Postgame Quotes - UCLA 76, Oregon State 63
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 76, Oregon State 63
Corvallis, Ore. (Gill Coliseum)
December 30, 2016
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
"After losing the game on Wednesday, when we thought we had it, it can be tough to respond in a 48-hour period. But I thought our guys really responded. I thought we really defended and grew defensively in this game. Give them credit, they slowed the tempo after playing a game 48 hours ago where the team ran with us. This was going to be a team that milked the clock for 25 seconds. It's two different styles. We didn't handle it well early, but we figured it out late and went on a run late in the second half and did some good things. I thought we grew defensively here. We missed some shots we normally make but that happens on the road. I give Oregon State credit on how they guarded us."
on shot selection
"We got great shots. This team shares it. We are on the road and had 21 assists. Not one of our better shooting nights and we still get 21 assists. We only turned the ball over 10 times. When you turn the ball over 10 or fewer times on the road you're going to give yourself a chance of winning. We wanted to see growth. We talked about it for the last two days about growing and trusting each other defensively. We have a lot of trust at the offensive end but it's about growing that same trust defensively. I thought we took a good positive stride."
on what he learned from his team
"I thought we grew on the defensive end. We had an eight point lead on the road at Oregon and gave up 15 points in the last three and a half minutes. We didn't want to do that tonight. We had a couple different leads and were able to push them. Then we got the lead up to 10 in the second half, they cut it, but we built it back up again and we closed it. Those are little periods of growth that you like and we are doing it while we have a couple of guys not shooting the ball very well. If we can still go through games and play well enough to win when we have a couple guys struggling to make shots that's a good thing."
on Lonzo Ball's impact
"Lonzo's a special player and he does a lot of good things. He understands where the ball has to go at the right moment, at the right time. He values the ball. I thought our guards did a very good job defensively playing that kind of style where it's just middle ball screen after 20 seconds of really just taking the clock out. So I thought our guards fought and did a lot of really good things defensively."
UCLA freshman guard Lonzo Ball
on rebounding from Wednesday night's loss at Oregon
"That game is in the past now and there's nothing we can do but just play our game."
on slow offense to start game
"It just happens. It was just one of those games where you don't make every shot. But fortunately we picked it up at the end."
on growing as a team
"We made some more strides on defense today. Obviously the pace was a lot slower but we still got the stops we needed to get."
on what he learned from the team
"It's about being tough. The loss is in the past. It's not going to make or break the season. We just have to shake it off and move forward."
UCLA freshman forward TJ Leaf
on slow offense to start the game
"I don't think it had anything to do with the Oregon loss, because we were focused on this game. Some shots just didn't go in when they normally do. It's a different atmosphere as a lot of us guys haven't played here before. Sometimes you just miss shots and it happens. Luckily we really buckled down defensively and that's something we are really trying to focus on."
on what UCLA changed defensively
"I think a lot of it was mentality. We really have to be more engaged defensively and that's something we are starting to learn through the coaches telling us and film showing us how disengaged we are sometimes. We have to stay in a stance and just stay engaged and we will be fine."
on senior guard Isaac Hamilton
"We aren't worried about him. He is one of the best shooters on the team and one of the best shooters we have all played with. We aren't worried. We know he is going to bounce back in the gym this week. He will start making shots, that's just who he is. He's a hard worker and just a great shooter."
on his first Pac-12 road trip
"It was fun. Didn't get the sweep like we wanted to, but we got a split. It was a good experience finally getting that first win out of the way. It was fun, and I'm really looking forward to the next two at home."
UCLA 76, Oregon State 63
Corvallis, Ore. (Gill Coliseum)
December 30, 2016
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
"After losing the game on Wednesday, when we thought we had it, it can be tough to respond in a 48-hour period. But I thought our guys really responded. I thought we really defended and grew defensively in this game. Give them credit, they slowed the tempo after playing a game 48 hours ago where the team ran with us. This was going to be a team that milked the clock for 25 seconds. It's two different styles. We didn't handle it well early, but we figured it out late and went on a run late in the second half and did some good things. I thought we grew defensively here. We missed some shots we normally make but that happens on the road. I give Oregon State credit on how they guarded us."
on shot selection
"We got great shots. This team shares it. We are on the road and had 21 assists. Not one of our better shooting nights and we still get 21 assists. We only turned the ball over 10 times. When you turn the ball over 10 or fewer times on the road you're going to give yourself a chance of winning. We wanted to see growth. We talked about it for the last two days about growing and trusting each other defensively. We have a lot of trust at the offensive end but it's about growing that same trust defensively. I thought we took a good positive stride."
on what he learned from his team
"I thought we grew on the defensive end. We had an eight point lead on the road at Oregon and gave up 15 points in the last three and a half minutes. We didn't want to do that tonight. We had a couple different leads and were able to push them. Then we got the lead up to 10 in the second half, they cut it, but we built it back up again and we closed it. Those are little periods of growth that you like and we are doing it while we have a couple of guys not shooting the ball very well. If we can still go through games and play well enough to win when we have a couple guys struggling to make shots that's a good thing."
on Lonzo Ball's impact
"Lonzo's a special player and he does a lot of good things. He understands where the ball has to go at the right moment, at the right time. He values the ball. I thought our guards did a very good job defensively playing that kind of style where it's just middle ball screen after 20 seconds of really just taking the clock out. So I thought our guards fought and did a lot of really good things defensively."
UCLA freshman guard Lonzo Ball
on rebounding from Wednesday night's loss at Oregon
"That game is in the past now and there's nothing we can do but just play our game."
on slow offense to start game
"It just happens. It was just one of those games where you don't make every shot. But fortunately we picked it up at the end."
on growing as a team
"We made some more strides on defense today. Obviously the pace was a lot slower but we still got the stops we needed to get."
on what he learned from the team
"It's about being tough. The loss is in the past. It's not going to make or break the season. We just have to shake it off and move forward."
UCLA freshman forward TJ Leaf
on slow offense to start the game
"I don't think it had anything to do with the Oregon loss, because we were focused on this game. Some shots just didn't go in when they normally do. It's a different atmosphere as a lot of us guys haven't played here before. Sometimes you just miss shots and it happens. Luckily we really buckled down defensively and that's something we are really trying to focus on."
on what UCLA changed defensively
"I think a lot of it was mentality. We really have to be more engaged defensively and that's something we are starting to learn through the coaches telling us and film showing us how disengaged we are sometimes. We have to stay in a stance and just stay engaged and we will be fine."
on senior guard Isaac Hamilton
"We aren't worried about him. He is one of the best shooters on the team and one of the best shooters we have all played with. We aren't worried. We know he is going to bounce back in the gym this week. He will start making shots, that's just who he is. He's a hard worker and just a great shooter."
on his first Pac-12 road trip
"It was fun. Didn't get the sweep like we wanted to, but we got a split. It was a good experience finally getting that first win out of the way. It was fun, and I'm really looking forward to the next two at home."