Postgame Quotes - Creighton 100, UCLA 89
POSTGAME QUOTES
Creighton 100, UCLA 89
Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
November 20, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“They’re very good basketball team. My hat goes off to Creighton. They are really good, in particular, offensively. There were a lot of hard matchups, and we had some young guys playing, but this will be a good lesson as we go back and watch tape, to continue to work on what we have to do defensively because I thought that was really the key. We just couldn’t put together any stops of matter that could get us over the hump. Offensively, we did a lot of good things – 17 assists, 7 turnovers, we shot the ball pretty well. We had inside out going like we wanted to get. We just couldn’t get the stops, that was the big key.”
on how prepared UCLA was for Creighton freshman Mitch Ballock
“Very prepared, just a very good player. We saw him on tape and talked to our guys about him. It has been, obviously, a pretty quick turnaround. But, we had some time to go over him, as we did all these other guys. We gave him way too many good looks. He is not just a shooter, he put the ball on the floor and got to the free throw line. He did a lot of good things. He was on our scouting report as an outstanding player, and we didn’t defend him well.”
on his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s comments
“My whole focus has been on Creighton. I control what I can control. This team controls what we can control, and that is our locker room. That didn’t have one thing to do with how we guarded tonight. So, we just have to go back to the hotel and watch some tape. We will find out, in a couple of hours, who we have to play, and try to do better tomorrow”
on the potential of freshman Kris Wilkes
“He has got off to a great start. We have played four games, and tonight he had 15 and 6, which is close to his average. He is scoring the ball well. He didn’t make his three ball today like he has been making, but he got to the free throw line. Like a lot of young guys, we really have to defend. It really depends on what we do defensively – that’s kind of where we go this year. Creighton’s as good of an offensive team that we are going to play in a long time. They have a lot of weapons, a lot of guys that can make shots, and make threes. It was a good lesson for us, but Kris is off to a really good start.”
on the effect of UCLA’s recent travel on the team and its dynamic
“I hope not. We are going to build some toughness, here in November and December. It is not an ideal schedule, that is for sure. We are playing six BCS schools [in the non-conference portion], which is more than anyone in the country, and now we have to do a lot of travelling. We are going to China and back, K.C. and back, Michigan and back, New Orleans and back. So we have a ton of travel. We have to handle that travel and show some toughness. We need to mature as quickly as we can. Right now, we are playing eight guys. Five of them didn’t play last year for us. So, there is a learning curve. We have to be patient, as long as we can see some strides. I thought we showed some strides today, offensively. We haven’t clicked offensively. Today, we really clicked offensively, but defensively, we took some steps back playing against the best offensive team we have played to date. Hopefully we can learn from that, and the guys can see that there is a big difference from this level of offense compared to the other offenses.”
on UCLA switching from a man defense to a zone defense in the second half
“It’s early in the season, and we are trying to figure ourselves out, too. What we do defensively, and the schemes that we have zone wise is stuff we just have to keep working on. Obviously, playing a team like this that is so good offensively, they can exploit an awful lot of weaknesses. Its early in the season, and we prepared one way for six weeks and now we have had to make those changes here in the last couple of weeks. We have to be patient, which is why I hope we see strides game to game. I will be anxious to see what happens tomorrow, defensively, regardless of who we play of just how we are positioned, how we talk, and how help each other out.”
junior Aaron Holiday
on what he learned about his team tonight
“Offensively, we clicked. It has been a minute since we have clicked like that, so that’s great. We just learned that we need to play hard on defense, keep guys in front of us, and finish the game out with a steal or rebound. We just need to focus on defense, because the offense is going to be there.”
sophomore Prince Ali
on what he learned about his team tonight
“Similar to what Aaron said, we could have played better defense and we took strides on offense, but it was stops at the end of the game that we needed and didn’t get. That’s why we lost.”
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott
opening remarks
“It was a great win for us. We really weathered some serious foul trouble at a time when we just don’t have any depth. We are really thin on the front line. We went small a bunch tonight. That’s a technique, fundamental, do-your-job effort on the glass that allowed us to hang around and make a run there to start the second half.”
on Ty-Shon Alexander and Mitch Ballock
“I don’t think anybody expects freshmen to perform this well on this stage, but as I’ve stated before, they’re basketball players. They’ve got in innate feel for the game that you don’t really teach. You combine that with the fact that Marcus, Khyri, and Toby and Tyler, in particular, have done an unbelievable job in mentoring them and asking them questions and making sure that they understand that these seniors believe in them. Just go play, and if you make a mistake, go to the next play.”
on game-planning for contrasting styles in the championship game
“You don’t get a rest when you play a team like UCLA because they’re going to try to force the pace as well, but regardless of who we play tomorrow night they’re both good programs, we’ve played both of them. We’ve had some success against Wisconsin and they’re great again, and we got our teeth kicked in by Baylor when we played them in the NCAA Tournament. It’s a very different game prep for the two teams. We’ll catch this game tonight and go to work.”
Creighton’s Marcus Foster
on maintaining poise in a high-energy game
“Honestly, it’s our scout team. I feel like they’re one of the best. They really prepare us for our games.”
on UCLA switching to a zone and Creighton’s 7-0 scoring run before halftime
“The zone kind of threw us off a little bit. We were so used to getting up and down in transition. It was kind of hard for us to slow it down a bit, but we adjusted to it and Mitch (Ballock) did some big things for us. The momentum we had going into halftime really helped us.”
