University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. California
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 50, California 40
January 19, 2020
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Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
โWell that was a physical game, would you agree with that? Iโve coached against Mark [Fox] before, and theyโre in the same boat we are, trying to establish their program. Their kids play with a lot of heart and toughness. [Matt] Bradley is a great player. We did everything we could to try and shut him down, but somehow he gets back to that left hand. We had them at 37. I was upset we gave up a three late. Guys are trying to get their confidence going. Guys are trying to grow up. I thought Tyger [Campbell] hit a big shot, I was happy for him. Trying to get him and David [Singleton] their confidence. Theyโre young guys, just try to keep them to stay aggressive and worry about their defense. Worry about your toughness, worry about your defense, and please take care of the basketball. The difference in the game was in the second half when we only had four turnovers. Therefore, we got off 26 shots and were able to rebound. Our second chance points were the difference in the game for us when we stopped turning the ball over.โ
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on holding Cal scoreless for an 11-minute stretch
โWe got up to 12 stops in a row at one point. In fairness to Mark, theyโre in a rebuilding mode and have a young team. Same thing that Iโm dealing with. They missed some open shots, just like we did. You watch these games, shooting โ when the ball goes, it changes the mind. Jalen Hill had 10 deflections, heโs going through the process. He was a bit player in high school, he was a bit player here. Obviously heโs playing 32 minutes for us, itโs a big process, big change for guys like him and Jaime [Jaquez Jr.]. The truth of it is โ for us to win, Chris has gotta give us some offense. Unlike the Democratic Party, we donโt have many candidates. Heโs gotta give us some offense. But heโs still growing up on the defensive end as well. He hit some big baskets late, we were stuck on 42 for a while. He got us a rebound putback, scored in the middle of their zone.โ
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on defensive effort
โI think in the first half we gave up lay-ups, way too many lay-ups. They were playing big, we were playing small at times so that was a little bit a part of it. Their second shots โ we still struggle sometimes staying in front of the basketball. Again, in fairness to Mark they missed some open shots. Our deflections on a few plays where they beat us and tried to make a pass โ we got a piece of ball and had a better rotation. Our adherence to the scouting report was pretty good today.โ
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on playing Tyger Campbell alongside David Singleton
โWeโre awfully small and it hurts us on the backcourt. Defensively, theyโre two guys who are a year or two away from being good defensive players. If you look at our stats in the Pac-12, weโre trying to generate some offense. Dave has had some really good practices, it didnโt show today but his leadership has been vital to us in a tough stretch. Heโs a great kid and he will be successful in whatever heโs gonna do in his life. Heโs in there fighting and scrapping everyday so I have a lot of respect for him. Weโre small when we play that way and itโs probably not our best defensive look.
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on the rotation
โI was trying to deal with what [Cal] was doing. We got fortunate that [Calโs Grant] Anticevich didnโt make a couple open shots. We can play the four guard offense against him, but then at times โ theyโre one of the few teams who goes double big. When they did that, we saw Cody Riley and Jalen Hill play together a little bit, Alex [Olesinski] as well. We started getting crushed there on the backboard for a second. The truth of it is, itโs hard to play 11 for sure.โ
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on Jalen Hill
โAs long as he can take it strong, score, get himself to the foul line โ once he was able to eliminate his turnovers โ this team is in desperate need of someone we can play through. Every good team, youโve gotta have someone you can play through. They might not score, they may draw fouls, or draw a double team and pass it out. Weโre trying to develop a lot of guys on this team โ they played through other guys here. So, he can give us some offense, heโs gotta eliminate his turnovers.โ
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UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
on what defensive performance means to team
โWell, when you can hold a team to 40 points, itโs always a good thing. We should have held them to a lot less than 40. We gave them a lot of layups, offensive rebounds and second-chance points. It was a decent defensive performance, but we couldโve definitely done better.โ
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on what went into Calโs 11-minute scoreless stretch in second half
โJust guys being on the same page and helping each other. In the first half, I donโt think people were really helping each other on the drive or backside helping off of any passes or anything and the pick-and-roll was giving us problems. So, in the second half, we came out, made sure we brought more energy on the defensive end and we talked, because communication is what really helped us get stops in the second half.โ
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on if he wants to be player offense can run through
โYeah, for sure. On the offensive side, Coach just preaches make the right play. If itโs the shot, if itโs the pass, if itโs the drive, whatever it is, just make the right play and heโs been working with me on that a lot this year and I think Iโve grown a little bit. So, yeah, I definitely would love to be in that position.โ
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on if team made concerted effort to put forth more energy in second half
