Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Bellarmine (Nov. 27, 2022)
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 81, Bellarmine 60
November 27, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
overall statement
“Obviously a different game today. They didn’t have [Juston] Betz, we didn’t have Jaylen Clark. Jaylen was feeling flu-like symptoms. But both teams played extremely hard, and I knew Coach Davenport was going to have his guys ready. He needs to evaluate his scheduling – they played at Duke, at Clemson, at Loyola Marymount, at UCLA. I don’t like their chances. But look how hard his kids play. If you respect the game, watching them play is refreshing, in my opinion. Preparing for it makes you a better team because you have to defend the whole clock, you have to have pressure on the ball, active hands, communication, and they’re going to pick you apart. They’ve struggled to shoot this year; they got hot for a little bit, but I thought we were tired. Guys played too many minutes without J-Rock out there, so that was a factor. I thought we didn’t start the second half with much defensive edge, but great win for us. Whenever you can get better – they MAKE you get better. Our passing was off the charts. That’s part of the reason I like to play those kind of teams because you get to teach our guys what it’s like to watch a team pass the ball. If we would ever pass the ball and continue to get 26 assists, we’ll continue to shoot 61%. Our passing was awesome. Even Amari [Bailey]’s last basket on the baseline was because they caught him and immediately threw it to Amari so he had a chance to blow by a guy and close out. Simple things like that we’re getting a little bit better at. I think playing Bellarmine helps. Hopefully Betz can get back healthy for them, and hopefully J-Rock, who’s in bed with the chills, got his medicine and will be ok by Tuesday’s practice.”
on Jaime Jaquez’s game
“I thought Jaime played as hard as he’s played all year in the first 10 minutes of the game on defense. And that’s my challenge. Jaime’s going to have a long career if he can defend pros. Period. And if he can’t he won’t play. He’s not going to make it ‘cause he can score. Now we need all the baskets we can give him, but he had four steals early. I thought he set the tone defensively for us.”
on Adem Bona being a recipient of the Bruins’ passing game
“A little bit; he gets tired. Adem’s young. This is, I think, probably his high minutes – 29 – on the year, and he was the recipient of a lot of lobs. But defensively, it’s tough. I told him and Kenny [Nwuba] you’re going to have to guard guys who are at the three-point line. Curt Hopf can go out and shoot four threes. They’re not going to go at you; they’re going to try to spread you out and shoot. The stress that they put on your defense that makes you a better team.”
on the difference between games when the team isn’t in the assist mindset
“I blame myself. We’ve got a lot of freshmen. Nobody wants to hear that stuff. In fact, I don’t want to hear it. You’ve got to get the job done. That’s what they pay us for. And you want to be a high-efficiency team that shoots a high percentage; you’re going to have to pass the ball. Teams aren’t going to give you a layup early. It’s like boxing … When you throw body blows eventually the other team wears down, and you get a wide-open three, you get a layup. You get the ball to Jaime where they can’t stop him. We even had Tyger get layups off the cut late in the game. You’ve just got to get the job done as a coach. It’s the hardest thing by far. If you were to say to me, basketball-wise, that is the hardest thing. As you know, as we sit in AAU events, passing is not in vogue; dribbling is the term of the day. And we’ve got to get better at post-feeding. But we finally got Adem the ball. But it’s just so different and so foreign in today’s game. These kids play, unfortunately, in Europe they’re being coached every day, and our guys are playing pick-up games and rolling out of vans, warming up two minutes and playing and watching each other dribble. It’s not basketball. We might as well go out there and play soccer and might get in better shape. And then they won’t get the bad habits. Then we come in and you’ve got to get the job done. You’ve got to teach guys how to move without the ball and get off the ball, shoot it, pass it or drive. It’s the hardest thing to do by far.”
on the rebounds being even
“They’re the best block-out team in the country. And you’ve got to remember we only missed 20 shots. We shot 31-for-50. They’re the best block-out team in the country. And we’re a spread team, and we were trying to use it against them and kick it out and shoot it when we were open, and we were only 3-for-16. That’s going to happen. If we’d have kept doing that, you lose. Instead we kept moving the ball and getting layups. That why we were able to get to 81 on a night when we couldn’t’ throw it in the ocean from three.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on what sparked UCLA’s 26 assists tonight
“I think it was just our preparation going into practice knowing we need to do to put the ball in the basket. We’ve got a lot of guys who can score. They can score at any time, but we’ve got to understand and we’re starting to realize that the more you move the ball, the more easy buckets you’re allowed to get and we’re just buying into that. It showed tonight.”
on Bellarmine getting open for 3-pointers
“The way I would describe it and the way I was thinking in my head, all five of their guys run around like Steph Curry, trying to get open, trying to back cut, trying to shoot. They didn’t seem to get very tired and that’s very hard to guard. It’s hard when you get a long of young guys and even us older guys were making mistakes. Just so much movement, and we try to take a page out of their book and implement that movement, running and cutting into our offense as well. They’re a very tough team to guard.”
on if they are ready to start Pac-12 play next Thursday
“I know that we’re going to get ready with this week of practice coming up. Coach will have us prepared. We’ll go through our scout, our film – yeah, we’ll be ready by then.”
Redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell
on taking up the defensive level of intensity with Jaylen Clark out
“We really wanted to come out with a defensive presence. Like you said, not having (Jaylen), who leads the Pac-12 in steals, you’re missing something big. We just try to get up full court and try to pressure them into mistakes.”
on how it’s been having other guys who can pass the ball
“It’s good. It really helps me get more time off the ball where I can move around and shoot more or cut, get open or set screens and get people open. I’d say it really opens up my game more and people like Amari (Bailey), guys coming off screens … it’s just good playing off the ball. I really like it.”
on how much David Singleton’s defense has improved
“Yeah, this offseason we worked hard a lot (on) his foot quickness and just being in the right place on defense, just watching film. He’s been working really hard on that stuff.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his three alley-oops
“I’ve been waiting for that all year. Tyger found me. Amari found me. It was an amazing feeling.”
on his three assists and how much pride he takes in his passing
“It was fun. I think all my assists were to Jaime.”
Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport
overall statement
“I’m really thrilled. This is the best team we have played. They have a mix of upper classmen and young guys. They are very physical and they are not rushed. They are very disciplined. I have no words to describe how good they are. I have so much admiration, respect and appreciation for Coach Cronin. I coached with him over twenty years ago in 2001 at Louisville. He is a son of a coach and he is a teacher. You can see that they (UCLA) reflect his coaching philosophy. I’m a fan.”
on how they grow from this experience
“We have a red-eye and we arrive in Louisville at 9:30am, then we play Kentucky on Tuesday. I’m just so proud of my guys. They competed against one of the best teams. I don’t base my ranking of a game on scoring. Our guys competed and gave supreme effort for forty minutes. The score does not reflect the total admiration and appreciation I have for our guys.”
UCLA 81, Bellarmine 60
November 27, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
overall statement
“Obviously a different game today. They didn’t have [Juston] Betz, we didn’t have Jaylen Clark. Jaylen was feeling flu-like symptoms. But both teams played extremely hard, and I knew Coach Davenport was going to have his guys ready. He needs to evaluate his scheduling – they played at Duke, at Clemson, at Loyola Marymount, at UCLA. I don’t like their chances. But look how hard his kids play. If you respect the game, watching them play is refreshing, in my opinion. Preparing for it makes you a better team because you have to defend the whole clock, you have to have pressure on the ball, active hands, communication, and they’re going to pick you apart. They’ve struggled to shoot this year; they got hot for a little bit, but I thought we were tired. Guys played too many minutes without J-Rock out there, so that was a factor. I thought we didn’t start the second half with much defensive edge, but great win for us. Whenever you can get better – they MAKE you get better. Our passing was off the charts. That’s part of the reason I like to play those kind of teams because you get to teach our guys what it’s like to watch a team pass the ball. If we would ever pass the ball and continue to get 26 assists, we’ll continue to shoot 61%. Our passing was awesome. Even Amari [Bailey]’s last basket on the baseline was because they caught him and immediately threw it to Amari so he had a chance to blow by a guy and close out. Simple things like that we’re getting a little bit better at. I think playing Bellarmine helps. Hopefully Betz can get back healthy for them, and hopefully J-Rock, who’s in bed with the chills, got his medicine and will be ok by Tuesday’s practice.”
on Jaime Jaquez’s game
“I thought Jaime played as hard as he’s played all year in the first 10 minutes of the game on defense. And that’s my challenge. Jaime’s going to have a long career if he can defend pros. Period. And if he can’t he won’t play. He’s not going to make it ‘cause he can score. Now we need all the baskets we can give him, but he had four steals early. I thought he set the tone defensively for us.”
on Adem Bona being a recipient of the Bruins’ passing game
“A little bit; he gets tired. Adem’s young. This is, I think, probably his high minutes – 29 – on the year, and he was the recipient of a lot of lobs. But defensively, it’s tough. I told him and Kenny [Nwuba] you’re going to have to guard guys who are at the three-point line. Curt Hopf can go out and shoot four threes. They’re not going to go at you; they’re going to try to spread you out and shoot. The stress that they put on your defense that makes you a better team.”
