University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. Belmont
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 72, Belmont 74
December 15, 2018
ย
Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โBig congratulations to Coach Byrd and their team. We knew that they were very well-coached and a good team going in to this, this was a scary game for us. This is on me. I did a really poor job this week of trying to manage tasks. Probably worked them too hard. I didnโt like our energy, our attention to detail, our enthusiasm, and that all falls squarely on my shoulders. Really poor job of getting them ready. I thought of our 10 games now, that was the most lethargic effort. All of those things combined, the inability to concentrate, 16 missed free throws, that falls on me. Did a good job of getting to the line, had some positive things, but I thought the effort and the energy was really low.โ
ย
on the final offensive possession of the game
โTried to hit Cody [Riley] and then hit Jay[len Hands] on the run. Again, thatโs on me. I gotta figure out how we throw it, when weโre wearing white, to the guy in the white jersey.
ย
On Belmont getting behind the defense late in the game
โWell, we tried to cover it. We probably covered it too much. Itโs a young group, so maybe weโre putting too much on them as far as scouting reports and those types of things. Thought we covered the backdoor, I would guess we gave up three or four backdoors in the second half alone not to mention the last play of the game. Itโs just our toughness, attention to detail, and I thought our offense was just really, really stagnant. 12 assists is not who we are. Weโre a team that should be moving the ball, should be a lot of guys getting assists, not the one guy. Not happy with our effort on offense at all. Now we get Cincinnati who gives up about 12 points a game, so itโll be a great test for our half-court offense.โ
ย
On free throw struggles
โI would guess weโre below 60% for the year, probably closer to 50%. Going 12-28 from the line is hard to overcome, it makes your offense look really bad. If we just make 20 of those, itโs eight more points and weโre in the 80s. We gotta do a better job in practice of working on it, trying to put more pressure on the guys to figure it out. Itโs obviously a glaring weakness of our team right now.โ
ย
On Kris Wilkesโ second-half performance
โThatโs probably on me too, just playing him too much. I gotta do a better job of subbing him. I thought we got some good play out of Jules {Bernard] and David [Singleton] and they got kinda hurried up a little bit. Thatโs on me, I gotta leave Jules out there longer and I gotta leave David out there longer. We really gotta look at that moving forward because I thought both Hands and Wilkes were tired in the second half.โ
ย
On correcting mistakes
โWeโll get in an early practice on Monday, and try to clean up what we didnโt do well with this [game]. Then weโll play the next one. Try to be better in that one than we were tonight.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt junior Prince Ali
on Belmontโs backdoor layups at the end of the game
โIt was bad defense on our end. The coaches did not tell us to do that. We pressed up. It was a great draw by them, they cleared our lane out and we should have noticed that, so thatโs on us.โ
ย
on the teamโs free throw struggles
โThatโs something you canโt really fix, either you can make them or not. Itโs a concentration thing. Everybody knows we can make them, we shoot them in practice and make them. When you come out here, you gotta concentrate.โ
ย
on the teamโs performance
โWe should have come out and won this game. Itโs just something that we have to figure out internally with everybody. But weโre gonna be alright, weโre gonna be alright.โ
ย
on the upcoming road trip
โThis is a really good opportunity, weโre about to play two really good teams. Especially coming off of what just happened, this is gonna show how tough we are.โ
ย
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on if the team felt flat because of finals
โIt had nothing to do with finals. We came out here and didnโt play hard. [Belmont] played hard the whole 40 minutes and we just got beat.โ
ย
on his second-half performance
โI came out and played hard in the first half, but I didnโt come out with the same intensity in the second half. They had the same defender on me for the whole night. I donโt think that I was tired. I just didnโt play nearly as hard as I did in the first half. A couple layups I missed that I should have made, free throws I should have hit.โ
ย
Belmont Head Coach Rick Byrd
On senior guard Kevin McClainโs point guard play โฆ
โActually, he played the two-guard for the last two seasons, and he backed up our point guard last season. He is actually a better two-guard. We had a moment in practice this week where he had been forcing the action, and we decided to address it. To his credit, he responded today. He was really the difference today.โ
ย
On the victory โฆ
โIt is important for us to really respond well to our opponents. We took our guys to the UCLA Hall of Fame; we really want to respect our opponents. The kids loved it. They did not know who John Wooden was, so it was like Elvis to them. But in my era, Coach Wooden was the guy. He was what all coaches look up to. So to take them to the Hall of Fame was very special. This is our biggest win since we beat North Carolina (in 2013), but you have to have some help. UCLA missed free throws today, and so did North Carolina.โ
ย
On where they go from here โฆ
โWe start three freshmen, so it can be heady. We play Western Kentucky, and then we play Purdue. We donโt have time to be cocky; I hope they will be mature about it.โ
ย
Belmont senior Kevin McClain
On his overall play โฆ
โI feel like a two-guard and playing off the ball is better for me in Coach Byrdโs system. I like to call it a combo guard.โ
ย
On their practices this week โฆ
โI was forced into some things. I was going through a slump so I just told myself to relax. I also told myself it will come, and I will just have to find and make the right play.โ
ย
On their takeaways from the victory โฆ
โWe got Purdue, and, oh yeah, Western Kentucky. They have a Top 10 freshman there, so we have to be ready. If we can play against these big guys (UCLA), we can play against anybody else.โ
UCLA 72, Belmont 74
December 15, 2018
ย
Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โBig congratulations to Coach Byrd and their team. We knew that they were very well-coached and a good team going in to this, this was a scary game for us. This is on me. I did a really poor job this week of trying to manage tasks. Probably worked them too hard. I didnโt like our energy, our attention to detail, our enthusiasm, and that all falls squarely on my shoulders. Really poor job of getting them ready. I thought of our 10 games now, that was the most lethargic effort. All of those things combined, the inability to concentrate, 16 missed free throws, that falls on me. Did a good job of getting to the line, had some positive things, but I thought the effort and the energy was really low.โ
ย
on the final offensive possession of the game
โTried to hit Cody [Riley] and then hit Jay[len Hands] on the run. Again, thatโs on me. I gotta figure out how we throw it, when weโre wearing white, to the guy in the white jersey.
