University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 119, Pacific 80
UCLA 119, Pacific 80
November 11, 2016 โ Season Opener
Pauley Pavilion
ย
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
opening statement
โI thought we did some really good things. I couldnโt be more pleased with how we moved the ball. That is the way the game should be played. I thought that was beautiful basketball. When you almost get 30 assists, you only turn it over 12 times and you have a school record 18 threes in the opener, when you do things like that, that is pretty impressive to see. I am really happy and we couldnโt have asked for much better as an opener. Now we know we will be a really good opponent. We had a lot of transfers sitting out last year and we got a CSUN team coming in here Sunday so itโs a quick turnaround but Iโm really pleased with tonight.โ
ย
on UCLAโs efficiency with 3-pointers
โI donโt know if it is by design, taking more threes than twos, but it is definitely something that we are emphasizing. I just thought we were efficient. To have TJ in his debut to have 22 and 15, that is an incredible debut. Lonzo was two rebounds away from a triple-double. I would assume Isaac with eight assists might be his career high or close. Aaron with a 5-0 assist-to-turnover ratio in his first game really being solely a point guard and then we talked about Bryceโs efficiency and we thought he could get more efficient this year. To get 30 points on 13 shots, thatโs efficient. We just had a lot of really good things that I thought took place tonight and we definitely want to be a team that run the floor because we definitely have the ability to make threes.โ
ย
on UCLAโs freshmen โ Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf
โThe biggest thing is these arenโt guys that force it. There is a lot of hype around them and they are not selfish guys. They do not believe in the hype and I believe the hype created around them is driven by what they have done. If you knew what kind of people they were, you would be more impressed with who they are as young men than as basketball players. I think they are really good at playing the game of basketball but they are a joy to coach. This team has been a joy to coach. We started back before Australia and we have had zero issues. The culture has been terrific. They watch film and they learn. The things that we had breakdowns on today they will see tomorrow and I would almost bet you that they work awfully hard to correct that on Sunday too. Lonzo and TJ they are just fun to watch and fun to coach and they are very unselfish. They get a thrill of making that extra pass. We had 29 assists tonight but I bet we had 20 hockey assists where I pass to you and you pass to him and you get the assist but I am the one that made the extra pass. We had a lot of that tonight and that was fun to watch.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Bryce Alford
on how fun it was to play
โIt was awesome. Obviously, scoring almost 120 points doesnโt happen a whole lot in college basketball. This team plays together and thatโs when basketball is fun is when you play together. When you have five guys on the court who are really just trying to help the next guy itโs fun. Youโre not worrying about yourself itโs about how you can help the team.โ
ย
on lineup combinations
โI think thatโs the beauty of our offensive scheme. There really is no set, we are all interchangeable. We can play a lot of guys in a lot of different areas. We are just playing basketball, trying to play at a fast pace. It doesnโt matter who is out there we are just trying to play basketball.โ
ย
on his different role as a shooting guard
โI think I got to show what I can do. The last couple of years Iโve had so many different roles - from setting screens to set other guys up, to coming off screens and trying to create for myself. When you have a guy like Lonzo who can pass the heck out of the ball at the point guard position, and Isaac who is one of our best scorers have eight assists so it makes your job easier when you have guys that can pass the ball.โ
on UCLAโs 3-point baskets
โI donโt think we are going to set a school record every game but we are going to shoot a lot of them. We have a lot of guys who can shoot them and a lot of guys who can get to open positions. This team can really score the basketball as much as anyone.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Lonzo Ball
on making his official UCLA debut
โThe atmosphere was great and it was great to go out there with TJ [Leaf]. Weโre the freshman duo. It was great tonight.โ
ย
on things he could improve upon
โOverall, Iโm pretty happy with my performance tonight. I had a few defensive misses that Iโm a little upset about but overall it was a good night.โ
ย
UCLA freshman forward TJ Leaf
on his first regular-season collegiate game
โI thought I played pretty well. I missed a couple of rebounds and I wasnโt very good from the free throw line. But I thought I did pretty well for the first game getting the nerves out.โ
ย
Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire
Opening statement
"We knew it was going to be a challenge, one team is trying to get better, the other is trying to win a national championship. So we kind of knew what we were up against. Alford shot very well, so did Isaac. Leaf really shot well and Lonzo did an excellent job. They do what they do, that's a good ball club over there."
ย
on where do they go from here
"I don't really get discouraged by this, I don't think we will see a team like this, but if we do it's going to make us better. Like I said that's a good team over there and it's only going to make us better."
ย
Pacific senior guard TJ Wallace
on tonightโs performance
"I definitely think I could have played better, I made some poor decisions at the beginning of the game. But as the game went on I kind of settled down and played my game."
ย
on where do we go from here
โIt's pretty simple, we go back to our principles - we got away from what we usually do, UCLA is a good team. What happened tonight was self-inflicted; we just have to get back to the basics."
