Postgame Quotes – UCLA at Maryland (Dec. 14, 2022)
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 87, Maryland 60
XFINITY Center (College Park, Md.)
December 14, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Obviously, we’re not that much better than Maryland. They were in a bloodbath on Sunday, we were able to play our subs most of the game against Denver on Saturday. I think the schedule was clearly in our favor. We had played four of our last five at home, they’re coming off three straight bloodbaths. Their emotional tank might have been a little on empty. What they’ve done early is a miracle. Great recruiting class, great things to come for Maryland basketball, they have the right guy on charge.”
on the turnover margin
“That was our game plan. Take care of the ball. Our guys did a great job with the scouting report. Again, psychology of the schedule. They were beat up, and we were revved up to prove that we are a much better team defensively than we showed in Vegas. Our goal was to play great defense, hold them to one shot, take care of the ball. If we take care of the ball, we have plenty of guys who can score. Talent isn’t an issue for us, all we have to do is not turn it over. Tonight, our mind was on defense for the first time in a long time. It’s the hardest thing, to keep things grounded.”
on if the result changes his perception of the team’s potential
“I don’t get caught up in that. I try not to get ahead of myself. You guys asked me my first year if I was ready to just worry about rebuilding, then we won seven in a row and lost the Pac-12 title at the buzzer. It’s one game. You lose five in a row in February, tonight’s not going to matter. I don’t get ahead of myself. Injuries happen, pandemics happen. We have a chance to get better, we have eight freshman out there. Six scholarship freshmen. They’re going to get better, they’re all talented kids. Just have to make sure we have a singular mind, and we had a singular mind tonight. We were on a mission to be a better defensive team tonight. Like you said, we’re 55-2 in the last four years when we hold teams under 65 points. That might be why we win. Everyone has players, you have to play defense.”
on aggressive defense
“That’s who we are. We force 17 turnovers a game. Jalen Clark had 12 deflections and had four steals. He’s literally the best defensive player in the country. Now Jaime had some stuff going tonight defensively, he had four steals – that’s new for him– but I had his mind in the right spot tonight, I need to keep it there. Give him credit. We did a lot of switching, tried to not let them in the paint. Try to keep them out of a comfort zone. I think it snowballed. You guys know they’re better than that. I saw a team on an emotional gas tank that was almost empty. We were fortunate we caught them beat up.”
on UC Regents announcement
“I knew that was coming. A lot of politics. Understand, in California we like politics. We like to make everything pretty dramatic. The Big Ten thing has been done for a while.”
on Adem Bona
“By far his best game. We have to get him the ball more, he’s starting to get confident in his offense. We’ve really worked hard on our passing. We got him a lot of lobs tonight, got him the ball more tonight. Again, for him and Amari, it’s hard. ‘Well I’m a top-10 guy, I’m going to walk into college and just dominate,’ it takes some time. Your rate of improvement depends on your attitude and your effort, and he’s A+. So is Amari, all our freshmen are, that’s why their rate of improvement is going to help us get to where we hope we can get to in March.”
on limiting Maryland’s 3-point shooting
“I was more worried about their penetration. Kev is a good coach, he understands the easiest three is to drive and kick it out, and they’ve had a lot of success with that so far this year. We wanted to take away the drive to the kickout three. We were successful at doing that. Ian Martinez got it going, made some shots for them late. I was actually happy about that.”
UCLA freshman forward Adem Bona
on the team’s defensive performance
“We had a game plan coming in. We had a game plan to keep them out of the paint. We stuck to the game plan, and I believe we executed it very well. We trust the process. We prepared well for the game. We knew the game was going to be huge, and we came out and executed.”
on Maryland’s slow start
“There’s no team that’s going to come out and blow another team out. We knew that if we stuck to the plan, we were going to get good results. We stuck to the plan, and we got good results from there.”
on the Bruins’ large first-half lead
“It felt good, but we knew the job wasn’t over. We had to keep our foot on the gas and keep pushing. We knew they are a tough team. We kept doing what we were doing and what worked for us.”
on what the game means for this team’s potential
“I think it says a lot, that we can be a really great team. It shows our potential on the defensive end. We could a really good group, defensively. I think it’s starting to blossom.”
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on taking care of the ball against Maryland
“I think it had a lot to do with our complete and utter focus coming into this game. We had an opportunity here, coming into another team’s gym and they’re top-20, we needed a statement game to be made. All our guys were just bought in to what we needed to do to win. One of the keys in our victory was taking care of the ball and not letting them get into the paint, and we accomplished those two things. When you do that, we have enough talent on our team that we can put up points. We just trust in that, completely bought in, as you can see this is the result that you get.”
on securing four steals against Maryland
“It’s something I’m trying to do routinely. [Jaylen Clark] has been having a tremendous season, so I’m just trying to catch him. He’s kind of in front right, I’m trying to follow right behind with the way he’s been playing defense. Four steals, I’m just trying to keep those going.”
on the team’s big first-half lead
“It feels good. We have a long road trip, so that could have been real bad for the morale. We’re here on the East Coast, we’re trying to see the White House, we’re just trying to have fun.”
