Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. Arizona State
POSTGAME QUOTES
Arizona State 84, UCLA 73
January 24, 2019
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
“It’s a tough loss. Arizona State has got a good team. I think some telling stats … they did a great job and beat us by eight on the glass, that was huge. I thought [Zylan] Cheatham played great, Remy Martin was great. The fight with our team is good, no it is has nothing to do with the spirit of our team. Obviously we’ve lost three in a row, but these guys have continued to practice hard, work hard. I thought in the second half too many turnovers hurt us, lack of play on the glass hurt us, and obviously free throw shooting – we were 10 of 21 – that hurt us. I thought we had multiple really good looks from our best players, they just didn’t go in. We want Kris shooting the ball, I thought he got some great looks in the second half. I thought Prince Ali got some great looks in the second half, just didn’t go in. Arizona State has got a good team. Good players, good athletes. It was toe-to-toe for a while, but they stretched it out on us a little bit in the second half.”
on ASU’s second-half improvement
“I thought they just hit shots. Our zone has been pretty darn good. If you look at Pac-12 play, our zone has been pretty effective. Our zone has been our best defense. We tried to play a little man, but our zone has been effective. They’ve got good players. Remy Martin is a really good player, Rob Edwards, Taeshon Cherry. [Luguentz] Dort will play in the NBA. So they’ve got talent. Again, there’s no secret formula here. If we make free throws, if we don’t turnover, if we make open threes … and we probably missed 15-20 shots within four feet of the rim. The officials were obviously letting it go – on both ends – but it was physical inside and we worked all week on finishing against contact and we didn’t miss a lot of shots around the rim.”
on balancing win-now and development mentalities
“We’re just trying to get better. We think we can beat anybody in the league, it’s as simple as that. We’re confident and we think we’re capable of beating anyone in the league. If we don’t play well, anybody can beat us. If you look at that second half tonight, it had nothing to do with energy or spirit … Number one we’re playing a really good team. In the second half, we take 31 shots and make 10. We take 15 free throws and make six of them. Then we get out-rebounded on the glass. These players are working their tails off. I wish everyone could be at practices, these guys work hard, the spirit’s great, energy’s great. We just have to play a little bit better. This league is wide open, and we’re smart enough to know that anyone can beat us if we don’t play better.”
on free throw issues
“I think with free throws, you can’t harp on it and harp on it. I think what you do is you drill it, you rep it. The guys who are poor free throw shooters, you get in the gym a lot and you make a lot. Make sure their technique is correct, make sure they’re relaxed up there. Assuming they’re relaxed and their technique is correct and you’re repping it in practice, I don’t know what more you can do. It is different when you get in a game and there’s pressure and the crowd. Mentally it can be tough. I’m really confident about our team. I like these guys a lot, they’re very coachable. We’ve got a while left, we played a good team tonight that just played better in the second half.”
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on the second half
“I don’t think it was so much the energy that changed in the second half, we came out with some good energy. I think we didn’t convert on a lot of opportunities. Didn’t box out when we should have boxed out. I think we relied on our athleticism too much. We had a lot of opportunities to hit shots and we just didn’t. I had a lot of opportunities I should have hit that I didn’t. You have to hit shots to win the game. ”
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley
on the win in Pauley Pavilion
“This is a very special place with a lot of tradition. We didn’t get to come here last year, so we felt it was a great opportunity. It was truly a pivotal game. These two games [in Los Angeles] are very important to us.”
about the defensive pressure
“We hope that you are working at it, so the shots become more difficult. It was nice for a team to miss some free throws and shoot below the percentage. For some reason, teams seem to shoot better against us. It just happens against us, maybe it’s just my world.”
on their slow start
“We’ve just got to start games better on the road. I thought the bench was really good. Taeshon came in and hit a three (pointer) right away.”
on accomplishing a road sweep
“I’ve had trouble accomplishing a road sweep. I haven’t really done that. In the past, we hadn’t gotten a first win, so this feels good.”
Arizona State sophomore Remy Martin
on playing in front of his family and friends
“I had a lot of friends and family here and they were spread out. I knew they were here, so it was very special.”
on playing against his high school teammate Cody Riley
“Cody and I go way back. It was crazy seeing him with a different uniform. We played on the same high school team and AAU club team. He’s very successful and I’m just okay. I really wish him the best. He is one of my best friends.”
on his dunk and career-high in assists
“The assists for sure. A dunk is a dunk. It felt good to dunk since I haven’t dunked in a long time due to injuries.”
on the balance between taking shots and getting his teammates involved
“It’s like second-nature right now. I just have to have confidence when I take a shot. Coach says, “That’s a good shot.” When I miss a shot, sometimes it’s just a bad shot. I didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but hopefully, it will happen on Saturday.”
