University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. UNLV
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 71, UNLV 54
November 15, 2019
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โWe had talked about getting off to a much better start tonight. The guys did a much better job with that. We tried to emphasize our energy early in the game, we talked about that a lot today at practice and that carried over into the game. Theyโre a hard team to play because they spread you out and they get guys that play one-on-one. We had to play smaller lineups most of the night. Weโre just trying to keep getting better. When we donโt turn the ball over, weโre a pretty decent offensive team. Weโre just still trying to break habits of turning the ball over, thatโs the one negative of the night. For the most part, I thought our effort was great. We held them to 38 percent (shooting), they scored twice late to break 50 (points), so if you hold teams down that like that, youโre going to win a lot of games.โ
ย
on Chris Smithโs performance
โWe have different shot-makers on this team โฆ If you were to ask what Iโm happiest about with Chris, Iโd say he had seven deflections and eight rebounds. If he takes good shots and takes his time, heโs a good offensive player. Offensively, we went small so it limited the stuff we could run. That made it tough on us. Iโd like to see us get to the foul line a little more than we did. For most of these guys, my big change for them is their intensity, Chris especially. Heโs one of the nicest guys of all-time. Laid back doesnโt cut it between the lines.โ
ย
on Prince Aliโs performance
โI told Prince heโs gotta give us leadership. Him and Alex have to give us leadership. Iโm a big believer that, in the great programs, youโve gotta have a veteran, somebody leading you. Not leading in scoring, but leading in focus, toughness, competitiveness, lead us in helping your teammates getting to the right spot, making the game easier on younger players. Thatโs really been my message to him and Alex since I got here.โ
ย
on if he experimented with the big lead
โThe playbook got shrunk because we were playing small. There were times when we had Chris at the four. Iโd like us to have more player movement probably.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
On his defensive playโฆ
โI should have had more [than seven deflections], I only had one deflection in the second half. I try to get in the passing lane. In practice, we reinforce that all the time. So today, I tried to read a couple passes and be solid on defense and I ended up with the ball a couple times. Iโm just trying to keep that up.
ย
On what he attributes his hot start toโฆ
โDue diligence and effort. Tyger found me on probably three of my baskets in the first half, so I credit those to him. On defense I got a couple steals and deflections, and my teammates were setting good screens and moving the ball. So credit to my teammates and defensive effort.
ย
On reboundingโฆ
โThat was one of the major points of this game. This is the most athletic team weโve played so far. Their big man is top-five, top-10 in the country in rebounds so we had to make sure we boxed him out. They had big guys crashing every time just like us. We just had to box out and defense, and balls bounce your way when you do both.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Jaime Jaquez Jr.
On the gameโฆ
โIt felt really good to get out there and play a significant amount of minutes. Being able to contribute to the team, it felt really good.โ
ย
On in he knew he was going to play more minutesโฆ
โI think it was more of an in-game decision. He never told me anything. I kind of just go every game ready to play. So Iโve got to be prepared for anything. Whether I play a lot a little, Iโve got to be prepared.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell
On the offenseโs hot startโฆ
โWe just didnโt come out flat. Last couple of games, we came out flat. We came out and hit a couple threes in the beginning. We were driving and looking for each other. We were playing unselfish.โ
ย
On the teamโs three-point shooting performanceโฆ
โItโs great, it just means that I have options when I drive or Iโm in transition. It really opens up the court because if I drive and have someone to kick to, their man canโt help. So either theyโll help and I kick or they donโt help and Iโll get a layup, so itโs just reading it.
ย
UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger
Opening statement โฆ
โOur defense was not where it was supposed to be. We didnโt have the energy, and I felt like we got overwhelmed in the beginning. We got off to a slow start; we just canโt do that. I just felt that the first six or eight minutes we really dug ourselves in a hole. UCLA really has the length and size, and they switch often. We have to do a better job of moving the ball and finding guys open.โ
ย
On the rotation โฆ
โWeโre going to go with our first group of guys, and those guys need to be playing at their best. Weโre going to be playing eight guys. There are going to be some guys who earn opportunities, but weโre going to stick to what we have now. Guys will have the opportunity to step up in practice.โ
ย
On the flow of the game โฆ
โIโm really impressed our guys kept fighting. We went on a 14-2 run to end the first half. Our guys just kept competing, but we have to hit a shot.โ
ย
On where the team goes from here โฆ
โI have a lot of respect for Coach Cronin and what heโs been doing over there. We wanted to play a powerful schedule. For us, we wanted to be challenged. The last three games we played against Power 5 teams, and now we get to go home and play in front of our fans.โ
ย
UNLV junior forward Donnie Tillman
Opening statement โฆ
โUCLA has a really great defense. They have a really great body of work over there.โ
ย
On if the team did anything differently out there โฆ
โNo, we didnโt really do anything different; we just canโt get give up that many layups.โ
ย
On how he felt out there โฆ
โIโm in great shape right now. Iโll take tomorrow off and get back to work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and get ready for our three-game homestand.โ
ย
On the teamโs third consecutive loss โฆ
โThis really makes us better. We havenโt even had our home schedule yet.โback at it on Tuesday.โ
ย
UNLV junior guard Amauri Hardy
Opening statement โฆ
โWe really canโt come out like we did. We have to throw the first punch. I just felt that we got a little bit overwhelmed. Guys have to stay confident; you canโt get discouraged. You just have to move the ball, and when we get the chance, we have to hit the open shot.โ
ย
On the scheduling โฆ
โThese games bring us together. Definitely playing teams like this is going to be better for us in the long run.โ
ย
On the upcoming games โฆ
