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Postgame Quotes – CSUN 76, UCLA 72
POSTGAME QUOTES
CSUN 76, UCLA 72
Dec. 19, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought CSUN was a problem. I knew it. I’ve been watching them for the last month. They’re athletic. Obviously the NCAA, we don’t have any rules anymore so we just let guys get eligible. We found out [Gianni] Hunt got eligible with the new rule change. He hurt us bad. But they outplayed us in every facet. There’s hustle stats at the bottom – points off turnovers, second chance points, points in the paint. We’re minus in every category.”
on the 19 turnovers
“We had two points of emphasis. We’re young; we try to keep it simple. No paint. They made 17 layups. They had 11 at the half. And we really have to take care of the ball tonight, and obviously it was a short turnaround traveling back, but we worked as hard as we could with Adem [Bona] on they were going to attack him, and he can’t dribble the ball. He’s going to be in traffic. If he’s going to catch it deep and score, he’s going to have to pass it. They’re going to be all over him. So we failed as a coaching staff because when you have two points of emphasis, your job as a coaching staff is to make sure your team adheres to them. So it’s not like we didn’t know that they were going to drive the ball. Obviously they hit some hard shots. They even hit an accidental basket when the guy lost the ball. We played good D. It was two or three times we played good D. But that’s what happens when you come out and get outhustled and outscrapped. Clearly. We’ve got a fragile group. It showed. They (CSUN) are older, more confident. We don’t have anybody when things go bad to rally the troops.”
on roster construction
“We did what we could do. If your question is did we try to get older transfers? Absolutely. So did the Reds, but the Dodgers get them. Look, they’re a good team. They got Hunt eligible, and they’re just more athletic. Sebastian [Mack] was late for something, and I’m just trying to find guys who will compete physically and earn it in practice, and I thought Brandon Williams, he competes. He’s young, he’s got a great future, but right now it’s because he listens to me and he plays hard. We’re struggling to find that. The truth of it is, anytime you give up 34 points in the paint and 17 free throws, that’s 51 on layups and free throws. Remember what I told you three days in Atlanta? Layups and free throws win games. Everybody wants to talk about three-point shooting. That’s not what wins games. Eighty percent of games, 85 maybe, layups and free throws. Even in the NBA. Teams make them. Nobody’s guarding at the foul line, most teams make layups. They were much more aggressive and much more physical.”
on turning the page to Maryland
“We don’t even think about Maryland. We just worry about practice tomorrow. That’s all you can do. You’ve just got to try to get better. Especially when you’ve got a young team, you have to worry about one thing – try to get better at practice. Because if you don’t get better you’re not going to change your result. You give up 17 layups, you’re not going to change anything.”
on the team’s inability to put together two halves
“They’re all nice kids; they’re trying. Tonight the other team outplayed us exponentially, in my opinion, with aggressiveness.”
Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews
on UCLA’s turnovers and coming out flat
“Yeah, I mean we came out kind of flat in the beginning. It just felt like CSUN – credit to them, but I feel like they just wanted it more than us this game. They have fire in their eyes. They shot the ball pretty good. We knew for a fact they were a drive and kick team and we were trying to play the gaps, but it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
on experiencing a home loss for the first time in his career
“Not great. Even in the past. Three years. Home games. We haven’t lost. It hurts. It brings fire into us.”
on who they turn to get refocused when adversity strikes
“I would say the team turns to the vets, the guys that have been there. And also me as well. [Adem] Bona as well. Laz as well too. But we’re all one team and we’re all together. When we huddle at the free throw line or huddle after a short break, we’re trying to get everybody together and get focused and get mentally right and get ready for the next play. When things get crazy [and] when adversity hits, we huddle up and just talk things through together.”
on if there is a positive takeaway from this game
“We didn’t just give up. We fought back.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
on fixing the slow starts
“They’re a much tougher team than us. … We didn’t match the physicality at all. That’s the main reason why score was what it was in the first half. In the end of the game, we started playing better in the second half, raising the physicality level. We have to be able to start games with a higher intensity and physicality level. We want to set that level whatever it is. We have harder teams to match with, not the other way around.”
on what to look at honing in on during practice
“We need more [physicality]. We got to have more intensity. That’s the main thing. We got to play better defense. We got to stay in front of our man. Then offensively, we got to find the open man [and] got to stop turning the ball over and got to make the open shots. Got to make the right play, the right read.”
on what he would attribute to struggles at the free throw line to
“It’s probably just focus. We’re usually a really good free throw shooting team. We didn’t have many issues with it this year, but obviously, as I said, we didn’t come out ready to play. … We practice on them all the time.”
on if there is a positive takeaway from this game
“Well, you can say once we raised our physicality at the start of the second half, we came back in the game very quickly. We showed ourselves the team we can be when we play physical and with high intensity and play together.”
CSUN Head Coach Andy Newman
opening statement
“Our guys really played great. I’m so excited about how tough they were. Our guys were not scared and they rose to the challenge. We basically played our brand of basketball.”
on the CSUN dunk and technical foul
“It wasn’t me. It was all them. The guys just really talk to each other and after that play, they knew they belonged on this court. That play really gave our guys a lift. (Gianni) Hunt said all the right things in our timeouts.”
on their brand of basketball
“We are going to be tough and physical, so sometimes we are going to have a lot of fouls. That’s just the way we are going to play.”
on where they go from here
“I’m going to tell them how bad they were tonight. That’s a really good question, but seriously, we are going to look at film and see our potential. We’re going to see how playing basketball 100 percent of the time looks. Also, it’s going to show us how the game of basketball is played when you don’t take plays off. I just have to prepare these guys for our contest on Friday against Montana State.”
