Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Long Beach State
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 96, Long Beach State 78
January 6, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“First off, I want to thank Coach Monson and Long Beach State. They played last night. Actually, they were supposed to play today. Their game last night was contracted for today before I got hold of them, and they moved their Westcliff game from today to last night and played us back to back, which gets them a return date here next year for sure. So I really appreciate what they did. We were desperate to get out on the court, mentally and physically. You’ve got to start playing games to find a rhythm, especially Cody Riley, his first game of the year. You can only simulate so much in practice. I know you’re going to ask about Jaime (Jaquez Jr.). He turned his ankle. Hopefully it’s not that bad. He can walk, so that’s a start. So that being said, it’s good to be back out there. It’s going to take us some time to find a rhythm again. It’s really crazy. I haven’t seen you guys in a long time. It’s like we’re starting the season over again. Literally, it’s like a new season. Long Beach played great in the second half. I thought they made a lot of hard shots. We didn’t get back on D a few times, but they’ve got fast guys, and I thought Jadon Jones played great in the second half. At the time, I wasn’t happy with it, but they made some guarded shots, and it made us keep playing the whole 40 minutes, which we needed. I didn’t think we had any chance Saturday if we wouldn’t have played today. I was convinced we were in deep trouble. To try to play Cal, who’s really playing well, on the road without a game in a month, to me we would have been really up against it. So other than Jaime’s injury, things really went well for us tonight in a lot of ways, and it was really good to get back out here.”
on Jules Bernard’s making a name for himself on the national stage
“On the national stage you’ve got to keep winning. You keep winning, and the more you win, the more people put eyes on you. At media day, someone finally asked me a question about Jules. I had Johnny and Jaime over there because that’s who the Pac-12 wanted, and I was elated. You can’t ask me enough questions about Jules because he deserves to get a lot of publicity for two reasons: One, he is really good. He’s a very good player. One of the best wing players in America. And secondly, he’s everything this is all supposed to be about – a guy who’s here four years and got better every year, stuck it out through the coaching change, he played for Steve [Alford], Murray [Bartow] and me, and he’s just a great kid with a great attitude, and he’s made a lot of changes to his game. He gets so much more done now with less dribble, he’s really worked on his shooting, his toughness, his efficiency. His assist-turnover ratio is the turnaround of a lifetime statistically when you look at freshman year to now. But he’s a great guy, and I’m so happy for him. But he’s going to have a career playing basketball. He will play beyond UCLA. He’s a better shooter, but he reminds me of Josh Hart, who played at Villanova and has been in the NBA a long time. I think that Jules because he’s 6-6 and can make an open shot and can defend and is a tough guy, I think he’ll have a career in the NBA.”
on the defense continuing to improve
“That was our focus. We were great early. Fatigue got us some, and as Long Beach settled down, our kids made a few shots. We had some breakdowns in the second half. So second half I wasn’t happy at all with our defense. But that is our focus. What I try to tell the guys is you’ve got to write down who you want to be as a person, and in our case, who you want to be as a team. So if you want a title, whether it’s a Pac-12 title or a national title, then work backwards … If you’re going to be a great team, great teams play defense, they play with great togetherness. They have poise, leadership. If you want to be a great team, you’ve got to write down all of the characteristics of a great team. You’re not going to be a great team without those characteristics.”
on playing without fans
“For me, the students have been awesome since I’ve been here, and the fans have been great to me. It’s been a great time in my life. As we turned it around my first year, the people here have been awesome. I love walking up there with the fans. And the students have been great. It’s all part of the college experience. You can’t bring them back fast enough for me.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on his matchup with Long Beach State in the two games this season
“I’m not sure. But I just go into every game and try to play my hardest and be aggressive and make plays through my team. I don’t know what it is about this certain matchup, but I just try to go into every game the same way: be focused, play hard, play with energy and hope for the best results.”
on what was working for him tonight
“Just taking my time. I had open shots. My teammates found me and I missed a few. But I didn’t let my confidence waver. And the next open shot I had, I took it and made some. And then just opening the floor up by getting teammates involved (and) finding my teammates when they’re open for open shots. It just opens the floor up for me to make plays for the team.”
on if the team needed some time to get up to speed in the beginning of the game
“I think so. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that some of our games got canceled, but as players we wanted to play those games. … Fortunately, it gave us time to keep preparing, get our wind back, get our stamina, so I think that helped a lot. It was our first game back, so there are obviously going to be a few struggles. People might be huffing wind and stuff like that, but once we caught our second wind, I felt like we caught a rhythm. It was a good first game, but we’ve got to figure out how to sustain our energy throughout the whole game.”
