Postgame Quotes – UCLA 61, California 60
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 61, California 60
Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
February 10, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
Opening statement:
“Obviously Cal has become a very tough out for a lot of people. They dominated Arizona State on the road, they beat Colorado here (at Haas Pavilion), they beat Washington State here. Jaylon Tyson is as good of an offensive player as there is in this league; he’s got a pro career somewhere. He’s a 6’7” guard who can shoot the three and get it to the rack, he passes it. I just told the guys, obviously we could not make a shot in the second half. That basket starts shrinking on you on the road, and here comes the other team, and we knew they were going to make a run, we talked about it at halftime. But you just see we become a different team. Berke big three, Lazar big three, Adem and-one, and then Dylan Andrews steps up. We just have to keep defending and eventually that ball will go in the basket for you. They (Cal) were down 20 to Colorado here and won, and they’ve had that same thing happen to them here and they have won, so I’m really happy with the win. My message after the game is good teams win when the ball doesn’t go in, and that is who we were last year, that’s who we have been, it just took a while. When you have all new players, and you lose your five leading scorers, it just has taken us a while to gel as a team, but the guys have shown unbelievable resilience today. 5-for-17 from three, and 2-for-8 in the second half, and I think we made our last two.”
On Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews sticking with it when they went through a cold stretch:
“Both those guys were struggling from the field. Adem is 3-for-7 and then hits a big one. We drew up a play, Brandon Williams hit a great screen, Lazar threw a great pass, and we get the and-one out of the timeout. Dylan, like I’ve been saying for a few weeks now, you have to give that guy a chance to get some reps and get some experience; even Patrick Mahomes didn’t play as a freshman, or as a rookie in the NFL. Getting experience, playing big minutes, having to produce for your team, playing both ends of the floor, it’s so much different than high school. That’s why everyone goes in the portal and gets these older guys.”
On the run the team has been on:
“We’re just trying to take it one day at a time with our preparation. Keep our focus on improving our players, and our team improves. You can improve as a player and not score a lot of points, and that is the problem with basketball today, is people don’t understand that. They think the only way to play well is if you score, everyone has a hidden agenda. Brandon Williams for us, his assignment was to guard Tyson, okay. The kid is 18, he turned 18 in November. Brandon plays 32 minutes, toughness, defense, he gives a fighter, a scrapper, he moves his feet. Listen, he (Tyson) is a tough matchup for anyone who plays against him. We didn’t do a good job at home, so our whole thing was who is going to guard him. I mean he’s got three buckets, but we just said worry about guarding Tyson tonight.”
Sophomore forward Adem Bona
On how they stuck with it even when shots were not falling:
“Like you said, it’s a tough game. If we had lost it we would be sitting here having a different conversation right now. You can see the growth of the team, to stay tough, to fight hard when the shots are not going in through the tough times. It’s great to see our growth, it’s amazing, it’s really good.”
On struggling with Cal’s zone defense:
“We struggled with their zone towards the end of the game. We couldn’t get any shot to go in, but we stuck with it, and we tried to use our defense to our advantage. If we could not score, we were going to try and stop them from scoring, but eventually, towards the last couple minutes, we started to see some shots go in. Berke hit a big three towards the end of the game, and kind of helped boost the momentum.”
On the belief and the togetherness of the team:
“Our goal is to go all the way to the end and have a really great season. I know we started slow. It was just tough for so many of us young guys that were on the team last year. Going from such a high to such a difficult time at the beginning of this season. As you can see there is a togetherness coming in, we play together, we love each other, we sacrifice together, and its just amazing to see the team come together. We wanted to come together a bit earlier, but it’s never to late you know.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
On pulling out the win:
“You have to stay confident, even when things go down and the crowd got into it. It was tough, and they were making a run, but as you said we had to stay together. You have to keep your confidence and belief that the ball is going to go in and you are going to make the right play to finish the game out, and that is what we did.”
On the winning streak:
“It really feels like that we can play with anybody, beat anybody. We changed our season, with our physicality, attitude, and effort. It starts every day in practice, and we translated that to the game. We have three home games coming up, so it’s a really important stretch for us to keep this streak going.”
On his career-high 13 rebound performance:
“I’m happy we won, that’s the most important thing. I’ll try to help the team as much as possible, and getting the win is the most important thing.”
On how the team keeps their confidence up:
“It goes both ways. You have to keep yourself accountable, and you have to get over yourself. It is not all about you, you missed the shot, next play. You have to make the next play. The game is fast, you have to keep playing. You have to keep yourself in the present moment. As a team we are always there for teammates, to help them, to cheer for them, if someone misses a free throw it’s all good, next play. Whatever happens we have to be there for each other.”
On what the best part of the winning streak has been:
“Winning is fun. Coming into the locker room and having fun with the guys. It just feels good winning.”
