Postgame Quotes - UCLA 106, Detroit Mercy 73
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 106, Detroit Mercy 73
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
December 3, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“I thought it was maybe our most complete game. I was really pleased with the 40-minute effort. I was really concerned with their 3-point shooting and how much they score the basketball but the way we put two halves defensively like we did was very good for us. We were really efficient offensively. Really pleased with that and everybody that played, played well. Those are always fun nights. This was a game three of growth week and we have one more game before we have to go one the road so the next one become crucial.”
on looking similar to last year’s team
“The pace was good. The one thing we knew about this team coming in as that they liked to run and our guys like to run. So the last thing I was going to try and do was slow them up in a game that was fast. We talked about it, we do have to slow down a little bit with our decision making. We played pretty fast tonight. I don’t know if we have as many possessions in the second half as we did in the first half. We are getting better as we had 20 assists and only eight turnovers. As long as we can keep our turnovers down, because I think last game was a low turnover game, but we are starting to value the ball a little better. As a result we are getting better shots and because of that our efficiency offensively is going up. It does take time and we are nowhere near where we need to be with the trust factor. I do think we are growing a little bit on the offensive end. Where I’m really seeing growth is in trusting each other defensively. We are really seeing an awful lot of help and attention to detail of what we want them to do defensively.”
on Jaylen Hands
“I thought he was very active and has grown defensively. That is something that is going to be crucial to our success moving forward. He really gave us a spark when he came into the game. He’s healthy and he’s getting back to 100 pecent now and has been practicing very well. I am very pleased with the way he played tonight. Right now we are playing really well so his minutes, regardless of whether he is in the starting lineup or not, was at 24 minutes tonight in a lopsided game. If it’s not a lopsided game then its more like 30 minutes. It’s a matter of getting his a Prince’s [Ali] minutes where they need to be with Kris Wilkes and Aaron [Holiday]. We have to find a way to get Aaron some breaks. We’ve talked about it that the last thing I want to do is play Aaron 36-37 minutes. In a game like this where he got 28 minutes, we need more games like that where his minutes are down. He will be logging a lot of minutes like Tom [Welsh]. I thought Ike [Okwarabizie] came in and did some really good thing in both halves. We are starting to trust him and get in there two or three minutes a half to give Tom a blow if for some reason we have to give G.G. [Goloman] and Alex [Olesinski] some more rest. It’s a feeling out process. It’s not so much about who is starting as I am concerned about minutes.”
on Prince Ali’s performance
“He had 20 points on 12 shots, he makes two 3-pointers and got to the free throw line with four assists and just one turnover. What I liked about him and G.G. [Goloman] tonight together was nine assists with just one turnover between the two of them. Again that’s growth. I think Prince knew he had it going on but yet he didn’t force it. He let the game come to him and let his teammates find him. Then he made some really good plays that involved passing and helping a teammate. Overall I thought he was really good. What he was able to do and what Jaylen [Hands] was able to do was really good.”
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on his role
“It’s just all based on wins, so doing whatever I have to do to get a win for our team. I think as the season goes along, I’m getting more comfortable and more aware where my spots are on the floor and how I can be effective. So I think that’s just the biggest key.”
on uptempo, high-scoring nature of game
“That was the most fun we’ve had in a game this year, so that was a really big deal and I think it’s a really big confidence booster going into the next stretch of games we have before conference play. So that was really fun to do.”
on if he has a preference between starting or coming off the bench
“Just doing whatever’s best to win is the biggest thing for me. Whatever the team needs.”
on what he’s learned over his first few games
“Everyone comes from a different high-school setting. Most of the people who come here are used to being the man on their team, so to come in with a team of a lot of other people—the physicality, the speed’s different. So for me, just knowing where I use my speed or I can use my shot, my athleticism.”
on his two steals and breakaways in the first half
“Just anticipation. One time, they ran the play three times in a row, I think. The third time he came down, he was going to throw it to the big, so I just baited him… and the second time, he wasn’t paying attention to me, so I just back-tapped it. It was just anticipation and knowing what they were about to do.”
