Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Colorado
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 73, Colorado 61
December 1, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s status after his hard fall
“Obviously Jaime took a hard fall. All our doctors did all the stuff. They actually cleared him, but I just wasn’t comfortable. I wanted to get [assistant coach] Mike Lewis out there to watch him warm up and I’m always erring on the side of safety when I coach my players. I just wasn’t comfortable about it. That’s your job when you’re the coach. Sometimes you’ve got to sit players for themselves. That kid would run through a wall. He says it’s fine. He passed the concussion tests and all of that stuff, but he fell pretty hard on his head.”
on Myles Johnson
“He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 14 deflections, so he’s got a UCLA triple-double. What I told him was, ‘That’s what I want to see every game.’ So, for him, being included in the offense and having plays demanded of him, I think he’s been such a nice guy his whole career, people just kind of accepted who he used to be. My message to him coming here: ‘I don’t accept that from anybody.’ I came here to try to win a championship. I want every guy to become a better player, make the N.B.A., play in Europe, whatever. He’s getting pushed here like he never has before.”
on Tyger Campbell
“Same with him. I’ve seen that guy in practice. Now, some of their strategy was forcing him to shoot. That was their game plan. I’m not telling you any secrets. That was their game plan. I like the fact that he didn’t even think twice because for us to become the team we can become, we get everybody healthy – Tyger’s got to be the guy who’s capable of that. If you want to have that game plan, he can go give you 21 (points). I accepted he was a young player for two years, grooming him, getting him to give his best effort but not anymore. He’s got to try to be one of the best players out there. He’s got to take it personally.”
on continually challenging Myles Johnson
“Every day. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, so today you saw the culmination of a lot of work. Darren Savino should have been a head coach three years ago when I left Cincinnati and he should’ve gotten that job. Now, Wes Miller is my friend and I’m doing whatever I can to help counsel him and I want nothing but the best for him. But Darren is as good as there is. He does an unbelievable job developing players. So you’re seeing his work with a lot of them – his work with Myles pay off.”
on seeing growth from the team in Cody Riley’s absence
“Oh, definitely. Well, first of all, if you tell me we can get out of this and get Cody back with only one loss, I’d take it now. If you would have told me we’d beat Colorado by 12 and Jaime has no points and no rebounds because he gets banged on the ground, I would have taken that. But I think it makes them better. If you can get out if it, it’d be awesome. I think it’s obviously going to help Myles and Kenny’s development. Jaime not playing tonight was not good for my blood pressure or heart, but it was good for Peyton and Jaylen Clark. … I try to keep my eye on who we need to be in March.”
redshirt senior center Myles Johnson
on his performance
“Definitely happy I could perform like that today, just doing everything I can to help our team get the “dub.”
on staying mentally ready
“Just be locked into our scouting report, think about all the things that we’re working on. The things that we don’t want Colorado to do, just focus on that on defense. And on offense just play a little bit more poised, be more patient, I think that’s been the key today, I think the past couple games I rushed a little bit.”
on being challenged by Coach Cronin
“Coach Cronin always pushes me to be the best player I can, and he definitely wants me to – on offense – be as aggressive as possible, try to score whenever I can. Sometimes I think to pass it out, we have tremendous shooters to pass to, but Coach Cronin is always pushing me: you’re in the paint, it’s your time. I’m definitely thankful he pushes me on offense that much, even on defense he pushes me to be the best player I can on both sides of the floor.”
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on his 21-point performance
“When I’m out there, I’m just trying to take what the defense gives me. My teammates were finding me tonight and they were getting me open. I got some good looks and I just knocked them down. So it wasn’t anything about being super aggressive or thinking about me, I’m thinking about the team and whatever Coach needs me to do.”
on his confidence
“I always try to play confident because I know Coach believes in me, I know my team believes in me, and I believe in myself. I like to take the big shots. I’m sure every player does. Today, the shots were going in, I just kept shooting.”
