University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Washington
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 81, Washington 76
January 16, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what changed from first half to second half
“I thought Tyger [Campbell] – we’re not a good team unless he’s playing well. I thought the more he started to compete and realized the game had started and we were going to lose if he didn’t play. That was probably the biggest thing for us. Coming out of the locker room, getting some stops – to answer your pointed question, factually, Ben, we got six straight stops out of the locker room. Their first six possessions, we got a stop.”
on Jules Bernard
“Yeah, again, I’m a little different than you guys. I like when he shoots it in. Right now, he’s our most physical player. He’s our toughest guy; I’ve been saying that since I got here. People are probably wondering why’s he keep trying to play him. I had to keep getting him to the point where he doesn’t turn the ball over because I just believe you can’t win without some physicality. And that’s why I believe Jaylen Clark could be a great player for us. Jules, every time there’s a loose ball, he’s the guy. He’s our leading rebounder today. No turnovers. Plus 11 with him in the game. So, I totally agree with you, he just continues to get better. But I will say this, Ben, he practices like that. And that’s why I always thought if I could get him to keep it more simple on offense -- shoot when he’s open, teach him to slow down on offense – because he’s such a good guy, and he’s such a tough kid and he’s got a great, strong body – I’m pretty tough, but my body’s a joke – the way he’s built and as athletic as he is, he’s got a chance to be a really good player. I think he can keep getting better.”
on limiting turnovers and beating Washington on offensive boards
“Well, at halftime, we talked about our lack of defense. Not that it was excellent in the second half, by any stretch. They were a tough matchup for us, we knew it. I think what people don’t realize is college basketball, especially our game, matchups mean so much. More than the other team’s record. How you match up with that other team and it dictates so much, especially in the NCAA tournament. If you can get favorable ones versus tough ones. I thought Quade Green was going to be a problem for us today. And I was really concerned with their quickness at all their positions because we can be challenged sometimes with footspeed. We didn’t play very smart. We didn’t guard (Erik) Stevenson correctly in the first half. So, that being said, we did find a way to win the game. But we’re trying everything we know as a coaching staff with these guys on the defensive end. We’ve just got to keep doing that.”
on how much closeness of game came due to Washington playing better than it was used to
“I agree. We told our guys, eventually these guys are going to make some shots because if you look at their percentages from last year, some of their players, from a shooting perspective – [Hameir] Wright’s struggled this year. But last year, he shot the ball well. Quade Green, he missed a lot of games. I also thought their speed and quickness – yes, you’re correct, they made some shots and that gives you a chance, right? When they make those shots, it gives them energy on defense, it gives them belief they’ve got a chance to win. But I would say our defense left a lot to be desired, as well. That’s really what started the whole thing. Again, we’re no finished product. We’ve got no seniors out there and we’ve got to have a better sense of maturity about who we are and our preparation for a game like today. In my opinion, we thought we were just going to show up and they were going to quit. They came to play. Fortunately, we were able to dig out the victory.”
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins
on trailing UCLA by three points with 23 seconds to play, and his team’s play call
“Well, we ran a play to – you know, a little bit of a different play, actually very similar to what we ran against Oregon where Q [Quade Green] shot it. But we put Erik [Stevenson] there. We wanted to get a quick ball screen and then a pin down for Quade. We felt like Quade was open. We wanted him to curl in and then Hameir would pop and we’d have a chance to get an early two, a quick two, because there was 23 seconds on the clock. Or, if we were able to get a wide open three, great. We felt like if we could get to the basket, we would have a chance to get a foul or get a bucket and then get into our three press. But, you know, it didn’t work out that way. Erik got the ball. He felt like Quade wasn’t open. He shot the three and felt like he was going to make it. Well, sometimes that stuff happens. You just, you know, if he makes it we are running out and getting ready to hopefully go into overtime or get one more stop. And if you miss it, then the game’s over. So, it just happens that way.”
on his overall reactions to the game
“You know, a big thing – we always say ‘Be good, be great,’ in terms of sharing the basketball – if you have a good shot, let’s get a great shot. I felt like tonight, just really, the ball moved a lot better. We were talking better. We were connected better. We put in a couple of adaptations to our zone, before the game, that we felt could really help us. It was one day in between. And it helped us early. We are new at it, at a couple of the changes, and they were fortunate to make some shots out of it. But I loved how our kids fought. I loved how there were two or three times where they went on big runs, and we were able to come right back. That showed that we are getting more mentally tough. We are more poised in tough situations. I thought that was a good sign.”
on slow starts and Washington being able to capitalize early
“We just kept talking to the guys in between games about our slow starts and how our mindset has to be. You can talk about it all the time, but your actions express your priorities and express those types of things. We have talked about it a lot. Those guys came out tonight and they were fighting. We were fighting right from the get-go, and that was a great sign for us moving forward. There are no moral victories here. We played better. There was better defense and this and that, but we have got to be able to close games.”
on if something was created that his team can build from
“I think so. I really do. We have had spots of really brilliant basketball, and then we have had spots of inexperience and lack of poise. Tonight, they’ve got the best offensive team in the league and obviously we were happy in the first half. We rebounded the ball better. In the second half, they had 10 offensive rebounds and were able to make some shots. But for the most part, we battled and we competed. We warded off runs. Even at the end when Tyger [Campbell] had made a couple of those foul-line jump shots to put them up seven, we fought right back. We had a chance to cut it to one or tie the game on that last possession with 23 seconds to go. So, I thought there was a lot of positive. I thought our guys stuck together tonight, which was big, and becoming closer and becoming more of a team.”