UCLA guard Aaron Holiday
on defensive effort
“We just came out and played hard. The coaching staff did a great job of giving us a game plan and we just executed it well today.”
on bench scoring
“That’s huge. Obviously, you get points off the bench and that’s going to help up in the long run. And just giving them confidence. It’s good to see that happen.”
on uptempo game
“It’s exciting. Just seeing everybody get up, having fun—and obviously get the win—that’s the most important part. It just goes back to defense. Obviously, we play defense, we get out and run and get all those easy dunks and lay-ups.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore guard Prince Ali
on uptempo game
“I thought what really got us going tonight was our defense. We knew coming in that they play very fast… so we knew if we got stops, we’d be able to run. We were able to get stops.”
on what Jaylen Hands brings
“He brings a lot. He’s pretty much a sixth starter. Similar to what [Aaron Holiday] did last year. He brings a lot. He’s a great player. He’s electric. He played great tonight.”
on defense
“I think we got more confidence from the last game—we played good defense. Me, personally, I knew coming in that if we played defense it would be a very fun game because of the pace they play. That was encouraging.”
Detroit Mercy assistant coach Jermaine Jackson Sr.
opening statement
“We have to really learn from this experience. We have to understand as a team that we have to pay attention to details, as well as pay attention to the scouting report. This is just as important as getting on the court.”
on UCLA’s run
“We both watched the game. You saw what they did. They really turned it up. It was all off of our mistakes. If you don’t box out or leave a guy open, they’re going to score. They were in relaxed mode the entire game. We didn’t slow them down or limit them to one shot.”
on how they will improve
“We have to improve all over. I told our guys don’t look at the score. Look at yourself and your individual growth. Look at your position and improve yourself with your individual skills in order to make our team better. In the long run, that’s what really matters.”
on where do they go from here
“We go home. We have to go home, watch film and continue to get better. When it’s all said at the end of the day, this is why we have this non-conference schedule, in order to prepare us for conference play. At the end of the day, we want to be playing our best basketball in March.”
Detroit Mercy sophomore guard, Corey Allen
opening statement
“With all the film that we covered, we knew they liked to get in the lane and they are very athletic. We just have to come back and prep better for our next contest.”
on his experience playing in Pauley Pavilion
“It’s really a great feeling. I grew up watching UCLA Basketball. This is my first time in L.A., so I really enjoyed the weather and the views. This is really a legendary building, so I feel honored to be playing here.”
UCLA 106, Detroit Mercy 73
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
December 3, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“I thought it was maybe our most complete game. I was really pleased with the 40-minute effort. I was really concerned with their 3-point shooting and how much they score the basketball but the way we put two halves defensively like we did was very good for us. We were really efficient offensively. Really pleased with that and everybody that played, played well. Those are always fun nights. This was a game three of growth week and we have one more game before we have to go one the road so the next one become crucial.”
on looking similar to last year’s team
“The pace was good. The one thing we knew about this team coming in as that they liked to run and our guys like to run. So the last thing I was going to try and do was slow them up in a game that was fast. We talked about it, we do have to slow down a little bit with our decision making. We played pretty fast tonight. I don’t know if we have as many possessions in the second half as we did in the first half. We are getting better as we had 20 assists and only eight turnovers. As long as we can keep our turnovers down, because I think last game was a low turnover game, but we are starting to value the ball a little better. As a result we are getting better shots and because of that our efficiency offensively is going up. It does take time and we are nowhere near where we need to be with the trust factor. I do think we are growing a little bit on the offensive end. Where I’m really seeing growth is in trusting each other defensively. We are really seeing an awful lot of help and attention to detail of what we want them to do defensively.”
on Jaylen Hands
“I thought he was very active and has grown defensively. That is something that is going to be crucial to our success moving forward. He really gave us a spark when he came into the game. He’s healthy and he’s getting back to 100 pecent now and has been practicing very well. I am very pleased with the way he played tonight. Right now we are playing really well so his minutes, regardless of whether he is in the starting lineup or not, was at 24 minutes tonight in a lopsided game. If it’s not a lopsided game then its more like 30 minutes. It’s a matter of getting his a Prince’s [Ali] minutes where they need to be with Kris Wilkes and Aaron [Holiday]. We have to find a way to get Aaron some breaks. We’ve talked about it that the last thing I want to do is play Aaron 36-37 minutes. In a game like this where he got 28 minutes, we need more games like that where his minutes are down. He will be logging a lot of minutes like Tom [Welsh]. I thought Ike [Okwarabizie] came in and did some really good thing in both halves. We are starting to trust him and get in there two or three minutes a half to give Tom a blow if for some reason we have to give G.G. [Goloman] and Alex [Olesinski] some more rest. It’s a feeling out process. It’s not so much about who is starting as I am concerned about minutes.”
