Postgame Quotes – UCLA 85, Lehigh 45
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 85, Lehigh 45
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
November 15, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Obviously, our offense was much more efficient tonight. The game plan was to go inside. We thought we had a distinct advantage on the interior, and then, to take care of the ball at all costs. We finally cut our turnovers down to eight, and we went inside for 46 points in the paint and got to the line 26 times. Obviously, we worked hard on our offensive rebounding, and we missed 25 shots, but we got 11 of those. North of 40 percent, so I’m very happy with the offense. Defensively, once we got the lead, I just wanted to practice our half-court defense. Coming out of the second half, we didn’t trap in the press one time. There’s no point in it. I respect the other coaches too much. There was the chance to work on our half-court defense where we still need to get better. We still have holes there. They couldn’t exploit them due to size, their kids tried hard, but we still had too many breakdowns on the defensive end.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s rebounding
“We actually talked about it with all of the guys. We went over it with everybody. You’ve got to know when your teammates are open, and we worked hard on it in practice for two days. I told Eric, tonight was a night that he was going to be able to score on the interior, especially in his matchup. We’ve still got to work on his scoring down there, he’s got his head down, so it’s hard for him to be explosive.”
on working on cutting and moving without the ball
“You can’t be what I would call a dead fish, who just stands there and stares. We’re better off playing inside out.”
on Dominick Harris’ performance
“Dom’s one for his last 10. He is one of the best shooters that I’ve ever coached. I see it every day in practice, so it is what it is, the law of averages. Practice winning without making shots. If you can do that, then when you make them, you can win easily. You’ve got to practice really taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding, so it makes you a better team. If everything goes in, it’s kind of fool’s gold, because that’s not going to happen when you get on the road in the Big Ten.”
on the team’s defensive performance
“We had some breakdowns where we were up eight or so and they cut it to two or three. We gambled a little bit in the press, and we had a couple turnovers. We’ve got to play smart – we can’t just play hard. We’ve got to take care of the ball.”
on the Bruins’ overall effort
“If you hold a team to 45 points, your effort is usually really good. I’m proud of our defense again, but I think we’ve got a lot of things that we need to clean up. I told the guys, in a game like this, we’re not going to turn them over like we did against Boston U. But we had to absolutely destroy Lehigh on the glass, which 47-18 is destruction. That’s about as big of a destruction as you can get.”
on playing inside
“Every team has to be able to put pressure on the rim. One way or another, you can’t just play in circles. Some teams do it with cuts, shooting, spacing, and driving. That’s how they put pressure on the rim. They spread you out and then try to get layups with cuts and dribble drives. Other teams put pressure on the rim by throwing the ball to bigger guys inside. You have to do it, one way or another. Especially with Aday, Tyler, and Eric, it simplifies life when you just throw it to them. Somehow you have to put pressure on the rim, or good teams will just have you at half-court running your offense.”
on valuing practice over games
“I enjoy practice over games, much more. The players enjoy games, I enjoy practice. When they start to enjoy and embrace practice, they’ll start getting closer to who they want to be.”
UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on working on his rebounding
“Right after that game [against New Mexico], I got a text of Dennis Rodman’s highlights of rebounding. I watched it, and in practice they were teaching us techniques of how to get around our defender, to get to the glass. I just put all of that together, and we practiced it, we drilled it all week, just being more aggressive towards the glass and not fouling.”
on the team’s defensive effort
“I think defensively, we just have to do what we do every night. Play aggressively and try to move teams faster, make them play at a faster pace and fumble the ball. That has been working for us, building our reputation as a defensive team.”
on Dominick Harris’ performance and confidence
“We tell him to keep shooting, because we see it in practice every day. Sometimes the shot isn’t going to fall, but keep shooting because the next one’s going to be the one that falls. We're struggling to shoot from three a little bit, but we’re going to eventually make all of those threes. But we’ve got to keep shooting threes, Dom’s got to keep shooting.”
on Sebastian Mack’s performance
“He’s got a lot of energy, on and off the court, and that’s good for us. We need someone to come in and be the microwave. He gives energy, he guards his man, he’s got great energy, and it’s fun playing with him on the court as well.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on playing inside
“It’s always a great opportunity against a team to do that. E-Day [Eric Dailey Jr.] had a great game with strong finishing, and Aday had a great game as well. A lot of improvement. We still have to improve in that area, keep pounding the paint, but I thought it was a good night.”
on the team’s defensive effort
“It’s something we work on every day, so we’ve got to keep doing it.”
on recovering from a loss to New Mexico on Nov. 8
“Overall, we got punked in that game. A really big focus was playing defensively and being stronger on the glass, make it tougher for the other team. But also not giving up space, and being stronger with our catches and passes. We had way too many turnovers. It’s been a big focus, and we just have to keep working on those things.”
on what it’s like to play for head coach Mick Cronin
“He’s an intense coach for sure, but he wants the best for us. He wants all of us to be the best players we can be, the best person we can be on and off the court. We've got to embrace that intensity and try to get better every day, come together as a team and keep working.”
Lehigh Head Coach Brett Reed
opening remarks
“Pleased how we started the second half. The ball moved and we got quality shots, but they were not falling but we were effective. [Aday] Mara was huge in the second half for them – he made a difference.”
on which players stood out in the game this evening
“Keith Higgins comes to mind. It was a homecoming for him, being from Southern California and Chaminade High, so it was nice to bring it back. He was assertive. Ben Knostman gave us an offensive punch and was a catalyst for us in the second half.”
on what he takes from this game and this opportunity
“We really take opportunities from all the experiences. This is UCLA and they were projected top 25 team prior to their loss against New Mexico. I like some of the elements we showed. With tough competition, things get magnified. We showed that we can make plays against top-caliber teams.”
