University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. Stanford
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 92, Stanford 70
January 3, 2019
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
โI honestly feel good about the win. Guys played hard, competed hard, we had good preparation. Obviously, itโs been a really hard week. Monday was a hard, hard, hard, emotional day. Tuesday, we had a great practice. We went twice. Wednesday, we went less. We played with some emotion tonight, which was fun to see. I thought the crowd really, really helped us. You know, it was like an eight-, nine-, 10-point game and we were pressing, so Iโm really grateful to the fans who came out because I thought the energy in Pauley kind of got us from that nine- or 10-point mark to maybe the 15- or 16-point mark. I thought that was a big factor in the game. Again, really proud of our guys. Moses Brown sprained his ankle a little bit yesterday. We werenโt even sure if he was going to play in the game and he goes for 17 and 10. We wanted to speed it up a little bit, get the pace up a little bit and fortunately we were able to do that tonight. Itโs been a hard week, itโs just one game, but itโs a good start.โ
on if he felt team was galvanized coming out
โJust didnโt know. Just didnโt know. I love what Iโve seen. Again, Monday morning was really, really tough. We came back and thought had a pretty good practice Monday. Two hard practices Tuesday and two hard practices Wednesdayโone harder than the other. We went pretty hard this morning and guys played well. Weโve got pretty good talent on this team and we really didnโt structurally do a lot different than weโve been doing. We just sped it up a little bit, tried to advance the ball a little bit more and tried to speed the game up a little bit.โ
on the importance of attacking the basket
โWell itโs important. We were hopeful in this game we could attack the paint, attack the rim. Obviously, when you see zone, first thing when you see a zone, you want to get to the paint and we were decent at doing that. You donโt want to settle for perimeter jumpshots if the teamโs playing in zone. You simply want to get the ball to the blue via the pass or the dribble and play inside out, attack the rim and we were able to do that. I thought we rebounded pretty well. I think that was a big key in the game. We had a plus-12 rebounding advantage. Got five guys in double figures. We hit 90 points. Thereโs some good, again. Iโm one of those pretty even-keel guys. Iโm not a guy that gets too high after one win, but it was a good start. Good start.โ
on what he learned from his father about coaching at UCLA
โMy dad was a great coach. Passed away seven years ago today, so itโs a little emotional for me to think about it. My dad had great memories of being here at UCLAโฆ The best thing about my dad was [he] was an incredible people person. Thatโs really the biggest takeaway for meโjust how to treat people, just anybody you come into contact with. Hopefully I got some of that from him in terms of the way I try to deal with the guysโฆ I miss my dad. He loved being here. Obviously, he was following Coach Wooden, which was a pretty hard guy to follow. Iโve got great memories being a ball boy here and seeing a lot of good players.โ
on if anything was said to team to help channel emotions
โI thought Tyus (Edney) gave a really emotional talkโI guess that was on Mondayโjust what it means to put the UCLA uniform on. The way youโve got to look, the way youโve got to act, the way youโve got to play. Talked about the history here and the tradition here and what it means to be a basketball player at UCLA. And he got emotional. Tyus was pretty emotional as he spoke to the team. I certainly think that had an effect on them.โ
โGuys have worked really hard. Thereโs no way to foresee what was going to happen, but the guys did play with some spirit and some energy and it was good to see.โ
on how he felt to see team celebrate a win
โWell itโs exciting. Weโve got a very, very excited locker room. Itโs been a really hard two weeksโฆ and their head coach, the guy they came here to play for, obviously is let goโฆ Itโs been hard, but I think the last three days, the guys have done a really good job of trying to get their spirits back up. They were incredibly, incredibly excited in the locker room after the game. And I thought the bench was great. I just thought the energy of our team was much better.โ
on teamโs defense
โWe really wanted to push the tempo of this game, so we wanted to press more, trap a little bit more, try to run a little bit more after a made shot, get it out quicker, advance it quicker. We were able to do that. I thought defensively, a little up and down, but for the most part, pretty good.โ
on why he inserted Chris Smith into starting lineup
โIโm a fan of his. I like him a lot. I think heโs a hard matchup and heโs a versatile guy. Heโs really athletic. Iโll be really surprised if one day heโs not playing in the NBA. Heโs got that NBA body, length, skill. Heโs just got to get more consistent. He ended up tonight with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists. Heโs just the kind of a guy, jack of all trades that can do a lot of things. He can play the wing, he can play inside, heโs fast, he can guard, he can rebound, he can shootโฆ Heโs a guy that I like a lot and I think heโs a hard matchup.โ