โWe really can build from this; we have a lot of games ahead of us.โ
UCLA 71, UNLV 54
November 15, 2019
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โWe had talked about getting off to a much better start tonight. The guys did a much better job with that. We tried to emphasize our energy early in the game, we talked about that a lot today at practice and that carried over into the game. Theyโre a hard team to play because they spread you out and they get guys that play one-on-one. We had to play smaller lineups most of the night. Weโre just trying to keep getting better. When we donโt turn the ball over, weโre a pretty decent offensive team. Weโre just still trying to break habits of turning the ball over, thatโs the one negative of the night. For the most part, I thought our effort was great. We held them to 38 percent (shooting), they scored twice late to break 50 (points), so if you hold teams down that like that, youโre going to win a lot of games.โ
ย
on Chris Smithโs performance
โWe have different shot-makers on this team โฆ If you were to ask what Iโm happiest about with Chris, Iโd say he had seven deflections and eight rebounds. If he takes good shots and takes his time, heโs a good offensive player. Offensively, we went small so it limited the stuff we could run. That made it tough on us. Iโd like to see us get to the foul line a little more than we did. For most of these guys, my big change for them is their intensity, Chris especially. Heโs one of the nicest guys of all-time. Laid back doesnโt cut it between the lines.โ
ย
on Prince Aliโs performance
โI told Prince heโs gotta give us leadership. Him and Alex have to give us leadership. Iโm a big believer that, in the great programs, youโve gotta have a veteran, somebody leading you. Not leading in scoring, but leading in focus, toughness, competitiveness, lead us in helping your teammates getting to the right spot, making the game easier on younger players. Thatโs really been my message to him and Alex since I got here.โ
ย
on if he experimented with the big lead
โThe playbook got shrunk because we were playing small. There were times when we had Chris at the four. Iโd like us to have more player movement probably.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
On his defensive playโฆ
โI should have had more [than seven deflections], I only had one deflection in the second half. I try to get in the passing lane. In practice, we reinforce that all the time. So today, I tried to read a couple passes and be solid on defense and I ended up with the ball a couple times. Iโm just trying to keep that up.
ย
On what he attributes his hot start toโฆ
โDue diligence and effort. Tyger found me on probably three of my baskets in the first half, so I credit those to him. On defense I got a couple steals and deflections, and my teammates were setting good screens and moving the ball. So credit to my teammates and defensive effort.
ย
On reboundingโฆ
โThat was one of the major points of this game. This is the most athletic team weโve played so far. Their big man is top-five, top-10 in the country in rebounds so we had to make sure we boxed him out. They had big guys crashing every time just like us. We just had to box out and defense, and balls bounce your way when you do both.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard Jaime Jaquez Jr.
On the gameโฆ
โIt felt really good to get out there and play a significant amount of minutes. Being able to contribute to the team, it felt really good.โ
ย
On in he knew he was going to play more minutesโฆ
โI think it was more of an in-game decision. He never told me anything. I kind of just go every game ready to play. So Iโve got to be prepared for anything. Whether I play a lot a little, Iโve got to be prepared.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell
On the offenseโs hot startโฆ
โWe just didnโt come out flat. Last couple of games, we came out flat. We came out and hit a couple threes in the beginning. We were driving and looking for each other. We were playing unselfish.โ
ย
On the teamโs three-point shooting performanceโฆ
โItโs great, it just means that I have options when I drive or Iโm in transition. It really opens up the court because if I drive and have someone to kick to, their man canโt help. So either theyโll help and I kick or they donโt help and Iโll get a layup, so itโs just reading it.
ย
UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger
Opening statement โฆ
โOur defense was not where it was supposed to be. We didnโt have the energy, and I felt like we got overwhelmed in the beginning. We got off to a slow start; we just canโt do that. I just felt that the first six or eight minutes we really dug ourselves in a hole. UCLA really has the length and size, and they switch often. We have to do a better job of moving the ball and finding guys open.โ
ย
On the rotation โฆ
โWeโre going to go with our first group of guys, and those guys need to be playing at their best. Weโre going to be playing eight guys. There are going to be some guys who earn opportunities, but weโre going to stick to what we have now. Guys will have the opportunity to step up in practice.โ
ย
On the flow of the game โฆ
โIโm really impressed our guys kept fighting. We went on a 14-2 run to end the first half. Our guys just kept competing, but we have to hit a shot.โ
ย
On where the team goes from here โฆ
โI have a lot of respect for Coach Cronin and what heโs been doing over there. We wanted to play a powerful schedule. For us, we wanted to be challenged. The last three games we played against Power 5 teams, and now we get to go home and play in front of our fans.โ
ย
UNLV junior forward Donnie Tillman
Opening statement โฆ
โUCLA has a really great defense. They have a really great body of work over there.โ
ย
On if the team did anything differently out there โฆ
โNo, we didnโt really do anything different; we just canโt get give up that many layups.โ
ย
On how he felt out there โฆ
โIโm in great shape right now. Iโll take tomorrow off and get back to work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and get ready for our three-game homestand.โ
ย
On the teamโs third consecutive loss โฆ
โThis really makes us better. We havenโt even had our home schedule yet.โback at it on Tuesday.โ
ย
UNLV junior guard Amauri Hardy
Opening statement โฆ
โWe really canโt come out like we did. We have to throw the first punch. I just felt that we got a little bit overwhelmed. Guys have to stay confident; you canโt get discouraged. You just have to move the ball, and when we get the chance, we have to hit the open shot.โ
ย
On the scheduling โฆ
โThese games bring us together. Definitely playing teams like this is going to be better for us in the long run.โ
ย
On the upcoming games โฆ
โWe really can build from this; we have a lot of games ahead of us.โ