ย
On Belmont getting behind the defense late in the game
โWell, we tried to cover it. We probably covered it too much. Itโs a young group, so maybe weโre putting too much on them as far as scouting reports and those types of things. Thought we covered the backdoor, I would guess we gave up three or four backdoors in the second half alone not to mention the last play of the game. Itโs just our toughness, attention to detail, and I thought our offense was just really, really stagnant. 12 assists is not who we are. Weโre a team that should be moving the ball, should be a lot of guys getting assists, not the one guy. Not happy with our effort on offense at all. Now we get Cincinnati who gives up about 12 points a game, so itโll be a great test for our half-court offense.โ
ย
On free throw struggles
โI would guess weโre below 60% for the year, probably closer to 50%. Going 12-28 from the line is hard to overcome, it makes your offense look really bad. If we just make 20 of those, itโs eight more points and weโre in the 80s. We gotta do a better job in practice of working on it, trying to put more pressure on the guys to figure it out. Itโs obviously a glaring weakness of our team right now.โ
ย
On Kris Wilkesโ second-half performance
โThatโs probably on me too, just playing him too much. I gotta do a better job of subbing him. I thought we got some good play out of Jules {Bernard] and David [Singleton] and they got kinda hurried up a little bit. Thatโs on me, I gotta leave Jules out there longer and I gotta leave David out there longer. We really gotta look at that moving forward because I thought both Hands and Wilkes were tired in the second half.โ
ย
On correcting mistakes
โWeโll get in an early practice on Monday, and try to clean up what we didnโt do well with this [game]. Then weโll play the next one. Try to be better in that one than we were tonight.โ
ย
UCLA redshirt junior Prince Ali
on Belmontโs backdoor layups at the end of the game
โIt was bad defense on our end. The coaches did not tell us to do that. We pressed up. It was a great draw by them, they cleared our lane out and we should have noticed that, so thatโs on us.โ
ย
on the teamโs free throw struggles
โThatโs something you canโt really fix, either you can make them or not. Itโs a concentration thing. Everybody knows we can make them, we shoot them in practice and make them. When you come out here, you gotta concentrate.โ
ย
on the teamโs performance
โWe should have come out and won this game. Itโs just something that we have to figure out internally with everybody. But weโre gonna be alright, weโre gonna be alright.โ
ย
on the upcoming road trip
โThis is a really good opportunity, weโre about to play two really good teams. Especially coming off of what just happened, this is gonna show how tough we are.โ
ย
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on if the team felt flat because of finals
โIt had nothing to do with finals. We came out here and didnโt play hard. [Belmont] played hard the whole 40 minutes and we just got beat.โ
ย
on his second-half performance
โI came out and played hard in the first half, but I didnโt come out with the same intensity in the second half. They had the same defender on me for the whole night. I donโt think that I was tired. I just didnโt play nearly as hard as I did in the first half. A couple layups I missed that I should have made, free throws I should have hit.โ
ย
Belmont Head Coach Rick Byrd
On senior guard Kevin McClainโs point guard play โฆ
โActually, he played the two-guard for the last two seasons, and he backed up our point guard last season. He is actually a better two-guard. We had a moment in practice this week where he had been forcing the action, and we decided to address it. To his credit, he responded today. He was really the difference today.โ
ย
On the victory โฆ
โIt is important for us to really respond well to our opponents. We took our guys to the UCLA Hall of Fame; we really want to respect our opponents. The kids loved it. They did not know who John Wooden was, so it was like Elvis to them. But in my era, Coach Wooden was the guy. He was what all coaches look up to. So to take them to the Hall of Fame was very special. This is our biggest win since we beat North Carolina (in 2013), but you have to have some help. UCLA missed free throws today, and so did North Carolina.โ
ย
On where they go from here โฆ
โWe start three freshmen, so it can be heady. We play Western Kentucky, and then we play Purdue. We donโt have time to be cocky; I hope they will be mature about it.โ
ย
Belmont senior Kevin McClain
On his overall play โฆ
โI feel like a two-guard and playing off the ball is better for me in Coach Byrdโs system. I like to call it a combo guard.โ
ย
On their practices this week โฆ
โI was forced into some things. I was going through a slump so I just told myself to relax. I also told myself it will come, and I will just have to find and make the right play.โ
ย
On their takeaways from the victory โฆ
โWe got Purdue, and, oh yeah, Western Kentucky. They have a Top 10 freshman there, so we have to be ready. If we can play against these big guys (UCLA), we can play against anybody else.โ