Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. North Florida
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 98, North Florida 63
November 17, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on defense tonight against North Florida compared to Long Beach State
“I think we still got a long way to go. I think some of the kids from Long Beach, in truth, deserve a lot of credit. It’s -- what is it? November 17th? So, it’s still early. But we’re not to a point yet where we’re making multiple rotations defensively. So that’s really the answer to your question. I’m never happy. So let’s just get that out on the table. We’re still trying to get to a point where I was trying to tell the guys in the huddle we got to be able to have a possession where we make three rotations. A lot of basketball people say you’ve got to help the helper. It’s a constant thing. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting there. They pass and they don’t jack shots up, so they tried to force us to play half-court defense which was great practice for us. So, I thought tonight was great practice for us.”
on Myles Johnson’s defense in the second half
“Thirteen rebounds, nine offensive (rebounds). My thing with Myles is being able to play faster and be aggressive at all times for us and his career. For us, he had seven deflections. So, getting in unbelievable shape and committing to his body development and pushing himself harder than he’s ever pushed himself. It doesn’t do any good to be the biggest guy on the floor if you don’t play big. You’ve got to impose your will. Whatever your strength is, you’ve got to play to it in life and basketball. And out there, his size is his strength. So he’s got to impose it on his opponents which I thought he did a better job of tonight.”
on Tyger Campbell’s 3-point shooting this season
“Yeah, not a surprise at all for us. He’s put an unbelievable amount of time in. And experience tells me that guys shoot at higher percentages as they get older but he’s put an unbelievable amount of time in the offseason. We chart our shooting drills, so makes, it’s on the clock, how many makes, and he’s been a consistent winner. … He’s consistently beating those guys in timed 3-point shooting drills. So not a shock at all. He didn’t do that last year. Obviously, a big plus for us. When the guys make shots, it makes the coach look a lot smarter.”
on difference of Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s game tonight compared to Long Beach State
“I don’t know. In fairness to Jaime, I think he’s always dialed in. I don’t know. Twenty (points) and eight (rebounds) from him is just another day in the office, right? And he’s been doing that since I got here. His energy. I’ll just never forget his freshman year and inserting him into the lineup and his attitude and his fight changed our program.”
redshirt senior center Myles Johnson
on imposing his presence defensively
“Coach Cronin always emphasizes how I’m always the biggest person out there, and I think today I made that really well-known and definitely helped the team out getting offensive rebounds and kicking it out. I’m surrounded by amazing shooters. On defense it’s getting the rebound and pushing it out to start the offense. But definitely it just felt like I was on a mission, vibing a little more with the team, getting my presence down there. It felt good.”
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on his improved 3-point shooting
“This summer I just really worked on it. I worked on my base and holding my follow-through and a couple of different things. Coach just told me he has confidence in me and just tells me to go, and he doesn’t really restrict me at all. He trusts me for the shots I take, and I just try to take the right ones and the open ones.”
on what was said during a first half timeout before the team surged to a 20-point lead
“We just looked up and we huddled coming out of that and were preaching defense, defense, defense. Our defense led to some offensive opportunities, and we were just thankful for that.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on having teammates getting high point totals
“I think that just says a lot about our team and how unselfish we are as a collective group. It doesn’t really matter whose night it is because we’re all going to share the ball, and we’re all going to get the shots we want to get. It just speaks to the unselfishness of our team.”
on the effectiveness of his pump-fake
“I think it’s really effective. Coach always preaches to get off two feet and stick your second foot down and plant so you can go up strong. It’s something I’ve also done since I was a kid – try to get the pump fake, get guys to jump and draw a foul. That’s something that’s always been part of my game as well.”
on how much further the team has to go defensively to beat Gonzaga
“I think we have a lot more to go. We’ve got some practice days ahead of us. We’re going to go back to practice and sharpen up our defense and just our mentality and where we need to be on the floor.”
North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll
on the team’s overall performance and on UCLA
“Prepping for a team like UCLA really makes you a better team. They really understand who they are. They have connectivity on both ends of the floor – on offense and on defense. They are really together. I credit him [Coach Cronin] for helping them understand who they are. They got a taste of it last year, but that wasn’t enough; they want to take the next step. I really give them credit for really buying in. They play with purpose and they stayed here at UCLA with a purpose. They didn’t come back to pad their stats and make their prospects look better.”
on where his team goes from here
“We’ve been here for 11 days, five games, eight flights, four hotels. We’re finally going home. The good news is we have to play Kentucky next week.”
