POSTGAME QUOTES
Oregon State 83, UCLA 79 (overtime)
Las Vegas, Nev.
March 11, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what he felt the turning point in the game was
“We gave up 58 percent [from the field] in the second half and 50 [percent] from three. We knew Ethan Thompson was going to put his head down. If he lost, today was his last game. We weren’t there. We didn’t close the gap on the spin. I failed to get the job done, Tracy, if you want to know the truth – defensively, with this team. I really failed to get the job done on the defensive end. Obviously, it’s extremely frustrating for me to give up 58 percent – repeatedly, our second half defense. In my mind, it’s a lack of toughness. It’s my job to find five guys who can get some stops as a collective group. You can point to free throws. You can point to the fact that we’ve got good shooters who can’t make a shot. With the construction of this team, if we don’t shoot the three well, we’re just not tough and athletic enough to win with defense. That’s off a big sample size. You’ve seen us. It’s just hard for us to grind out victories on the defensive end. I’m just giving you the macro perspective of our team, not this game. We’ve got guys that are better shooters than they are defenders. We have to make shots. To your point, turning point – to me, the first play of the second half we put in no effort. No effort, defensively, at all. We just let Thomson jump up and shoot a three like he was going to go down in his last college game. Just on the right wing, away from their bench. We had 16 deflections at halftime, but we had 16 with five minutes left in the first half. In the last 30 minutes, we had five deflections. In the first 15 minutes, we had 16. Our defensive effort is inconsistent. That’s our problem. The turning point is we refuse to get in a stance and get stops.:
on whether the team got a little tight in the second half following loss to USC last weekend
“No, not at all, Ben. And I know where you’re going with it, buddy; I just don’t believe in that. Not at all. This is a new season. We wiped that slate clean on Monday. Today is a new season. This is a different tournament. I don’t believe in excuses at all. I’m not buying into that one. Again, it’s on me, Ben. I’ve got to be able to get some guys who can get some stops during winning time. Look at [Oregon State’s] second-half stats. It’s impossible to win. You give up 58 percent [from the field], 50 [percent] from three, and 10 made free throws. Literally impossible.”
on Jules Bernard’s performance
“Well, right now, we win and lose as a team, first of all. Since Chris [Smith] has gone down, and Johnny [Juzang] was out early, Jules has been rock solid for us all year. He plays 38 minutes tonight. 7-of-13 from the field. 10 rebounds. He’s by far our best perimeter defender. He just has to keep his head up and keep getting better. He gets better because he works hard in practice. Every day, his effort is by far the most consistent of any guy on our team. That’s why he’s improved the most since I got here.”
junior guard Jules Bernard
on team’s last two offensive plays
“The first play, we were trying to draw fouls on their players who had three or four fouls and get them out of the game. I tried to get to the rim and tried to draw the contact. I felt like I did, but the refs, they do a great job throughout the game. It’s obviously a hard job. They can’t see everything. It is what it is on that. And then the second play, I got the rebound and I pushed. I was sprinting and I knew it was going to be hard to slow down. I saw [Zach] Reichle was trying to take a charge. I knew I had two teammates to my left. I tried to get it back to them. It just didn’t work out.”
on his effort to try to keep the team in the game in the second half
“All the players, I feel, really want to win. When the opportunity presents itself to make plays to try to help the team win – whether it’s me, or whoever it is with the ball, or whoever’s on the court – if the opportunity presents itself, they’re going to try and make that play to help our team win. There were opportunities for me and I took them, but that’s not what I’m worried about. I feel like, on the defensive end, I could have helped my teammates a little bit more. They ran pick and rolls to switch me off of [Thompson] almost every time in the late second half, and even in overtime. He drove and spun. I feel like some of those plays I should have been there on the spin, either to strip the ball or get it out of his hands. I’m more worried about that – the mistakes that we, and I, made on the defensive end.”
on whether he thinks UCLA is a tournament team
“I’ve never been in this situation, obviously. I feel like losing this first game, it’s sort of tough. We planned all three games. We’re just going to watch film and wait and see. I feel like we are a tournament team. We have the players to be a tournament team. These past four losses, the games have been our games. It’s just little mistakes, little things that cost us the games. We’re a few plays away from winning those four games and having a way better record. I do believe we are a tournament team.”