UCLA 61, California 60
Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
February 10, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
Opening statement:
“Obviously Cal has become a very tough out for a lot of people. They dominated Arizona State on the road, they beat Colorado here (at Haas Pavilion), they beat Washington State here. Jaylon Tyson is as good of an offensive player as there is in this league; he’s got a pro career somewhere. He’s a 6’7” guard who can shoot the three and get it to the rack, he passes it. I just told the guys, obviously we could not make a shot in the second half. That basket starts shrinking on you on the road, and here comes the other team, and we knew they were going to make a run, we talked about it at halftime. But you just see we become a different team. Berke big three, Lazar big three, Adem and-one, and then Dylan Andrews steps up. We just have to keep defending and eventually that ball will go in the basket for you. They (Cal) were down 20 to Colorado here and won, and they’ve had that same thing happen to them here and they have won, so I’m really happy with the win. My message after the game is good teams win when the ball doesn’t go in, and that is who we were last year, that’s who we have been, it just took a while. When you have all new players, and you lose your five leading scorers, it just has taken us a while to gel as a team, but the guys have shown unbelievable resilience today. 5-for-17 from three, and 2-for-8 in the second half, and I think we made our last two.”
On Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews sticking with it when they went through a cold stretch:
“Both those guys were struggling from the field. Adem is 3-for-7 and then hits a big one. We drew up a play, Brandon Williams hit a great screen, Lazar threw a great pass, and we get the and-one out of the timeout. Dylan, like I’ve been saying for a few weeks now, you have to give that guy a chance to get some reps and get some experience; even Patrick Mahomes didn’t play as a freshman, or as a rookie in the NFL. Getting experience, playing big minutes, having to produce for your team, playing both ends of the floor, it’s so much different than high school. That’s why everyone goes in the portal and gets these older guys.”
On the run the team has been on:
“We’re just trying to take it one day at a time with our preparation. Keep our focus on improving our players, and our team improves. You can improve as a player and not score a lot of points, and that is the problem with basketball today, is people don’t understand that. They think the only way to play well is if you score, everyone has a hidden agenda. Brandon Williams for us, his assignment was to guard Tyson, okay. The kid is 18, he turned 18 in November. Brandon plays 32 minutes, toughness, defense, he gives a fighter, a scrapper, he moves his feet. Listen, he (Tyson) is a tough matchup for anyone who plays against him. We didn’t do a good job at home, so our whole thing was who is going to guard him. I mean he’s got three buckets, but we just said worry about guarding Tyson tonight.”
Sophomore forward Adem Bona
On how they stuck with it even when shots were not falling:
“Like you said, it’s a tough game. If we had lost it we would be sitting here having a different conversation right now. You can see the growth of the team, to stay tough, to fight hard when the shots are not going in through the tough times. It’s great to see our growth, it’s amazing, it’s really good.”
On struggling with Cal’s zone defense:
“We struggled with their zone towards the end of the game. We couldn’t get any shot to go in, but we stuck with it, and we tried to use our defense to our advantage. If we could not score, we were going to try and stop them from scoring, but eventually, towards the last couple minutes, we started to see some shots go in. Berke hit a big three towards the end of the game, and kind of helped boost the momentum.”
On the belief and the togetherness of the team:
“Our goal is to go all the way to the end and have a really great season. I know we started slow. It was just tough for so many of us young guys that were on the team last year. Going from such a high to such a difficult time at the beginning of this season. As you can see there is a togetherness coming in, we play together, we love each other, we sacrifice together, and its just amazing to see the team come together. We wanted to come together a bit earlier, but it’s never to late you know.”
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic
On pulling out the win:
“You have to stay confident, even when things go down and the crowd got into it. It was tough, and they were making a run, but as you said we had to stay together. You have to keep your confidence and belief that the ball is going to go in and you are going to make the right play to finish the game out, and that is what we did.”
On the winning streak:
“It really feels like that we can play with anybody, beat anybody. We changed our season, with our physicality, attitude, and effort. It starts every day in practice, and we translated that to the game. We have three home games coming up, so it’s a really important stretch for us to keep this streak going.”
On his career-high 13 rebound performance:
“I’m happy we won, that’s the most important thing. I’ll try to help the team as much as possible, and getting the win is the most important thing.”
On how the team keeps their confidence up:
“It goes both ways. You have to keep yourself accountable, and you have to get over yourself. It is not all about you, you missed the shot, next play. You have to make the next play. The game is fast, you have to keep playing. You have to keep yourself in the present moment. As a team we are always there for teammates, to help them, to cheer for them, if someone misses a free throw it’s all good, next play. Whatever happens we have to be there for each other.”
On what the best part of the winning streak has been:
“Winning is fun. Coming into the locker room and having fun with the guys. It just feels good winning.”