Postgame Quotes – UCLA 68, Lafayette 50
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 68, Lafayette 50
Nov. 10, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on moving away from using two bigs tonight
“Coach [Jim] Calhoun I have a lot of respect for. Connecticut used to play big. They would play these games, and I remember one time he said we’re not going to be able to go small and win in the Big East, so we need to learn how to deal with this. I knew we should have probably started small and just switched everything. But I didn’t think we’d get anything out of that. Now you’re going to say you’re absolutely nuts; you could have lost. Maybe I am. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that would agree with you, that I’m crazy. But I just thought we needed to try to be able to defend them with a bigger lineup. We’re not going to play many teams where the five spends all his time at the three-point line. I just thought we needed to try it. Aday [Mara] – all we have to do is throw him the ball. You can’t guard him. But it was tough in the second half because I decided to go small and switch everything.”
on the defense picking up in the second half
“Once we started switching everything it kind of eliminated them. They didn’t make a three the last 17 minutes. They had seven made threes. They hit a couple right out the gate to start the second half and once we started switching everything they never made them anymore.”
on going to one post
“I don’t know if that was great. I’ll have to watch the film. Adem [Bona] struggled. I didn’t get through to him, and I told Coach [Darren] Savino it was a complete failure on our part. You’ve got to pass the ball. They’re going to be all over you. You’ve got to pass it out of you’ve got to make shots. And that’s what’s coming. If you can’t catch it and score, if you have to make a post move, they’re going to be all over you. They watched the game the other night. So we failed Adem.”
on the play of Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack
“They got plenty of opportunities; they were going under all their screens and just giving them shots. I think it was the right thing to do if you’re them (Lafayette). Just pack it in and hope for the best. It’s what gave them a chance because we missed a lot of open shots to start the game. Every game is different. Tonight, they were going to pack it in, somebody’s got to knock some shots in. But I think we got in transition. I would say that’s what helped our offense. We got some steals finally, got in transition, got some layups.”
on Lafeyette’s game plan
“They were going under and just giving us a shot. And we were taking the bait and we weren’t getting the ball to the second side. It’s a growth process with this team. We were just taking the bait. And I know we were open, but their coaching staff, and I felt it was a smart move, said we’re just going to give that up, so they’re going to take open jump shots, but they’re not going to get a rebound because they’re not going to move us. So we’re going to expend no energy defensively. They’re going to throw one or two passes, we’re going to go under and let them shoot. And we’re going to spend all of our energy back-cutting, passing, wheeling, and they’re spending all their energy trying to break us down on the offensive end. But defense, let’s just go back, pack it in, go under, let them shoot and box out. You get no rebounds when you don’t move the ball. And they expend no energy defensively, so I thought it was a great game plan.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
on defense intensity leading to the turn around
“Yeah, it definitely did. They’re just driving the ball and shooting threes, they shot a lot of three’s, thirty out of fifty-two shots were three’s. We had to stop the drives, so we had to go small and I think that helped us a lot. That’s something that effectively just changed.”
on the message in the locker room at halftime
“It was mostly just be tougher and be more physical because the shots didn’t go in but that happens sometimes but the bad thing was we couldn’t get the offensive rebound and technically when you have a lot of missed shots you should have an opportunity to get an offensive rebound. We didn’t do that, so we just had to come in and be more physical in the second half. Hit harder and play harder, it's the physicality standpoint, we were open, we couldn’t make the shots, we were executing the right things but we couldn't make anything. We just had to be tougher.”
on coach saying he’s not in good enough shape to play 40 minutes
“He’s not right about that. I’m in good shape... it was short so, five minutes long maybe I would’ve stayed in the game... If the team needs me 40 minutes I’m there for the team.”
on the stretch that helped him get his footing
“It’s just when I know the guys and everybody has confidence in me, it gives me more confidence. It’s something you work on all the time. Shots sometimes they don't go in, but as a shooter you have to keep your confidence high and keep shooting and eventually, they're going to fall. I think my teammates were trusting me, giving me the ball in the right place, right time and I was able to knock those down.”
on clapping his hands at the top of the zone and leadership
“Anything that can help our team win, I try to do and I try to listen to the coaches and the advice they have. We have a young team, so we need a lot of leadership. These guys need a lot of help, they want to listen, they want to get better and they need some help because they haven’t been through this. Me, Adem, especially Kenny [Nwuba], Will [McClendon], even [Dylan Andrews], we have to be louder and we need to help everybody else.”
