University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA at Utah
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 69, Utah 58
Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
February 20, 2020
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on winning at Utah
โYeah, I thought, defensively, we couldnโt play much better than we played. [Assistant coach] Mike Lewis did a great job with the scouting report. Kids did a great job following it. Theyโve now learned how important it is to follow the game plan. And weโve got guys that have improved as individual defenders, which helps your strategy as a coach. You can have all the strategy you want, but in particular, our interior defense being able to play better one-on-one defense, force six-to-eight-foot contested shots where we donโt have to help off 3-point shooters โ which killed us early in the season because we couldnโt guard anybody inside โ weโve gotten better in that area. And then I would say Jules Bernard was a key to the win tonight because Chris [Smith] and Jaime [Jaquez] got the fouls, and when that happened, Jules took over. And not just offensively, when we needed him with those guys out, his defense was tremendous all night.โ
on Utah being uncomfortable, offensively
โWell, like I said, when you donโt have breakdowns, your strategy looks better. Itโs not rocket science. When you have breakdowns, then your strategy โ โWhat the hellโs he doing? Whatโs the coach doing?โ Weโve improved with just being solid in our coverage and staying between our man and the basket. Weโve really improved in that area.โ
on role of defense in winning eight of 10 games
โHuge. You canโt win on the road if you donโt defend. Itโs foolโs gold to think youโre going on the road and putting up massive amounts of points on teams. Maybe if you get three lottery picks itโd be a different story, but thatโs not who we are right now. Weโve got guys that are developing in their career, but defense travels.โ
on if team has taken on new identity
โOh, yeah, weโve slowly changed our DNA. Thatโs been the biggest key, I think. But we had to go through what we had to go through for them to realize that youโre going to change our DNA or weโre not going to win.โ
on momentum
โThat helps. Yeah, I think our confidence is โ and, for me, Iโm happy for the kids because itโs tough to be, especially at UCLA, being in the spotlight, have people talk about you. They work hard, so like a guy, Jules Bernard, heโs still a young player. For him to have a night like this was huge for him and for all of them. Itโs good to see them happy.โ
on if turnovers are biggest concern
โYeah, if it wasnโt for that, we win by 30. Weโre still a young team at times. It shows a little bit. And Tyger [Campbell] plays a lot of minutes for a freshman.โ
on facing Colorado on the road this Saturday
โI think itโs great that weโve put ourselves in a situation to play in a meaningful game. This was, tonight. People have them still in the discussion. I donโt know what their NET [ranking] is. If itโs 74, itโs a Quad-1 win, as a road win. Theyโre 10-1 at home. We, obviously, the situation weโre in, we need to play the four teams we finish with, obviously, for a résumé chance. But itโs also good for our growth. When you play better teams, it forces you to look in the mirror, what youโve got to do to get where you want to go.โ
on if any particular player has sparked teamโs success
โI think Daveโs [Singleton] insertion into the lineup has probably been a big thing for us here. Daveโs a guy, he can make shots, obviously, but heโs so willing to buy in to defense and hustle, the way he practices, the way he talks during film sessions. He takes everything as serious as our other guys need to take it. Itโs just the maturing process. Daveโs mature. Heโs more serious. Fun-loving young guys are good, but thereโs a time youโve got to be able to be focused. Dave has a seniorโs mentality, I guess is what Iโm trying to say. Thatโs helped us a lot.โ
UCLA sophomore guard David Singleton
on if he noticed Utahโs offense being off
โYou donโt really think about the other teamโs offense. We care about our defense. Are we playing solid defense? Because, you know, some players make hard shots, some players miss open shots. Thatโs just how the game goes, so we have to worry about our defense [and] make sure weโre solid.โ
on what it takes to play good defense
โYou just stay in front of your man, hand up, donโt run by the closeout. We have to talk and you have to work on communication with each other. Thatโs the main key, main focus for our defense.โ
of if team has changed anything, defensively
โWe havenโt changed anything. Weโre just doing it better. We got used to [Coach] Croninโs style. To be honest, we started playing harder. Weโre putting in more effort on defense, every game.โ
on how big of a boost Jules Bernardโs performance was
โIt was a big boost. Jules, heโs my brother. I saw him working in the gym all week for this moment. I just talked to him. I knew he was going to have a good game. Heโs been locked in all week for this.โ
on importance of getting off to good start
โGetting off to a good start is always good on the road. It doesnโt give the other team momentum, so we always want to get a good lead on the road, or every game for that matter.โ
