University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Utah 84, UCLA 78
POSTGAME QUOTES
Utah 84, UCLA 78
Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
February 22, 2018
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Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach
on being down 14 points early in the second half
โYeah, we had a tough stretch in the first half where we did not defend very well. We got into some foul trouble. We tried to figure things out. Aaron goes for 40 minutes, attempts two free throws, thatโs a tough one for us, especially with how often he has the ball and how he draws a lot of attention. He draws a lot of contact. But, it was a tough one. We just didnโt defend in the first half, like weโve got to defend. I thought that we were better defensively in the second half. Offensively, I liked how we attacked their zone. I thought that we got some good looks and did a good job in a lot of different areas. We just had a stretch there in the first half where we were not very good, defensively.
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on what led to the poor defense late in the first half
โThey were hot. Utah shot 60-something percent in the first half. Youโve got give them credit because they made a lot of shots. [David] Collette was 9-for-9, I think, and Van Dyke was 6-for-12. We just let a couple of those guys get away from us. We just cannot defend that way. I think that this has been a team that, you know, for 30 to 32 minutes has proven that they can really defend. But what theyโve got to mature into is a team thatโll be able to do that for 40 minutes. And we do not always do that.โ
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on Utahโs success with driving the ball and kicking it for three-pointers
โWe got beat on the dribble-drive and we got beat in the post. I mean, at halftime it was something like 18-8 in the paint and thatโs absurd. We need to win the paint game, and we didnโt win the paint game tonight.โ
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on how he felt UCLAโs effort was on defense
โNot very good during that stretch. Thatโs a stretch in the game where I didnโt like anything about our defense. We have to got to figure out why, and weโve talked about it. We have talked about it, very consistently throughout the year, that 30 to 32 minutes, we have the ability to defend at a high level. But itโs those eight minutes that always get us. It got us again. It got us at Arizona State, and then it got us again today.โ
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on Parker Van Dykeโs deep fadeaway three-pointer in the final minutes
โThatโs good defense, I mean, he makes a 40-footer. Itโs just, hats off the to the kid. He made a great shot. That was not bad defense.โ
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on three players for UCLA scoring in double figures (Holiday, Welsh and Goloman)
โ[Aaron] Heโs going to be a finisher for us, obviously. We had a couple of key turnovers in the last three minutes instead of being able to get shots up. But, I liked how we fought. The guys gave great effort. We were down by double figures and were able to get back in it. I loved the effort. And our guys know, he [Aaron] is a go-to guy. We made enough plays, offensively, but we just didnโt get the stops on defense.โ
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on his level of concern that the team is still struggling on defense
โThat is what keeping us from going over the top. What are we now, 19-9 overall? And weโre 10-6 [in the Pac-12]. Weโve had a solid year. Itโs been good, but to take that next step, we have to go to be able to defend for 40 minutes.โ
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on whether he feels like UCLAโs back is against the wall after this loss
โWell, itโs just about every opportunity. Like we had said before we left, we had four guaranteed opportunities and now we are guaranteed three opportunities. So, youโre trying to make the most of it. And we did not do that tonight. Weโll have to strap it up on Sunday and itโll be Senior Day for them [Colorado] and theyโve already beat us. So, it isnโt an easy situation. We have to figure out how weโll go in there and get a win.โ
ย
on several offensive charges by UCLA in the second half that hampered the Bruinsโ momentum
โWell, they hurt a lot. They hurt a lot. Youโve got to give them credit. They got in the way. And then they got the good calls by getting in the way. We did not do a very good job of getting in the way.โ
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on being able to play strong defense for an entire 40-minute game
โI mean, weโve just gottaโ do it, pretty much. Itโs that simple. Weโve just got to go out there and do it. Tonight, we defended somewhat during parts of the game. But obviously during their big run, it helped them to get out to big leads. That makes it tough to keep coming back all night. So, weโve just gottaโ get out there and do it.โ
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on UCLAโs strong start early in the first half and strong finish late in the second half
