Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Colorado (Jan. 14, 2023)
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 68, Colorado 54
January 14, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Obviously, great win tonight. When you miss seven free throws in the first half, two front ends of a 1-and-1, and we’re 0-7 from three. Everything we talk about as a coach, it’s easier said than done, but you can’t be offensive sensitive, and we were for a little while. That’s why we got down nine, we were pouting because the ball wasn’t going in. When we stopped worrying about that, we started getting stops and rebounding. Eventually the ball is going to go in. I told them at halftime, I’d rather the ball goes in in the second half. They didn’t really go in until the last 10 minutes. But if you’re going to have a big 10 minutes where the ball goes in, you want the last 10. We made four threes, and I know they were all in the last 10 minutes. Great win, anytime the game isn’t going your way, you have every reason to get beaten, and you find a way to win and win by 14, shut a team out the way we did. Forced 23 turnovers, have to be proud of your guys. I was proud of the way we hung in there when things weren’t going our way. 18 offensive rebounds, pretty good, 46% of our misses, 55 deflections tonight, season-high.”
on Adem Bona
“Jaime has five blocks, we had 11 blocked shots today. I agree with you, Adem is a great athlete, young kid with a world of talent, still figuring it out. But obviously we’re a better team with him in there.”
on deflections
“We were able to set up the press once the ball started going in. I don’t know what the run was, but we went from down-six to up-six pretty quick. You have to keep battling, regardless of if things go your way. You have to make them go your way, which I thought we did tonight. So really proud of tonight’s win, really proud of tonight’s win. Win by 14, hold a team to 54 points, force 23 turnovers, and just totally took a game that could have gone the other way and our players refused to let it happen. Give them all the credit, they showed great fortitude.”
on the turnaround
“What happens when things aren’t going your way on offense, sometimes your mind wanders and you start feeling sorry for yourself, or you try and do too much on defense. We were fouling too much. It’s like I told them in a timeout, I don’t need heroes, I need soldiers. Soldiers win wars, heroes get people in trouble. They get you in trouble in sports. You have to be a solider and do your job. Keep doing your job, eventually the worm turns, and if it doesn’t you have to still do your job, play the right way and you’ll win the next one. You can’t get out of character and panicking. I thought we did that a little bit, we did that a lot actually, that’s why we were losing. We put them on the foul line, they had 20 made free throws, we don’t give up that many free throws.”
on the team dynamic
“Our veterans are great guys, our freshmen that are playing have great attitudes. People follow the leadership of the team, when Jaime and Tyger and Dave, Jaylen Clark, they’re such winners, it sends a message to your younger guys. When you’re a coach, you know when you have that, it makes your life easier. You know when you have it, you know when you don’t. You have a guy like Adem, he starts for us, and all he cares about is winning, it’s unbelievable. One of the best attitudes of any kid I’ve ever coached.”
on the performance of senior Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“17 deflections, 13 rebounds. I know he can score. He has to keep his confidence and shoot the ball when he’s on balance. Because Jaime puts in the gym time, he’s as dedicated a player to being a professional … his maturity level, it’s what happens when you stay in school. Jaime goes to a winning team in the NBA next year, he’ll be able to play for a winning team in a role because he’s ready now. He has professional habits, maturity, the way he can pay attention and show up everyday, where young guys in the NBA, nowadays they take these kids when they’re 18,19 and wonder why they struggle. Jaime, he’s a professional in every aspect.”
on UCLA's 3-point shooting
“I mean eventually it has to go. If it doesn’t, you’re probably not going to win. I think the first one might have gone in and out three times before it dropped. I’m over there saying don’t worry about it, just rebound it, but it starts to demoralize your team. When you’re at home and that happens, the kids can feel the crowd and it makes it harder on the next one and the next one. You get a couple to go down, it changes things. The next guy is more relaxed shooting.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if the team keeps defending, then good things will happen
“As you guys see around college basketball, high-ranked teams are dropping like flies nowadays. Guys lose games, and you guys don’t think they’re going to lose – college basketball is really the greatest sport there is. We just harp on this defense all the time. Like coach said earlier, ‘One can play defense if you give yourself the chance.’ And that’s what we try to do every single night.”
