Postgame Quotes – UCLA 68, Arizona State 66
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 68, Arizona State 66
Tempe, Ariz. (Desert Financial Arena)
Jan. 17, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what impressed him most about UCLA’s 15-point comeback
“A lot of things. We’re still not perfect, but they’re really hard to play against. They got great length and athleticism and quickness. Their team speed and the way they attack the ball, it’s hard to get the ball inside against them. We were able to do it. [Adem Bona] had some turnovers early, but his passing got better. We were able to get a lot of open threes. We were able to make some adjustments that the guys did a pretty good job of as the game went on, defending their quickness. I have been here a long time. There’s no ‘give up.’ I’m not allowing that. There’s never going to be ‘give up.’ But you got to get the ball in the basket to get the juices flowing. You start getting the ball in the basket, you get some juices flowing. I’ve been working with these guys on having fortitude and bounce in their step and not worrying about missed shots. And not worrying about the result. Like, I’m happy with the result. My job is to help all these guys get better and they’re super young. So, they’re going to get better. I’ve accomplished enough. I know some people don’t think I have. I have. I’ve been the coach of the year in many conferences, been to the Final Four. I’m a kid from the west side of Cincinnati whose dad was the high school coach. It’s about them [the players]. I’ve got to help them keep getting better, and if you do the right things, you have a chance to win.”
on Sebastian Mack’s clutch performance in the second half
“Yeah, well, once we got in the bonus. It’s hard to run an offense with multiple passes the way they deny. So, we went to try to spread them to attack them and use their aggression against them. He did a great job.”
on why he chose to start Will McClendon over Sebastian Mack in the second half
“I had told [Mack] in this game, him and Adem, you can’t dribble multiple times in short space. They’re going to steal the ball. Now if we get them spread out, that’s a different animal. I thought both those guys did the dead opposite of what the gameplan was. I wanted [Mack] to just calm down, that was really it. You got to calm down.”
on Adem Bona’s all-around performance
“Yeah. Hard to get him the ball in a game like that. Hard to get him the ball in a game like that. I still got to improve his perimeter defense against smaller people for his career. Obviously, for us, but obviously, for his career.”
on UCLA keeping its cool while Arizona State received multiple technical fouls
“I was happy with it. Very happy with it. … Sure, it’s not easy. I’ll give you a funny one. I wasn’t very good at it as a player. My dad is laughing at that one right now. But I was happy.”
on if this is a game where he can see the growth in the team
“I don’t believe in ‘one game turns it around.’ I told you we’re still grossly inexperienced. Saturday is going to be another brutal test and we just got to continue – I’m trying to make it about the guys on the team. Not about me. I love our fans, but we went to the Final Four, [if] Jaime [Jaquez Jr.] don’t blow his ankle, we could have won the national championship. I think we would have. It was against Saint Mary’s when he blew his ankle, late in the game. Then last year, I thought we was clearly the best team in the country and we had two guys out for the season. So, we’ve been on a charmed ride. Tough run this year. It is what it is. Great kids on the team. I’m going to coach them hard and try to get them better. They have to improve. So, for me, it’s about them. We’ll address the roster at the end of the season. But right now, it’s about them and we try to help them get better. They’re all great kids. They’re just young and inexperienced.”
on Brandon Williams’ impressive performance off the bench
“One thing about it is toughness, you can try to put it in people. When I recruited Jaylen Clark, it wasn’t for his skill. It was for his heart. Same thing with Brandon Williams. You got to recruit a guy that is naturally a tough dude. It’s just who he is. He tough rebounds. He’s not afraid. Guy has made one three all year [entering the game]. We can’t score, the guy has made one three all year, he shoots it in like he’s Steph Curry. He’s just a tough dude. The guy turned 18 about 60 days ago. I just think he's a tough dude. Great kid.”
UCLA sophomore forward/center Adem Bona
on his reaction to his career-high seven blocks
“I was like ‘Wooooo! I’ve got seven blocks!’ It was kind of exciting.”
on his improving all parts of his game
“Yeah, yeah. I try to be like a team player. Try to do everything I can to help my team win. I knew coming into the game today I was going to get trapped in the post because the game before this I had my way in the post. I knew it was coming, so I was ready to pass it out and find my open teammates. It was part of the gameplan coming into the game today.”
on UCLA’s 15-point comeback
“In the first half, we weren’t playing to our gameplan. We had a couple turnovers. We know they force a lot of turnovers as a team. They play really good defense as a team. They play fast. We realized we had to keep the ball with our team and I think we had less turnovers in the second half.”