UCLA 98, North Florida 63
November 17, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on defense tonight against North Florida compared to Long Beach State
“I think we still got a long way to go. I think some of the kids from Long Beach, in truth, deserve a lot of credit. It’s -- what is it? November 17th? So, it’s still early. But we’re not to a point yet where we’re making multiple rotations defensively. So that’s really the answer to your question. I’m never happy. So let’s just get that out on the table. We’re still trying to get to a point where I was trying to tell the guys in the huddle we got to be able to have a possession where we make three rotations. A lot of basketball people say you’ve got to help the helper. It’s a constant thing. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting there. They pass and they don’t jack shots up, so they tried to force us to play half-court defense which was great practice for us. So, I thought tonight was great practice for us.”
on Myles Johnson’s defense in the second half
“Thirteen rebounds, nine offensive (rebounds). My thing with Myles is being able to play faster and be aggressive at all times for us and his career. For us, he had seven deflections. So, getting in unbelievable shape and committing to his body development and pushing himself harder than he’s ever pushed himself. It doesn’t do any good to be the biggest guy on the floor if you don’t play big. You’ve got to impose your will. Whatever your strength is, you’ve got to play to it in life and basketball. And out there, his size is his strength. So he’s got to impose it on his opponents which I thought he did a better job of tonight.”
on Tyger Campbell’s 3-point shooting this season
“Yeah, not a surprise at all for us. He’s put an unbelievable amount of time in. And experience tells me that guys shoot at higher percentages as they get older but he’s put an unbelievable amount of time in the offseason. We chart our shooting drills, so makes, it’s on the clock, how many makes, and he’s been a consistent winner. … He’s consistently beating those guys in timed 3-point shooting drills. So not a shock at all. He didn’t do that last year. Obviously, a big plus for us. When the guys make shots, it makes the coach look a lot smarter.”
on difference of Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s game tonight compared to Long Beach State
“I don’t know. In fairness to Jaime, I think he’s always dialed in. I don’t know. Twenty (points) and eight (rebounds) from him is just another day in the office, right? And he’s been doing that since I got here. His energy. I’ll just never forget his freshman year and inserting him into the lineup and his attitude and his fight changed our program.”
redshirt senior center Myles Johnson
on imposing his presence defensively
“Coach Cronin always emphasizes how I’m always the biggest person out there, and I think today I made that really well-known and definitely helped the team out getting offensive rebounds and kicking it out. I’m surrounded by amazing shooters. On defense it’s getting the rebound and pushing it out to start the offense. But definitely it just felt like I was on a mission, vibing a little more with the team, getting my presence down there. It felt good.”
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on his improved 3-point shooting
“This summer I just really worked on it. I worked on my base and holding my follow-through and a couple of different things. Coach just told me he has confidence in me and just tells me to go, and he doesn’t really restrict me at all. He trusts me for the shots I take, and I just try to take the right ones and the open ones.”
on what was said during a first half timeout before the team surged to a 20-point lead
“We just looked up and we huddled coming out of that and were preaching defense, defense, defense. Our defense led to some offensive opportunities, and we were just thankful for that.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on having teammates getting high point totals
“I think that just says a lot about our team and how unselfish we are as a collective group. It doesn’t really matter whose night it is because we’re all going to share the ball, and we’re all going to get the shots we want to get. It just speaks to the unselfishness of our team.”
on the effectiveness of his pump-fake
“I think it’s really effective. Coach always preaches to get off two feet and stick your second foot down and plant so you can go up strong. It’s something I’ve also done since I was a kid – try to get the pump fake, get guys to jump and draw a foul. That’s something that’s always been part of my game as well.”
on how much further the team has to go defensively to beat Gonzaga
“I think we have a lot more to go. We’ve got some practice days ahead of us. We’re going to go back to practice and sharpen up our defense and just our mentality and where we need to be on the floor.”
North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll
on the team’s overall performance and on UCLA
“Prepping for a team like UCLA really makes you a better team. They really understand who they are. They have connectivity on both ends of the floor – on offense and on defense. They are really together. I credit him [Coach Cronin] for helping them understand who they are. They got a taste of it last year, but that wasn’t enough; they want to take the next step. I really give them credit for really buying in. They play with purpose and they stayed here at UCLA with a purpose. They didn’t come back to pad their stats and make their prospects look better.”
on where his team goes from here
“We’ve been here for 11 days, five games, eight flights, four hotels. We’re finally going home. The good news is we have to play Kentucky next week.”