Postgame Quotes: UCLA 75, Alabama 67
December 29, 2013 | Men's Basketball
UCLA 75, Alabama 67
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“Really, really proud of this basketball team. Obviously playing a team of this caliber and being able to take a really good shot from [Trevor Releford], who's a special talent. I just thought our guys did a tremendous job. This was as good defensively and board play we've had in a long time. We're building some momentum. I thought we started showing some strides against Weber State and today was even better. I think we out-rebounded them – if our stats are right – I think six or seven rebounds at the half and win the rebound total by 11, so it's the first time all year we've held a team to four offensive rebounds. I just thought our attention to what our guys did effort-wise defensively was the difference in the game. Got a huge shot in the arm with Tony Parker. I thought he was just terrific – especially in the second half. We played about six minutes in the second half without Kyle Anderson and to increase our lead during our time, I thought that was huge. We had Zach [LaVine] sick on Christmas Day and Bryce [Alford] sick all last night. We had both freshmen a little under the weather. I thought both of them battled to help us off the bench and the starters did what they needed to do, so I'm really pleased with the team effort. This was a really good team win.”
on Tony Parker's performance
One thing we've been talking about – he played four-and-a-half to five minutes as a freshman, so this is almost like his freshman year. Zach [LaVine] and Bryce [Alford] are getting around 20, maybe 25 minutes for Zach, so they're getting some good minutes. With Tony this is 13 games into what is really his first year, really being in the mix and playing because he's averaging 20 minutes now. He's done a great job, lost 25 pounds in the offseason, so he's got to learn and he's going through that process. He's just got to get consistent now. It's not going to be 16 [points] and five [rebounds] every night, but he can do some things. He's a load in there. He's big. He's more athletic than what you might think. He's learning to do some things and he's a winner. The nice thing about Tony, he won four state championships in high school. The kid's a winner. He does whatever it takes to win and I thought he did a lot of good things in the second half.
on what he told his team at halftime, trailing by one point
“That we needed this. We're getting ready to enter the conference season. We're getting ready to get into January, February, March, so we needed this. We were tied with Duke at half, we were up at Missouri, so we haven't been in that situation – especially at home – and we needed somebody to give us a really good shot at home, like Drexel did. Drexel gave us that at the beginning of the year, and I think it's been a long time at home since we've had that. It was good that we had a possession-by-possession game to see where we were and I thought we grew and matured a lot. I think this game, we showed a lot of toughness in the last five minutes.
UCLA center Tony Parker
“It was a good win, especially out of conference. It came down to big plays – the block was good and also the free throws. Jordan [Adams] always teases me about my free throws. I winked at the bench when I made them. Shooting free throws is big for me. I know I can shoot better than 44 percent. This is why I work on them after practice.
“I am not going to get numbers like this every night, but I can control how hard I play. I knew I had a younger defender on me, so I used my body on him and I knew I had to make plays.”
UCLA guard Jordan Adams
“We have to move on now. All we do is try to get better at every aspect of the game. We have a two game win streak so we really have to get ready for the next game. This was a great win. Alabama is a physical team. All week in practice we focused on being physical.”
UCLA guard Kyle Anderson
“We just had to have poise with the ball. Coach Alford emphasized that at halftime, and we did that in the second half. We didn't succumb to ball pressure. I trust Tony [Parker] to make those free throws. I work with these guys every day and I trust my players. Travis [Wear] played very well today. He got inside and made plays.
“I think we made very big improvements over the last eight minutes of each of the last two games. This is a big win. It all started in practice this week.”
Alabama head coach Anthony Grant
“I thought we battled. We played a very good UCLA team tonight, and they made the plays that good teams make to pull it out. UCLA is an awfully good team, especially when they can play in rhythm. I thought the [full court] pressure broke the rhythm a little and allowed us to get some transition buckets and get back in the game.
“Trevor [Releford] is our only senior and he is a very highly decorated player in his career at Alabama. I think he showed tonight that he is one of the better players in the country.
“Shannon [Hale] got the start tonight because he deserved the opportunity. We like to give our freshmen an opportunity to get experience, and I thought for a freshman to come into this environment he did a good job and was very aggressive.
“We've got to start to win these close games. I stressed to our guys that we cannot solely focus on the outcome. We played a very challenging non-conference schedule. We have one more non-conference game left and we can continue to improve.”
Alabama guard Trevor Releford
“Congratulations to UCLA for pulling it out. My teammates came out and we fought hard and that is all that we can do.
“We had a lot of good opportunities but it is the little things that mean a lot. Defensive stops by Levi [Randolph] and Retin [Obasohan] are what give us the opportunity on offense. Smothering the ball [with the full court press] is our style of play. That's our identity.
“We have had a tough non-conference schedule. We just need to be ready to compete. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. At the end of the day, we will learn from a tough game like this and it will make us better.”
Alabama forward Shannon Hale
“Tonight was my first time as a starter. I feel pretty good and I have been practicing hard and my teammates have been encouraging me. I enjoyed playing against the Wear brothers and Tony Parker. They were tough matchups. I am looking forward to the conference season to see how we do.”