on freshman guard Sebastian Mack taking over late in the game
“It was exciting. We have a lot of young guys on the team. So many young guys on the team stepped up today: Brandon Williams, Sebastian Mack. It’s really, really exciting for me to see them grow as a player in general and be an amazing player and be able to close a game like this on the road. It’s really amazing.”
on if he feels like the team is reaching a turning point in the season
“We’re taking huge strides as a team. We have a saying. We call it ‘steps.’ We made the first step against Washington. Now, against ASU we made our second step. We’re looking for making our next step. We have been through a rough stretch, but now I think we need to lock in as a team and take some big steps.”
on freshman Brandon Williams’ performance off the bench
“Amazing. I love the kid. He plays really hard. He’s one of the hardest workers on the team. To be able to see him do work day-to-day. He had some big-time rebounds today. He had big time shots. He had to take care of the ball in critical situations today.”
on the vibe in UCLA’s locker room
“It was amazing. The excitement is building up. We’re continuing from the Washington game, bringing it to ASU and taking it into our next game at U of A.”
UCLA freshman guard Sebastian Mack
on his back-to-back layups and steal to help seal UCLA’s victory
“That was doing whatever it takes to win. We’ve been in practice working hard trying to get over that hump. I feel like tonight we did that. I started off really slow, but I just kept working, listening to what coach said. He got on me a little bit. I know it’s all out of love. He told me just to keep playing.”
on if he felt like he needed to take over on offense late in the game
“Whatever the team need, I was there for it. When they needed me to penetrate and kick, I got my guys open shots. When they needed me to go score and get fouled, I was there. I was really doing whatever it took to win.”
on UCLA’s 15-point comeback in the second half
“Just listening to what coach was saying and applying the gameplan to the game. … Don’t give up. We had a little empty possessions, but we fixed that and kept going.”
on what this comeback win says about UCLA’s young team
“I say that we started to back up our dog fight. Our dog within us. I feel like that’s going to help us get over that hump.”
on freshman Brandon Williams’ performance off the bench
“We always talk about it. That’s always my roommate, so we talk about whenever our name is called, we’ll be in there ready to go.”
on if he feels like the team is reaching a turning point in the season
“I feel like we are getting it. But there’s still work to be done. We just got to keep taking it day-by-day, step-by-step.”
on what he anticipates the atmosphere at Arizona’s McKale Center to be like
“I’ve seen it, but I’m just worried about what’s within the circle at UCLA. Just working with my guys.”
UCLA 68, Arizona State 66
Tempe, Ariz. (Desert Financial Arena)
Jan. 17, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what impressed him most about UCLA’s 15-point comeback
“A lot of things. We’re still not perfect, but they’re really hard to play against. They got great length and athleticism and quickness. Their team speed and the way they attack the ball, it’s hard to get the ball inside against them. We were able to do it. [Adem Bona] had some turnovers early, but his passing got better. We were able to get a lot of open threes. We were able to make some adjustments that the guys did a pretty good job of as the game went on, defending their quickness. I have been here a long time. There’s no ‘give up.’ I’m not allowing that. There’s never going to be ‘give up.’ But you got to get the ball in the basket to get the juices flowing. You start getting the ball in the basket, you get some juices flowing. I’ve been working with these guys on having fortitude and bounce in their step and not worrying about missed shots. And not worrying about the result. Like, I’m happy with the result. My job is to help all these guys get better and they’re super young. So, they’re going to get better. I’ve accomplished enough. I know some people don’t think I have. I have. I’ve been the coach of the year in many conferences, been to the Final Four. I’m a kid from the west side of Cincinnati whose dad was the high school coach. It’s about them [the players]. I’ve got to help them keep getting better, and if you do the right things, you have a chance to win.”
on Sebastian Mack’s clutch performance in the second half
“Yeah, well, once we got in the bonus. It’s hard to run an offense with multiple passes the way they deny. So, we went to try to spread them to attack them and use their aggression against them. He did a great job.”
on why he chose to start Will McClendon over Sebastian Mack in the second half
“I had told [Mack] in this game, him and Adem, you can’t dribble multiple times in short space. They’re going to steal the ball. Now if we get them spread out, that’s a different animal. I thought both those guys did the dead opposite of what the gameplan was. I wanted [Mack] to just calm down, that was really it. You got to calm down.”
on Adem Bona’s all-around performance
“Yeah. Hard to get him the ball in a game like that. Hard to get him the ball in a game like that. I still got to improve his perimeter defense against smaller people for his career. Obviously, for us, but obviously, for his career.”
on UCLA keeping its cool while Arizona State received multiple technical fouls
“I was happy with it. Very happy with it. … Sure, it’s not easy. I’ll give you a funny one. I wasn’t very good at it as a player. My dad is laughing at that one right now. But I was happy.”
