POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 102, Arizona State 80
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 19, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Really proud of the guys. Thought we did some really good things tonight. We did a really good job on the backboard for most of the night. That’s how we share it with 30 assists on the offensive end. We made 16 3-pointers. We did a good job of getting to the free-throw line. I liked our pace offensively. Other than a eight to nine minute stretch, three to four minutes to end the first half and three to four minutes to start the second half I though defensively we were pretty solid as well. This was a really good win…great effort tonight. Now we have a quick turnaround with a game here on Saturday.”
on Isaac Hamilton’s play
“Isaac, like all of our guys, is a high character guy. When you go through a shooting slump it’s tough. The difference is last year when that happened it was hard for us to recover. This year during his stretch where they weren’t dropping for him we could still win. And I think he gained a lot of confidence from that. He got it going tonight and the guys did a good job of finding him and he just made shots. I think that’s what makes us hard to guard. We can make shots in a variety of different ways. I’m really happy for Isaac because he works awfully hard and he’s a special kid.”
on Arizona State’s comeback
“I just don’t think you’re going to win games by 40 points in this league. It’s just not going to happen. We were up by 25 points at one point and won the game by 22. I’m going to take that. We just won a league game by 20-plus points. We didn’t play well during that stretch but sometimes you have to credit your performance. They made shots during that stretch. They drew fouls during that stretch. So I think that stuff is going to happen. I’m just pleased with another double-digit win for our guys because in this league that isn’t easy to do.”
on Lonzo Ball looking more aggressive during 14-0 run
“Now I think visibly Lonzo [Ball] looks aggressive all the time. If you watch me I just tell him downhill. I don’t really tell him too much offensively I just say play downhill. He is one of the most special players I’ve watched playing the game downhill. He does it as fast as I’ve ever seen a player do it and still make incredible plays and decisions. He finds people open that don’t even look open to most players. That’s a fun guy to play with. I thought he was special tonight. We always talk about how Lonzo can beat you in so many ways and tonight he had 12 assists, seven rebounds and only took five shots. And he wouldn’t have taken five shots if he didn’t have some breakaway layups. He only took one or two jump shots the whole night. He can just beat you in so many ways and I thought his pace tonight was really good.”
on Lonzo Ball’s growing leadership
“Everything is a learning process but I think he’s been good all year long. I think we’ve had good leadership all year. Bryce [Alford] and Isaac [Hamilton] trust Lonzo [Ball] a great deal. We’ve had good leadership and tremendous chemistry. These are just high character guys and that’s what’s fun. They are basketball junkies. Every last one of them will be back at the apartments or dorms watching tape. I know what they are going to do. That’s special when you have guys that care that much. Some of them will have the tape before the coaches are able to watch it. I just have a really good group of guys. They get it, they have the ‘it’ factor. I’ve had teams over my career that when you get a lead and its cut to six or seven you say ‘uh oh’. This team is different. They just say ok now we are going to get a layup, a stop and someone is going to bust a three and it’s going to go from seven to 12 just like that. I haven’t watched tape but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. I trust this team a lot and I think they trust each other tonight.”
on upcoming game with Arizona
“It’s a big game. They’ve done a lot of really good things away from home. They are able to win home games. They are 6-0 in the league after their win tonight so you have 6-0 against 6-1. You have a chance to play them twice, against some of the teams that doesn’t happen in this conference so it’s about taking care of home. We are going to have a very exciting atmosphere. We are celebrating Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and his career and what he has meant to this program. Hopefully Magic [Johnson] is going to be here so hopefully a bit of Showtime is going to be here. That’s going to be exciting. Hopefully we can play well. This was the second best offense in the league we played tonight and on Saturday we are playing, statistically, the best defense in the league. So something has to give with the number one offense against the number one defense.”
UCLA Forward TJ Leaf
on Isaac Hamilton nearly setting a school record
“I was just trying to make the extra pass and he happened to be in the corner [on his last possession]. I didn’t even know he had nine three [point makes]. It would have been awesome if he would have made that last one but obviously he had a great game out there.”
on the pace of the game
“I love when teams try to run with us because I think we are the best transition team in the country and the best running team in the country. When teams try to run with us, it’s almost like a challenge. We take that personal. We just like to get out and run. We definitely have a lot of room to grow, so that’s exciting for us.”
on hot shooting first half
“A lot of times it can be easy for us. We move the ball so well and effortlessly. We don’t have to tell guys to make the extra pass because it’s already done and it’s done quick at such a high pace. We have so many good shooters and play makers that when we start off the game we want to run at that pace. We did a really good job with that tonight.”
on looking ahead to Arizona
“It’s just another game. It’s two big time teams going at each other in a big time environment. It’ll just be a lot of fun playing against a great school like Arizona in a big time environment like that.”