on what team needs to do going into Saturdayโs game at Colorado
โWeโve just got to talk on defense, communicate and itโs going to be a rebounding war. Coloradoโs a very physical team. We have to keep them off the glass and then we have to stay solid and not turn the ball over.โ
on if it feels like a new season
โWe donโt have that mindset. Itโs still the same season. We still look at the losses we had non-conference because it reminds us [of] the mistakes, it reminds us what loses and it reminds us what wins games. So, no, itโs not a new season. Still the same season. Weโre just playing harder.โ
on if he feels they have momentum
โWe take it one game at a time. Obviously, winningโs great, but we donโt really look back on our wins. Weโve got to focus on the next game because this gameโs over. It doesnโt matter anymore in terms of playing for the next game, getting ready for the next game.โ
UCLA freshman guard Tyger Campbell
on winning at Utah
โWe just had a good game prep. Coach talked a lot about how theyโre 10-1, theyโre a different team at home, and we just tried to lock in and focus. Our main thing was stopping transition buckets and we did a good job of that in the first half and we kind of let up a little bit in the second half. Our main focus was just defense, keeping everybody contained.โ
on offense
โWe just were getting good shots. I would think, I donโt remember exactly what shots we took at the beginning of the game, but Iโm pretty sure they were open and they were the shots we wanted to get. So, we just werenโt forcing anything. We were just kind of letting the โ a big thing that Coach said was just letting the game come to us.โ
on what happened during Utahโs comeback in second half
โAt the end, thatโs when weโve got to come together. We put together some good possessions at the end of the game. Obviously, the turnovers and we couldnโt really get stops down the stretch, weโve just got to work on keeping control of the ball, being confident ball handlers. Sometimes, I decide to say Iโm a confident ball handler, but their defense was really good at the end of the game and they got the best of me.โ
on Saturdayโs game at Colorado
โWell, for us, every game is meaningful, all season. So, weโre just taking it one game at a time. Like Coach says, itโs a one-game tournament. We got this one done. Weโve got Colorado on Saturday and weโre going to try to get the win.โ
UCLA sophomore guard Jules Bernard
on what the Bruins did well
โWell, I think our scout defense was excellent. We knew who we were guarding. We knew the tendencies and that enabled us to help off of certain players and then guard players a little bit closer. I think we were really tuned in to the scout defense and just playing physical on the defensive end. That helped us a lot. I think we held them to 21 points in the first half. I think our defense was a big part of this win.โ
on his offensive performance in first half
โWell, for me, I think my defense started it. I got a steal and a dunk, so that sort of got my juices flowing. And then I got a wide-open shot off a great pass from Cody Riley. And after that, I was just in the flow of things and I felt comfortable. And then trying to slow down and make the right play, then they started playing me for my shot and I would take it in. I just tried to play smart and [took] what the defense gave me.โ
on teamโs biggest growth, defensively
โI think weโre a lot focused and a lot more physical on defense. Now that we sort of know the teams that we play a lot, we know their tendencies a little more and weโre sort of focusing a lot on those. I think the biggest thing is our physicality and toughness.โ
on Saturdayโs game at Colorado and chance to make statement
โYeah, of course. Weโve been, throughout this past couple weeks, weโve been going by one-game tournament. We focus on one game at a time and weโre going to give all our effort for that one game. Weโre coming into this Colorado matchup looking to do the same thing we did here: play physical defense, play tough and play tough. Hopefully we get the win.โ
on teamโs confidence of late
โI feel like weโre getting a lot more confident. Weโre getting more comfortable. And then, I think just knowing we have our defense to fall back on, that sort of gives us that sort of [comfort]. If we continue to play tough on the defensive end, I feel like weโre going to be more comfortable on the offensive end because we know weโฆ could stop other teams from scoring.โ
on defense of interior players
โYeah, our bigs have done a great job playing solid defense, not only forcing their players, their bigs to shoot tough hook shots and tough shots in the post, but also helping off on the drives and blocking shots off the glass and getting our fastbreaks started. Our bigs have definitely done a great job and helped us a lot.โ
on importance of keeping Utah off 3-point line
โYeah, it was important. We knew who their shooters were. Twenty-five [Alfonso Plummer], he came off the bench and he got it going a little bit. But it was important that we stopped their 3-point game and sort of funneled them into the paint because weโve been playing physical. Our bigs have been playing physical. And we know we rebound the ball really well, so if we force them to tough shots in the paint, we have a great opportunity of getting the rebound. That was the main focus.โ