Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Utah (Jan. 12, 2023)
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 68, Utah 49
January 12, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Utah is having a really good year. Craig’s [Smith, head coach] second year, so really proud of this win. To be able to shoot almost 50% against them, I don’t think they give up 36%, we had 21 assists tonight so I’m really happy with that. I knew they were going to try and take their time and shorten the game on offense. It’s the right game plan. Once we were able to start scoring, I think it took four minutes to score a bucket almost, we were able to start picking up our pressure and our defensive effort took over. We had 41 deflections tonight. Adem [Bona] again continues to improve. The best thing I saw tonight other than the assists and the team stuff, was Tyger getting it going. He hasn’t really been himself, he played great against Kentucky I thought, the Maryland game he had foul trouble. He had 17 tonight, seven assists, that’s what he’s capable of. I was imploring him to be more aggressive, he’s been a little too passive lately.”
on Adem Bona
“Every game you try to get better. He’s a young kid, he’s an elite athlete, tremendous explosiveness, great attitude. The one thing I’ve learned is your rate of improvement is depending on what you do every day, and how fast you can pick things up. He reminds me a lot of Kenyon Martin. A few hair follicles ago, I worked Kenyon out of a lot of days for four years. Especially towards the end of his career, I was coaching the big guys. [Adem] just reminds me a lot of Kenyon. One think about Kenyon Martin, the smartest basketball player I ever coached. Adem is really basketball intelligent, and he’s only a freshman. He’s an NBA player. Again, I have to say, Tyger playing well was really important for us.”
on Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“A first. Jaylen Clark wants to go to the film, but Jaime had 10 deflections. Jaylen takes it personal when someone has more than him. But Jaylen hasn’t been feeling well this week, think I gave him the cold and cough. He doesn’t believe that Jaime had 10 deflections, so to add to the 12 rebounds, the 10 deflections and the six assists. The ball doesn’t always go in.”
on the winning streak
“When you do that, you’re going to have to win some close ones. We were fortunate. The thing I’m most proud of about our two close [wins] was we got a stop. We were on defense in the end of both of those games and got a stop, and executed and scored on our last possession in both of those games. You’re going to have to do that if you’re going to advance into March. As my Dad would tell me that stat, about some winning streak in January, that and a few bucks will get you a cup of coffee. Probably need four bucks, depends. I don’t know if you’re an extra foam, soy, California order. My Dad is from the Midwest, he just wants a coffee.”
on the press
“We’ve been using that. We couldn’t get into it, it took us four minutes to score, then we were able to get into it. It’s hard to get into it with some teams that will fast break you. We thought they were going to try and ball control the game, we were going to need to speed the game up. That was our thought process. I think we created 10 turnovers by halftime.”
on rebounding
“We’ve talked a lot about it. I thought it changed the game, from when Adem got to the glass and then Jaime started to get to the glass. Because we’re a spread offense team, we play very spread out, NBA style with four shooters behind the line, you have to rebound from the wing. So Jaime, Jaylen Clark, David, we lost Amari, one of the best guard rebounders I’ve ever coached. You get him back, I think that will help. It’s a huge thing, I told the guys at halftime the difference in the game was second-chance points was 12-2, and we were up nine. You can’t just win when you make first shots. Everybody’s first-shot defense, especially Utah’s, is excellent. Most teams’ first shot … you get into January and February and you have to play five-on-five, you’re not going to score on your first shot a lot. You have to beat block outs, you have to do things you aren’t used to. I thought Adem started beating block outs, and that’s when we really started scoring, it changed the game for us. Those are things that change games. I think it’s the best we’ve looked on the glass in a while. I go by numbers, we missed 31 shots, so it’s all percentages. To get 14 offensive [rebounds] on 31 misses is strong, it’s almost half. Any time you get over 40%, it’s top-10 in the country, as far as offensive rebound percentage. So if we could add offensive rebounding, we have skill level, we have guys that can score, it would really help our offense. I know we only had 68 tonight, but in a low-possession game, the way they were burning clock, 68 is like 88.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on how much fun it is to see Adem Bona continue to develop
“He has come a long way from his first games here at UCLA. At the start, he was really tough. He dropped the ball. (He was) trying to get his feet right and get adjusted to the college game and now you guys see what he can really do. He is flourishing right now. That’s definitely what we need him to do if we’re going to beat a great team. I’m definitely proud of how far he’s come and all the hard work he’s put in.”
on Dylan Andrews and Abramo Canka’s contributions
“We got a lot of older guys as well, but we’ve also got a bench full of freshmen and we need them to produce and get better every single day. And that’s what we try to do in practice – just get them better every single day so they can come out and produce and that’s what they’ve been doing. They have a great attitude the whole time. It doesn’t always go your way when you’re a freshman. It’s a tough time to really try to figure yourself out, but they’ve been doing a great job of really staying positive. Once you do that, good things happen.”
on the team winning in different ways
“I think the way we win, we know the formula. Just share the ball and play as hard as you can on defense. Once you do that every single game, it’s really just the mental part. We just got to bring that every single day when you play your game. Once you do that, good things happen.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his productive night and progression as a college player
“We had a great game overall. As a team, we stuck to the game plan (and) what we’ve done in practice. We played together. … Their big wasn’t playing, so I had to adjust real quick and play according to what we got.”
on his six early points in the first half
“I would say that was the boost we needed. They found me. It’s a team effort. It wasn’t just me, so I think we all did it together. As the open man, I got the buckets.”