UCLA sophomore guard Jaylen Hands
on playing with increased intensity
โI think it felt really good. All four days of practice, we keyed in on playing with pride, playing for the four letters in front of us. I think we went out there and mirrored what we did in practice. We played hard, with energy, and for each other.โ
on focusing on driving to the basket on offense
โJust like I said before, I feel like we really focused on playing with pride and that comes with playing for each other. On top of that, Coach Bartow really focused on playing with speed. He thinks weโre really athletic and we should use it more. I donโt think we called a lot of plays, I think we just did a lot of running, passing. If youโre open, attack and shoot it. Just play free.โ
on impact of full-court pressure on defense
โI think it helped us a lot. Weโre long, weโre athletic, so we wanted to play that advantage โฆ I think it played really well in our favor.โ
on Chris Smithโs performance
โChris Smith is long, athletic, so I think it played into our game plan. I think we had eight rebounds; he did a good job rebounding. He didnโt shoot as well today, so he can just come back Saturday against Cal and pick that up. I think he did a really good job rebounding, outletting on breaks, getting active, being long. Itโs like having four guards out there. Everyoneโs a threat to drive and shoot at all times.โ
UCLA freshman center Moses Brown
on positive fan reaction tonight following boos during previous game
โIt kind of hurt. We didnโt come out with the energy we were supposed to have [against Liberty]. I felt like thatโs the way they would react. We didnโt come out the way we were supposed to play. We didnโt look like a team. We didnโt have enough energy. But we got right back to it today.โ
on what he likes about Coach Bartowโs coaching style
โI love Coach Bartowโs energy. In practice, he does a lot to motivate us. When Coach was around, we just how much energy and how much effort he put into us and making us a better team. Now that heโs the head coach, all of that is starting to manifest. As you could see on the court, we did a good job today. We had more energy, just ran up and down, having a good time. We came together as a family. He emphasized us just looking like a team, valuing each other, sharing the ball, playing defense, and playing hard. I really like the way heโs going about this slow transition.โ
on how his dunks lifted the team tonight
โI think it helped lift the defense. We worked a lot on how [Stanford] was going to play us. They played us in a zone for a short part of the game and we ran a lot of sets that could take advantage of their defense. We moved the ball around and made it way easier to get open shots not only for me, but for my teammates.โ
UCLA freshman guard David Singleton
on Tyus Edneyโs speech to the team this week
โIt meant a lot to me. I was really touched. Tyusโhe knows the guards. He teaches me new things. When I heard that speech, we came together and said we need to play our heart out. We need to play for us, for our fans, and, mostly, for our coaches. We represent UCLA. We represent the present and the alumni.โ
on initial reactions to departure of Steve Alford
โIt was an emotional time for us. We listened to what he had to say and we took it upon ourselves to come together. Even though it was a tremendous loss for the team, we still had a season to play out.โ
on how two-a-day practice schedules helped the preparation for tonightโs game
โThe two-a-days really helped us. They helped us concentrate. As a team, we have to learn to concentrate and I thought we did that. I feel like we focused on our mission even more and we felt how serious Coach Bartow was. We really felt his love. When coaches care, when coaches love us, theyโre honest like that.โ
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase
on the difference between the first half and the second half
โIt was only a ten-minute difference, but the last twenty minutes we couldnโt guard. We couldnโt guard (Jaylen) Hands. We just have to show more pride.โ
on the defensive strategy
โWe just had a lack of discipline, lack of toughness. There are things we tell our bigs not to do. It doesnโt guarantee exact discipline, but it gives you a chance of discipline.โ
on the difference between both young teams
โCoach Bartow. They are better than we are. They are better shooters. They were just better than we were.โ
Stanford sophomore forward KZ Okpala
on the difference between the first and second halves
โI think there was a little bit of fatigue. I think for the most part we played the game pretty well. We just have to work on getting back on defense.โ
on UCLAโs press and zone defense
โWe just have to make shots in the zone. With the press, we havenโt seen a press like that in a while. They have so much length and we canโt have those turnovers.โ
on what Coach Haase said to them after the game
โWe are going to talk about it tomorrow. He didnโt talk about it today.โ