Postgame Quotes
February 26, 2016 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
California 75, UCLA 63
February 25, 2016
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“Tonight was a tough shooting night for us. I thought the effort was great. I liked how the guys went about the game plan. I thought they did some good things. I liked their effort defensively in the second half. We didn't start the game or the second half, defensively, how we would've liked. Other than that, I thought that defensively, we did some good things. This [Cal] team is a very good defensive team. They make it hard on you and I thought that we started to get into a flow in the second half. We shoot 40 [percent] from the field and 22 from the three and then 47 percent from the line. That's going to be hard to win a road game, especially against this team in their building. You are going to have nights like that. We didn't turn the ball over. We gave ourselves a chance, but we just didn't make shots tonight.”
on what caused UCLA's struggles in the game's first five minutes
“The first five, we missed shots to start the game. I thought that we had some good looks and we just missed shots to start the game. The second half had a weird start to it. We had a 10-minute delay because of clock issues. We thought that we had a shot clock violation, and then not only was it not a shot clock violation, but they got two points out of it. So, there was some disruptive flow to those first four minutes, and we did not handle that well. I thought the start of the game was more obvious. We just didn't make shots. Defensively, we were a little careless. To start the second half, I think that it had to do with flow.”
on Cal's defense against UCLA guard Isaac Hamilton
“That's Jaylen Brown, who is an aggressive guard who can really defend. That's a credit to Isaac. He has been on an incredible rhythm. He got some looks tonight, but not many good ones. They were keying on him and they were keying on Bryce. That makes it hard on those guys. We started to get some of those guys to the line and then Bryce was uncharacteristic in that he was missing some free throws that he normally makes. That hurt the flow. We tried to get Isaac free, but that's a hard chore. With a 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7 kid in Brown, that's a pretty good defender who was chasing him.”
on UCLA's chances to secure a berth in this season's NCAA Tournament
“Yeah, I mean we still have three games left. We have Stanford at 1:30 this Saturday. That's huge. You try and get another road win. Then you go home and try to get two wins against two teams that are ahead of you in the league and in the RPI, there is still hope, and that's what we told our team. You can still get this thing to 9-9 and play hard and make the right plays and do the right things, you can still go into the Pac-12 Tournament riding some momentum. And then, I think the Pac-12 Tournament on a neutral court I this league? Anything can happen. I don't think that we have lost hope or lost belief in what we can do, it's just obviously a very tough road."
senior forward/center Tony Parker
on his thoughts about why UCLA lost to Cal
“We couldn't match their intensity. They came out and they were hot and hit a lot of shots. They played well. We have to bounce back. We didn't particularly shoot the ball well at all. It's just little things that don't happen very often. I try to beat Bryce in a free throw shooting contest all the time, and I never beat him. So, seeing him miss those free throws, that's when you know it's a tough shooting night for us. We'll bounce back and we'll be fine.”
on why UCLA got off to a slow start on Thursday
“They just came out and hit a lot of shots. That's one thing that you have to do on the road. You've got to hit shots, because the [home] team is already comfortable. They came out and played well. Jaylen Brown played extremely well. [Tyrone] Wallace did his usual. They just came out and gave max effort. Jabari Bird came out and played out of his mind tonight, and they played really well. We've got to bounce back from this because we have a really quick turnaround.”
on whether he sees a path to the NCAA Tournament for UCLA
“Oh, I see a path to everything. We're going to keep fighting. We're a good basketball team and I think that we'll do what it takes.”
on whether he feels any added pressure as the team's lone senior
“I've talked to them about it non-stop. Let's play hard and do what we've got to do. That's one of the main things. I've got to be the most positive and active about it, and we're going to make it happen.”
on Bryce getting the brunt of attention from fans on the road
“He knows what it is. He's the coach's son. That just comes with it. I pick on him all the time, so he's used to it.”
on the environment at Haas Pavilion and how it compares to other arenas
“I mean, Cal, they had a great crowd tonight. The fans did well. I think the student section did well. Gonzaga was nuts and Arizona is always a zoo. We play in good places out here in the Pac-12. It's fun to play basketball in these arenas.”
junior guard Bryce Alford
on what made Thursday's game such a difficult shooting night for UCLA
“I couldn't tell you. I felt good in warmups. We felt like were all shooting the ball well in warmups. We felt good about it. We came out pretty slow. In the second half, I made some shots and was able to gain some confidence that way. And then at the free throw line, I went one for two that first time. I'm not sure if it got in my head or what happened. But, I just couldn't shake it. I couldn't make them down the stretch.”
on adjusting to noise from fans in road venues
“For a regular person, I'd probably say that it would be pretty hard. But I feel like I'm used to it. I tune it out. Now, I start missing free throws and they start gaining steam like that, it's hard. It's very hard on you. But at the same time, I don't make any excuses for missed shots. I'm not a guy who listens to that kind of stuff. I've heard that kind of stuff all my life. It's something that I don't pay attention to. I don't hear it during games. I know that it's there, but I'm just trying to concentrate and make a shot.”
on trying to play harder, earlier in his career, when hearing noise from fans
“Yeah, I know in high school, you hear kids yell stuff from the crowd. I used to take that really personal and try and like prove that person wrong or something like that. But I just learned to focus on my game and not worry about what other people have to say. At the end of the day, the people in the crowd have zero influence on what we do as a team or what I do as a player. I used to do it, but now I tune it out.”
on tuning out noise from fans on the road
“That's just how it is, especially against teams like this. This is a really good defensive basketball team. I thought that we did a good job on the defensive end tonight, for the most part. We won the battle on the glass, which is a big key. But, like you said, it's tough. It's a different venue that you are not used to. It's a different ball. It's a different hoop. But as basketball players, we can't make excuses. It's fair game for anybody who is playing the game. We have to learn how to make shots and win more games on the road.”