Senior guard Tyger Campbell
on his efficient shooting night
“It was good. I felt like I had a good week this week. Guys were driving in and kicking it and finding me. I was just taking my time, keeping my feet set. They were going in.”
on head coach Mick Cronin wanting him to be more aggressive shooting the ball
“He has said that, but my big thing but I am a patient player. So, I kind of wanted to come off the screen and get my threes. Adem was rolling hard so I found him a couple times. (The) opposite corner was open, so I was just really trying to play what the defense gave me.”
on if they’re aware of the 12-game winning streak
“No. We’re just taking it one game at a time. We’re going to prepare for Colorado on Saturday.”
Utah Head Coach Craig Smith
overall statement
“Congratulations to UCLA. They are a very elite team and you don’t get ranked at number seven unless you are a good team. We looked at the game from last year and they’re a much better team. Their defense is impeccable. They guard the ball. They have tremendous length and they have high-rim protection with (Adem) Bona. Also, (Jaylen) Clark could be up for defensive player of the year. They turn you over at a high level, kudos to them. We had to get into a rhythm, but they speed you up on both sides of the floor. We had two things we wanted to do in this game. We wanted to take care of the ball and rebound. They had fourteen offensive rebounds.”
about Branden Carlson not playing tonight
“I found out he was sick when I got on the bus at 5:55 pm. Branden wanted to go tonight. He gave it a go at pre-game, but it just didn’t work out. It wasn’t meant to be. We knew coming in here it was going to be difficult and also to win on the road. We really have to win by ten to win by one.”
on their upcoming game at USC
“The biggest thing is, like I said, we’ve got to take care of the ball. We have to value the ball and take better shots consistently. They have two great guards, Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson, they make that team go. We have to neutralize them.”
on where they go from here overall
“I think we can really learn a lot from tonight. We’re going to watch film and see what it takes to be a top-ten team. They (UCLA) have no holes and we’ll learn from them. We played a lot of guys tonight, so hopefully, they will learn from this. We don’t want to be UCLA, but we want to be our own version of a top-ten team.”
UCLA 68, Utah 49
January 12, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Utah is having a really good year. Craig’s [Smith, head coach] second year, so really proud of this win. To be able to shoot almost 50% against them, I don’t think they give up 36%, we had 21 assists tonight so I’m really happy with that. I knew they were going to try and take their time and shorten the game on offense. It’s the right game plan. Once we were able to start scoring, I think it took four minutes to score a bucket almost, we were able to start picking up our pressure and our defensive effort took over. We had 41 deflections tonight. Adem [Bona] again continues to improve. The best thing I saw tonight other than the assists and the team stuff, was Tyger getting it going. He hasn’t really been himself, he played great against Kentucky I thought, the Maryland game he had foul trouble. He had 17 tonight, seven assists, that’s what he’s capable of. I was imploring him to be more aggressive, he’s been a little too passive lately.”
on Adem Bona
“Every game you try to get better. He’s a young kid, he’s an elite athlete, tremendous explosiveness, great attitude. The one thing I’ve learned is your rate of improvement is depending on what you do every day, and how fast you can pick things up. He reminds me a lot of Kenyon Martin. A few hair follicles ago, I worked Kenyon out of a lot of days for four years. Especially towards the end of his career, I was coaching the big guys. [Adem] just reminds me a lot of Kenyon. One think about Kenyon Martin, the smartest basketball player I ever coached. Adem is really basketball intelligent, and he’s only a freshman. He’s an NBA player. Again, I have to say, Tyger playing well was really important for us.”
on Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“A first. Jaylen Clark wants to go to the film, but Jaime had 10 deflections. Jaylen takes it personal when someone has more than him. But Jaylen hasn’t been feeling well this week, think I gave him the cold and cough. He doesn’t believe that Jaime had 10 deflections, so to add to the 12 rebounds, the 10 deflections and the six assists. The ball doesn’t always go in.”
on the winning streak
“When you do that, you’re going to have to win some close ones. We were fortunate. The thing I’m most proud of about our two close [wins] was we got a stop. We were on defense in the end of both of those games and got a stop, and executed and scored on our last possession in both of those games. You’re going to have to do that if you’re going to advance into March. As my Dad would tell me that stat, about some winning streak in January, that and a few bucks will get you a cup of coffee. Probably need four bucks, depends. I don’t know if you’re an extra foam, soy, California order. My Dad is from the Midwest, he just wants a coffee.”