on what it was like having Cody Riley return to the lineup
“It was great. That’s my guy. Our first bucket was his bucket. His patented dribble to the right, spin back to the left for a strong bucket. I was happy for him. It was great to see that he’s feeling comfortable and sort of confident in his legs and his conditioning. It was a definitely great sight to see.”
on Tyger Campbell’s double-double performance
“He’s big time. He’s a big-time player and he’s going to have big-time performances like this. Eleven points and 10 assists is huge. We expect that from him. We know what type of player he is. It’s really a treat when you have someone who can handle the ball and find teammates and create for himself as well. We have a lot of talent and I think having him as the head as a point guard is amazing.”
junior guard Johnny Juzang
on getting back to normal after missing two consecutive free throws
“I can’t remember the last time I missed two free throws in a row. It was funny because (Director of Student-Athlete Development) Nate Georgeton on our staff, we always walk about shooting more free throws at that percentage and get to the free throw line more because I’ve been barely getting to the free throw line. When I came to the bench, I told him, ‘Look, I got to the free throw line. I just didn’t make them.’”
on Jules Bernard and his performances against Long Beach State this season
“Jules is so talented. (He’s a) really talented, versatile scorer so it’s great. It’s good we have options with different guys on different nights who can produce so it’s good that we’re level across the board. … I guess we’ve got a thing for Long Beach State.”
on getting back on the court after three weeks
“Yeah, it’s great. It’s been like almost four weeks I think. It’s great being out there. Obviously, you don’t have the fans, but just getting rhythm and moving a little bit like that on the court (and) getting a lit bit of conditioning. It’s good for us. I’m glad we got to get out there.”
on Tyger Campbell’s 3-point shooting
“He’s worked on that. He’s hitting the gym all the time. He’s worked on his shot so much. You can see the results. He’s a serious threat from that 3-point line. When he gets looks, we’re all wanting him to take that. It’s a huge help for us. That’s just time in the gym he puts in. He’s a threat from out there for sure.”
UCLA 96, Long Beach State 78
January 6, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“First off, I want to thank Coach Monson and Long Beach State. They played last night. Actually, they were supposed to play today. Their game last night was contracted for today before I got hold of them, and they moved their Westcliff game from today to last night and played us back to back, which gets them a return date here next year for sure. So I really appreciate what they did. We were desperate to get out on the court, mentally and physically. You’ve got to start playing games to find a rhythm, especially Cody Riley, his first game of the year. You can only simulate so much in practice. I know you’re going to ask about Jaime (Jaquez Jr.). He turned his ankle. Hopefully it’s not that bad. He can walk, so that’s a start. So that being said, it’s good to be back out there. It’s going to take us some time to find a rhythm again. It’s really crazy. I haven’t seen you guys in a long time. It’s like we’re starting the season over again. Literally, it’s like a new season. Long Beach played great in the second half. I thought they made a lot of hard shots. We didn’t get back on D a few times, but they’ve got fast guys, and I thought Jadon Jones played great in the second half. At the time, I wasn’t happy with it, but they made some guarded shots, and it made us keep playing the whole 40 minutes, which we needed. I didn’t think we had any chance Saturday if we wouldn’t have played today. I was convinced we were in deep trouble. To try to play Cal, who’s really playing well, on the road without a game in a month, to me we would have been really up against it. So other than Jaime’s injury, things really went well for us tonight in a lot of ways, and it was really good to get back out here.”
on Jules Bernard’s making a name for himself on the national stage
“On the national stage you’ve got to keep winning. You keep winning, and the more you win, the more people put eyes on you. At media day, someone finally asked me a question about Jules. I had Johnny and Jaime over there because that’s who the Pac-12 wanted, and I was elated. You can’t ask me enough questions about Jules because he deserves to get a lot of publicity for two reasons: One, he is really good. He’s a very good player. One of the best wing players in America. And secondly, he’s everything this is all supposed to be about – a guy who’s here four years and got better every year, stuck it out through the coaching change, he played for Steve [Alford], Murray [Bartow] and me, and he’s just a great kid with a great attitude, and he’s made a lot of changes to his game. He gets so much more done now with less dribble, he’s really worked on his shooting, his toughness, his efficiency. His assist-turnover ratio is the turnaround of a lifetime statistically when you look at freshman year to now. But he’s a great guy, and I’m so happy for him. But he’s going to have a career playing basketball. He will play beyond UCLA. He’s a better shooter, but he reminds me of Josh Hart, who played at Villanova and has been in the NBA a long time. I think that Jules because he’s 6-6 and can make an open shot and can defend and is a tough guy, I think he’ll have a career in the NBA.”