โTo start our second half, we were missing shots. We did not get stops. That obviously does not work out too well with Utah being able to get up by 14 points. Thatโs just tough. We canโt do that coming out of halftime. And, Iโve got to do better to get better shots out of halftime or to just get us going. Iโve got to either score or help to get my teammates involved.โ
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on drawing contact against Utah and not being able to get to the free throw line
โI canโt worry about that. Iโm just playing.โ
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on what was working for the Bruins late in the second half as they reduced Utahโs lead
โWell, I just tried to be as aggressive as I can, pretty much. I just tried to get into the paint, just get there by any means possible and things will open up from there. So, thatโs really all I tried doing. My teammates did a great job of hitting shots and of finding me, too, on the fast breaks and stuff like that.โ
ย
on how tough this loss is to absorb with so few regular-season games remaining
โIt hurts, obviously. We might be down [in the standings] to USC since they beat Colorado. It obviously hurts us, but at the same time, itโs over with and we have to move on and get the next two games.โ
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UCLA senior center Thomas Welsh
on how concerned the team was with its defense on Thursday night
โI mean, yes, itโs concerning to see that happen when youโre in late February and to have a game like that, where we donโt play our best defensively โ thatโs never good. But you have to give credit to them [Utah]. They made a lot of great shots. At the same time, we gave them some great looks, too. There are definitely a lot of areas of improvement with our defense. We have two regular-season games coming up and weโll have to iron those things out before March gets going.โ
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on Utahโs scoring run late in the first half and UCLAโs defensive effort
โItโs pretty tough [when talking about effort] because your effort is one thing that you can always control. Itโs one of those areas where youโve got to give 100 percent effort on every possession, at every moment and in every game. So, itโs not good, but thatโs on us to come together after a game like this. We have to hunker down, come together, get rebounds, get stops and do all the small things that we need to do to win. And yeah, we did not do that tonight. Weโve got to learn from this and get ready for the next one.โ
ย
on whether he feels like the game on Sunday is a must-win contest
โI mean, in late February, they all feel like theyโre must-win games, more or less. At this time of year, you want to be clicking in every way, and winning proves that. It just helps your resume and everything else as you move forward. Yeah, we have these two final regular-season games and we just want to make sure that we make the most out of them.โ
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Utah 84, UCLA 78
Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
February 22, 2018
ย
Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach
on being down 14 points early in the second half
โYeah, we had a tough stretch in the first half where we did not defend very well. We got into some foul trouble. We tried to figure things out. Aaron goes for 40 minutes, attempts two free throws, thatโs a tough one for us, especially with how often he has the ball and how he draws a lot of attention. He draws a lot of contact. But, it was a tough one. We just didnโt defend in the first half, like weโve got to defend. I thought that we were better defensively in the second half. Offensively, I liked how we attacked their zone. I thought that we got some good looks and did a good job in a lot of different areas. We just had a stretch there in the first half where we were not very good, defensively.
ย
on what led to the poor defense late in the first half
โThey were hot. Utah shot 60-something percent in the first half. Youโve got give them credit because they made a lot of shots. [David] Collette was 9-for-9, I think, and Van Dyke was 6-for-12. We just let a couple of those guys get away from us. We just cannot defend that way. I think that this has been a team that, you know, for 30 to 32 minutes has proven that they can really defend. But what theyโve got to mature into is a team thatโll be able to do that for 40 minutes. And we do not always do that.โ
ย
on Utahโs success with driving the ball and kicking it for three-pointers
โWe got beat on the dribble-drive and we got beat in the post. I mean, at halftime it was something like 18-8 in the paint and thatโs absurd. We need to win the paint game, and we didnโt win the paint game tonight.โ
ย
on how he felt UCLAโs effort was on defense
โNot very good during that stretch. Thatโs a stretch in the game where I didnโt like anything about our defense. We have to got to figure out why, and weโve talked about it. We have talked about it, very consistently throughout the year, that 30 to 32 minutes, we have the ability to defend at a high level. But itโs those eight minutes that always get us. It got us again. It got us at Arizona State, and then it got us again today.โ