UCLA 73, Colorado 61
December 1, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s status after his hard fall
“Obviously Jaime took a hard fall. All our doctors did all the stuff. They actually cleared him, but I just wasn’t comfortable. I wanted to get [assistant coach] Mike Lewis out there to watch him warm up and I’m always erring on the side of safety when I coach my players. I just wasn’t comfortable about it. That’s your job when you’re the coach. Sometimes you’ve got to sit players for themselves. That kid would run through a wall. He says it’s fine. He passed the concussion tests and all of that stuff, but he fell pretty hard on his head.”
on Myles Johnson
“He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 14 deflections, so he’s got a UCLA triple-double. What I told him was, ‘That’s what I want to see every game.’ So, for him, being included in the offense and having plays demanded of him, I think he’s been such a nice guy his whole career, people just kind of accepted who he used to be. My message to him coming here: ‘I don’t accept that from anybody.’ I came here to try to win a championship. I want every guy to become a better player, make the N.B.A., play in Europe, whatever. He’s getting pushed here like he never has before.”
on Tyger Campbell
“Same with him. I’ve seen that guy in practice. Now, some of their strategy was forcing him to shoot. That was their game plan. I’m not telling you any secrets. That was their game plan. I like the fact that he didn’t even think twice because for us to become the team we can become, we get everybody healthy – Tyger’s got to be the guy who’s capable of that. If you want to have that game plan, he can go give you 21 (points). I accepted he was a young player for two years, grooming him, getting him to give his best effort but not anymore. He’s got to try to be one of the best players out there. He’s got to take it personally.”
on continually challenging Myles Johnson
“Every day. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, so today you saw the culmination of a lot of work. Darren Savino should have been a head coach three years ago when I left Cincinnati and he should’ve gotten that job. Now, Wes Miller is my friend and I’m doing whatever I can to help counsel him and I want nothing but the best for him. But Darren is as good as there is. He does an unbelievable job developing players. So you’re seeing his work with a lot of them – his work with Myles pay off.”
on seeing growth from the team in Cody Riley’s absence
“Oh, definitely. Well, first of all, if you tell me we can get out of this and get Cody back with only one loss, I’d take it now. If you would have told me we’d beat Colorado by 12 and Jaime has no points and no rebounds because he gets banged on the ground, I would have taken that. But I think it makes them better. If you can get out if it, it’d be awesome. I think it’s obviously going to help Myles and Kenny’s development. Jaime not playing tonight was not good for my blood pressure or heart, but it was good for Peyton and Jaylen Clark. … I try to keep my eye on who we need to be in March.”
redshirt senior center Myles Johnson
on his performance
“Definitely happy I could perform like that today, just doing everything I can to help our team get the “dub.”
on staying mentally ready
“Just be locked into our scouting report, think about all the things that we’re working on. The things that we don’t want Colorado to do, just focus on that on defense. And on offense just play a little bit more poised, be more patient, I think that’s been the key today, I think the past couple games I rushed a little bit.”
on being challenged by Coach Cronin
“Coach Cronin always pushes me to be the best player I can, and he definitely wants me to – on offense – be as aggressive as possible, try to score whenever I can. Sometimes I think to pass it out, we have tremendous shooters to pass to, but Coach Cronin is always pushing me: you’re in the paint, it’s your time. I’m definitely thankful he pushes me on offense that much, even on defense he pushes me to be the best player I can on both sides of the floor.”
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on his 21-point performance
“When I’m out there, I’m just trying to take what the defense gives me. My teammates were finding me tonight and they were getting me open. I got some good looks and I just knocked them down. So it wasn’t anything about being super aggressive or thinking about me, I’m thinking about the team and whatever Coach needs me to do.”
on his confidence
“I always try to play confident because I know Coach believes in me, I know my team believes in me, and I believe in myself. I like to take the big shots. I’m sure every player does. Today, the shots were going in, I just kept shooting.”