Oregon State 83, UCLA 79 (overtime)
Las Vegas, Nev.
March 11, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what he felt the turning point in the game was
“We gave up 58 percent [from the field] in the second half and 50 [percent] from three. We knew Ethan Thompson was going to put his head down. If he lost, today was his last game. We weren’t there. We didn’t close the gap on the spin. I failed to get the job done, Tracy, if you want to know the truth – defensively, with this team. I really failed to get the job done on the defensive end. Obviously, it’s extremely frustrating for me to give up 58 percent – repeatedly, our second half defense. In my mind, it’s a lack of toughness. It’s my job to find five guys who can get some stops as a collective group. You can point to free throws. You can point to the fact that we’ve got good shooters who can’t make a shot. With the construction of this team, if we don’t shoot the three well, we’re just not tough and athletic enough to win with defense. That’s off a big sample size. You’ve seen us. It’s just hard for us to grind out victories on the defensive end. I’m just giving you the macro perspective of our team, not this game. We’ve got guys that are better shooters than they are defenders. We have to make shots. To your point, turning point – to me, the first play of the second half we put in no effort. No effort, defensively, at all. We just let Thomson jump up and shoot a three like he was going to go down in his last college game. Just on the right wing, away from their bench. We had 16 deflections at halftime, but we had 16 with five minutes left in the first half. In the last 30 minutes, we had five deflections. In the first 15 minutes, we had 16. Our defensive effort is inconsistent. That’s our problem. The turning point is we refuse to get in a stance and get stops.:
on whether the team got a little tight in the second half following loss to USC last weekend
“No, not at all, Ben. And I know where you’re going with it, buddy; I just don’t believe in that. Not at all. This is a new season. We wiped that slate clean on Monday. Today is a new season. This is a different tournament. I don’t believe in excuses at all. I’m not buying into that one. Again, it’s on me, Ben. I’ve got to be able to get some guys who can get some stops during winning time. Look at [Oregon State’s] second-half stats. It’s impossible to win. You give up 58 percent [from the field], 50 [percent] from three, and 10 made free throws. Literally impossible.”
on Jules Bernard’s performance
“Well, right now, we win and lose as a team, first of all. Since Chris [Smith] has gone down, and Johnny [Juzang] was out early, Jules has been rock solid for us all year. He plays 38 minutes tonight. 7-of-13 from the field. 10 rebounds. He’s by far our best perimeter defender. He just has to keep his head up and keep getting better. He gets better because he works hard in practice. Every day, his effort is by far the most consistent of any guy on our team. That’s why he’s improved the most since I got here.”
junior guard Jules Bernard
on team’s last two offensive plays
“The first play, we were trying to draw fouls on their players who had three or four fouls and get them out of the game. I tried to get to the rim and tried to draw the contact. I felt like I did, but the refs, they do a great job throughout the game. It’s obviously a hard job. They can’t see everything. It is what it is on that. And then the second play, I got the rebound and I pushed. I was sprinting and I knew it was going to be hard to slow down. I saw [Zach] Reichle was trying to take a charge. I knew I had two teammates to my left. I tried to get it back to them. It just didn’t work out.”
on his effort to try to keep the team in the game in the second half
“All the players, I feel, really want to win. When the opportunity presents itself to make plays to try to help the team win – whether it’s me, or whoever it is with the ball, or whoever’s on the court – if the opportunity presents itself, they’re going to try and make that play to help our team win. There were opportunities for me and I took them, but that’s not what I’m worried about. I feel like, on the defensive end, I could have helped my teammates a little bit more. They ran pick and rolls to switch me off of [Thompson] almost every time in the late second half, and even in overtime. He drove and spun. I feel like some of those plays I should have been there on the spin, either to strip the ball or get it out of his hands. I’m more worried about that – the mistakes that we, and I, made on the defensive end.”
on whether he thinks UCLA is a tournament team
“I’ve never been in this situation, obviously. I feel like losing this first game, it’s sort of tough. We planned all three games. We’re just going to watch film and wait and see. I feel like we are a tournament team. We have the players to be a tournament team. These past four losses, the games have been our games. It’s just little mistakes, little things that cost us the games. We’re a few plays away from winning those four games and having a way better record. I do believe we are a tournament team.”