UCLA senior guard David Singleton
on the Bruins’ game plan on defense
“Defensively, we have been talking all week, you know, Maryland’s a great offensive team. We had to really lock down defensively. We followed Coach’s game plan and the scout. We took advantage of our opportunities.”
on keeping the team’s momentum going when Maryland continued calling timeouts in the first half
“I mean, it’s an away game. So naturally, it’s going to be hard. But to beat real teams like Maryland, you have to stay focused and stay locked in. We know what it takes to win, so that’s what we did tonight.”
on sinking a 3-pointer to help give UCLA a 26-7 lead and Maryland calling another timeout
“I felt like we were in a good place in the first five minutes. Defensively, our starters set the tone. I came in, and my job is to bring energy and leadership. And I feel like that’s what I did.”
on wanting to win and any expectations to dominate the game in that fashion
“I don’t expect any of that. I expect us – I don’t care about the score or the stats, I just care about how we play defensively and how we play as a team, offensively. We take care of the ball and have no turnovers. It’s not about if you win or not, it’s about how you win. That is the culture that we are trying to build.”
on the Bruins getting into a defensive groove early in the game and how he was seeing the basket well
“I just trust my work. It’s a team sport. Just move the ball and if the shots come, they come, and if they don’t, they don’t. But moving the ball, that was the key emphasis. Taking care of the ball and moving the ball. All of our guys are great scorers. I just so happened to take advantage of my opportunities.”
on any surprise that he was so wide open on multiple opportunities
“No, I’m just in the game. I’m just playing the game. Sometimes people miss assignments. We miss assignments all the time. So, it’s just part of the game.”
on if he feels like he’s playing some of the best basketball of his career
“Yeah, I feel like I’m playing the best basketball, but not because I’m scoring. Obviously I can shoot. That has always been part of my game. But it’s because I’m actually leading the guys, like with the younger guys, the older guys. I feel like part of it, and part of this is selfish of me, but I feel like it’s on me if we lose or play bad. Like, it’s on me, because I feel like I am an extension of the coach. I already know what it takes to win, and I’ve been here the longest.”
UCLA 87, Maryland 60
XFINITY Center (College Park, Md.)
December 14, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“Obviously, we’re not that much better than Maryland. They were in a bloodbath on Sunday, we were able to play our subs most of the game against Denver on Saturday. I think the schedule was clearly in our favor. We had played four of our last five at home, they’re coming off three straight bloodbaths. Their emotional tank might have been a little on empty. What they’ve done early is a miracle. Great recruiting class, great things to come for Maryland basketball, they have the right guy on charge.”
on the turnover margin
“That was our game plan. Take care of the ball. Our guys did a great job with the scouting report. Again, psychology of the schedule. They were beat up, and we were revved up to prove that we are a much better team defensively than we showed in Vegas. Our goal was to play great defense, hold them to one shot, take care of the ball. If we take care of the ball, we have plenty of guys who can score. Talent isn’t an issue for us, all we have to do is not turn it over. Tonight, our mind was on defense for the first time in a long time. It’s the hardest thing, to keep things grounded.”
on if the result changes his perception of the team’s potential
“I don’t get caught up in that. I try not to get ahead of myself. You guys asked me my first year if I was ready to just worry about rebuilding, then we won seven in a row and lost the Pac-12 title at the buzzer. It’s one game. You lose five in a row in February, tonight’s not going to matter. I don’t get ahead of myself. Injuries happen, pandemics happen. We have a chance to get better, we have eight freshman out there. Six scholarship freshmen. They’re going to get better, they’re all talented kids. Just have to make sure we have a singular mind, and we had a singular mind tonight. We were on a mission to be a better defensive team tonight. Like you said, we’re 55-2 in the last four years when we hold teams under 65 points. That might be why we win. Everyone has players, you have to play defense.”
on aggressive defense
“That’s who we are. We force 17 turnovers a game. Jalen Clark had 12 deflections and had four steals. He’s literally the best defensive player in the country. Now Jaime had some stuff going tonight defensively, he had four steals – that’s new for him– but I had his mind in the right spot tonight, I need to keep it there. Give him credit. We did a lot of switching, tried to not let them in the paint. Try to keep them out of a comfort zone. I think it snowballed. You guys know they’re better than that. I saw a team on an emotional gas tank that was almost empty. We were fortunate we caught them beat up.”
on UC Regents announcement
“I knew that was coming. A lot of politics. Understand, in California we like politics. We like to make everything pretty dramatic. The Big Ten thing has been done for a while.”