on Prince Ali’s performance
“He had 20 points on 12 shots, he makes two 3-pointers and got to the free throw line with four assists and just one turnover. What I liked about him and G.G. [Goloman] tonight together was nine assists with just one turnover between the two of them. Again that’s growth. I think Prince knew he had it going on but yet he didn’t force it. He let the game come to him and let his teammates find him. Then he made some really good plays that involved passing and helping a teammate. Overall I thought he was really good. What he was able to do and what Jaylen [Hands] was able to do was really good.”
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on his role
“It’s just all based on wins, so doing whatever I have to do to get a win for our team. I think as the season goes along, I’m getting more comfortable and more aware where my spots are on the floor and how I can be effective. So I think that’s just the biggest key.”
on uptempo, high-scoring nature of game
“That was the most fun we’ve had in a game this year, so that was a really big deal and I think it’s a really big confidence booster going into the next stretch of games we have before conference play. So that was really fun to do.”
on if he has a preference between starting or coming off the bench
“Just doing whatever’s best to win is the biggest thing for me. Whatever the team needs.”
on what he’s learned over his first few games
“Everyone comes from a different high-school setting. Most of the people who come here are used to being the man on their team, so to come in with a team of a lot of other people—the physicality, the speed’s different. So for me, just knowing where I use my speed or I can use my shot, my athleticism.”
on his two steals and breakaways in the first half
“Just anticipation. One time, they ran the play three times in a row, I think. The third time he came down, he was going to throw it to the big, so I just baited him… and the second time, he wasn’t paying attention to me, so I just back-tapped it. It was just anticipation and knowing what they were about to do.”
UCLA guard Aaron Holiday
on defensive effort
“We just came out and played hard. The coaching staff did a great job of giving us a game plan and we just executed it well today.”
on bench scoring
“That’s huge. Obviously, you get points off the bench and that’s going to help up in the long run. And just giving them confidence. It’s good to see that happen.”
on uptempo game
“It’s exciting. Just seeing everybody get up, having fun—and obviously get the win—that’s the most important part. It just goes back to defense. Obviously, we play defense, we get out and run and get all those easy dunks and lay-ups.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore guard Prince Ali
on uptempo game
“I thought what really got us going tonight was our defense. We knew coming in that they play very fast… so we knew if we got stops, we’d be able to run. We were able to get stops.”
on what Jaylen Hands brings
“He brings a lot. He’s pretty much a sixth starter. Similar to what [Aaron Holiday] did last year. He brings a lot. He’s a great player. He’s electric. He played great tonight.”
on defense
“I think we got more confidence from the last game—we played good defense. Me, personally, I knew coming in that if we played defense it would be a very fun game because of the pace they play. That was encouraging.”
Detroit Mercy assistant coach Jermaine Jackson Sr.
opening statement
“We have to really learn from this experience. We have to understand as a team that we have to pay attention to details, as well as pay attention to the scouting report. This is just as important as getting on the court.”
on UCLA’s run
“We both watched the game. You saw what they did. They really turned it up. It was all off of our mistakes. If you don’t box out or leave a guy open, they’re going to score. They were in relaxed mode the entire game. We didn’t slow them down or limit them to one shot.”
on how they will improve
“We have to improve all over. I told our guys don’t look at the score. Look at yourself and your individual growth. Look at your position and improve yourself with your individual skills in order to make our team better. In the long run, that’s what really matters.”
on where do they go from here
“We go home. We have to go home, watch film and continue to get better. When it’s all said at the end of the day, this is why we have this non-conference schedule, in order to prepare us for conference play. At the end of the day, we want to be playing our best basketball in March.”
Detroit Mercy sophomore guard, Corey Allen
opening statement
“With all the film that we covered, we knew they liked to get in the lane and they are very athletic. We just have to come back and prep better for our next contest.”
on his experience playing in Pauley Pavilion
“It’s really a great feeling. I grew up watching UCLA Basketball. This is my first time in L.A., so I really enjoyed the weather and the views. This is really a legendary building, so I feel honored to be playing here.”