Postgame Quotes – UCLA 88, USD 68
Postgame Quotes – UCLA 88, USD 68
UCLA 88, USD 68
November 17, 2016
Pauley Pavilion
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
Opening Statement
“I was obviously pleased to win. Our guys did some really good things. I thought we grew defensively tonight against a team that plays a different style and system than we do. We handled that pretty well, especially after the first half. I thought we settled down offensively and did the things we needed to do in the second half. The first half we were just in a rut. In the first half I didn’t like our enthusiasm, I didn’t like how we were sharing it and that is really what we challenged them on at halftime. From an offensive standpoint I thought we got back to sharing the ball in the second half and took better shots and figured some things out. The only negative defensively would have been the 14 offensive rebounds. We can’t obviously give up that many offensive rebounds. It was a good night and now we get ready for Long Beach on Sunday.”
On the play in the first half
“It is too early to really be a concern. We have had different styles and that is part of the early season stuff. CSUN had a lot of transfers, vets, got into us, pressured us, wanted to play a physical type game. It was the exact opposite tonight. A younger team, a team that really wanted to play on the perimeter, slow things down and a good credit to them. I thought they did handle the tempo in the first half better and we kind of took the tempo in the second half a little bit more. We still had a slow tempo, the least amount of possessions all year but we were near 90 points again so we found a way. We did a good job at the free throw line. We are proving to be a team to make foul shots. I think that will be crucial in tight games and it was another game where we got back to taking care of the ball with eight turnovers and 21 assists. I think it is just too early and we will figure that out as we play different styles and we play a different style on Sunday. It will be different than what we played tonight so that is part of the non-conference, learning to play different styles and those types of things and that is what we need to keep learning from.”
On the assertiveness of TJ Leaf and Lonzo Ball
“I thought TJ was really good. I thought he and Tom [Welsh] both and G.G. [Gyorgy Goloman] was the same way. We wanted to attack inside. This was a team in our minds that didn’t have a big inside presence or a rim protector so it was a game where we had to go inside and I thought we did that, especially in the second half. I thought we really started executing on offense that was geared towards getting the ball inside. It was much better in the second half than the first half. It was a season-low for us in threes but it was a game where our emphasis was really getting inside because of their lack of height inside and I thought all three of our bigs did a really good job.”
Issue of giving up offensive rebounds
“I thought there was a lot of long rebounds. We talked to our bigs and guards in particular, we have to be able to rebound our area. We gave up the 14 offensive rebounds, we need to watch the tape. I just thought we relaxed once the shot was taken and it’s early. We have to learn it is not a finished product or possession until you actually get the rebound or create a turnover. They were very deliberate with their offense so they did a good job protecting the basketball. I think we could really have gotten out and ran more than we did. So if there was something of concern it was the backboard but we held them to 33 percent shooting, I thought we kept them off the foul line. This was a game where we learned by committing only 10 fouls. There were a lot of positives.”
On the positives physically tonight
“I thought we handled the pick-and-rolls, our pick-and-roll defense has gotten a lot better. We didn’t really have to defend the post much because it is not an offense where they are throwing it to the post so a lot of it had to do with the perimeter defense and really the only individual that got away from us was the [Brett] Bailey kid, he had a career night. He is a 6-6 center. That is a hard deal for Tom to run with a 6-6 center so some nights you have to score and give something up. We would much rather give that up than [Olin] Carter go crazy. I thought we did a really good job on Carter. Their other guards I thought we did a really good job on. I thought we showed a lot better presence on guarding the dribble-drive and not fouling and we really rim-protected tonight, we had nine blocks. I thought we really challenged a lot of shots. We want to get contested-twos so if we got 16 or 20 contested-twos that’s going to be a good night.”
Sophomore Guard Aaron Holiday
On the defensive play
“Defensively, we just focused on letting San Diego cut back door. That allowed us to stay in the gaps more and help out more than usual.”
On the team’s shooting slump
“It’s a mental game. If you’re a shooter, you’ll just keep shooting and you’ll be fine. As long as you keep shooting and get your rhythm, you’ll be alright.”
On the scoring output
“We’ve actually have done that at a high level, which is great, but we still have to get better on defense and control that area. It’s always fun to get out and run and score. We’ll do a good job of that all year. We just have to focus on defense really.”
On improvements
“I think I’ve slowed down a lot and read the defense a lot better. That obviously helps me just pick my spots a lot better.”
Freshman Forward TJ Leaf
On finding his role
“ It was a little different at first. I’ve never played with this much talent around me before. That’s probably the same for Lonzo [Ball], too. It does take some adjustment and getting used to, but we’re definitely starting to figure that out and come into our own roles.”
On the game plan
“We wanted to give it to them inside, where they are a little undersized. They are tough but undersized inside. We wanted to make our presence known around the basket and I think we did that.”
San Diego Head Coach Lamont Smith
Opening statement
“Our kids really competed tonight, but against an explosive team like UCLA, we gave up so much size. They had 46 points in the paint, it was not just post-up points, but it’s what they got in the interior. We grew as a team and hopefully, we can get better on the defensive end.”
On what they build on moving forward
“We have three games at home, so this prepares us for the upper end of our league, teams like Gonzaga, BYU and the St. Mary’s of the world. This will prepare us to face those teams. I don’t think we will face a team like UCLA in our conference.”
What words describe your team’s performance tonight
“Approach and mentality. Against Stanford it was not there. Our approach and mentality were here tonight, so it gives us a chance to compete. As long as we have those, we should be okay.”