on Adem Bona
“By far his best game. We have to get him the ball more, he’s starting to get confident in his offense. We’ve really worked hard on our passing. We got him a lot of lobs tonight, got him the ball more tonight. Again, for him and Amari, it’s hard. ‘Well I’m a top-10 guy, I’m going to walk into college and just dominate,’ it takes some time. Your rate of improvement depends on your attitude and your effort, and he’s A+. So is Amari, all our freshmen are, that’s why their rate of improvement is going to help us get to where we hope we can get to in March.”
on limiting Maryland’s 3-point shooting
“I was more worried about their penetration. Kev is a good coach, he understands the easiest three is to drive and kick it out, and they’ve had a lot of success with that so far this year. We wanted to take away the drive to the kickout three. We were successful at doing that. Ian Martinez got it going, made some shots for them late. I was actually happy about that.”
UCLA freshman forward Adem Bona
on the team’s defensive performance
“We had a game plan coming in. We had a game plan to keep them out of the paint. We stuck to the game plan, and I believe we executed it very well. We trust the process. We prepared well for the game. We knew the game was going to be huge, and we came out and executed.”
on Maryland’s slow start
“There’s no team that’s going to come out and blow another team out. We knew that if we stuck to the plan, we were going to get good results. We stuck to the plan, and we got good results from there.”
on the Bruins’ large first-half lead
“It felt good, but we knew the job wasn’t over. We had to keep our foot on the gas and keep pushing. We knew they are a tough team. We kept doing what we were doing and what worked for us.”
on what the game means for this team’s potential
“I think it says a lot, that we can be a really great team. It shows our potential on the defensive end. We could a really good group, defensively. I think it’s starting to blossom.”
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on taking care of the ball against Maryland
“I think it had a lot to do with our complete and utter focus coming into this game. We had an opportunity here, coming into another team’s gym and they’re top-20, we needed a statement game to be made. All our guys were just bought in to what we needed to do to win. One of the keys in our victory was taking care of the ball and not letting them get into the paint, and we accomplished those two things. When you do that, we have enough talent on our team that we can put up points. We just trust in that, completely bought in, as you can see this is the result that you get.”
on securing four steals against Maryland
“It’s something I’m trying to do routinely. [Jaylen Clark] has been having a tremendous season, so I’m just trying to catch him. He’s kind of in front right, I’m trying to follow right behind with the way he’s been playing defense. Four steals, I’m just trying to keep those going.”
on the team’s big first-half lead
“It feels good. We have a long road trip, so that could have been real bad for the morale. We’re here on the East Coast, we’re trying to see the White House, we’re just trying to have fun.”
UCLA senior guard David Singleton
on the Bruins’ game plan on defense
“Defensively, we have been talking all week, you know, Maryland’s a great offensive team. We had to really lock down defensively. We followed Coach’s game plan and the scout. We took advantage of our opportunities.”
on keeping the team’s momentum going when Maryland continued calling timeouts in the first half
“I mean, it’s an away game. So naturally, it’s going to be hard. But to beat real teams like Maryland, you have to stay focused and stay locked in. We know what it takes to win, so that’s what we did tonight.”
on sinking a 3-pointer to help give UCLA a 26-7 lead and Maryland calling another timeout
“I felt like we were in a good place in the first five minutes. Defensively, our starters set the tone. I came in, and my job is to bring energy and leadership. And I feel like that’s what I did.”
on wanting to win and any expectations to dominate the game in that fashion
“I don’t expect any of that. I expect us – I don’t care about the score or the stats, I just care about how we play defensively and how we play as a team, offensively. We take care of the ball and have no turnovers. It’s not about if you win or not, it’s about how you win. That is the culture that we are trying to build.”
on the Bruins getting into a defensive groove early in the game and how he was seeing the basket well
“I just trust my work. It’s a team sport. Just move the ball and if the shots come, they come, and if they don’t, they don’t. But moving the ball, that was the key emphasis. Taking care of the ball and moving the ball. All of our guys are great scorers. I just so happened to take advantage of my opportunities.”
on any surprise that he was so wide open on multiple opportunities
“No, I’m just in the game. I’m just playing the game. Sometimes people miss assignments. We miss assignments all the time. So, it’s just part of the game.”
on if he feels like he’s playing some of the best basketball of his career
“Yeah, I feel like I’m playing the best basketball, but not because I’m scoring. Obviously I can shoot. That has always been part of my game. But it’s because I’m actually leading the guys, like with the younger guys, the older guys. I feel like part of it, and part of this is selfish of me, but I feel like it’s on me if we lose or play bad. Like, it’s on me, because I feel like I am an extension of the coach. I already know what it takes to win, and I’ve been here the longest.”