on the defense continuing to improve
“That was our focus. We were great early. Fatigue got us some, and as Long Beach settled down, our kids made a few shots. We had some breakdowns in the second half. So second half I wasn’t happy at all with our defense. But that is our focus. What I try to tell the guys is you’ve got to write down who you want to be as a person, and in our case, who you want to be as a team. So if you want a title, whether it’s a Pac-12 title or a national title, then work backwards … If you’re going to be a great team, great teams play defense, they play with great togetherness. They have poise, leadership. If you want to be a great team, you’ve got to write down all of the characteristics of a great team. You’re not going to be a great team without those characteristics.”
on playing without fans
“For me, the students have been awesome since I’ve been here, and the fans have been great to me. It’s been a great time in my life. As we turned it around my first year, the people here have been awesome. I love walking up there with the fans. And the students have been great. It’s all part of the college experience. You can’t bring them back fast enough for me.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on his matchup with Long Beach State in the two games this season
“I’m not sure. But I just go into every game and try to play my hardest and be aggressive and make plays through my team. I don’t know what it is about this certain matchup, but I just try to go into every game the same way: be focused, play hard, play with energy and hope for the best results.”
on what was working for him tonight
“Just taking my time. I had open shots. My teammates found me and I missed a few. But I didn’t let my confidence waver. And the next open shot I had, I took it and made some. And then just opening the floor up by getting teammates involved (and) finding my teammates when they’re open for open shots. It just opens the floor up for me to make plays for the team.”
on if the team needed some time to get up to speed in the beginning of the game
“I think so. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that some of our games got canceled, but as players we wanted to play those games. … Fortunately, it gave us time to keep preparing, get our wind back, get our stamina, so I think that helped a lot. It was our first game back, so there are obviously going to be a few struggles. People might be huffing wind and stuff like that, but once we caught our second wind, I felt like we caught a rhythm. It was a good first game, but we’ve got to figure out how to sustain our energy throughout the whole game.”
on what it was like having Cody Riley return to the lineup
“It was great. That’s my guy. Our first bucket was his bucket. His patented dribble to the right, spin back to the left for a strong bucket. I was happy for him. It was great to see that he’s feeling comfortable and sort of confident in his legs and his conditioning. It was a definitely great sight to see.”
on Tyger Campbell’s double-double performance
“He’s big time. He’s a big-time player and he’s going to have big-time performances like this. Eleven points and 10 assists is huge. We expect that from him. We know what type of player he is. It’s really a treat when you have someone who can handle the ball and find teammates and create for himself as well. We have a lot of talent and I think having him as the head as a point guard is amazing.”
junior guard Johnny Juzang
on getting back to normal after missing two consecutive free throws
“I can’t remember the last time I missed two free throws in a row. It was funny because (Director of Student-Athlete Development) Nate Georgeton on our staff, we always walk about shooting more free throws at that percentage and get to the free throw line more because I’ve been barely getting to the free throw line. When I came to the bench, I told him, ‘Look, I got to the free throw line. I just didn’t make them.’”
on Jules Bernard and his performances against Long Beach State this season
“Jules is so talented. (He’s a) really talented, versatile scorer so it’s great. It’s good we have options with different guys on different nights who can produce so it’s good that we’re level across the board. … I guess we’ve got a thing for Long Beach State.”
on getting back on the court after three weeks
“Yeah, it’s great. It’s been like almost four weeks I think. It’s great being out there. Obviously, you don’t have the fans, but just getting rhythm and moving a little bit like that on the court (and) getting a lit bit of conditioning. It’s good for us. I’m glad we got to get out there.”
on Tyger Campbell’s 3-point shooting
“He’s worked on that. He’s hitting the gym all the time. He’s worked on his shot so much. You can see the results. He’s a serious threat from that 3-point line. When he gets looks, we’re all wanting him to take that. It’s a huge help for us. That’s just time in the gym he puts in. He’s a threat from out there for sure.”