on the difference between games when the team isn’t in the assist mindset
“I blame myself. We’ve got a lot of freshmen. Nobody wants to hear that stuff. In fact, I don’t want to hear it. You’ve got to get the job done. That’s what they pay us for. And you want to be a high-efficiency team that shoots a high percentage; you’re going to have to pass the ball. Teams aren’t going to give you a layup early. It’s like boxing … When you throw body blows eventually the other team wears down, and you get a wide-open three, you get a layup. You get the ball to Jaime where they can’t stop him. We even had Tyger get layups off the cut late in the game. You’ve just got to get the job done as a coach. It’s the hardest thing by far. If you were to say to me, basketball-wise, that is the hardest thing. As you know, as we sit in AAU events, passing is not in vogue; dribbling is the term of the day. And we’ve got to get better at post-feeding. But we finally got Adem the ball. But it’s just so different and so foreign in today’s game. These kids play, unfortunately, in Europe they’re being coached every day, and our guys are playing pick-up games and rolling out of vans, warming up two minutes and playing and watching each other dribble. It’s not basketball. We might as well go out there and play soccer and might get in better shape. And then they won’t get the bad habits. Then we come in and you’ve got to get the job done. You’ve got to teach guys how to move without the ball and get off the ball, shoot it, pass it or drive. It’s the hardest thing to do by far.”
on the rebounds being even
“They’re the best block-out team in the country. And you’ve got to remember we only missed 20 shots. We shot 31-for-50. They’re the best block-out team in the country. And we’re a spread team, and we were trying to use it against them and kick it out and shoot it when we were open, and we were only 3-for-16. That’s going to happen. If we’d have kept doing that, you lose. Instead we kept moving the ball and getting layups. That why we were able to get to 81 on a night when we couldn’t’ throw it in the ocean from three.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on what sparked UCLA’s 26 assists tonight
“I think it was just our preparation going into practice knowing we need to do to put the ball in the basket. We’ve got a lot of guys who can score. They can score at any time, but we’ve got to understand and we’re starting to realize that the more you move the ball, the more easy buckets you’re allowed to get and we’re just buying into that. It showed tonight.”
on Bellarmine getting open for 3-pointers
“The way I would describe it and the way I was thinking in my head, all five of their guys run around like Steph Curry, trying to get open, trying to back cut, trying to shoot. They didn’t seem to get very tired and that’s very hard to guard. It’s hard when you get a long of young guys and even us older guys were making mistakes. Just so much movement, and we try to take a page out of their book and implement that movement, running and cutting into our offense as well. They’re a very tough team to guard.”
on if they are ready to start Pac-12 play next Thursday
“I know that we’re going to get ready with this week of practice coming up. Coach will have us prepared. We’ll go through our scout, our film – yeah, we’ll be ready by then.”
Redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell
on taking up the defensive level of intensity with Jaylen Clark out
“We really wanted to come out with a defensive presence. Like you said, not having (Jaylen), who leads the Pac-12 in steals, you’re missing something big. We just try to get up full court and try to pressure them into mistakes.”
on how it’s been having other guys who can pass the ball
“It’s good. It really helps me get more time off the ball where I can move around and shoot more or cut, get open or set screens and get people open. I’d say it really opens up my game more and people like Amari (Bailey), guys coming off screens … it’s just good playing off the ball. I really like it.”
on how much David Singleton’s defense has improved
“Yeah, this offseason we worked hard a lot (on) his foot quickness and just being in the right place on defense, just watching film. He’s been working really hard on that stuff.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his three alley-oops
“I’ve been waiting for that all year. Tyger found me. Amari found me. It was an amazing feeling.”
on his three assists and how much pride he takes in his passing
“It was fun. I think all my assists were to Jaime.”
Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport
overall statement
“I’m really thrilled. This is the best team we have played. They have a mix of upper classmen and young guys. They are very physical and they are not rushed. They are very disciplined. I have no words to describe how good they are. I have so much admiration, respect and appreciation for Coach Cronin. I coached with him over twenty years ago in 2001 at Louisville. He is a son of a coach and he is a teacher. You can see that they (UCLA) reflect his coaching philosophy. I’m a fan.”
on how they grow from this experience
“We have a red-eye and we arrive in Louisville at 9:30am, then we play Kentucky on Tuesday. I’m just so proud of my guys. They competed against one of the best teams. I don’t base my ranking of a game on scoring. Our guys competed and gave supreme effort for forty minutes. The score does not reflect the total admiration and appreciation I have for our guys.”