POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 100, California Baptist 53 (exhibition game)
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial
UCLA’s Mick Cronin
The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Obviously we had the talent advantage tonight, but the guys did a great job of ignoring that and putting forth maximum effort, trying to get better tonight. Better at our defensive effort, better at our communication, smarter defense. Our rebounding obviously was elite, plus 28. We were sloppy in this Fresno [scrimmage], we had too many turnovers. So, we cleaned that up. We had some shot selection I thought we’ve got to improve on. Forty-five percent here in this game is going to equate to about 37% against Arizona. It’s the hardest thing. It's like the final frontier in coaching, is getting guys to get to the next advantage and hunt for layups and open shots. Don't settle. You're just helping the other team. Take tough shots against Arizona opening night and we're going to be in deep trouble. Other than that, our effort was tremendous. A lot of guys, team attitude's been great. I look forward to coaching these guys every day because they're very, very mature. They understand that coaching and teaching helps them be better players. Really mature guys, and they were recruited because of that.”
on freshman Nikola Kusturica’s versatility
“I'll give you one that wasn't in the stat sheet. They were running a double screen, and he's guarding a 6-0 guy in an exhibition game, and we're up 30, and he's chasing that guy off the double, like Kobe Bryant was chasing [Rudy Fernandez] from Spain off of doubles in the Olympic Games 20 years ago. I mean he’s got this competitive – it’s why he's a special player. For a young kid, you understand most people 17 (years old), they’re juniors in high school. It’s very rare and I’m very thankful he put his faith in us to help further his development. He’s going to have games with 35, but he's going to have games like tonight where he's clearly a dominant player without making a lot of shots, but he gets that. Jojo Philon gets it, too. Jojo Philon’s the steal of the recruiting class. Complete steal. Great job by my coaching staff. Jojo’s from Tampa. That's a long way away. For them to identify him as the perfect fit for our program to make us long. We want to get longer on the wing and more athletic … You’ve got to get big everywhere. That helps your rebounding. Like Illinois in our conference. They're the best rebounding team. They're big everywhere. We got bigger on the wing and our guards rebounded more, so that's going to be important for us.”
on Bruins’ sophomore Filip Jovic
“He's got great hands, Filip. He’s just a warrior, tough guy. He's got big, strong hands. He two-hand rebounds. The key to being a good rebounder, you’ve got to go with two hands. Filip goes with two hands. He's a tough kid. Again, our production with those guys (Jovic and Xavier Booker) -- there may be a time when they play together -- but tonight they got 17 rebounds and 18 points. You get that at a five spot and it’s pretty strong.”
on senior Xavier Booker securing nine rebounds in the win
“It's what NBA scouts want from him. That's just the truth. He's already proven he can shoot. He's already proven he can run. They want to see his defense and his rebounding. And that's what we need from, too, for us to be a great team. I know he can make shots. He's getting better. The only thing, in this era, as you know because you're born-and-bred basketball and you've seen the game change. The pick and roll is so important in today's game. How to run it as a big and how to defend it as a big. Obviously he's very effective on the roll because he can finish or pass, but if you know some teams are going to go drop and then he can pop the drop and make 3s, but his defense and his rebounding is where it's at. It's where his future’s at. It’s how he’s going to make his money. He doesn’t do it, he's going to make less money. He'll be calling me looking for a job like David Singleton.”
on finding those teachable moments from this exhibition contest
“Yeah, I think I already alluded to I thought we took too many shots that we didn't need to take. And it's the hardest thing because you don't want to take aggression away from players. You know, it's funny. I went and talked to them about the San Antonio Spurs, and I realized that they all were born right around that era, so they didn't get to watch what they called the Beautiful Game Spurs. The passing, the cutting, literally every coach worldwide was showing … I showed my Murray State team 20-something years ago … If we get movement keep getting to another action with passing and cutting and ball movement, we’re really hard to defend. But good teams are going to try to not let you do that. They're going to try to limit you to run pick and roll, and somebody goes ISO, next thing you know, you're going to be down 20 if you're on the road … That's coaching. I’ve just got to keep working with them on it, but you’ve got to be able to do it, and then and then when you have room, shoot it. If you don't have room, move it. You’ve got space, drive. It's a growing process for guys because you don't want to take guys’ aggressiveness away from them.”
on sophomore Azavier Robinson’s energy
“Zay is an unbelievable guard, defensively. When he goes to guard one of our players, they just pass the ball in practice. Because I don't call a lot of fouls. I let them get after each other, and he just takes the ball from them. And that's just his mentality. He's unbelievable. He's as good as I've ever seen in guarding ball. But again, if you want to get better defensively, you’ve got to try to recruit some guys who can play defense … We didn't recruit him, we signed him. You’ve got to go out and sign guys because this is not what it used to be. You’ve got to you got to go out and allocate some of your cap money, and sign a guy that's a hell of a defender. We got a couple of them. Jojo and Zay … those guys are elite defensive players. And Nikola is, too … How many guards are blocking shots off the glass, like pounding them off the glass? And they look like me.”