Arizona State 84, UCLA 73
January 24, 2019
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
“It’s a tough loss. Arizona State has got a good team. I think some telling stats … they did a great job and beat us by eight on the glass, that was huge. I thought [Zylan] Cheatham played great, Remy Martin was great. The fight with our team is good, no it is has nothing to do with the spirit of our team. Obviously we’ve lost three in a row, but these guys have continued to practice hard, work hard. I thought in the second half too many turnovers hurt us, lack of play on the glass hurt us, and obviously free throw shooting – we were 10 of 21 – that hurt us. I thought we had multiple really good looks from our best players, they just didn’t go in. We want Kris shooting the ball, I thought he got some great looks in the second half. I thought Prince Ali got some great looks in the second half, just didn’t go in. Arizona State has got a good team. Good players, good athletes. It was toe-to-toe for a while, but they stretched it out on us a little bit in the second half.”
on ASU’s second-half improvement
“I thought they just hit shots. Our zone has been pretty darn good. If you look at Pac-12 play, our zone has been pretty effective. Our zone has been our best defense. We tried to play a little man, but our zone has been effective. They’ve got good players. Remy Martin is a really good player, Rob Edwards, Taeshon Cherry. [Luguentz] Dort will play in the NBA. So they’ve got talent. Again, there’s no secret formula here. If we make free throws, if we don’t turnover, if we make open threes … and we probably missed 15-20 shots within four feet of the rim. The officials were obviously letting it go – on both ends – but it was physical inside and we worked all week on finishing against contact and we didn’t miss a lot of shots around the rim.”
on balancing win-now and development mentalities
“We’re just trying to get better. We think we can beat anybody in the league, it’s as simple as that. We’re confident and we think we’re capable of beating anyone in the league. If we don’t play well, anybody can beat us. If you look at that second half tonight, it had nothing to do with energy or spirit … Number one we’re playing a really good team. In the second half, we take 31 shots and make 10. We take 15 free throws and make six of them. Then we get out-rebounded on the glass. These players are working their tails off. I wish everyone could be at practices, these guys work hard, the spirit’s great, energy’s great. We just have to play a little bit better. This league is wide open, and we’re smart enough to know that anyone can beat us if we don’t play better.”
on free throw issues
“I think with free throws, you can’t harp on it and harp on it. I think what you do is you drill it, you rep it. The guys who are poor free throw shooters, you get in the gym a lot and you make a lot. Make sure their technique is correct, make sure they’re relaxed up there. Assuming they’re relaxed and their technique is correct and you’re repping it in practice, I don’t know what more you can do. It is different when you get in a game and there’s pressure and the crowd. Mentally it can be tough. I’m really confident about our team. I like these guys a lot, they’re very coachable. We’ve got a while left, we played a good team tonight that just played better in the second half.”
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on the second half
“I don’t think it was so much the energy that changed in the second half, we came out with some good energy. I think we didn’t convert on a lot of opportunities. Didn’t box out when we should have boxed out. I think we relied on our athleticism too much. We had a lot of opportunities to hit shots and we just didn’t. I had a lot of opportunities I should have hit that I didn’t. You have to hit shots to win the game. ”
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley
on the win in Pauley Pavilion
“This is a very special place with a lot of tradition. We didn’t get to come here last year, so we felt it was a great opportunity. It was truly a pivotal game. These two games [in Los Angeles] are very important to us.”
about the defensive pressure
“We hope that you are working at it, so the shots become more difficult. It was nice for a team to miss some free throws and shoot below the percentage. For some reason, teams seem to shoot better against us. It just happens against us, maybe it’s just my world.”
on their slow start
“We’ve just got to start games better on the road. I thought the bench was really good. Taeshon came in and hit a three (pointer) right away.”
on accomplishing a road sweep
“I’ve had trouble accomplishing a road sweep. I haven’t really done that. In the past, we hadn’t gotten a first win, so this feels good.”
Arizona State sophomore Remy Martin
on playing in front of his family and friends
“I had a lot of friends and family here and they were spread out. I knew they were here, so it was very special.”
on playing against his high school teammate Cody Riley
“Cody and I go way back. It was crazy seeing him with a different uniform. We played on the same high school team and AAU club team. He’s very successful and I’m just okay. I really wish him the best. He is one of my best friends.”
on his dunk and career-high in assists
“The assists for sure. A dunk is a dunk. It felt good to dunk since I haven’t dunked in a long time due to injuries.”
on the balance between taking shots and getting his teammates involved
“It’s like second-nature right now. I just have to have confidence when I take a shot. Coach says, “That’s a good shot.” When I miss a shot, sometimes it’s just a bad shot. I didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but hopefully, it will happen on Saturday.”