Freshman guard Sebastian Mack
on free throws and drawing contact
“I noticed that those guys, they were good on the rim but I feel like it is a big component of my game. Getting to the line, slowing everything down, being able to be patient with it but I mean it really just comes from the defensive end, us turning it up on that end. I feel like that’s the reason we stretched it away so much.”
on Adem Bona being able to switch to defense
“It helps out a lot because we always gotta fight through those screens and those bigs going down on their end. It’s really just communication at that point, talking to the bigs, talking to the guards and I feel like that’s what we did in order to get the lead.”
on playing with Dylan Andrews
“I feel like we’re good together on the floor, it’s just our mentality together. I feel like it takes a team, we can’t just be two people guarding five guys. I feel like we brought it in me and Laz, DA, we just packed it in as a team. In the locker room, we came out here and we just said we gotta focus on the other end. The shots aren’t always gonna fall, so we just gotta rebound, box out, do what we gotta do to win.”
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews
on finding his rhythm for the first time this season
"You know, it feels great to just play with the guys again. Any game we can play against other opponents versus playing against ourselves in practice is always great. As I get back into my rhythm, every game just feels different, every game just feels better, I’m getting used to it. And today I feel like the rim was open for me, it felt good every time I shot the ball. Any time I came off the screen or any time I had an open look, my teammates trusted me to make that shot. I make it in practice.”
on having four guards on the court for most of the second half
“We realized that we had to go small with them because they like to pick and pop. The smaller lineup could switch one through five and we realized that that was working, so we stayed with it. The main thing we focused on coming out of the second half was defensive stops and rebounds.”
on playing with Adem Bona, who can defend big and small opponents
“I mean, having a guy like Bona, it’s just a force. He is intimidating just to look at on the court. His defensive presence, his ability to switch, you know you don’t have a lot of big guys who can guard a guard. We love him for that. Also, Ilane [Fibleuil] is a freshman who can give us big minutes like that, and bring us an energy spark, we need that too. And he’s not scared, he’s a dog too.”
on what sparked his offensive performance
“Really just taking my time and slowing down, and just taking what’s given to me. If the shot’s not there, I’m looking to find my guys. If the shot’s not there for me, my guys trust me to make it, so I’m going to take the shot. More or less, I’m looking for my guys and trying to get them going.”
on shooting for 18 points alongside teammate Sebastian Mack
“I mean Sebastian, that’s my guy Baz, he’s a dog. Just having the energy just like me. We both are energy guys and we both take pride in our defense. Our energy wasn’t where we wanted it to be, starting the game, so coming out of the second half, we just had a talk together, and we said ‘We just gotta get this going.’ We needed big player energy, to stop, clap, yell, to get the crowd going, get our team going. Having a guy like Mack on the backcourt with me is great.”
Lafayette Head Coach Mike McGarvey
opening statement
“It was a tale of two halves. I feel like we played with a competitive spirit, especially defensively. We just played a good brand of basketball. In the second half, it kind of flipped on us. We allowed them to go on a run in the middle of the second half. Give credit to Coach Cronin. He went small and he switched up a lot of screens. He made sure the team didn’t have too many defensive rotations. Also, I’d have to look at our shooting percentage in the second half. I’ll have to analyze what type of shots we took because I thought they were the same type of shots we took in the first half.”
on how they felt about playing in Pauley Pavilion
“We were not nervous at all. This was a great game. We had about 70 alumni in town. We have a big contingency on the West Coast. Playing in this venue is very special. From the championships, to the legacy of Coach Wooden and just to the allure of UCLA Basketball. And also for the younger generation, they can see how many NBA players have come from here (UCLA).”
on where they go from here
“We’ve got a quick turn-around. We play Pepperdine on Sunday. We’re going to play like we did tonight with confidence. We’re deep and we’re big. I just want us to focus on making plays over a long stretch of time.”