โYeah, like I said earlier, we tried to bring more energy in the second half. Weโve noticed that in the film that we just die at some point in the second half, no matter whatโs going on, be it weโre losing, we canโt make a shot, something along those lines. So, we just try to keep the energy up this second half, make sure we played a full 40 minutes.โ
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on importance of win
โDefinitely, it was a good win. What we needed. With a young group like this, itโs really hard to take it a game at a time, struggle and then just keep pushing, go to the next play. So, definitely, getting the win and getting the win at home in front of the fans in Pauley, it gives us some positive energy going into the next game, which is a road trip.โ
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UCLA freshman guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on how it felt to get win
โIt was a relief. Weโve been on kind of a losing streak, so it felt really good to get one at home [and] bring everyoneโs spirits up. Felt really good to get that win today.โ
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on how tough it is to listen to Coach Croninโs assessment of their play
โYouโve just got to take it as tough love. He wants us all to succeed. He doesnโt wish bad upon any of us and he wants to bring the best out of us and thatโs the way he does it. And tonight, I felt like everyone got together, collectively, and we just went out there and gave it everything we had and we got the W.โ
ย
on if this was type of game he envisioned under Coach Cronin
โA winโs a win. Whether itโs low of high, weโre going to take it, no matter what.โ
ย
on if team was focused on putting together complete game
โYeah, definitely. We knew we were falling apart in the past games, so today, we just came out and we wanted to stop that. We wanted to play the whole 40 minutes and end the game on a high note. Make plays, make smart decisions. And once you do that, youโre going to win games and thatโs what we did tonight.โ
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California head coach Mark Fox
opening remarks
โTheir [UCLAโs] defense was very good. When weโre not making the three, we have to find other ways to score. We were not scoring. I have to give them credit. We couldnโt score in the paint.โ
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on how they can improve
โWeโve got to make more shots. Weโve got to put the ball in the basket. We just have to score the basketball.โ
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California sophomore guard Matt Bradley
opening statement
โIt was pretty rough out there. I really wasnโt ready to play. My preparation just wasnโt there. My performance wasnโt there.โ
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on how he can improve
โIโve got to focus on the game more. Iโve got to get more rebounds. Iโve got to be more aggressive. I have to really find a way to get to the rim. I just want to have a way better game, but itโs all fixable, so Iโm not worried about it.โ
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on where they go from here
โIโll sit down with my teammates and get more reps in. Also, Iโm going to get more work in the gym.โ
ย
UCLA 50, California 40
January 19, 2020
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
โWell that was a physical game, would you agree with that? Iโve coached against Mark [Fox] before, and theyโre in the same boat we are, trying to establish their program. Their kids play with a lot of heart and toughness. [Matt] Bradley is a great player. We did everything we could to try and shut him down, but somehow he gets back to that left hand. We had them at 37. I was upset we gave up a three late. Guys are trying to get their confidence going. Guys are trying to grow up. I thought Tyger [Campbell] hit a big shot, I was happy for him. Trying to get him and David [Singleton] their confidence. Theyโre young guys, just try to keep them to stay aggressive and worry about their defense. Worry about your toughness, worry about your defense, and please take care of the basketball. The difference in the game was in the second half when we only had four turnovers. Therefore, we got off 26 shots and were able to rebound. Our second chance points were the difference in the game for us when we stopped turning the ball over.โ
ย
on holding Cal scoreless for an 11-minute stretch
โWe got up to 12 stops in a row at one point. In fairness to Mark, theyโre in a rebuilding mode and have a young team. Same thing that Iโm dealing with. They missed some open shots, just like we did. You watch these games, shooting โ when the ball goes, it changes the mind. Jalen Hill had 10 deflections, heโs going through the process. He was a bit player in high school, he was a bit player here. Obviously heโs playing 32 minutes for us, itโs a big process, big change for guys like him and Jaime [Jaquez Jr.]. The truth of it is โ for us to win, Chris has gotta give us some offense. Unlike the Democratic Party, we donโt have many candidates. Heโs gotta give us some offense. But heโs still growing up on the defensive end as well. He hit some big baskets late, we were stuck on 42 for a while. He got us a rebound putback, scored in the middle of their zone.โ
ย
on defensive effort
โI think in the first half we gave up lay-ups, way too many lay-ups. They were playing big, we were playing small at times so that was a little bit a part of it. Their second shots โ we still struggle sometimes staying in front of the basketball. Again, in fairness to Mark they missed some open shots. Our deflections on a few plays where they beat us and tried to make a pass โ we got a piece of ball and had a better rotation. Our adherence to the scouting report was pretty good today.โ
ย
on playing Tyger Campbell alongside David Singleton
โWeโre awfully small and it hurts us on the backcourt. Defensively, theyโre two guys who are a year or two away from being good defensive players. If you look at our stats in the Pac-12, weโre trying to generate some offense. Dave has had some really good practices, it didnโt show today but his leadership has been vital to us in a tough stretch. Heโs a great kid and he will be successful in whatever heโs gonna do in his life. Heโs in there fighting and scrapping everyday so I have a lot of respect for him. Weโre small when we play that way and itโs probably not our best defensive look.