CSUN 76, UCLA 72
Dec. 19, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought CSUN was a problem. I knew it. I’ve been watching them for the last month. They’re athletic. Obviously the NCAA, we don’t have any rules anymore so we just let guys get eligible. We found out [Gianni] Hunt got eligible with the new rule change. He hurt us bad. But they outplayed us in every facet. There’s hustle stats at the bottom – points off turnovers, second chance points, points in the paint. We’re minus in every category.”
on the 19 turnovers
“We had two points of emphasis. We’re young; we try to keep it simple. No paint. They made 17 layups. They had 11 at the half. And we really have to take care of the ball tonight, and obviously it was a short turnaround traveling back, but we worked as hard as we could with Adem [Bona] on they were going to attack him, and he can’t dribble the ball. He’s going to be in traffic. If he’s going to catch it deep and score, he’s going to have to pass it. They’re going to be all over him. So we failed as a coaching staff because when you have two points of emphasis, your job as a coaching staff is to make sure your team adheres to them. So it’s not like we didn’t know that they were going to drive the ball. Obviously they hit some hard shots. They even hit an accidental basket when the guy lost the ball. We played good D. It was two or three times we played good D. But that’s what happens when you come out and get outhustled and outscrapped. Clearly. We’ve got a fragile group. It showed. They (CSUN) are older, more confident. We don’t have anybody when things go bad to rally the troops.”
on roster construction
“We did what we could do. If your question is did we try to get older transfers? Absolutely. So did the Reds, but the Dodgers get them. Look, they’re a good team. They got Hunt eligible, and they’re just more athletic. Sebastian [Mack] was late for something, and I’m just trying to find guys who will compete physically and earn it in practice, and I thought Brandon Williams, he competes. He’s young, he’s got a great future, but right now it’s because he listens to me and he plays hard. We’re struggling to find that. The truth of it is, anytime you give up 34 points in the paint and 17 free throws, that’s 51 on layups and free throws. Remember what I told you three days in Atlanta? Layups and free throws win games. Everybody wants to talk about three-point shooting. That’s not what wins games. Eighty percent of games, 85 maybe, layups and free throws. Even in the NBA. Teams make them. Nobody’s guarding at the foul line, most teams make layups. They were much more aggressive and much more physical.”
on turning the page to Maryland
“We don’t even think about Maryland. We just worry about practice tomorrow. That’s all you can do. You’ve just got to try to get better. Especially when you’ve got a young team, you have to worry about one thing – try to get better at practice. Because if you don’t get better you’re not going to change your result. You give up 17 layups, you’re not going to change anything.”
on the team’s inability to put together two halves
“They’re all nice kids; they’re trying. Tonight the other team outplayed us exponentially, in my opinion, with aggressiveness.”
Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews
on UCLA’s turnovers and coming out flat
“Yeah, I mean we came out kind of flat in the beginning. It just felt like CSUN – credit to them, but I feel like they just wanted it more than us this game. They have fire in their eyes. They shot the ball pretty good. We knew for a fact they were a drive and kick team and we were trying to play the gaps, but it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
on experiencing a home loss for the first time in his career
“Not great. Even in the past. Three years. Home games. We haven’t lost. It hurts. It brings fire into us.”
on who they turn to get refocused when adversity strikes
“I would say the team turns to the vets, the guys that have been there. And also me as well. [Adem] Bona as well. Laz as well too. But we’re all one team and we’re all together. When we huddle at the free throw line or huddle after a short break, we’re trying to get everybody together and get focused and get mentally right and get ready for the next play. When things get crazy [and] when adversity hits, we huddle up and just talk things through together.”
on if there is a positive takeaway from this game
“We didn’t just give up. We fought back.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
on fixing the slow starts
“They’re a much tougher team than us. … We didn’t match the physicality at all. That’s the main reason why score was what it was in the first half. In the end of the game, we started playing better in the second half, raising the physicality level. We have to be able to start games with a higher intensity and physicality level. We want to set that level whatever it is. We have harder teams to match with, not the other way around.”
on what to look at honing in on during practice
“We need more [physicality]. We got to have more intensity. That’s the main thing. We got to play better defense. We got to stay in front of our man. Then offensively, we got to find the open man [and] got to stop turning the ball over and got to make the open shots. Got to make the right play, the right read.”
on what he would attribute to struggles at the free throw line to
“It’s probably just focus. We’re usually a really good free throw shooting team. We didn’t have many issues with it this year, but obviously, as I said, we didn’t come out ready to play. … We practice on them all the time.”
on if there is a positive takeaway from this game
“Well, you can say once we raised our physicality at the start of the second half, we came back in the game very quickly. We showed ourselves the team we can be when we play physical and with high intensity and play together.”
CSUN Head Coach Andy Newman
opening statement
“Our guys really played great. I’m so excited about how tough they were. Our guys were not scared and they rose to the challenge. We basically played our brand of basketball.”
on the CSUN dunk and technical foul
“It wasn’t me. It was all them. The guys just really talk to each other and after that play, they knew they belonged on this court. That play really gave our guys a lift. (Gianni) Hunt said all the right things in our timeouts.”
on their brand of basketball
“We are going to be tough and physical, so sometimes we are going to have a lot of fouls. That’s just the way we are going to play.”
on where they go from here
“I’m going to tell them how bad they were tonight. That’s a really good question, but seriously, we are going to look at film and see our potential. We’re going to see how playing basketball 100 percent of the time looks. Also, it’s going to show us how the game of basketball is played when you don’t take plays off. I just have to prepare these guys for our contest on Friday against Montana State.”