Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs Washington
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 67, Washington 57
February 15, 2020
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“It’s hard to score on Washington because of their length. We couldn’t get shots down and that affected our defensive intensity – that was the story of the game for a long time. Once we started making a concerted effort to get the ball inside, the game changed. If we wouldn’t have got the ball to Cody and Jalen inside, we never would have come back in this game. We did a better job with our passing, showing some conviction to get the ball inside. It’s not easy, you’ve got a guy running at you 6-9 with his hands up, it’s easy to just throw it back out. You’ve gotta be dedicated to what you’re trying to accomplish – get it in there. People play zone so you can pass it around the perimeter and jack up shots. You never get to the foul line, never get any points in the paint. So once we showed some more conviction to get the ball inside, the game changed and we turned up the heat defensively. They shot 28% in the second half, a lot of that was our pressure.”
on the team’s mentality when trailing
“I think in our league there are so few games that are blowouts. We’re having like two separate seasons. When we were struggling, I was trying to keep these guys together, just keep them fighting. Young guys worry about the last play, veterans worry about the next play. Once we changed that, that’s where we changed our fate to be honest with you. From worrying about the last play – I missed my shot, my shot got blocked, I got beat on defense – you gotta worry about the next play. David Singleton’s toughness has really helped us. He never pouts. His toughness has really helped our team. I said that to you guys even when he doesn’t make shots.”
on the comeback
“The most irrelevant stat on the stat sheet is the halftime score. The losing team [doesn’t say] ‘well, we had them at halftime.’ The only stat that matters on this sheet is the final score. You’ve gotta continue to play. For us, we’ve come a long way committing ourselves to playing, not worrying about whether we missed a shot or what the official called. Once we were able to keep [Washington freshman Isaiah] Stewart off the glass, the game was over, they couldn’t score any more. Which was easier said than done, keeping him off the glass is a tough chore. Getting the ball inside to Cody and Jalen changed the game. Again, there defense is tough to play against. That’s why they’re leading our league. It’s unbelievable their record, they lead our league in field goal percentage against, points allowed, blocked shots, it’s unbelievable.”
on Chris Smith’s technical
“The flop rule – it doesn’t matter [who is called for] the second flop on your team, it’s an automatic technical. So I don’t know they called the flop on, I think they called it on Cody to be honest with you. I think – it was way away from me. So it was the second flop they called. It’s not the official’s fault, they didn’t put that rule in. I know everybody’s like ‘what the heck, what are we doing, why are we calling technicals.’ So it is what it is, those guys are in a tough spot.”
on what Cody Riley’s production means to the team
“It’s huge. It’s amazing how you become a better coach once a guy gets a ball in the basket. It’s amazing, my text messages go way up. I feel for guys in this day and age in college basketball. 98% of these guys need time to develop, and everybody wants guys to be Zion Williamson and it’s not realistic. Guys need time. Reggie Miller played three years here, Don MacLean played four. It takes guys time, 98% of guys need college. Scouts ask me – one of my best friends here today was asking me about a player on another team, I said ‘no he’s not ready, but you guys are going to take him.’ Then everybody will get down on him because he’s 19 and he’s not ready. It’s hard, and people judge these kids way too fast. They see them play a few times. If that would have happened at Cincinnati, I never would have won, I promise you. We never had freshmen like that. The last two players of the year in that conference, were guys that developed. It’s a shame, the kids feel it when people get down on them. It’s unrealistic for 98% of them, there’s only so many Lonzo Balls. The rest of these guys need time to develop.”
UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
on if there is belief forming that team can find way to win
“Yeah, for sure. We all believe in each other, so no matter what the score is, the situation we’re in, we understand that guys can make big plays. We’ve got guys that can make big plays all over the court on the defensive end and offensive end, and that’s what we did tonight.”
on when he saw things turning with team this season
“I mean, I don’t know. We get in the gym every day. We practice all the time. Coach (Cronin) is always on us and it just took us a little time to, I guess, mesh and build the chemistry we have at the moment. And the defensive aspect of the game took a little time for us to figure out what (Coach) Cronin was preaching, but now, as you can see, everybody’s buying in to everything (Coach) Cronin’s preaching—especially on the defensive end, because that’s what got us back in this game and the seven games we won out of the last nine. It was all defense. I don’t know when the turning point was. We just understood that we always take it one game at a time. I was always telling the guys we’re going to take it one game at a time because I’ve been here for two rough seasons. You’ve just got to take it a game at a time and never stop working. We never stopped working. We haven’t stopped working and things are working now.”