UCLA 68, Lafayette 50
Nov. 10, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on moving away from using two bigs tonight
“Coach [Jim] Calhoun I have a lot of respect for. Connecticut used to play big. They would play these games, and I remember one time he said we’re not going to be able to go small and win in the Big East, so we need to learn how to deal with this. I knew we should have probably started small and just switched everything. But I didn’t think we’d get anything out of that. Now you’re going to say you’re absolutely nuts; you could have lost. Maybe I am. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that would agree with you, that I’m crazy. But I just thought we needed to try to be able to defend them with a bigger lineup. We’re not going to play many teams where the five spends all his time at the three-point line. I just thought we needed to try it. Aday [Mara] – all we have to do is throw him the ball. You can’t guard him. But it was tough in the second half because I decided to go small and switch everything.”
on the defense picking up in the second half
“Once we started switching everything it kind of eliminated them. They didn’t make a three the last 17 minutes. They had seven made threes. They hit a couple right out the gate to start the second half and once we started switching everything they never made them anymore.”
on going to one post
“I don’t know if that was great. I’ll have to watch the film. Adem [Bona] struggled. I didn’t get through to him, and I told Coach [Darren] Savino it was a complete failure on our part. You’ve got to pass the ball. They’re going to be all over you. You’ve got to pass it out of you’ve got to make shots. And that’s what’s coming. If you can’t catch it and score, if you have to make a post move, they’re going to be all over you. They watched the game the other night. So we failed Adem.”
on the play of Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack
“They got plenty of opportunities; they were going under all their screens and just giving them shots. I think it was the right thing to do if you’re them (Lafayette). Just pack it in and hope for the best. It’s what gave them a chance because we missed a lot of open shots to start the game. Every game is different. Tonight, they were going to pack it in, somebody’s got to knock some shots in. But I think we got in transition. I would say that’s what helped our offense. We got some steals finally, got in transition, got some layups.”
on Lafeyette’s game plan
“They were going under and just giving us a shot. And we were taking the bait and we weren’t getting the ball to the second side. It’s a growth process with this team. We were just taking the bait. And I know we were open, but their coaching staff, and I felt it was a smart move, said we’re just going to give that up, so they’re going to take open jump shots, but they’re not going to get a rebound because they’re not going to move us. So we’re going to expend no energy defensively. They’re going to throw one or two passes, we’re going to go under and let them shoot. And we’re going to spend all of our energy back-cutting, passing, wheeling, and they’re spending all their energy trying to break us down on the offensive end. But defense, let’s just go back, pack it in, go under, let them shoot and box out. You get no rebounds when you don’t move the ball. And they expend no energy defensively, so I thought it was a great game plan.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
on defense intensity leading to the turn around
“Yeah, it definitely did. They’re just driving the ball and shooting threes, they shot a lot of three’s, thirty out of fifty-two shots were three’s. We had to stop the drives, so we had to go small and I think that helped us a lot. That’s something that effectively just changed.”
on the message in the locker room at halftime
“It was mostly just be tougher and be more physical because the shots didn’t go in but that happens sometimes but the bad thing was we couldn’t get the offensive rebound and technically when you have a lot of missed shots you should have an opportunity to get an offensive rebound. We didn’t do that, so we just had to come in and be more physical in the second half. Hit harder and play harder, it's the physicality standpoint, we were open, we couldn’t make the shots, we were executing the right things but we couldn't make anything. We just had to be tougher.”
on coach saying he’s not in good enough shape to play 40 minutes
“He’s not right about that. I’m in good shape... it was short so, five minutes long maybe I would’ve stayed in the game... If the team needs me 40 minutes I’m there for the team.”
on the stretch that helped him get his footing
“It’s just when I know the guys and everybody has confidence in me, it gives me more confidence. It’s something you work on all the time. Shots sometimes they don't go in, but as a shooter you have to keep your confidence high and keep shooting and eventually, they're going to fall. I think my teammates were trusting me, giving me the ball in the right place, right time and I was able to knock those down.”
on clapping his hands at the top of the zone and leadership
“Anything that can help our team win, I try to do and I try to listen to the coaches and the advice they have. We have a young team, so we need a lot of leadership. These guys need a lot of help, they want to listen, they want to get better and they need some help because they haven’t been through this. Me, Adem, especially Kenny [Nwuba], Will [McClendon], even [Dylan Andrews], we have to be louder and we need to help everybody else.”