UCLA Guard Aaron Holiday
on Isaac Hamilton nearly setting a school record
“We weren’t aware. It’s always good to see Isaac shoot well. That’s a big part of his game and I’m glad he finally got it going tonight.”
on getting out of a shooting slump
“Just go in the gym, work on your game, and keep shooting the ball. Don’t ever think twice, just keep shooting, and eventually it’ll start falling like it did tonight.”
on looking ahead to Arizona
“We got to play defense. Tonight, we did alright for a few minutes but we have to play a lot better against them because they are really good on both offense and defense. If we can get stops I feel like we can get out and run against them.”
on the game’s pace
“The pace we play at, I know not everyone will be able to play at that pace. Sometimes it does get tiring out there but that’s our game. It’s what we do and we’ll continue to do it.”
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
on UCLA’s firepower
“It was very similar to the game we had against Arizona. We just didn’t get off to a good start. Hamilton really had a hot start and they are a very talented team. Hamilton is like their first guy in their priority, so they’re going to be on all cylinders. They push the ball really well up the floor and we are built to play up-tempo, but it’s hard when you play somebody who is better at doing it. It makes it very difficult. We knew we had to play great offensively and we cut the lead down to seven and they switched to zone, which made me very happy. I thought because of that we could shoot some threes and cut down the lead, but we missed some opportunities.”
on getting within seven points
“They fought really well. We put ourselves in position to have chances to win the game. I didn’t like the way we finished the game defensively. They got too many easy points in transition.”
on the play of Junior Guard Tra Holder
“Tra is having a really great season. He is very good with using ball screens and he finished well in the paint. He also found his teammates. He is just a competitor and I really enjoy coaching him.”
on where they go from here
“It doesn’t really help when you lose, especially when you put a lot of pressure on a team. We’re going to work on conditioning, so we can sustain. We are really going to work on that in practice. I felt like we couldn’t sustain for the full forty minutes.”
Arizona State Senior Guard Torian Graham
on the positives to take from tonight’s game
“We overcame some adversity and we cut the lead down to seven and still gave us some hope.”
on how to improve from this
“We just can’t really get out to a slow start. We have to start faster. We also have to get more stops than we usually do.”
on what happens from here
“It felt really similar to the University of Arizona game, just like we cut it down. We felt like we could have won. We just have to get stops in transition. You take out the transition points and it gives us a chance to win. We feel like we can play with anyone in the country.”
Arizona State Junior Guard Tra Holder
on how it felt to play in his hometown
“It was cool, but we didn’t get the result I wanted, so it was bitter sweet.”
on where they go from here
“We really have to look at the film. We gave up too many easy buckets. They’re a fast team, so we really have to keep up to their flow. I feel that we have some mature and immature spots, but the game shouldn’t have ended like that. The lead changed so quickly, so it’s kind of hard to say what really happened out there. We just have to look at the film to see what happened.”
UCLA 102, Arizona State 80
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 19, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Really proud of the guys. Thought we did some really good things tonight. We did a really good job on the backboard for most of the night. That’s how we share it with 30 assists on the offensive end. We made 16 3-pointers. We did a good job of getting to the free-throw line. I liked our pace offensively. Other than a eight to nine minute stretch, three to four minutes to end the first half and three to four minutes to start the second half I though defensively we were pretty solid as well. This was a really good win…great effort tonight. Now we have a quick turnaround with a game here on Saturday.”
on Isaac Hamilton’s play
“Isaac, like all of our guys, is a high character guy. When you go through a shooting slump it’s tough. The difference is last year when that happened it was hard for us to recover. This year during his stretch where they weren’t dropping for him we could still win. And I think he gained a lot of confidence from that. He got it going tonight and the guys did a good job of finding him and he just made shots. I think that’s what makes us hard to guard. We can make shots in a variety of different ways. I’m really happy for Isaac because he works awfully hard and he’s a special kid.”
on Arizona State’s comeback
“I just don’t think you’re going to win games by 40 points in this league. It’s just not going to happen. We were up by 25 points at one point and won the game by 22. I’m going to take that. We just won a league game by 20-plus points. We didn’t play well during that stretch but sometimes you have to credit your performance. They made shots during that stretch. They drew fouls during that stretch. So I think that stuff is going to happen. I’m just pleased with another double-digit win for our guys because in this league that isn’t easy to do.”
on Lonzo Ball looking more aggressive during 14-0 run
“Now I think visibly Lonzo [Ball] looks aggressive all the time. If you watch me I just tell him downhill. I don’t really tell him too much offensively I just say play downhill. He is one of the most special players I’ve watched playing the game downhill. He does it as fast as I’ve ever seen a player do it and still make incredible plays and decisions. He finds people open that don’t even look open to most players. That’s a fun guy to play with. I thought he was special tonight. We always talk about how Lonzo can beat you in so many ways and tonight he had 12 assists, seven rebounds and only took five shots. And he wouldn’t have taken five shots if he didn’t have some breakaway layups. He only took one or two jump shots the whole night. He can just beat you in so many ways and I thought his pace tonight was really good.”