UCLA 88, USD 68
November 17, 2016
Pauley Pavilion
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
Opening Statement
“I was obviously pleased to win. Our guys did some really good things. I thought we grew defensively tonight against a team that plays a different style and system than we do. We handled that pretty well, especially after the first half. I thought we settled down offensively and did the things we needed to do in the second half. The first half we were just in a rut. In the first half I didn’t like our enthusiasm, I didn’t like how we were sharing it and that is really what we challenged them on at halftime. From an offensive standpoint I thought we got back to sharing the ball in the second half and took better shots and figured some things out. The only negative defensively would have been the 14 offensive rebounds. We can’t obviously give up that many offensive rebounds. It was a good night and now we get ready for Long Beach on Sunday.”
On the play in the first half
“It is too early to really be a concern. We have had different styles and that is part of the early season stuff. CSUN had a lot of transfers, vets, got into us, pressured us, wanted to play a physical type game. It was the exact opposite tonight. A younger team, a team that really wanted to play on the perimeter, slow things down and a good credit to them. I thought they did handle the tempo in the first half better and we kind of took the tempo in the second half a little bit more. We still had a slow tempo, the least amount of possessions all year but we were near 90 points again so we found a way. We did a good job at the free throw line. We are proving to be a team to make foul shots. I think that will be crucial in tight games and it was another game where we got back to taking care of the ball with eight turnovers and 21 assists. I think it is just too early and we will figure that out as we play different styles and we play a different style on Sunday. It will be different than what we played tonight so that is part of the non-conference, learning to play different styles and those types of things and that is what we need to keep learning from.”
On the assertiveness of TJ Leaf and Lonzo Ball
“I thought TJ was really good. I thought he and Tom [Welsh] both and G.G. [Gyorgy Goloman] was the same way. We wanted to attack inside. This was a team in our minds that didn’t have a big inside presence or a rim protector so it was a game where we had to go inside and I thought we did that, especially in the second half. I thought we really started executing on offense that was geared towards getting the ball inside. It was much better in the second half than the first half. It was a season-low for us in threes but it was a game where our emphasis was really getting inside because of their lack of height inside and I thought all three of our bigs did a really good job.”
Issue of giving up offensive rebounds
“I thought there was a lot of long rebounds. We talked to our bigs and guards in particular, we have to be able to rebound our area. We gave up the 14 offensive rebounds, we need to watch the tape. I just thought we relaxed once the shot was taken and it’s early. We have to learn it is not a finished product or possession until you actually get the rebound or create a turnover. They were very deliberate with their offense so they did a good job protecting the basketball. I think we could really have gotten out and ran more than we did. So if there was something of concern it was the backboard but we held them to 33 percent shooting, I thought we kept them off the foul line. This was a game where we learned by committing only 10 fouls. There were a lot of positives.”
On the positives physically tonight
“I thought we handled the pick-and-rolls, our pick-and-roll defense has gotten a lot better. We didn’t really have to defend the post much because it is not an offense where they are throwing it to the post so a lot of it had to do with the perimeter defense and really the only individual that got away from us was the [Brett] Bailey kid, he had a career night. He is a 6-6 center. That is a hard deal for Tom to run with a 6-6 center so some nights you have to score and give something up. We would much rather give that up than [Olin] Carter go crazy. I thought we did a really good job on Carter. Their other guards I thought we did a really good job on. I thought we showed a lot better presence on guarding the dribble-drive and not fouling and we really rim-protected tonight, we had nine blocks. I thought we really challenged a lot of shots. We want to get contested-twos so if we got 16 or 20 contested-twos that’s going to be a good night.”
Sophomore Guard Aaron Holiday
On the defensive play
“Defensively, we just focused on letting San Diego cut back door. That allowed us to stay in the gaps more and help out more than usual.”
On the team’s shooting slump
“It’s a mental game. If you’re a shooter, you’ll just keep shooting and you’ll be fine. As long as you keep shooting and get your rhythm, you’ll be alright.”
On the scoring output
“We’ve actually have done that at a high level, which is great, but we still have to get better on defense and control that area. It’s always fun to get out and run and score. We’ll do a good job of that all year. We just have to focus on defense really.”
On improvements
“I think I’ve slowed down a lot and read the defense a lot better. That obviously helps me just pick my spots a lot better.”
Freshman Forward TJ Leaf
On finding his role
“ It was a little different at first. I’ve never played with this much talent around me before. That’s probably the same for Lonzo [Ball], too. It does take some adjustment and getting used to, but we’re definitely starting to figure that out and come into our own roles.”
On the game plan
“We wanted to give it to them inside, where they are a little undersized. They are tough but undersized inside. We wanted to make our presence known around the basket and I think we did that.”
San Diego Head Coach Lamont Smith
Opening statement
“Our kids really competed tonight, but against an explosive team like UCLA, we gave up so much size. They had 46 points in the paint, it was not just post-up points, but it’s what they got in the interior. We grew as a team and hopefully, we can get better on the defensive end.”
On what they build on moving forward
“We have three games at home, so this prepares us for the upper end of our league, teams like Gonzaga, BYU and the St. Mary’s of the world. This will prepare us to face those teams. I don’t think we will face a team like UCLA in our conference.”
What words describe your team’s performance tonight
“Approach and mentality. Against Stanford it was not there. Our approach and mentality were here tonight, so it gives us a chance to compete. As long as we have those, we should be okay.”