UCLA sophomore guard David Singleton
on if team is ready for upcoming road trip
“Yeah, we’re ready, but we take it one game at a time, too. Focus on the next game. We can’t be satisfied, we can’t be complacent. We just have to take it one game at a time and just play with urgency.”
on his confidence in his shot
“My confidence is obviously up right now. I see one shot go in, and then another and then another, so it’s going to be up. My comfort level, I’ve gotten real comfortable with Coach’s (Cronin) game plan. I’m starting to figure stuff out. I’m starting to learn how to take my time and execute. It’s been really good for me.”
on what Chris Smith said after missed shot
“It’s really not a special message. It’s just a message to all shooters. I tell it to Jake (Kyman) all the time. He just told me to keep shooting. We need you to shoot. It’s really good to have that belief from my teammates and it gives me a sense of confidence and comfort level.”
on how much fun team’s recent success is to be a part of
“It’s very fun to win, but we have to know what fun is. Fun is not jacking up shots, it’s not playing selfish offense. Fun is playing defense, helping out a teammate, doing little stuff that’s not going to show up on the stat sheet, playing team defense, all that stuff. And then the outcome will be fine. That’s when you start having fun. Coach Cronin’s always preached you’ve got to work hard, you have to get it on the defensive end, you’ve got to get deflections. It’s that kind of stuff. And then we get easy dunks, easy layups on the other end. That’s what makes it fun.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore forward Cody Riley
on what it has meant to him to contribute in recent wins
“I don’t know, it just makes me happy that I was able to contribute to the team and help us win a game. It’s nothing more to it than that. At the end of the day, I want to win and everybody on the team wants to win. We’re going to do whatever it takes. If it takes me stepping up sometimes—that game it was me, next game it might be somebody else. We’ve got a lot of players on the team that can do it. Looking forward to it.”
It was a struggle, but I’ve gotta get my mind in the right headspace for the game.”
Washington Head Coach Mike Hopkins
opening remarks
“The first half, the ball was moving as well as any time this season. The second half, we kind of got out of control and they (UCLA) ratcheted up the defense, we didn’t really shoot the ball well, but them ratcheting up the defense was a key in the second half.”
on UCLA’s run in the second half
“Well, we had 18 turnovers and 11 of those were in the first half and those were costly. They (UCLA) also scored 25 points off of those turnovers.”
on his team’s trend of losing leads in the second half
“We just have to keep focused for a long period of time. You just have to get that rebound even though you’re leading in that area, or a steal. Games like this, especially on the road, you just have to do the little things.”
on whether he thought the team kept their fight
“Yeah, I did. I saw that fight especially in the first half. We really started rebounding and we did a really good job. We also made six threes in the first half.”
UCLA 67, Washington 57
February 15, 2020
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“It’s hard to score on Washington because of their length. We couldn’t get shots down and that affected our defensive intensity – that was the story of the game for a long time. Once we started making a concerted effort to get the ball inside, the game changed. If we wouldn’t have got the ball to Cody and Jalen inside, we never would have come back in this game. We did a better job with our passing, showing some conviction to get the ball inside. It’s not easy, you’ve got a guy running at you 6-9 with his hands up, it’s easy to just throw it back out. You’ve gotta be dedicated to what you’re trying to accomplish – get it in there. People play zone so you can pass it around the perimeter and jack up shots. You never get to the foul line, never get any points in the paint. So once we showed some more conviction to get the ball inside, the game changed and we turned up the heat defensively. They shot 28% in the second half, a lot of that was our pressure.”
on the team’s mentality when trailing
“I think in our league there are so few games that are blowouts. We’re having like two separate seasons. When we were struggling, I was trying to keep these guys together, just keep them fighting. Young guys worry about the last play, veterans worry about the next play. Once we changed that, that’s where we changed our fate to be honest with you. From worrying about the last play – I missed my shot, my shot got blocked, I got beat on defense – you gotta worry about the next play. David Singleton’s toughness has really helped us. He never pouts. His toughness has really helped our team. I said that to you guys even when he doesn’t make shots.”
on the comeback
“The most irrelevant stat on the stat sheet is the halftime score. The losing team [doesn’t say] ‘well, we had them at halftime.’ The only stat that matters on this sheet is the final score. You’ve gotta continue to play. For us, we’ve come a long way committing ourselves to playing, not worrying about whether we missed a shot or what the official called. Once we were able to keep [Washington freshman Isaiah] Stewart off the glass, the game was over, they couldn’t score any more. Which was easier said than done, keeping him off the glass is a tough chore. Getting the ball inside to Cody and Jalen changed the game. Again, there defense is tough to play against. That’s why they’re leading our league. It’s unbelievable their record, they lead our league in field goal percentage against, points allowed, blocked shots, it’s unbelievable.”
on Chris Smith’s technical
“The flop rule – it doesn’t matter [who is called for] the second flop on your team, it’s an automatic technical. So I don’t know they called the flop on, I think they called it on Cody to be honest with you. I think – it was way away from me. So it was the second flop they called. It’s not the official’s fault, they didn’t put that rule in. I know everybody’s like ‘what the heck, what are we doing, why are we calling technicals.’ So it is what it is, those guys are in a tough spot.”