on Lonzo Ball’s growing leadership
“Everything is a learning process but I think he’s been good all year long. I think we’ve had good leadership all year. Bryce [Alford] and Isaac [Hamilton] trust Lonzo [Ball] a great deal. We’ve had good leadership and tremendous chemistry. These are just high character guys and that’s what’s fun. They are basketball junkies. Every last one of them will be back at the apartments or dorms watching tape. I know what they are going to do. That’s special when you have guys that care that much. Some of them will have the tape before the coaches are able to watch it. I just have a really good group of guys. They get it, they have the ‘it’ factor. I’ve had teams over my career that when you get a lead and its cut to six or seven you say ‘uh oh’. This team is different. They just say ok now we are going to get a layup, a stop and someone is going to bust a three and it’s going to go from seven to 12 just like that. I haven’t watched tape but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. I trust this team a lot and I think they trust each other tonight.”
on upcoming game with Arizona
“It’s a big game. They’ve done a lot of really good things away from home. They are able to win home games. They are 6-0 in the league after their win tonight so you have 6-0 against 6-1. You have a chance to play them twice, against some of the teams that doesn’t happen in this conference so it’s about taking care of home. We are going to have a very exciting atmosphere. We are celebrating Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and his career and what he has meant to this program. Hopefully Magic [Johnson] is going to be here so hopefully a bit of Showtime is going to be here. That’s going to be exciting. Hopefully we can play well. This was the second best offense in the league we played tonight and on Saturday we are playing, statistically, the best defense in the league. So something has to give with the number one offense against the number one defense.”
UCLA Forward TJ Leaf
on Isaac Hamilton nearly setting a school record
“I was just trying to make the extra pass and he happened to be in the corner [on his last possession]. I didn’t even know he had nine three [point makes]. It would have been awesome if he would have made that last one but obviously he had a great game out there.”
on the pace of the game
“I love when teams try to run with us because I think we are the best transition team in the country and the best running team in the country. When teams try to run with us, it’s almost like a challenge. We take that personal. We just like to get out and run. We definitely have a lot of room to grow, so that’s exciting for us.”
on hot shooting first half
“A lot of times it can be easy for us. We move the ball so well and effortlessly. We don’t have to tell guys to make the extra pass because it’s already done and it’s done quick at such a high pace. We have so many good shooters and play makers that when we start off the game we want to run at that pace. We did a really good job with that tonight.”
on looking ahead to Arizona
“It’s just another game. It’s two big time teams going at each other in a big time environment. It’ll just be a lot of fun playing against a great school like Arizona in a big time environment like that.”
UCLA Guard Aaron Holiday
on Isaac Hamilton nearly setting a school record
“We weren’t aware. It’s always good to see Isaac shoot well. That’s a big part of his game and I’m glad he finally got it going tonight.”
on getting out of a shooting slump
“Just go in the gym, work on your game, and keep shooting the ball. Don’t ever think twice, just keep shooting, and eventually it’ll start falling like it did tonight.”
on looking ahead to Arizona
“We got to play defense. Tonight, we did alright for a few minutes but we have to play a lot better against them because they are really good on both offense and defense. If we can get stops I feel like we can get out and run against them.”
on the game’s pace
“The pace we play at, I know not everyone will be able to play at that pace. Sometimes it does get tiring out there but that’s our game. It’s what we do and we’ll continue to do it.”
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
on UCLA’s firepower
“It was very similar to the game we had against Arizona. We just didn’t get off to a good start. Hamilton really had a hot start and they are a very talented team. Hamilton is like their first guy in their priority, so they’re going to be on all cylinders. They push the ball really well up the floor and we are built to play up-tempo, but it’s hard when you play somebody who is better at doing it. It makes it very difficult. We knew we had to play great offensively and we cut the lead down to seven and they switched to zone, which made me very happy. I thought because of that we could shoot some threes and cut down the lead, but we missed some opportunities.”
on getting within seven points
“They fought really well. We put ourselves in position to have chances to win the game. I didn’t like the way we finished the game defensively. They got too many easy points in transition.”
on the play of Junior Guard Tra Holder
“Tra is having a really great season. He is very good with using ball screens and he finished well in the paint. He also found his teammates. He is just a competitor and I really enjoy coaching him.”
on where they go from here
“It doesn’t really help when you lose, especially when you put a lot of pressure on a team. We’re going to work on conditioning, so we can sustain. We are really going to work on that in practice. I felt like we couldn’t sustain for the full forty minutes.”
Arizona State Senior Guard Torian Graham
on the positives to take from tonight’s game
“We overcame some adversity and we cut the lead down to seven and still gave us some hope.”
on how to improve from this
“We just can’t really get out to a slow start. We have to start faster. We also have to get more stops than we usually do.”
on what happens from here
“It felt really similar to the University of Arizona game, just like we cut it down. We felt like we could have won. We just have to get stops in transition. You take out the transition points and it gives us a chance to win. We feel like we can play with anyone in the country.”
Arizona State Junior Guard Tra Holder
on how it felt to play in his hometown
“It was cool, but we didn’t get the result I wanted, so it was bitter sweet.”
on where they go from here
“We really have to look at the film. We gave up too many easy buckets. They’re a fast team, so we really have to keep up to their flow. I feel that we have some mature and immature spots, but the game shouldn’t have ended like that. The lead changed so quickly, so it’s kind of hard to say what really happened out there. We just have to look at the film to see what happened.”