Postgame Quotes - UCLA 102, CSUN 87
UCLA 102, CSUN 87
November 13, 2016
Pauley Pavilion
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“When you are early in the season there are always lessons to be learned. We got a lot of lessons. This is going to be a feeling out process and a learning process for the guys. We have a lot of guys, individuals, who have targets on their back, and when you are at UCLA and you start getting a lot of attention, those targets get even bigger. Hats off to CSUN. I thought they came in, had a good game plan and played very, very hard. It's the first time we have had to play against intense pressure and I didn't think we handled it well for the most part. 20 turnovers are way too high for us. Our assist total got cranked up again in the second half and we started making shots. We made our shots in the second half. There are lessons to be learned that you are going to have halves when you don't make shots and that was in the first half to where our habits defensively have got to continue to grow. It is going to be a growing process defensively just learning what we have to do and be able to consistently do that over 40 minutes. So a lot of good lessons. Seven guys in double figures and I thought we did a good job on the backboard. This is the first time playing two games in three days so there is a lot of lessons, a lot of tape, a lot of things we will be able to get out of this."
on attacking the basket more in second half
"They were really overplaying and so we talked about maybe less passing and maybe more dribble driving. When you play teams that like to extend, press and deny, and pressure, that means there are no gaps and no help in gaps. And they weren't an overly big team as far as rim protection and so we felt like that was a bit concern going into the second half. Without our screening and really ball movement, let's move the ball a little bit and if we get an angle to drive it, let's drive it. And we got some stops. The first eight minutes of the second half we got some stops and we got our transition game going and that loosened up some of that pressure."
on possible hangover from opening game of season
"Well we talked about that. We talked about how did you prepare for this game any differently than you did for the first game. Did you prepare, hey we just scored 119 and were on SportsCenter everywhere and this and that, did you prepare that way? Or did you prepare the same way going into the Pacific game? And those are lessons you learn. And not just the young players. Our veterans continue to learn that as well. You look at Bryce and Isaac, two of our veterans, they were guarded differently tonight than what they were against Pacific. So you have to be prepared for that. Going into every game, if I am Isaac and Bryce, I know I am getting the defense's best guy. I know I am going to be on the first page of their scouting as far as we are going to be defended so you take that as that is very respectful but when you prepare you have to be on point on how I am going to have to cut, how I am going to have to screen, and how I am going to have to move to get myself open. And I didn't think we did that across the board in the first half. The second half was much better."
on Lonzo Ball’s mindset of attacking the basket in the second half
"That's the mindset we have to have. I don't know if he or any of our other guys had that mindset to start the game and that's kind of the lesson you learn is that you're not just going to go from one game to the next and score 119 again and win by close to 40, it doesn't work that way but these are all learning things and we will get it. These are great teaching points for us. How we started the second half, he was a heavyweight fighter ready to knock you out. How we started the first half, we wanted to rope-a-dope. We don't have anyone in our locker room that is Muhammad Ali and they are too young to understand the rope-a-dope. So we wanted to come out throwing punches first and early and I didn't think we did that tonight. Again, that's not necessarily their fault. It's a learning process. We talked to them before that we are a good team now. We have a chance to be a great team and that is what we are building towards. We are trying to go from good to great. There will be some teams that have the opportunity to do that. I think we are one of them but that doesn't mean we are going to get there. There is a lot of work that has to go into it. The guys I think will put in the work because I have great guys. They are tremendous young men that want to get better and these are experiences they have to go through to see what we are talking about as coaches."
on being in foul trouble
"Well I think that is a concern but I know how college basketball is and looking at the box scores over the first weekend, regardless of where they are playing, you are seeing a lot of fouls called. The average number of fouls is probably above 50 that are being called. At the end of last year there probably weren't 50 calls made. But that is what happens. It is early in the season. Officials are getting back into it. Players are getting back into it. Coaches are getting back into it. I think naturally you get a lot of fouls that are called and fouls that happen early in the season because officials are trying to clean things up. Coaches are preaching at their players and now players will adjust and that is what you will see. Good players will end up adjusting by the time you get into December but these early games, there are a lot of fouls. Thankfully, we are a very good foul shooting team and we got there 39 times tonight. I thought that was a big difference. We beat them 31-16 at the line. But when we are depleted right now, fouls are an issue. We do not have our depth. We hope we get EK back. Whether it's Long Beach or the Anaheim Tournament, we are hoping to get him back in the next ten days. That will help. We don't know when Alex will be back. It could be 2-4 weeks until we get him back. Prance is still somewhere in December. So we are depleted until we start getting some of those guys back but we know we want to play four guards some and we were able to do tonight with a lot of success, especially in the second half. And we got them in foul trouble. I thought we were in foul trouble in the first half and we kind of turned that page in the second half."