on the relief after hitting the team’s first three-pointer
“I just knew that we were missing shots and I knew that eventually they were going to go in. And that’s what happened.”
on how much the winning streak is attributable to defense
“Sometimes your shot doesn’t always go in. (When) you shoot 50 percent, you shoot a good shooting percentage, but you still miss half your shots. We just attribute it all to defense. Like we said earlier in the year, if you play defense, you give yourself a chance. We are giving ourselves a lot of chances.”
on what they said to each other when shots weren’t falling
“I just remember saying in the huddle that eventually they were going to fall. They were in and out on every shot. Once I saw they were all going in and out and they weren’t just bricks, I knew that we were going to be fine. If we stopped them from scoring because we weren’t scoring, then our shots were eventually going to fall.”
Junior guard Jaylen Clark
on if the team keeps defending, then good things will happen
“As long as you play defense, that’s going to keep you on the floor. I had a few turnovers. I remember one turnover. I threw it and I looked at him and I was like, ‘I’m going to get you one right now.’ Then I just ran down and got a steal immediately.”
on the relief after hitting the team’s first three-pointer
“I’m not going to lie to you, I wasn’t even counting. It was mad loud and everybody was jumping and screaming. … I didn’t know we hadn’t hit one. I don’t count it.”
on how much the winning streak is attributable to defense
“I attribute a lot of it to this man right here (*points at Adem Bona*). If you watch him at the beginning of the year and now, it’s not even the same person. He’s a monster at practice and it shows. Now, everybody in the nation knows how he is. They already knew who he is, but now it’s taken to another level. He has a lot to do with this.”
on UCLA’s 13-game winning streak among Power-5 schools and if that is pressure
“I’m not going to lie to you, I didn’t even know that existed. We’ve got to go win another one and go ahead and keep chugging along to put ourselves in the best position for March. We don’t look at Pac-12 rankings. All of that doesn’t mean too much to us. We’re just focused on who’s ahead of us.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his impact on both ends of the floor after his early-game foul trouble
“I just knew it was going to come in. I fell into my old habits and made some silly fouls. I just knew I had to stay grounded and keep my head up and play harder. I did my part. Box out, get rebounds, set the screens, and was able to fall into place.”
on what he attributes his breakout to
“I’m going to give thanks to my teammates and coach. It wasn’t just me. Coming from high school, I was there for two years. It’s a different ball game. I came in. I started slow. My teammates were there supporting me the whole time. My coaches were there. They try to get me to do the right stuff. The upperclassmen showed me the things I need to know. I just apply what I learned from them.”
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
opening remarks
“They were the tougher team, especially in the last ten minutes of the game. We knew we were in a fist fight. Our defense was good enough to win, but our rebounding wasn’t or our turnovers. They were the tougher team. They really took it to us on the glass.”
about their turnovers
“We had ten at the half and our goal was to have eleven or less. We talked about that at the half and thought we would allow only two or three more turnovers, but that’s not what happened. Early in the second half, they wanted it more on the glass. We were not tough enough to win the game. When we get the ball in the lane, we have to make better decisions. We have to do a jump stop. We can’t go up and try to dunk on them. Our guys competed. I thought UCLA was ready to be beat, especially the way they were shooting. That’s what makes UCLA tough. UCLA is a tough-minded team. UCLA is there and we are not. We competed, but we were just not tough enough. I can’t complain about our effort. We got our stops, but we were not able to finish because of turnovers. We were up by three (at halftime), but we should have been up by ten or twelve.”
on where they go from here and their success at home
“I’m not even thinking about how we are playing at home. We’re at a point now that we are just trying to win the next game. The teams that do that are going to finish in the top of the league, those that don’t will finish in the bottom. We have Washington next Thursday and we’ll have to take care of the ball against a zone, so that’s going to be new for us. I’m looking for incremental improvements and how we improve day by day. I didn’t see that against USC and UCLA. We had the same problem.”