Creighton 100, UCLA 89
Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
November 20, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“They’re very good basketball team. My hat goes off to Creighton. They are really good, in particular, offensively. There were a lot of hard matchups, and we had some young guys playing, but this will be a good lesson as we go back and watch tape, to continue to work on what we have to do defensively because I thought that was really the key. We just couldn’t put together any stops of matter that could get us over the hump. Offensively, we did a lot of good things – 17 assists, 7 turnovers, we shot the ball pretty well. We had inside out going like we wanted to get. We just couldn’t get the stops, that was the big key.”
on how prepared UCLA was for Creighton freshman Mitch Ballock
“Very prepared, just a very good player. We saw him on tape and talked to our guys about him. It has been, obviously, a pretty quick turnaround. But, we had some time to go over him, as we did all these other guys. We gave him way too many good looks. He is not just a shooter, he put the ball on the floor and got to the free throw line. He did a lot of good things. He was on our scouting report as an outstanding player, and we didn’t defend him well.”
on his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s comments
“My whole focus has been on Creighton. I control what I can control. This team controls what we can control, and that is our locker room. That didn’t have one thing to do with how we guarded tonight. So, we just have to go back to the hotel and watch some tape. We will find out, in a couple of hours, who we have to play, and try to do better tomorrow”
on the potential of freshman Kris Wilkes
“He has got off to a great start. We have played four games, and tonight he had 15 and 6, which is close to his average. He is scoring the ball well. He didn’t make his three ball today like he has been making, but he got to the free throw line. Like a lot of young guys, we really have to defend. It really depends on what we do defensively – that’s kind of where we go this year. Creighton’s as good of an offensive team that we are going to play in a long time. They have a lot of weapons, a lot of guys that can make shots, and make threes. It was a good lesson for us, but Kris is off to a really good start.”
on the effect of UCLA’s recent travel on the team and its dynamic
“I hope not. We are going to build some toughness, here in November and December. It is not an ideal schedule, that is for sure. We are playing six BCS schools [in the non-conference portion], which is more than anyone in the country, and now we have to do a lot of travelling. We are going to China and back, K.C. and back, Michigan and back, New Orleans and back. So we have a ton of travel. We have to handle that travel and show some toughness. We need to mature as quickly as we can. Right now, we are playing eight guys. Five of them didn’t play last year for us. So, there is a learning curve. We have to be patient, as long as we can see some strides. I thought we showed some strides today, offensively. We haven’t clicked offensively. Today, we really clicked offensively, but defensively, we took some steps back playing against the best offensive team we have played to date. Hopefully we can learn from that, and the guys can see that there is a big difference from this level of offense compared to the other offenses.”
on UCLA switching from a man defense to a zone defense in the second half
“It’s early in the season, and we are trying to figure ourselves out, too. What we do defensively, and the schemes that we have zone wise is stuff we just have to keep working on. Obviously, playing a team like this that is so good offensively, they can exploit an awful lot of weaknesses. Its early in the season, and we prepared one way for six weeks and now we have had to make those changes here in the last couple of weeks. We have to be patient, which is why I hope we see strides game to game. I will be anxious to see what happens tomorrow, defensively, regardless of who we play of just how we are positioned, how we talk, and how help each other out.”
junior Aaron Holiday
on what he learned about his team tonight
“Offensively, we clicked. It has been a minute since we have clicked like that, so that’s great. We just learned that we need to play hard on defense, keep guys in front of us, and finish the game out with a steal or rebound. We just need to focus on defense, because the offense is going to be there.”
sophomore Prince Ali
on what he learned about his team tonight
“Similar to what Aaron said, we could have played better defense and we took strides on offense, but it was stops at the end of the game that we needed and didn’t get. That’s why we lost.”
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott
opening remarks
“It was a great win for us. We really weathered some serious foul trouble at a time when we just don’t have any depth. We are really thin on the front line. We went small a bunch tonight. That’s a technique, fundamental, do-your-job effort on the glass that allowed us to hang around and make a run there to start the second half.”
on Ty-Shon Alexander and Mitch Ballock
“I don’t think anybody expects freshmen to perform this well on this stage, but as I’ve stated before, they’re basketball players. They’ve got in innate feel for the game that you don’t really teach. You combine that with the fact that Marcus, Khyri, and Toby and Tyler, in particular, have done an unbelievable job in mentoring them and asking them questions and making sure that they understand that these seniors believe in them. Just go play, and if you make a mistake, go to the next play.”
on game-planning for contrasting styles in the championship game
“You don’t get a rest when you play a team like UCLA because they’re going to try to force the pace as well, but regardless of who we play tomorrow night they’re both good programs, we’ve played both of them. We’ve had some success against Wisconsin and they’re great again, and we got our teeth kicked in by Baylor when we played them in the NCAA Tournament. It’s a very different game prep for the two teams. We’ll catch this game tonight and go to work.”
Creighton’s Marcus Foster
on maintaining poise in a high-energy game
“Honestly, it’s our scout team. I feel like they’re one of the best. They really prepare us for our games.”
on UCLA switching to a zone and Creighton’s 7-0 scoring run before halftime
“The zone kind of threw us off a little bit. We were so used to getting up and down in transition. It was kind of hard for us to slow it down a bit, but we adjusted to it and Mitch (Ballock) did some big things for us. The momentum we had going into halftime really helped us.”