UCLA 81, Washington 76
January 16, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what changed from first half to second half
“I thought Tyger [Campbell] – we’re not a good team unless he’s playing well. I thought the more he started to compete and realized the game had started and we were going to lose if he didn’t play. That was probably the biggest thing for us. Coming out of the locker room, getting some stops – to answer your pointed question, factually, Ben, we got six straight stops out of the locker room. Their first six possessions, we got a stop.”
on Jules Bernard
“Yeah, again, I’m a little different than you guys. I like when he shoots it in. Right now, he’s our most physical player. He’s our toughest guy; I’ve been saying that since I got here. People are probably wondering why’s he keep trying to play him. I had to keep getting him to the point where he doesn’t turn the ball over because I just believe you can’t win without some physicality. And that’s why I believe Jaylen Clark could be a great player for us. Jules, every time there’s a loose ball, he’s the guy. He’s our leading rebounder today. No turnovers. Plus 11 with him in the game. So, I totally agree with you, he just continues to get better. But I will say this, Ben, he practices like that. And that’s why I always thought if I could get him to keep it more simple on offense -- shoot when he’s open, teach him to slow down on offense – because he’s such a good guy, and he’s such a tough kid and he’s got a great, strong body – I’m pretty tough, but my body’s a joke – the way he’s built and as athletic as he is, he’s got a chance to be a really good player. I think he can keep getting better.”
on limiting turnovers and beating Washington on offensive boards
“Well, at halftime, we talked about our lack of defense. Not that it was excellent in the second half, by any stretch. They were a tough matchup for us, we knew it. I think what people don’t realize is college basketball, especially our game, matchups mean so much. More than the other team’s record. How you match up with that other team and it dictates so much, especially in the NCAA tournament. If you can get favorable ones versus tough ones. I thought Quade Green was going to be a problem for us today. And I was really concerned with their quickness at all their positions because we can be challenged sometimes with footspeed. We didn’t play very smart. We didn’t guard (Erik) Stevenson correctly in the first half. So, that being said, we did find a way to win the game. But we’re trying everything we know as a coaching staff with these guys on the defensive end. We’ve just got to keep doing that.”
on how much closeness of game came due to Washington playing better than it was used to
“I agree. We told our guys, eventually these guys are going to make some shots because if you look at their percentages from last year, some of their players, from a shooting perspective – [Hameir] Wright’s struggled this year. But last year, he shot the ball well. Quade Green, he missed a lot of games. I also thought their speed and quickness – yes, you’re correct, they made some shots and that gives you a chance, right? When they make those shots, it gives them energy on defense, it gives them belief they’ve got a chance to win. But I would say our defense left a lot to be desired, as well. That’s really what started the whole thing. Again, we’re no finished product. We’ve got no seniors out there and we’ve got to have a better sense of maturity about who we are and our preparation for a game like today. In my opinion, we thought we were just going to show up and they were going to quit. They came to play. Fortunately, we were able to dig out the victory.”
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins
on trailing UCLA by three points with 23 seconds to play, and his team’s play call
“Well, we ran a play to – you know, a little bit of a different play, actually very similar to what we ran against Oregon where Q [Quade Green] shot it. But we put Erik [Stevenson] there. We wanted to get a quick ball screen and then a pin down for Quade. We felt like Quade was open. We wanted him to curl in and then Hameir would pop and we’d have a chance to get an early two, a quick two, because there was 23 seconds on the clock. Or, if we were able to get a wide open three, great. We felt like if we could get to the basket, we would have a chance to get a foul or get a bucket and then get into our three press. But, you know, it didn’t work out that way. Erik got the ball. He felt like Quade wasn’t open. He shot the three and felt like he was going to make it. Well, sometimes that stuff happens. You just, you know, if he makes it we are running out and getting ready to hopefully go into overtime or get one more stop. And if you miss it, then the game’s over. So, it just happens that way.”
on his overall reactions to the game
“You know, a big thing – we always say ‘Be good, be great,’ in terms of sharing the basketball – if you have a good shot, let’s get a great shot. I felt like tonight, just really, the ball moved a lot better. We were talking better. We were connected better. We put in a couple of adaptations to our zone, before the game, that we felt could really help us. It was one day in between. And it helped us early. We are new at it, at a couple of the changes, and they were fortunate to make some shots out of it. But I loved how our kids fought. I loved how there were two or three times where they went on big runs, and we were able to come right back. That showed that we are getting more mentally tough. We are more poised in tough situations. I thought that was a good sign.”
on slow starts and Washington being able to capitalize early
“We just kept talking to the guys in between games about our slow starts and how our mindset has to be. You can talk about it all the time, but your actions express your priorities and express those types of things. We have talked about it a lot. Those guys came out tonight and they were fighting. We were fighting right from the get-go, and that was a great sign for us moving forward. There are no moral victories here. We played better. There was better defense and this and that, but we have got to be able to close games.”
on if something was created that his team can build from
“I think so. I really do. We have had spots of really brilliant basketball, and then we have had spots of inexperience and lack of poise. Tonight, they’ve got the best offensive team in the league and obviously we were happy in the first half. We rebounded the ball better. In the second half, they had 10 offensive rebounds and were able to make some shots. But for the most part, we battled and we competed. We warded off runs. Even at the end when Tyger [Campbell] had made a couple of those foul-line jump shots to put them up seven, we fought right back. We had a chance to cut it to one or tie the game on that last possession with 23 seconds to go. So, I thought there was a lot of positive. I thought our guys stuck together tonight, which was big, and becoming closer and becoming more of a team.”