Junior center Thomas Welsh
on change at halftime
"Coach talked about being able to drive hard to the basket and being aggressive. In the first half I don’t think we were playing our game. We weren’t playing and doing the things that went well against Pacific. Second half he talked to us about it and we responded well."
on physicality of CSUN
"You always have to be ready for a physical battle, even if they are a physical team. You have to go out there and attack the glass, offensively and defensively. Even if they are a physical team or a quick team, you have to bring the same things to the court every night."
on difference between this game and previous game
"When you’re making three’s like that and everything kind of goes right it’s hard for teams to come back and compete because teams aren’t able to keep up with that. I mean 18 three’s was a school record. The one thing we do have is incredible guards but they won’t always be able to make three’s. But we know that they will be able to get the ball in the basket and can get their mid-range games going as well. I just think having the offensive fire power across the board is huge because so many guys can get it going offensively."
on getting into a flow with fouls
"It’s very tough. When there are continually stoppages in play and potentially guys in foul trouble, guys will have to come out and sit for a bit. It definitely gets you out of rhythm. I think it’s the refs setting the tone for the rest of the season. You can’t be doing certain things like having hands on guys defensively. So it’s a point they are trying to make. It’s one of those things that they are looking for so those are things we need to look for and stop doing to stay out of foul trouble."
Junior forward G.G. Goloman
on physicality of CSUN
"We still kind of stayed in the locker room as the game started. It was tough. We were a little bit uncomfortable as the game started. But you have to keep going and playing tough."
on being more comfortable on the court
"I think as I’m getting more comfortable I’m getting better. I do think I’m getting more comfortable and it’s great."
Senior guard Isaac Hamilton
on changing mindset in the second half
"Credit to those guys. They came in with a chip on their shoulders facing a ranked team. A lot of teams will do that – coming at us hard. As coach said we have to hit the first punch in the first five minutes and continue from there to let the momentum swing our way."
on team’s multiple scoring options
"With Lonzo and Aaron running the point, it gives Bryce and I a chance to mix up our games by either shooting it or taking it off the dribble. The way they played us today they kind of pressured everything so that allowed for backdoors to be open so we made the adjustment second half. Coach pointed that out and I think we did a good job of it in the second half."
on Lonzo Ball’s cross court pass
"That’s what he does. He gets guys open in space for us to score. He’s a play maker and that gives us more options to make plays or make a secondary play."
November 13, 2016
Pauley Pavilion
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“When you are early in the season there are always lessons to be learned. We got a lot of lessons. This is going to be a feeling out process and a learning process for the guys. We have a lot of guys, individuals, who have targets on their back, and when you are at UCLA and you start getting a lot of attention, those targets get even bigger. Hats off to CSUN. I thought they came in, had a good game plan and played very, very hard. It's the first time we have had to play against intense pressure and I didn't think we handled it well for the most part. 20 turnovers are way too high for us. Our assist total got cranked up again in the second half and we started making shots. We made our shots in the second half. There are lessons to be learned that you are going to have halves when you don't make shots and that was in the first half to where our habits defensively have got to continue to grow. It is going to be a growing process defensively just learning what we have to do and be able to consistently do that over 40 minutes. So a lot of good lessons. Seven guys in double figures and I thought we did a good job on the backboard. This is the first time playing two games in three days so there is a lot of lessons, a lot of tape, a lot of things we will be able to get out of this."
on attacking the basket more in second half
"They were really overplaying and so we talked about maybe less passing and maybe more dribble driving. When you play teams that like to extend, press and deny, and pressure, that means there are no gaps and no help in gaps. And they weren't an overly big team as far as rim protection and so we felt like that was a bit concern going into the second half. Without our screening and really ball movement, let's move the ball a little bit and if we get an angle to drive it, let's drive it. And we got some stops. The first eight minutes of the second half we got some stops and we got our transition game going and that loosened up some of that pressure."
on possible hangover from opening game of season
"Well we talked about that. We talked about how did you prepare for this game any differently than you did for the first game. Did you prepare, hey we just scored 119 and were on SportsCenter everywhere and this and that, did you prepare that way? Or did you prepare the same way going into the Pacific game? And those are lessons you learn. And not just the young players. Our veterans continue to learn that as well. You look at Bryce and Isaac, two of our veterans, they were guarded differently tonight than what they were against Pacific. So you have to be prepared for that. Going into every game, if I am Isaac and Bryce, I know I am getting the defense's best guy. I know I am going to be on the first page of their scouting as far as we are going to be defended so you take that as that is very respectful but when you prepare you have to be on point on how I am going to have to cut, how I am going to have to screen, and how I am going to have to move to get myself open. And I didn't think we did that across the board in the first half. The second half was much better."