UCLA 85, Lehigh 45
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
November 15, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Obviously, our offense was much more efficient tonight. The game plan was to go inside. We thought we had a distinct advantage on the interior, and then, to take care of the ball at all costs. We finally cut our turnovers down to eight, and we went inside for 46 points in the paint and got to the line 26 times. Obviously, we worked hard on our offensive rebounding, and we missed 25 shots, but we got 11 of those. North of 40 percent, so I’m very happy with the offense. Defensively, once we got the lead, I just wanted to practice our half-court defense. Coming out of the second half, we didn’t trap in the press one time. There’s no point in it. I respect the other coaches too much. There was the chance to work on our half-court defense where we still need to get better. We still have holes there. They couldn’t exploit them due to size, their kids tried hard, but we still had too many breakdowns on the defensive end.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s rebounding
“We actually talked about it with all of the guys. We went over it with everybody. You’ve got to know when your teammates are open, and we worked hard on it in practice for two days. I told Eric, tonight was a night that he was going to be able to score on the interior, especially in his matchup. We’ve still got to work on his scoring down there, he’s got his head down, so it’s hard for him to be explosive.”
on working on cutting and moving without the ball
“You can’t be what I would call a dead fish, who just stands there and stares. We’re better off playing inside out.”
on Dominick Harris’ performance
“Dom’s one for his last 10. He is one of the best shooters that I’ve ever coached. I see it every day in practice, so it is what it is, the law of averages. Practice winning without making shots. If you can do that, then when you make them, you can win easily. You’ve got to practice really taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding, so it makes you a better team. If everything goes in, it’s kind of fool’s gold, because that’s not going to happen when you get on the road in the Big Ten.”
on the team’s defensive performance
“We had some breakdowns where we were up eight or so and they cut it to two or three. We gambled a little bit in the press, and we had a couple turnovers. We’ve got to play smart – we can’t just play hard. We’ve got to take care of the ball.”
on the Bruins’ overall effort
“If you hold a team to 45 points, your effort is usually really good. I’m proud of our defense again, but I think we’ve got a lot of things that we need to clean up. I told the guys, in a game like this, we’re not going to turn them over like we did against Boston U. But we had to absolutely destroy Lehigh on the glass, which 47-18 is destruction. That’s about as big of a destruction as you can get.”
on playing inside
“Every team has to be able to put pressure on the rim. One way or another, you can’t just play in circles. Some teams do it with cuts, shooting, spacing, and driving. That’s how they put pressure on the rim. They spread you out and then try to get layups with cuts and dribble drives. Other teams put pressure on the rim by throwing the ball to bigger guys inside. You have to do it, one way or another. Especially with Aday, Tyler, and Eric, it simplifies life when you just throw it to them. Somehow you have to put pressure on the rim, or good teams will just have you at half-court running your offense.”
on valuing practice over games
“I enjoy practice over games, much more. The players enjoy games, I enjoy practice. When they start to enjoy and embrace practice, they’ll start getting closer to who they want to be.”
UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on working on his rebounding
“Right after that game [against New Mexico], I got a text of Dennis Rodman’s highlights of rebounding. I watched it, and in practice they were teaching us techniques of how to get around our defender, to get to the glass. I just put all of that together, and we practiced it, we drilled it all week, just being more aggressive towards the glass and not fouling.”
on the team’s defensive effort
“I think defensively, we just have to do what we do every night. Play aggressively and try to move teams faster, make them play at a faster pace and fumble the ball. That has been working for us, building our reputation as a defensive team.”
on Dominick Harris’ performance and confidence
“We tell him to keep shooting, because we see it in practice every day. Sometimes the shot isn’t going to fall, but keep shooting because the next one’s going to be the one that falls. We're struggling to shoot from three a little bit, but we’re going to eventually make all of those threes. But we’ve got to keep shooting threes, Dom’s got to keep shooting.”
on Sebastian Mack’s performance
“He’s got a lot of energy, on and off the court, and that’s good for us. We need someone to come in and be the microwave. He gives energy, he guards his man, he’s got great energy, and it’s fun playing with him on the court as well.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on playing inside
“It’s always a great opportunity against a team to do that. E-Day [Eric Dailey Jr.] had a great game with strong finishing, and Aday had a great game as well. A lot of improvement. We still have to improve in that area, keep pounding the paint, but I thought it was a good night.”
on the team’s defensive effort
“It’s something we work on every day, so we’ve got to keep doing it.”
on recovering from a loss to New Mexico on Nov. 8
“Overall, we got punked in that game. A really big focus was playing defensively and being stronger on the glass, make it tougher for the other team. But also not giving up space, and being stronger with our catches and passes. We had way too many turnovers. It’s been a big focus, and we just have to keep working on those things.”
on what it’s like to play for head coach Mick Cronin
“He’s an intense coach for sure, but he wants the best for us. He wants all of us to be the best players we can be, the best person we can be on and off the court. We've got to embrace that intensity and try to get better every day, come together as a team and keep working.”
Lehigh Head Coach Brett Reed
opening remarks
“Pleased how we started the second half. The ball moved and we got quality shots, but they were not falling but we were effective. [Aday] Mara was huge in the second half for them – he made a difference.”
on which players stood out in the game this evening
“Keith Higgins comes to mind. It was a homecoming for him, being from Southern California and Chaminade High, so it was nice to bring it back. He was assertive. Ben Knostman gave us an offensive punch and was a catalyst for us in the second half.”
on what he takes from this game and this opportunity
“We really take opportunities from all the experiences. This is UCLA and they were projected top 25 team prior to their loss against New Mexico. I like some of the elements we showed. With tough competition, things get magnified. We showed that we can make plays against top-caliber teams.”