University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA at Arizona (Jan. 21, 2023)
POSTGAME QUOTES
Arizona 58, UCLA 52
January 21, 2023
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on defense
โI still think our defense was really bad. I donโt think we played the way we play at UCLA. At UCLA, we try and play with heart and intestinal fortitude, and I donโt think we played that way. I think we were offensive-sensitive all day. Iโm not impressed with our defense at all today. I couldnโt care less what the final score was, I didnโt think we played hard until the game was over.โ
ย
on individual defensive efforts
โIโm not into excuses. Our energy level wasnโt what it needed to be, so blame me.โ
ย
on shooting
โGive them credit. I believe you have to give the other team credit. Give their defense credit. Weโll play again soon.โ
ย
on David Singleton
โI think itโs easy to come out to a press conference and say โhey we played hard, we just couldnโt make a shot.โ I donโt do that, I come out and tell you the truth. When you struggle offensively, something with the other teamโs defense caused it. Even if itโs open shots, theyโve got you sped up just enough, rattled just enough. I think you have to give the other team credit.โ
ย
on the physical play
โIt is what it is. I canโt wait to hear Jay Bilas on the film. People tune in to see Adem Bona play, and the first play of the game, you guys saw the same block I saw. It is what it is.โ
ย
on the late-game press
โIt shows you what youโre capable of when you play with your heart and intestinal fortitude. If you only play with your mind, your mind is on your missed shots instead of your effort. You can control your effort every day when you wake up, you have to make things happen. We canโt get on the break. Look, itโs hard to score. Itโs a grind. Ask them, itโs hard to score on us. You have to get in transition. How are you going to get in transition [when] we had two guys in the first half that had a deflection. How are you going to get in transition unless you get some steals? We ended up with nine steals, but how many of those were in the last three minutes? Of course we missed some shots that we could have made, but Iโm sure they did too. Iโm talking about things you can control. I just believe you have to give the other team some credit when the ball doesnโt go in.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on the effort
โI think we just let the game get away from us, like Coach said. We didnโt come out in the first half at all like we should have. We only had six deflections. Thatโs something weโre not very accustomed to. We tried to pick it up in the second half, but by that time it was too late. Especially in the last two minutes of the game, we tried to pick it up. Thatโs on us, we werenโt [as] prepared as we should have been. I take responsibility for that.โ
ย
on if offensive struggles affected defensive performance
โIt does, but we canโt let that stop us. Thatโs no excuse, you still have to play defense as hard as you can. We just did it too late, I think. We tried to let it go too late, and we lost.โ
ย
on the offense
โWe havenโt been playing very well, offensively. The past two games, our offense hasnโt been where we know it should be. We go through that as a team, itโs something we have to work on, I was missing shots I normally hit so I need to step up. This time of the year, we just have to hit shots. It goes back to our defense, we canโt let that discourage us on the defensive end.โ
ย
on the late rally
โWhen youโre in that moment, you feel really good. Youโre coming back, you have that adrenaline pumping. I thought we had good looks. I thought my three in the corner was pretty open, I just missed it. That would have given us a lot of momentum going into the timeout.โ
ย
on Arizonaโs defense
โI thought we were just very stagnant on offense. We didnโt get enough movement. Part of that was their pressure defensively, trying to deny hand-offs. We just have to be tougher and not let that affect us, so thatโs on us.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell
on what to do when shots arenโt going in
โWe just have to turn it up and try to get stops on the defensive end. Especially playing a team like Arizona that gets out fast, theyโre amazing on offense, if our offense isnโt going, the only thing we can try and do is stop them on defense.โ
ย
on the late rally
โWe just turned up the heat. Weโre going to look back at the film and try to do more of that. We just have to keep trusting Coach and play the game he wants us to play.โ
ย
on lack of deflections
โArizona moves the ball very quick. I would say it was more on us just not getting into lanes or being aggressive defensively, but Arizona is a great team so they did a great job.โ
ย
on Arizonaโs defense
โWe got a lot of good looks, the ball just wasnโt going in the basket. They were pretty aggressive sometimes on the ball screens, and changing up a couple of things, they played solid defense today. Hopefully we can get them next time.โ
ย
on UCLAโs 14-game winning streak coming to an end
โIt stinks. We just have to go back, watch some film. The great thing about basketball is we have a game next week. We have to figure out what we did wrong, try to fix it before we go out to USC, and just play the best we can as a team.โ