UCLA senior Eric Dailey Jr.
on this team showing some tenacity on defense
“I think this is probably one of the best defensive teams that I have been on in my three years here. We’ve got a lot of size, a lot of athleticism, and everyone is really flying around which is good. I think, you know, it might not be perfect every time but everyone is hustling and that is the most important part of defense.”
on the team making rebounding a greater emphasis
“Yeah, we make it an emphasize to rebound and play defense. And everybody is crashing the board, and the only person who is not crashing the board is someone who is shooting the ball. With four or five guys crashing every time, that makes our chances better of getting a rebound. We have a lot of tall guys like Jojo and Niko and Book and myself, and really everyone is around 6-6 plus so that makes it easier to go and get a rebound.”
on letting the team’s defense help dictate some offense
“It was what the defense gave me. It was pack-line defense. They were behind the 3-point line. I’ve been working on that shot. And my teammates found me open. It was just on me to shoot the ball – make or miss, I didn’t really care if it was going in or not, just get that tempo up because that was the best shot at the time. When it comes to threes, you’re going to make or miss, I’m not going to be seven for nine every game, but it’s about making the right play at the right time. I’m getting old, man – I can’t keep running around and doing all that type of crazy stuff anymore.”
on what has impressed him the most with these freshmen (Nikola and Joe)
“Their heart – these two guys are really tough. I’d say that about all the freshmen we’ve got – they are tough. These two guys with me are about the team and that is the most important thing. I mean, that is what you want with players who come into the program. They are about the right things and that’s the most important thing.”
UCLA freshman Nikola Kusturica
on what he feels he’s most comfortable with so far on this new team
“I think that I am the type of player that can do a little bit of everything. Whatever Coach wants me to do, I can adjust and do whatever he wants. You can’t really put me in a box with what I am going to do or not. I think that whatever he needs me to do, I am just going to do it.”
on how he feels he can fit into this UCLA team and the role he will end up playing
“Good question. I think that every night is going to be a little different with what I’m going to do. Whatever the game is that day, and whatever the coach wants me to do and whatever the scouting report is, you know, I’m going to go and do whatever I need. I know that I can do a little bit of everything. Whatever coach needs me to do in that exact game, I can do it and sacrifice myself for the team.”
on hustle plays like diving on the court and picking up back-to-back offensive rebounds
“Yeah, I like to be a hustle guy, always. Maybe in practice, maybe there is some off-contact so you don’t get injured but when the game time comes, I know what time is it and I’ve got to go out there and hustle.”
on what he’s seen in American college basketball and what’s surprised him the most
“It’s definitely different than Europe, for sure, 100 percent. The things that have surprised me the most, the physicality and the contact and what the refs are calling. The contact here is way bigger and you’ve got to work to get on the line more. But I feel like my adjustment to the college game has been pretty good so far, and I’ve just got to keep growing from there.”
UCLA freshman Joe Philon III
on Coach Cronin having referred to him as the steal of the recruiting class
“I mean, it’s really high praise. I’m just glad to be here in this program, surrounded by so many good players and a legendary coach. To hear him speak highly of me, it’s wonderful. Any compliment from him is high praise.”
on his ability to player bigger than what he may be listed on a roster
“I mean, I’m just a hustle guy and I’m going to play as hard as I can and just do whatever I can to win. On any given night, it doesn’t matter how big the person is in the paint – use my speed, use any advantage I can to get a rebound and make winning plays for my team.”
California Baptist head coach Kyle Getter
on his team and the exhibition game against UCLA
“We’ve got a young group. This is the first time they’ve got to play in front of people. We didn’t really play to our standard, but credit to UCLA. Their physicality and length really bothered us. Overall, I’m proud of our effort and this is a great learning experience.”
on his evaluation of UCLA’s team
“They got 27 second-chance points and 24 points in transition. We only got six second-chance points and two points in transition. Their shot quality is very good and we gave them pick-six opportunities. They just had too many second-chance opportunities. Also, we just have to match their physicality without fouling. I feel if we step up our intensity, we can stop those pick-six opportunities.”