Postgame Quotes – Oregon 64, UCLA 59
POSTGAME QUOTES
Oregon 64, UCLA 59
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
Dec. 30, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on playing well in a tough environment
“You can look at it a lot of ways. I told the guys, [if] we take care of the ball and keep our turnovers down, we’re going to win. We didn’t do that. Once we got in control of the game, we got loose and sloppy with the ball. That cost us the game. The other thing I would tell you is our shot [selection]. Staying on offense. There were some guys, Lazar [Stefanovic], in particular, who doesn’t usually ever do it. We had a decided advantage in the paint. You can’t get the ball in the paint if you’re shooting the first ball, first three every time. Adem, 6-for-7. Berke, 5-for-7, and Brandon Williams was 3-for-4. Your quick math is 14-for-18. We had to play most of our mobile guys because they were playing so small. Frustrating. Frustrating. Shot selection. We got to get the ball inside. Our defense is a different question. They had great guard play at home. A lot of their threes, I’m going to say five of them, we walked away from a guy. Just walked away from a guy. We’re good enough to win, we’re just not smart enough. We got to be smarter.”
on three-point accuracy
“Well, I thought we took some bad ones. When the gameplan is let’s shoot wide-open threes or pound it inside, we were hunting some. I’ll give you a great way to sum the game up, but right now we’re still struggling to play smart. [Jermaine] Couisnard got hurt and was laying on the ground. We were on the break, so the refs let us play. It was five against four. We shot a three that was an airball. You can’t get an open shot five on four. We took two passes and shot a ridiculous shot. So, we’re really struggling with shot selection at times and our passing isn’t great. That makes it hard to get the ball inside, which we really need to do a better job of. Our competitive spirit is not enough. We got to get some points, get the ball inside more and better shot selection. You don’t get a great shot if you take an average to bad shot. You can’t get it inside and you can’t get a great shot. That was disappointing. Defensively, I told you, we had breakdowns on switches and Sebastian [Mack] went for a steal that started their run. I told him to stop doing it in practice a thousand times. On a veteran team, he’d play about five minutes a game and I got to play him.”
on sophomore Adem Bona’s strong showing
“Adem is a good player, but I’m going to tell you he’s a sophomore. I don’t care draft boards and all that type of stuff. Go tell me how good Zach Edey was as a sophomore. Very few elite players are freshmen or sophomores. They might be elite talents and get drafted high. He’s a sophomore, but for us he’s our best guy. He’s our only returning starter, so I’m asking a lot of him. He’s progressing. He’s got growing pains. I’m probably more frustrated because I need him to act like a senior. So, I’m probably asking him to do some things he’s not ready to do yet, but I really got no choice. I was disappointed in Lazar [Stefanovic] today. He’s a wonderful kid. His shot selection was disappointing. But I tried to play Ilane [Fibleuil], but he immediately got in and gave up a layup. So, it’s tough.”
on freshman Berke Buyuktuncel’s performance
“Berke is just going to keep getting better. Another guy that’s a freshman; he just needs minutes played. His defense was improved today, so he played 21 minutes and only had one foul. That keeps him on the floor and his offense will get more comfortable. He can hit a three. He can score in the post. The game will slow down for him and will continue to improve.”
UCLA junior guard/forward Lazar Stefanovic
on how tough it was to lose a close game
“It’s hard. You fight, you play, and you got a lead going in the second half, and things start going the other way and you come close again and you don't win a game. It's not the first game that we came close and haven't won it.”
on the Bruins’ shot selection
“We haven’t shot it well. Shot selection is part of it. I took a few shots that I shouldn’t have. I probably should have pump faked or something. It’s something we got to get better at. Our shooting percentage has to get better.”
on how they fix poor shot selection
“First, you get in the gym more and you shoot more. The more you pass the ball, the better baskets you have, the more open looks you have.”
on the three-point defense
“There was some miscommunication on the switches. It cost us a few threes. That shouldn’t happen.”