Arizona 58, UCLA 52
January 21, 2023
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on defense
โI still think our defense was really bad. I donโt think we played the way we play at UCLA. At UCLA, we try and play with heart and intestinal fortitude, and I donโt think we played that way. I think we were offensive-sensitive all day. Iโm not impressed with our defense at all today. I couldnโt care less what the final score was, I didnโt think we played hard until the game was over.โ
ย
on individual defensive efforts
โIโm not into excuses. Our energy level wasnโt what it needed to be, so blame me.โ
ย
on shooting
โGive them credit. I believe you have to give the other team credit. Give their defense credit. Weโll play again soon.โ
ย
on David Singleton
โI think itโs easy to come out to a press conference and say โhey we played hard, we just couldnโt make a shot.โ I donโt do that, I come out and tell you the truth. When you struggle offensively, something with the other teamโs defense caused it. Even if itโs open shots, theyโve got you sped up just enough, rattled just enough. I think you have to give the other team credit.โ
ย
on the physical play
โIt is what it is. I canโt wait to hear Jay Bilas on the film. People tune in to see Adem Bona play, and the first play of the game, you guys saw the same block I saw. It is what it is.โ
ย
on the late-game press
โIt shows you what youโre capable of when you play with your heart and intestinal fortitude. If you only play with your mind, your mind is on your missed shots instead of your effort. You can control your effort every day when you wake up, you have to make things happen. We canโt get on the break. Look, itโs hard to score. Itโs a grind. Ask them, itโs hard to score on us. You have to get in transition. How are you going to get in transition [when] we had two guys in the first half that had a deflection. How are you going to get in transition unless you get some steals? We ended up with nine steals, but how many of those were in the last three minutes? Of course we missed some shots that we could have made, but Iโm sure they did too. Iโm talking about things you can control. I just believe you have to give the other team some credit when the ball doesnโt go in.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on the effort
โI think we just let the game get away from us, like Coach said. We didnโt come out in the first half at all like we should have. We only had six deflections. Thatโs something weโre not very accustomed to. We tried to pick it up in the second half, but by that time it was too late. Especially in the last two minutes of the game, we tried to pick it up. Thatโs on us, we werenโt [as] prepared as we should have been. I take responsibility for that.โ
ย
on if offensive struggles affected defensive performance
โIt does, but we canโt let that stop us. Thatโs no excuse, you still have to play defense as hard as you can. We just did it too late, I think. We tried to let it go too late, and we lost.โ
ย
on the offense
โWe havenโt been playing very well, offensively. The past two games, our offense hasnโt been where we know it should be. We go through that as a team, itโs something we have to work on, I was missing shots I normally hit so I need to step up. This time of the year, we just have to hit shots. It goes back to our defense, we canโt let that discourage us on the defensive end.โ
ย
on the late rally
โWhen youโre in that moment, you feel really good. Youโre coming back, you have that adrenaline pumping. I thought we had good looks. I thought my three in the corner was pretty open, I just missed it. That would have given us a lot of momentum going into the timeout.โ
ย
on Arizonaโs defense
โI thought we were just very stagnant on offense. We didnโt get enough movement. Part of that was their pressure defensively, trying to deny hand-offs. We just have to be tougher and not let that affect us, so thatโs on us.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell
on what to do when shots arenโt going in
โWe just have to turn it up and try to get stops on the defensive end. Especially playing a team like Arizona that gets out fast, theyโre amazing on offense, if our offense isnโt going, the only thing we can try and do is stop them on defense.โ
ย
on the late rally
โWe just turned up the heat. Weโre going to look back at the film and try to do more of that. We just have to keep trusting Coach and play the game he wants us to play.โ
ย
on lack of deflections
โArizona moves the ball very quick. I would say it was more on us just not getting into lanes or being aggressive defensively, but Arizona is a great team so they did a great job.โ
ย
on Arizonaโs defense
โWe got a lot of good looks, the ball just wasnโt going in the basket. They were pretty aggressive sometimes on the ball screens, and changing up a couple of things, they played solid defense today. Hopefully we can get them next time.โ
ย
on UCLAโs 14-game winning streak coming to an end
โIt stinks. We just have to go back, watch some film. The great thing about basketball is we have a game next week. We have to figure out what we did wrong, try to fix it before we go out to USC, and just play the best we can as a team.โ