on the press
“We’ve been using that. We couldn’t get into it, it took us four minutes to score, then we were able to get into it. It’s hard to get into it with some teams that will fast break you. We thought they were going to try and ball control the game, we were going to need to speed the game up. That was our thought process. I think we created 10 turnovers by halftime.”
on rebounding
“We’ve talked a lot about it. I thought it changed the game, from when Adem got to the glass and then Jaime started to get to the glass. Because we’re a spread offense team, we play very spread out, NBA style with four shooters behind the line, you have to rebound from the wing. So Jaime, Jaylen Clark, David, we lost Amari, one of the best guard rebounders I’ve ever coached. You get him back, I think that will help. It’s a huge thing, I told the guys at halftime the difference in the game was second-chance points was 12-2, and we were up nine. You can’t just win when you make first shots. Everybody’s first-shot defense, especially Utah’s, is excellent. Most teams’ first shot … you get into January and February and you have to play five-on-five, you’re not going to score on your first shot a lot. You have to beat block outs, you have to do things you aren’t used to. I thought Adem started beating block outs, and that’s when we really started scoring, it changed the game for us. Those are things that change games. I think it’s the best we’ve looked on the glass in a while. I go by numbers, we missed 31 shots, so it’s all percentages. To get 14 offensive [rebounds] on 31 misses is strong, it’s almost half. Any time you get over 40%, it’s top-10 in the country, as far as offensive rebound percentage. So if we could add offensive rebounding, we have skill level, we have guys that can score, it would really help our offense. I know we only had 68 tonight, but in a low-possession game, the way they were burning clock, 68 is like 88.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on how much fun it is to see Adem Bona continue to develop
“He has come a long way from his first games here at UCLA. At the start, he was really tough. He dropped the ball. (He was) trying to get his feet right and get adjusted to the college game and now you guys see what he can really do. He is flourishing right now. That’s definitely what we need him to do if we’re going to beat a great team. I’m definitely proud of how far he’s come and all the hard work he’s put in.”
on Dylan Andrews and Abramo Canka’s contributions
“We got a lot of older guys as well, but we’ve also got a bench full of freshmen and we need them to produce and get better every single day. And that’s what we try to do in practice – just get them better every single day so they can come out and produce and that’s what they’ve been doing. They have a great attitude the whole time. It doesn’t always go your way when you’re a freshman. It’s a tough time to really try to figure yourself out, but they’ve been doing a great job of really staying positive. Once you do that, good things happen.”
on the team winning in different ways
“I think the way we win, we know the formula. Just share the ball and play as hard as you can on defense. Once you do that every single game, it’s really just the mental part. We just got to bring that every single day when you play your game. Once you do that, good things happen.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his productive night and progression as a college player
“We had a great game overall. As a team, we stuck to the game plan (and) what we’ve done in practice. We played together. … Their big wasn’t playing, so I had to adjust real quick and play according to what we got.”
on his six early points in the first half
“I would say that was the boost we needed. They found me. It’s a team effort. It wasn’t just me, so I think we all did it together. As the open man, I got the buckets.”
Senior guard Tyger Campbell
on his efficient shooting night
“It was good. I felt like I had a good week this week. Guys were driving in and kicking it and finding me. I was just taking my time, keeping my feet set. They were going in.”
on head coach Mick Cronin wanting him to be more aggressive shooting the ball
“He has said that, but my big thing but I am a patient player. So, I kind of wanted to come off the screen and get my threes. Adem was rolling hard so I found him a couple times. (The) opposite corner was open, so I was just really trying to play what the defense gave me.”
on if they’re aware of the 12-game winning streak
“No. We’re just taking it one game at a time. We’re going to prepare for Colorado on Saturday.”
Utah Head Coach Craig Smith
overall statement
“Congratulations to UCLA. They are a very elite team and you don’t get ranked at number seven unless you are a good team. We looked at the game from last year and they’re a much better team. Their defense is impeccable. They guard the ball. They have tremendous length and they have high-rim protection with (Adem) Bona. Also, (Jaylen) Clark could be up for defensive player of the year. They turn you over at a high level, kudos to them. We had to get into a rhythm, but they speed you up on both sides of the floor. We had two things we wanted to do in this game. We wanted to take care of the ball and rebound. They had fourteen offensive rebounds.”
about Branden Carlson not playing tonight
“I found out he was sick when I got on the bus at 5:55 pm. Branden wanted to go tonight. He gave it a go at pre-game, but it just didn’t work out. It wasn’t meant to be. We knew coming in here it was going to be difficult and also to win on the road. We really have to win by ten to win by one.”
on their upcoming game at USC
“The biggest thing is, like I said, we’ve got to take care of the ball. We have to value the ball and take better shots consistently. They have two great guards, Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson, they make that team go. We have to neutralize them.”
on where they go from here overall
“I think we can really learn a lot from tonight. We’re going to watch film and see what it takes to be a top-ten team. They (UCLA) have no holes and we’ll learn from them. We played a lot of guys tonight, so hopefully, they will learn from this. We don’t want to be UCLA, but we want to be our own version of a top-ten team.”