Oregon 64, UCLA 59
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
Dec. 30, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on playing well in a tough environment
“You can look at it a lot of ways. I told the guys, [if] we take care of the ball and keep our turnovers down, we’re going to win. We didn’t do that. Once we got in control of the game, we got loose and sloppy with the ball. That cost us the game. The other thing I would tell you is our shot [selection]. Staying on offense. There were some guys, Lazar [Stefanovic], in particular, who doesn’t usually ever do it. We had a decided advantage in the paint. You can’t get the ball in the paint if you’re shooting the first ball, first three every time. Adem, 6-for-7. Berke, 5-for-7, and Brandon Williams was 3-for-4. Your quick math is 14-for-18. We had to play most of our mobile guys because they were playing so small. Frustrating. Frustrating. Shot selection. We got to get the ball inside. Our defense is a different question. They had great guard play at home. A lot of their threes, I’m going to say five of them, we walked away from a guy. Just walked away from a guy. We’re good enough to win, we’re just not smart enough. We got to be smarter.”
on three-point accuracy
“Well, I thought we took some bad ones. When the gameplan is let’s shoot wide-open threes or pound it inside, we were hunting some. I’ll give you a great way to sum the game up, but right now we’re still struggling to play smart. [Jermaine] Couisnard got hurt and was laying on the ground. We were on the break, so the refs let us play. It was five against four. We shot a three that was an airball. You can’t get an open shot five on four. We took two passes and shot a ridiculous shot. So, we’re really struggling with shot selection at times and our passing isn’t great. That makes it hard to get the ball inside, which we really need to do a better job of. Our competitive spirit is not enough. We got to get some points, get the ball inside more and better shot selection. You don’t get a great shot if you take an average to bad shot. You can’t get it inside and you can’t get a great shot. That was disappointing. Defensively, I told you, we had breakdowns on switches and Sebastian [Mack] went for a steal that started their run. I told him to stop doing it in practice a thousand times. On a veteran team, he’d play about five minutes a game and I got to play him.”
on sophomore Adem Bona’s strong showing
“Adem is a good player, but I’m going to tell you he’s a sophomore. I don’t care draft boards and all that type of stuff. Go tell me how good Zach Edey was as a sophomore. Very few elite players are freshmen or sophomores. They might be elite talents and get drafted high. He’s a sophomore, but for us he’s our best guy. He’s our only returning starter, so I’m asking a lot of him. He’s progressing. He’s got growing pains. I’m probably more frustrated because I need him to act like a senior. So, I’m probably asking him to do some things he’s not ready to do yet, but I really got no choice. I was disappointed in Lazar [Stefanovic] today. He’s a wonderful kid. His shot selection was disappointing. But I tried to play Ilane [Fibleuil], but he immediately got in and gave up a layup. So, it’s tough.”
on freshman Berke Buyuktuncel’s performance
“Berke is just going to keep getting better. Another guy that’s a freshman; he just needs minutes played. His defense was improved today, so he played 21 minutes and only had one foul. That keeps him on the floor and his offense will get more comfortable. He can hit a three. He can score in the post. The game will slow down for him and will continue to improve.”
UCLA junior guard/forward Lazar Stefanovic
on how tough it was to lose a close game
“It’s hard. You fight, you play, and you got a lead going in the second half, and things start going the other way and you come close again and you don't win a game. It's not the first game that we came close and haven't won it.”
on the Bruins’ shot selection
“We haven’t shot it well. Shot selection is part of it. I took a few shots that I shouldn’t have. I probably should have pump faked or something. It’s something we got to get better at. Our shooting percentage has to get better.”
on how they fix poor shot selection
“First, you get in the gym more and you shoot more. The more you pass the ball, the better baskets you have, the more open looks you have.”
on the three-point defense
“There was some miscommunication on the switches. It cost us a few threes. That shouldn’t happen.”