ย
on the rotation
โI was trying to deal with what [Cal] was doing. We got fortunate that [Calโs Grant] Anticevich didnโt make a couple open shots. We can play the four guard offense against him, but then at times โ theyโre one of the few teams who goes double big. When they did that, we saw Cody Riley and Jalen Hill play together a little bit, Alex [Olesinski] as well. We started getting crushed there on the backboard for a second. The truth of it is, itโs hard to play 11 for sure.โ
ย
on Jalen Hill
โAs long as he can take it strong, score, get himself to the foul line โ once he was able to eliminate his turnovers โ this team is in desperate need of someone we can play through. Every good team, youโve gotta have someone you can play through. They might not score, they may draw fouls, or draw a double team and pass it out. Weโre trying to develop a lot of guys on this team โ they played through other guys here. So, he can give us some offense, heโs gotta eliminate his turnovers.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
on what defensive performance means to team
โWell, when you can hold a team to 40 points, itโs always a good thing. We should have held them to a lot less than 40. We gave them a lot of layups, offensive rebounds and second-chance points. It was a decent defensive performance, but we couldโve definitely done better.โ
ย
on what went into Calโs 11-minute scoreless stretch in second half
โJust guys being on the same page and helping each other. In the first half, I donโt think people were really helping each other on the drive or backside helping off of any passes or anything and the pick-and-roll was giving us problems. So, in the second half, we came out, made sure we brought more energy on the defensive end and we talked, because communication is what really helped us get stops in the second half.โ
ย
on if he wants to be player offense can run through
โYeah, for sure. On the offensive side, Coach just preaches make the right play. If itโs the shot, if itโs the pass, if itโs the drive, whatever it is, just make the right play and heโs been working with me on that a lot this year and I think Iโve grown a little bit. So, yeah, I definitely would love to be in that position.โ
ย
on if team made concerted effort to put forth more energy in second half
โYeah, like I said earlier, we tried to bring more energy in the second half. Weโve noticed that in the film that we just die at some point in the second half, no matter whatโs going on, be it weโre losing, we canโt make a shot, something along those lines. So, we just try to keep the energy up this second half, make sure we played a full 40 minutes.โ
ย
on importance of win
โDefinitely, it was a good win. What we needed. With a young group like this, itโs really hard to take it a game at a time, struggle and then just keep pushing, go to the next play. So, definitely, getting the win and getting the win at home in front of the fans in Pauley, it gives us some positive energy going into the next game, which is a road trip.โ
ย
UCLA freshman guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on how it felt to get win
โIt was a relief. Weโve been on kind of a losing streak, so it felt really good to get one at home [and] bring everyoneโs spirits up. Felt really good to get that win today.โ
ย
on how tough it is to listen to Coach Croninโs assessment of their play
โYouโve just got to take it as tough love. He wants us all to succeed. He doesnโt wish bad upon any of us and he wants to bring the best out of us and thatโs the way he does it. And tonight, I felt like everyone got together, collectively, and we just went out there and gave it everything we had and we got the W.โ
ย
on if this was type of game he envisioned under Coach Cronin
โA winโs a win. Whether itโs low of high, weโre going to take it, no matter what.โ
ย
on if team was focused on putting together complete game
โYeah, definitely. We knew we were falling apart in the past games, so today, we just came out and we wanted to stop that. We wanted to play the whole 40 minutes and end the game on a high note. Make plays, make smart decisions. And once you do that, youโre going to win games and thatโs what we did tonight.โ
ย
California head coach Mark Fox
opening remarks
โTheir [UCLAโs] defense was very good. When weโre not making the three, we have to find other ways to score. We were not scoring. I have to give them credit. We couldnโt score in the paint.โ
ย
on how they can improve
โWeโve got to make more shots. Weโve got to put the ball in the basket. We just have to score the basketball.โ
ย
California sophomore guard Matt Bradley
opening statement
โIt was pretty rough out there. I really wasnโt ready to play. My preparation just wasnโt there. My performance wasnโt there.โ
ย
on how he can improve
โIโve got to focus on the game more. Iโve got to get more rebounds. Iโve got to be more aggressive. I have to really find a way to get to the rim. I just want to have a way better game, but itโs all fixable, so Iโm not worried about it.โ
ย
on where they go from here
โIโll sit down with my teammates and get more reps in. Also, Iโm going to get more work in the gym.โ
ย