on Lonzo Ball’s mindset of attacking the basket in the second half
"That's the mindset we have to have. I don't know if he or any of our other guys had that mindset to start the game and that's kind of the lesson you learn is that you're not just going to go from one game to the next and score 119 again and win by close to 40, it doesn't work that way but these are all learning things and we will get it. These are great teaching points for us. How we started the second half, he was a heavyweight fighter ready to knock you out. How we started the first half, we wanted to rope-a-dope. We don't have anyone in our locker room that is Muhammad Ali and they are too young to understand the rope-a-dope. So we wanted to come out throwing punches first and early and I didn't think we did that tonight. Again, that's not necessarily their fault. It's a learning process. We talked to them before that we are a good team now. We have a chance to be a great team and that is what we are building towards. We are trying to go from good to great. There will be some teams that have the opportunity to do that. I think we are one of them but that doesn't mean we are going to get there. There is a lot of work that has to go into it. The guys I think will put in the work because I have great guys. They are tremendous young men that want to get better and these are experiences they have to go through to see what we are talking about as coaches."
on being in foul trouble
"Well I think that is a concern but I know how college basketball is and looking at the box scores over the first weekend, regardless of where they are playing, you are seeing a lot of fouls called. The average number of fouls is probably above 50 that are being called. At the end of last year there probably weren't 50 calls made. But that is what happens. It is early in the season. Officials are getting back into it. Players are getting back into it. Coaches are getting back into it. I think naturally you get a lot of fouls that are called and fouls that happen early in the season because officials are trying to clean things up. Coaches are preaching at their players and now players will adjust and that is what you will see. Good players will end up adjusting by the time you get into December but these early games, there are a lot of fouls. Thankfully, we are a very good foul shooting team and we got there 39 times tonight. I thought that was a big difference. We beat them 31-16 at the line. But when we are depleted right now, fouls are an issue. We do not have our depth. We hope we get EK back. Whether it's Long Beach or the Anaheim Tournament, we are hoping to get him back in the next ten days. That will help. We don't know when Alex will be back. It could be 2-4 weeks until we get him back. Prance is still somewhere in December. So we are depleted until we start getting some of those guys back but we know we want to play four guards some and we were able to do tonight with a lot of success, especially in the second half. And we got them in foul trouble. I thought we were in foul trouble in the first half and we kind of turned that page in the second half."
Junior center Thomas Welsh
on change at halftime
"Coach talked about being able to drive hard to the basket and being aggressive. In the first half I don’t think we were playing our game. We weren’t playing and doing the things that went well against Pacific. Second half he talked to us about it and we responded well."
on physicality of CSUN
"You always have to be ready for a physical battle, even if they are a physical team. You have to go out there and attack the glass, offensively and defensively. Even if they are a physical team or a quick team, you have to bring the same things to the court every night."
on difference between this game and previous game
"When you’re making three’s like that and everything kind of goes right it’s hard for teams to come back and compete because teams aren’t able to keep up with that. I mean 18 three’s was a school record. The one thing we do have is incredible guards but they won’t always be able to make three’s. But we know that they will be able to get the ball in the basket and can get their mid-range games going as well. I just think having the offensive fire power across the board is huge because so many guys can get it going offensively."
on getting into a flow with fouls
"It’s very tough. When there are continually stoppages in play and potentially guys in foul trouble, guys will have to come out and sit for a bit. It definitely gets you out of rhythm. I think it’s the refs setting the tone for the rest of the season. You can’t be doing certain things like having hands on guys defensively. So it’s a point they are trying to make. It’s one of those things that they are looking for so those are things we need to look for and stop doing to stay out of foul trouble."
Junior forward G.G. Goloman
on physicality of CSUN
"We still kind of stayed in the locker room as the game started. It was tough. We were a little bit uncomfortable as the game started. But you have to keep going and playing tough."
on being more comfortable on the court
"I think as I’m getting more comfortable I’m getting better. I do think I’m getting more comfortable and it’s great."
Senior guard Isaac Hamilton
on changing mindset in the second half
"Credit to those guys. They came in with a chip on their shoulders facing a ranked team. A lot of teams will do that – coming at us hard. As coach said we have to hit the first punch in the first five minutes and continue from there to let the momentum swing our way."
on team’s multiple scoring options
"With Lonzo and Aaron running the point, it gives Bryce and I a chance to mix up our games by either shooting it or taking it off the dribble. The way they played us today they kind of pressured everything so that allowed for backdoors to be open so we made the adjustment second half. Coach pointed that out and I think we did a good job of it in the second half."
on Lonzo Ball’s cross court pass
"That’s what he does. He gets guys open in space for us to score. He’s a play maker and that gives us more options to make plays or make a secondary play."