftime talk…
“The message was to not do what we did in the first half. He wanted us to go out in the second half and establish a sense of toughness.”
Kevon Looney (Freshman, Forward)
On being outrebounded in the first half…
“Just simply, we didn't defend. They made shots, so we couldn't really get rebounds. Overall, we just have to play better defense.”
On establishing a new game plan…
“With a small team, we just realized that we have to play a little bit better defense. We didn't really change much, it's just that our defense was terrible.”
On San Diego's smaller lineup…
“With smaller teams, you've really got to box out and be more physical. Taller guys seem to reach for the ball more, as opposed to shorter guys.”
San Diego Head Coach Bill Grier
“I was disappointed that we put forth such a great effort, and we just couldn't get the job done. We were up on the glass at halftime and I told the team that we couldn't let up on the glass or defensively. But that's what we did in the second half.”
On the offense…
“I was disappointed in our execution of offensively. We were trying to force the action on the first side when we should have kept passing, there were open shots. This group is stubborn. That's something we have to do a better job on.”
On the team's overall performance…
“I am proud of this team. UCLA ultimately wore us down but we kept battling. When you come into a place like this, you have to play near perfect. You have to capitalize when you have opportunies like this on the road. I told these guys that this effort will win on the road in our conference.“
Johnny Dee (Senior, Guard)
“We have to take this energy and how hard we competed with us. We have to play the same way regardless of who we are playing. We have a couple of big games coming up and we will bring this effort.”
On Brandon Perry's performance…
“Brandon Perry was also great for us. I told my dad that he has the best touch for a post player. He has really good feel for his size and it's good to see his contributions.”