UCLA 68, Colorado 54
January 14, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Obviously, great win tonight. When you miss seven free throws in the first half, two front ends of a 1-and-1, and we’re 0-7 from three. Everything we talk about as a coach, it’s easier said than done, but you can’t be offensive sensitive, and we were for a little while. That’s why we got down nine, we were pouting because the ball wasn’t going in. When we stopped worrying about that, we started getting stops and rebounding. Eventually the ball is going to go in. I told them at halftime, I’d rather the ball goes in in the second half. They didn’t really go in until the last 10 minutes. But if you’re going to have a big 10 minutes where the ball goes in, you want the last 10. We made four threes, and I know they were all in the last 10 minutes. Great win, anytime the game isn’t going your way, you have every reason to get beaten, and you find a way to win and win by 14, shut a team out the way we did. Forced 23 turnovers, have to be proud of your guys. I was proud of the way we hung in there when things weren’t going our way. 18 offensive rebounds, pretty good, 46% of our misses, 55 deflections tonight, season-high.”
on Adem Bona
“Jaime has five blocks, we had 11 blocked shots today. I agree with you, Adem is a great athlete, young kid with a world of talent, still figuring it out. But obviously we’re a better team with him in there.”
on deflections
“We were able to set up the press once the ball started going in. I don’t know what the run was, but we went from down-six to up-six pretty quick. You have to keep battling, regardless of if things go your way. You have to make them go your way, which I thought we did tonight. So really proud of tonight’s win, really proud of tonight’s win. Win by 14, hold a team to 54 points, force 23 turnovers, and just totally took a game that could have gone the other way and our players refused to let it happen. Give them all the credit, they showed great fortitude.”
on the turnaround
“What happens when things aren’t going your way on offense, sometimes your mind wanders and you start feeling sorry for yourself, or you try and do too much on defense. We were fouling too much. It’s like I told them in a timeout, I don’t need heroes, I need soldiers. Soldiers win wars, heroes get people in trouble. They get you in trouble in sports. You have to be a solider and do your job. Keep doing your job, eventually the worm turns, and if it doesn’t you have to still do your job, play the right way and you’ll win the next one. You can’t get out of character and panicking. I thought we did that a little bit, we did that a lot actually, that’s why we were losing. We put them on the foul line, they had 20 made free throws, we don’t give up that many free throws.”
on the team dynamic
“Our veterans are great guys, our freshmen that are playing have great attitudes. People follow the leadership of the team, when Jaime and Tyger and Dave, Jaylen Clark, they’re such winners, it sends a message to your younger guys. When you’re a coach, you know when you have that, it makes your life easier. You know when you have it, you know when you don’t. You have a guy like Adem, he starts for us, and all he cares about is winning, it’s unbelievable. One of the best attitudes of any kid I’ve ever coached.”
on the performance of senior Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“17 deflections, 13 rebounds. I know he can score. He has to keep his confidence and shoot the ball when he’s on balance. Because Jaime puts in the gym time, he’s as dedicated a player to being a professional … his maturity level, it’s what happens when you stay in school. Jaime goes to a winning team in the NBA next year, he’ll be able to play for a winning team in a role because he’s ready now. He has professional habits, maturity, the way he can pay attention and show up everyday, where young guys in the NBA, nowadays they take these kids when they’re 18,19 and wonder why they struggle. Jaime, he’s a professional in every aspect.”
on UCLA's 3-point shooting
“I mean eventually it has to go. If it doesn’t, you’re probably not going to win. I think the first one might have gone in and out three times before it dropped. I’m over there saying don’t worry about it, just rebound it, but it starts to demoralize your team. When you’re at home and that happens, the kids can feel the crowd and it makes it harder on the next one and the next one. You get a couple to go down, it changes things. The next guy is more relaxed shooting.”
Senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if the team keeps defending, then good things will happen
“As you guys see around college basketball, high-ranked teams are dropping like flies nowadays. Guys lose games, and you guys don’t think they’re going to lose – college basketball is really the greatest sport there is. We just harp on this defense all the time. Like coach said earlier, ‘One can play defense if you give yourself the chance.’ And that’s what we try to do every single night.”
on the relief after hitting the team’s first three-pointer
“I just knew that we were missing shots and I knew that eventually they were going to go in. And that’s what happened.”
on how much the winning streak is attributable to defense
“Sometimes your shot doesn’t always go in. (When) you shoot 50 percent, you shoot a good shooting percentage, but you still miss half your shots. We just attribute it all to defense. Like we said earlier in the year, if you play defense, you give yourself a chance. We are giving ourselves a lot of chances.”
on what they said to each other when shots weren’t falling
“I just remember saying in the huddle that eventually they were going to fall. They were in and out on every shot. Once I saw they were all going in and out and they weren’t just bricks, I knew that we were going to be fine. If we stopped them from scoring because we weren’t scoring, then our shots were eventually going to fall.”
Junior guard Jaylen Clark
on if the team keeps defending, then good things will happen
“As long as you play defense, that’s going to keep you on the floor. I had a few turnovers. I remember one turnover. I threw it and I looked at him and I was like, ‘I’m going to get you one right now.’ Then I just ran down and got a steal immediately.”
on the relief after hitting the team’s first three-pointer
“I’m not going to lie to you, I wasn’t even counting. It was mad loud and everybody was jumping and screaming. … I didn’t know we hadn’t hit one. I don’t count it.”
on how much the winning streak is attributable to defense
“I attribute a lot of it to this man right here (*points at Adem Bona*). If you watch him at the beginning of the year and now, it’s not even the same person. He’s a monster at practice and it shows. Now, everybody in the nation knows how he is. They already knew who he is, but now it’s taken to another level. He has a lot to do with this.”
on UCLA’s 13-game winning streak among Power-5 schools and if that is pressure
“I’m not going to lie to you, I didn’t even know that existed. We’ve got to go win another one and go ahead and keep chugging along to put ourselves in the best position for March. We don’t look at Pac-12 rankings. All of that doesn’t mean too much to us. We’re just focused on who’s ahead of us.”
Freshman forward Adem Bona
on his impact on both ends of the floor after his early-game foul trouble
“I just knew it was going to come in. I fell into my old habits and made some silly fouls. I just knew I had to stay grounded and keep my head up and play harder. I did my part. Box out, get rebounds, set the screens, and was able to fall into place.”
on what he attributes his breakout to
“I’m going to give thanks to my teammates and coach. It wasn’t just me. Coming from high school, I was there for two years. It’s a different ball game. I came in. I started slow. My teammates were there supporting me the whole time. My coaches were there. They try to get me to do the right stuff. The upperclassmen showed me the things I need to know. I just apply what I learned from them.”
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
opening remarks
“They were the tougher team, especially in the last ten minutes of the game. We knew we were in a fist fight. Our defense was good enough to win, but our rebounding wasn’t or our turnovers. They were the tougher team. They really took it to us on the glass.”
about their turnovers
“We had ten at the half and our goal was to have eleven or less. We talked about that at the half and thought we would allow only two or three more turnovers, but that’s not what happened. Early in the second half, they wanted it more on the glass. We were not tough enough to win the game. When we get the ball in the lane, we have to make better decisions. We have to do a jump stop. We can’t go up and try to dunk on them. Our guys competed. I thought UCLA was ready to be beat, especially the way they were shooting. That’s what makes UCLA tough. UCLA is a tough-minded team. UCLA is there and we are not. We competed, but we were just not tough enough. I can’t complain about our effort. We got our stops, but we were not able to finish because of turnovers. We were up by three (at halftime), but we should have been up by ten or twelve.”
on where they go from here and their success at home
“I’m not even thinking about how we are playing at home. We’re at a point now that we are just trying to win the next game. The teams that do that are going to finish in the top of the league, those that don’t will finish in the bottom. We have Washington next Thursday and we’ll have to take care of the ball against a zone, so that’s going to be new for us. I’m looking for incremental improvements and how we improve day by day. I didn’t see that against USC and UCLA. We had the same problem.”