on what Cody Riley’s production means to the team
“It’s huge. It’s amazing how you become a better coach once a guy gets a ball in the basket. It’s amazing, my text messages go way up. I feel for guys in this day and age in college basketball. 98% of these guys need time to develop, and everybody wants guys to be Zion Williamson and it’s not realistic. Guys need time. Reggie Miller played three years here, Don MacLean played four. It takes guys time, 98% of guys need college. Scouts ask me – one of my best friends here today was asking me about a player on another team, I said ‘no he’s not ready, but you guys are going to take him.’ Then everybody will get down on him because he’s 19 and he’s not ready. It’s hard, and people judge these kids way too fast. They see them play a few times. If that would have happened at Cincinnati, I never would have won, I promise you. We never had freshmen like that. The last two players of the year in that conference, were guys that developed. It’s a shame, the kids feel it when people get down on them. It’s unrealistic for 98% of them, there’s only so many Lonzo Balls. The rest of these guys need time to develop.”
UCLA junior guard Chris Smith
on if there is belief forming that team can find way to win
“Yeah, for sure. We all believe in each other, so no matter what the score is, the situation we’re in, we understand that guys can make big plays. We’ve got guys that can make big plays all over the court on the defensive end and offensive end, and that’s what we did tonight.”
on when he saw things turning with team this season
“I mean, I don’t know. We get in the gym every day. We practice all the time. Coach (Cronin) is always on us and it just took us a little time to, I guess, mesh and build the chemistry we have at the moment. And the defensive aspect of the game took a little time for us to figure out what (Coach) Cronin was preaching, but now, as you can see, everybody’s buying in to everything (Coach) Cronin’s preaching—especially on the defensive end, because that’s what got us back in this game and the seven games we won out of the last nine. It was all defense. I don’t know when the turning point was. We just understood that we always take it one game at a time. I was always telling the guys we’re going to take it one game at a time because I’ve been here for two rough seasons. You’ve just got to take it a game at a time and never stop working. We never stopped working. We haven’t stopped working and things are working now.”
UCLA sophomore guard David Singleton
on if team is ready for upcoming road trip
“Yeah, we’re ready, but we take it one game at a time, too. Focus on the next game. We can’t be satisfied, we can’t be complacent. We just have to take it one game at a time and just play with urgency.”
on his confidence in his shot
“My confidence is obviously up right now. I see one shot go in, and then another and then another, so it’s going to be up. My comfort level, I’ve gotten real comfortable with Coach’s (Cronin) game plan. I’m starting to figure stuff out. I’m starting to learn how to take my time and execute. It’s been really good for me.”
on what Chris Smith said after missed shot
“It’s really not a special message. It’s just a message to all shooters. I tell it to Jake (Kyman) all the time. He just told me to keep shooting. We need you to shoot. It’s really good to have that belief from my teammates and it gives me a sense of confidence and comfort level.”
on how much fun team’s recent success is to be a part of
“It’s very fun to win, but we have to know what fun is. Fun is not jacking up shots, it’s not playing selfish offense. Fun is playing defense, helping out a teammate, doing little stuff that’s not going to show up on the stat sheet, playing team defense, all that stuff. And then the outcome will be fine. That’s when you start having fun. Coach Cronin’s always preached you’ve got to work hard, you have to get it on the defensive end, you’ve got to get deflections. It’s that kind of stuff. And then we get easy dunks, easy layups on the other end. That’s what makes it fun.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore forward Cody Riley
on what it has meant to him to contribute in recent wins
“I don’t know, it just makes me happy that I was able to contribute to the team and help us win a game. It’s nothing more to it than that. At the end of the day, I want to win and everybody on the team wants to win. We’re going to do whatever it takes. If it takes me stepping up sometimes—that game it was me, next game it might be somebody else. We’ve got a lot of players on the team that can do it. Looking forward to it.”
It was a struggle, but I’ve gotta get my mind in the right headspace for the game.”
Washington Head Coach Mike Hopkins
opening remarks
“The first half, the ball was moving as well as any time this season. The second half, we kind of got out of control and they (UCLA) ratcheted up the defense, we didn’t really shoot the ball well, but them ratcheting up the defense was a key in the second half.”
on UCLA’s run in the second half
“Well, we had 18 turnovers and 11 of those were in the first half and those were costly. They (UCLA) also scored 25 points off of those turnovers.”
on his team’s trend of losing leads in the second half
“We just have to keep focused for a long period of time. You just have to get that rebound even though you’re leading in that area, or a steal. Games like this, especially on the road, you just have to do the little things.”
on whether he thought the team kept their fight
“Yeah, I did. I saw that fight especially in the first half. We really started rebounding and we did a really good job. We also made six threes in the first half.”