November 11, 2016 โ Season Opener
Pauley Pavilion
ย
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
opening statement
โI thought we did some really good things. I couldnโt be more pleased with how we moved the ball. That is the way the game should be played. I thought that was beautiful basketball. When you almost get 30 assists, you only turn it over 12 times and you have a school record 18 threes in the opener, when you do things like that, that is pretty impressive to see. I am really happy and we couldnโt have asked for much better as an opener. Now we know we will be a really good opponent. We had a lot of transfers sitting out last year and we got a CSUN team coming in here Sunday so itโs a quick turnaround but Iโm really pleased with tonight.โ
ย
on UCLAโs efficiency with 3-pointers
โI donโt know if it is by design, taking more threes than twos, but it is definitely something that we are emphasizing. I just thought we were efficient. To have TJ in his debut to have 22 and 15, that is an incredible debut. Lonzo was two rebounds away from a triple-double. I would assume Isaac with eight assists might be his career high or close. Aaron with a 5-0 assist-to-turnover ratio in his first game really being solely a point guard and then we talked about Bryceโs efficiency and we thought he could get more efficient this year. To get 30 points on 13 shots, thatโs efficient. We just had a lot of really good things that I thought took place tonight and we definitely want to be a team that run the floor because we definitely have the ability to make threes.โ
ย
on UCLAโs freshmen โ Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf
โThe biggest thing is these arenโt guys that force it. There is a lot of hype around them and they are not selfish guys. They do not believe in the hype and I believe the hype created around them is driven by what they have done. If you knew what kind of people they were, you would be more impressed with who they are as young men than as basketball players. I think they are really good at playing the game of basketball but they are a joy to coach. This team has been a joy to coach. We started back before Australia and we have had zero issues. The culture has been terrific. They watch film and they learn. The things that we had breakdowns on today they will see tomorrow and I would almost bet you that they work awfully hard to correct that on Sunday too. Lonzo and TJ they are just fun to watch and fun to coach and they are very unselfish. They get a thrill of making that extra pass. We had 29 assists tonight but I bet we had 20 hockey assists where I pass to you and you pass to him and you get the assist but I am the one that made the extra pass. We had a lot of that tonight and that was fun to watch.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Bryce Alford
on how fun it was to play
โIt was awesome. Obviously, scoring almost 120 points doesnโt happen a whole lot in college basketball. This team plays together and thatโs when basketball is fun is when you play together. When you have five guys on the court who are really just trying to help the next guy itโs fun. Youโre not worrying about yourself itโs about how you can help the team.โ
ย
on lineup combinations
โI think thatโs the beauty of our offensive scheme. There really is no set, we are all interchangeable. We can play a lot of guys in a lot of different areas. We are just playing basketball, trying to play at a fast pace. It doesnโt matter who is out there we are just trying to play basketball.โ
ย
on his different role as a shooting guard
โI think I got to show what I can do. The last couple of years Iโve had so many different roles - from setting screens to set other guys up, to coming off screens and trying to create for myself. When you have a guy like Lonzo who can pass the heck out of the ball at the point guard position, and Isaac who is one of our best scorers have eight assists so it makes your job easier when you have guys that can pass the ball.โ
on UCLAโs 3-point baskets
โI donโt think we are going to set a school record every game but we are going to shoot a lot of them. We have a lot of guys who can shoot them and a lot of guys who can get to open positions. This team can really score the basketball as much as anyone.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Lonzo Ball
on making his official UCLA debut
โThe atmosphere was great and it was great to go out there with TJ [Leaf]. Weโre the freshman duo. It was great tonight.โ
ย
on things he could improve upon
โOverall, Iโm pretty happy with my performance tonight. I had a few defensive misses that Iโm a little upset about but overall it was a good night.โ
ย
UCLA freshman forward TJ Leaf
on his first regular-season collegiate game
โI thought I played pretty well. I missed a couple of rebounds and I wasnโt very good from the free throw line. But I thought I did pretty well for the first game getting the nerves out.โ
ย
Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire
Opening statement
"We knew it was going to be a challenge, one team is trying to get better, the other is trying to win a national championship. So we kind of knew what we were up against. Alford shot very well, so did Isaac. Leaf really shot well and Lonzo did an excellent job. They do what they do, that's a good ball club over there."
ย
on where do they go from here
"I don't really get discouraged by this, I don't think we will see a team like this, but if we do it's going to make us better. Like I said that's a good team over there and it's only going to make us better."
ย
Pacific senior guard TJ Wallace
on tonightโs performance
"I definitely think I could have played better, I made some poor decisions at the beginning of the game. But as the game went on I kind of settled down and played my game."
ย
on where do we go from here
โIt's pretty simple, we go back to our principles - we got away from what we usually do, UCLA is a good team. What happened tonight was self-inflicted; we just have to get back to the basics."