Postgame Quotes – UCLA at Washington State
POSTGAME QUOTES
Washington State 81, UCLA 73
February 11, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on the team’s defensive performance
“Terrible. We’re trying to jumpshoot our way to victory right now. You go on the road and score 73, go look at my career – I would say 95% victory in my 18 years as a head coach if we score 73 points anywhere. Defense is our issue. We didn’t get the job done at the three-point line. We lost 39-15 at the three-point line, minus-24 at the three-point line.”
on the team’s current trajectory
“I don’t look at big picture, I look at game-to-game. Oregon State we defended, Stanford we defended, even the USC game we defended. You don’t give yourself a chance to win. You’ve gotta give yourself a chance to win. You give up 81 on the road, we’re not winning. You’d have to have multiple NBA players to be able to go on the road and give up 81 and win. This isn’t rocket science. I think every game is different. I told you guys, we’re not a juggernaut. We’ve got to grind out victories, that’s just the way it is. Our talent is what it is. We’ve got good enough players to get wins, but we’re not going win any games giving up 81 points.”
on if the team had more energy during a late-game charge
“We weren’t playing smart. I don’t believe in saying ‘there was no energy, the guys didn’t have any life.’ I disagree with that. Our problem defensively is lack of discipline, that I have to fix. Frustration with certain guys of telling them exactly what to do and they’re not getting the job done. Whether it’s don’t let DJ Rodman just stand there and shoot it, which we did to start the game – he was three for his first three. Or how we’re going to play certain scenarios. I’m not a big believer in the whole energy thing, we weren’t playing smart and we were letting them get whatever they wanted. Teams that are comfortable shoot a high percentage, and that’s what happened to us. We started actually trying to take something away from them and make it hard on them, speed them up, then they weren’t comfortable, hence their percentage went down and they had some turnovers. We’ve got to really improve in the area of playing smarter.”
on Cody Riley’s performance
“It had nothing to do with his ankle. He knows. I love him, he’s been a great player for us, tonight was unacceptable. We teach our big guys never to foul below the waist, ever, ever, ever. If you foul as a big guy for us, it’s rebounding above the rim, it’s blocking shots or contesting shots above the rim. His last one, he was trying to draw a charge, but the other four I believe were with his hands below the shoulders. You never foul below the shoulder if it’s a big guy, and he knows that. Again, it goes back to our lack of discipline.”
on Jaylen Clark
“He’s aggressive, he’s tough, he’s rebounding the ball for us. I think he’s concerned with winning, he’s not concerned with his stats. We’re desperately in need of the guys on the floor right now who are concerned with that.”
Washington State 81, UCLA 73
February 11, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on the team’s defensive performance
“Terrible. We’re trying to jumpshoot our way to victory right now. You go on the road and score 73, go look at my career – I would say 95% victory in my 18 years as a head coach if we score 73 points anywhere. Defense is our issue. We didn’t get the job done at the three-point line. We lost 39-15 at the three-point line, minus-24 at the three-point line.”
on the team’s current trajectory
“I don’t look at big picture, I look at game-to-game. Oregon State we defended, Stanford we defended, even the USC game we defended. You don’t give yourself a chance to win. You’ve gotta give yourself a chance to win. You give up 81 on the road, we’re not winning. You’d have to have multiple NBA players to be able to go on the road and give up 81 and win. This isn’t rocket science. I think every game is different. I told you guys, we’re not a juggernaut. We’ve got to grind out victories, that’s just the way it is. Our talent is what it is. We’ve got good enough players to get wins, but we’re not going win any games giving up 81 points.”
on if the team had more energy during a late-game charge
“We weren’t playing smart. I don’t believe in saying ‘there was no energy, the guys didn’t have any life.’ I disagree with that. Our problem defensively is lack of discipline, that I have to fix. Frustration with certain guys of telling them exactly what to do and they’re not getting the job done. Whether it’s don’t let DJ Rodman just stand there and shoot it, which we did to start the game – he was three for his first three. Or how we’re going to play certain scenarios. I’m not a big believer in the whole energy thing, we weren’t playing smart and we were letting them get whatever they wanted. Teams that are comfortable shoot a high percentage, and that’s what happened to us. We started actually trying to take something away from them and make it hard on them, speed them up, then they weren’t comfortable, hence their percentage went down and they had some turnovers. We’ve got to really improve in the area of playing smarter.”
on Cody Riley’s performance
“It had nothing to do with his ankle. He knows. I love him, he’s been a great player for us, tonight was unacceptable. We teach our big guys never to foul below the waist, ever, ever, ever. If you foul as a big guy for us, it’s rebounding above the rim, it’s blocking shots or contesting shots above the rim. His last one, he was trying to draw a charge, but the other four I believe were with his hands below the shoulders. You never foul below the shoulder if it’s a big guy, and he knows that. Again, it goes back to our lack of discipline.”
on Jaylen Clark
“He’s aggressive, he’s tough, he’s rebounding the ball for us. I think he’s concerned with winning, he’s not concerned with his stats. We’re desperately in need of the guys on the floor right now who are concerned with that.”