ย
on Parker Van Dykeโs deep fadeaway three-pointer in the final minutes
โThatโs good defense, I mean, he makes a 40-footer. Itโs just, hats off the to the kid. He made a great shot. That was not bad defense.โ
ย
on three players for UCLA scoring in double figures (Holiday, Welsh and Goloman)
โ[Aaron] Heโs going to be a finisher for us, obviously. We had a couple of key turnovers in the last three minutes instead of being able to get shots up. But, I liked how we fought. The guys gave great effort. We were down by double figures and were able to get back in it. I loved the effort. And our guys know, he [Aaron] is a go-to guy. We made enough plays, offensively, but we just didnโt get the stops on defense.โ
ย
on his level of concern that the team is still struggling on defense
โThat is what keeping us from going over the top. What are we now, 19-9 overall? And weโre 10-6 [in the Pac-12]. Weโve had a solid year. Itโs been good, but to take that next step, we have to go to be able to defend for 40 minutes.โ
ย
on whether he feels like UCLAโs back is against the wall after this loss
โWell, itโs just about every opportunity. Like we had said before we left, we had four guaranteed opportunities and now we are guaranteed three opportunities. So, youโre trying to make the most of it. And we did not do that tonight. Weโll have to strap it up on Sunday and itโll be Senior Day for them [Colorado] and theyโve already beat us. So, it isnโt an easy situation. We have to figure out how weโll go in there and get a win.โ
ย
on several offensive charges by UCLA in the second half that hampered the Bruinsโ momentum
โWell, they hurt a lot. They hurt a lot. Youโve got to give them credit. They got in the way. And then they got the good calls by getting in the way. We did not do a very good job of getting in the way.โ
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on being able to play strong defense for an entire 40-minute game
โI mean, weโve just gottaโ do it, pretty much. Itโs that simple. Weโve just got to go out there and do it. Tonight, we defended somewhat during parts of the game. But obviously during their big run, it helped them to get out to big leads. That makes it tough to keep coming back all night. So, weโve just gottaโ get out there and do it.โ
ย
on UCLAโs strong start early in the first half and strong finish late in the second half
โTo start our second half, we were missing shots. We did not get stops. That obviously does not work out too well with Utah being able to get up by 14 points. Thatโs just tough. We canโt do that coming out of halftime. And, Iโve got to do better to get better shots out of halftime or to just get us going. Iโve got to either score or help to get my teammates involved.โ
ย
on drawing contact against Utah and not being able to get to the free throw line
โI canโt worry about that. Iโm just playing.โ
ย
on what was working for the Bruins late in the second half as they reduced Utahโs lead
โWell, I just tried to be as aggressive as I can, pretty much. I just tried to get into the paint, just get there by any means possible and things will open up from there. So, thatโs really all I tried doing. My teammates did a great job of hitting shots and of finding me, too, on the fast breaks and stuff like that.โ
ย
on how tough this loss is to absorb with so few regular-season games remaining
โIt hurts, obviously. We might be down [in the standings] to USC since they beat Colorado. It obviously hurts us, but at the same time, itโs over with and we have to move on and get the next two games.โ
ย
UCLA senior center Thomas Welsh
on how concerned the team was with its defense on Thursday night
โI mean, yes, itโs concerning to see that happen when youโre in late February and to have a game like that, where we donโt play our best defensively โ thatโs never good. But you have to give credit to them [Utah]. They made a lot of great shots. At the same time, we gave them some great looks, too. There are definitely a lot of areas of improvement with our defense. We have two regular-season games coming up and weโll have to iron those things out before March gets going.โ
ย
on Utahโs scoring run late in the first half and UCLAโs defensive effort
โItโs pretty tough [when talking about effort] because your effort is one thing that you can always control. Itโs one of those areas where youโve got to give 100 percent effort on every possession, at every moment and in every game. So, itโs not good, but thatโs on us to come together after a game like this. We have to hunker down, come together, get rebounds, get stops and do all the small things that we need to do to win. And yeah, we did not do that tonight. Weโve got to learn from this and get ready for the next one.โ
ย
on whether he feels like the game on Sunday is a must-win contest
โI mean, in late February, they all feel like theyโre must-win games, more or less. At this time of year, you want to be clicking in every way, and winning proves that. It just helps your resume and everything else as you move forward. Yeah, we have these two final regular-season games and we just want to make sure that we make the most out of them.โ
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