Freshman guard Sebastian Mack
on free throws and drawing contact
“I noticed that those guys, they were good on the rim but I feel like it is a big component of my game. Getting to the line, slowing everything down, being able to be patient with it but I mean it really just comes from the defensive end, us turning it up on that end. I feel like that’s the reason we stretched it away so much.”
on Adem Bona being able to switch to defense
“It helps out a lot because we always gotta fight through those screens and those bigs going down on their end. It’s really just communication at that point, talking to the bigs, talking to the guards and I feel like that’s what we did in order to get the lead.”
on playing with Dylan Andrews
“I feel like we’re good together on the floor, it’s just our mentality together. I feel like it takes a team, we can’t just be two people guarding five guys. I feel like we brought it in me and Laz, DA, we just packed it in as a team. In the locker room, we came out here and we just said we gotta focus on the other end. The shots aren’t always gonna fall, so we just gotta rebound, box out, do what we gotta do to win.”
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews
on finding his rhythm for the first time this season
"You know, it feels great to just play with the guys again. Any game we can play against other opponents versus playing against ourselves in practice is always great. As I get back into my rhythm, every game just feels different, every game just feels better, I’m getting used to it. And today I feel like the rim was open for me, it felt good every time I shot the ball. Any time I came off the screen or any time I had an open look, my teammates trusted me to make that shot. I make it in practice.”
on having four guards on the court for most of the second half
“We realized that we had to go small with them because they like to pick and pop. The smaller lineup could switch one through five and we realized that that was working, so we stayed with it. The main thing we focused on coming out of the second half was defensive stops and rebounds.”
on playing with Adem Bona, who can defend big and small opponents
“I mean, having a guy like Bona, it’s just a force. He is intimidating just to look at on the court. His defensive presence, his ability to switch, you know you don’t have a lot of big guys who can guard a guard. We love him for that. Also, Ilane [Fibleuil] is a freshman who can give us big minutes like that, and bring us an energy spark, we need that too. And he’s not scared, he’s a dog too.”
on what sparked his offensive performance
“Really just taking my time and slowing down, and just taking what’s given to me. If the shot’s not there, I’m looking to find my guys. If the shot’s not there for me, my guys trust me to make it, so I’m going to take the shot. More or less, I’m looking for my guys and trying to get them going.”
on shooting for 18 points alongside teammate Sebastian Mack
“I mean Sebastian, that’s my guy Baz, he’s a dog. Just having the energy just like me. We both are energy guys and we both take pride in our defense. Our energy wasn’t where we wanted it to be, starting the game, so coming out of the second half, we just had a talk together, and we said ‘We just gotta get this going.’ We needed big player energy, to stop, clap, yell, to get the crowd going, get our team going. Having a guy like Mack on the backcourt with me is great.”
Lafayette Head Coach Mike McGarvey
opening statement
“It was a tale of two halves. I feel like we played with a competitive spirit, especially defensively. We just played a good brand of basketball. In the second half, it kind of flipped on us. We allowed them to go on a run in the middle of the second half. Give credit to Coach Cronin. He went small and he switched up a lot of screens. He made sure the team didn’t have too many defensive rotations. Also, I’d have to look at our shooting percentage in the second half. I’ll have to analyze what type of shots we took because I thought they were the same type of shots we took in the first half.”
on how they felt about playing in Pauley Pavilion
“We were not nervous at all. This was a great game. We had about 70 alumni in town. We have a big contingency on the West Coast. Playing in this venue is very special. From the championships, to the legacy of Coach Wooden and just to the allure of UCLA Basketball. And also for the younger generation, they can see how many NBA players have come from here (UCLA).”
on where they go from here
“We’ve got a quick turn-around. We play Pepperdine on Sunday. We’re going to play like we did tonight with confidence. We’re deep and we’re big. I just want us to focus on making plays over a long stretch of time.”