on if this is a game where he can see the growth in the team
“I don’t believe in ‘one game turns it around.’ I told you we’re still grossly inexperienced. Saturday is going to be another brutal test and we just got to continue – I’m trying to make it about the guys on the team. Not about me. I love our fans, but we went to the Final Four, [if] Jaime [Jaquez Jr.] don’t blow his ankle, we could have won the national championship. I think we would have. It was against Saint Mary’s when he blew his ankle, late in the game. Then last year, I thought we was clearly the best team in the country and we had two guys out for the season. So, we’ve been on a charmed ride. Tough run this year. It is what it is. Great kids on the team. I’m going to coach them hard and try to get them better. They have to improve. So, for me, it’s about them. We’ll address the roster at the end of the season. But right now, it’s about them and we try to help them get better. They’re all great kids. They’re just young and inexperienced.”
on Brandon Williams’ impressive performance off the bench
“One thing about it is toughness, you can try to put it in people. When I recruited Jaylen Clark, it wasn’t for his skill. It was for his heart. Same thing with Brandon Williams. You got to recruit a guy that is naturally a tough dude. It’s just who he is. He tough rebounds. He’s not afraid. Guy has made one three all year [entering the game]. We can’t score, the guy has made one three all year, he shoots it in like he’s Steph Curry. He’s just a tough dude. The guy turned 18 about 60 days ago. I just think he's a tough dude. Great kid.”
UCLA sophomore forward/center Adem Bona
on his reaction to his career-high seven blocks
“I was like ‘Wooooo! I’ve got seven blocks!’ It was kind of exciting.”
on his improving all parts of his game
“Yeah, yeah. I try to be like a team player. Try to do everything I can to help my team win. I knew coming into the game today I was going to get trapped in the post because the game before this I had my way in the post. I knew it was coming, so I was ready to pass it out and find my open teammates. It was part of the gameplan coming into the game today.”
on UCLA’s 15-point comeback
“In the first half, we weren’t playing to our gameplan. We had a couple turnovers. We know they force a lot of turnovers as a team. They play really good defense as a team. They play fast. We realized we had to keep the ball with our team and I think we had less turnovers in the second half.”
on freshman guard Sebastian Mack taking over late in the game
“It was exciting. We have a lot of young guys on the team. So many young guys on the team stepped up today: Brandon Williams, Sebastian Mack. It’s really, really exciting for me to see them grow as a player in general and be an amazing player and be able to close a game like this on the road. It’s really amazing.”
on if he feels like the team is reaching a turning point in the season
“We’re taking huge strides as a team. We have a saying. We call it ‘steps.’ We made the first step against Washington. Now, against ASU we made our second step. We’re looking for making our next step. We have been through a rough stretch, but now I think we need to lock in as a team and take some big steps.”
on freshman Brandon Williams’ performance off the bench
“Amazing. I love the kid. He plays really hard. He’s one of the hardest workers on the team. To be able to see him do work day-to-day. He had some big-time rebounds today. He had big time shots. He had to take care of the ball in critical situations today.”
on the vibe in UCLA’s locker room
“It was amazing. The excitement is building up. We’re continuing from the Washington game, bringing it to ASU and taking it into our next game at U of A.”
UCLA freshman guard Sebastian Mack
on his back-to-back layups and steal to help seal UCLA’s victory
“That was doing whatever it takes to win. We’ve been in practice working hard trying to get over that hump. I feel like tonight we did that. I started off really slow, but I just kept working, listening to what coach said. He got on me a little bit. I know it’s all out of love. He told me just to keep playing.”
on if he felt like he needed to take over on offense late in the game
“Whatever the team need, I was there for it. When they needed me to penetrate and kick, I got my guys open shots. When they needed me to go score and get fouled, I was there. I was really doing whatever it took to win.”
on UCLA’s 15-point comeback in the second half
“Just listening to what coach was saying and applying the gameplan to the game. … Don’t give up. We had a little empty possessions, but we fixed that and kept going.”
on what this comeback win says about UCLA’s young team
“I say that we started to back up our dog fight. Our dog within us. I feel like that’s going to help us get over that hump.”
on freshman Brandon Williams’ performance off the bench
“We always talk about it. That’s always my roommate, so we talk about whenever our name is called, we’ll be in there ready to go.”
on if he feels like the team is reaching a turning point in the season
“I feel like we are getting it. But there’s still work to be done. We just got to keep taking it day-by-day, step-by-step.”
on what he anticipates the atmosphere at Arizona’s McKale Center to be like
“I’ve seen it, but I’m just worried about what’s within the circle at UCLA. Just working with my guys.”