University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 83, Kentucky 75
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 83, No. 7 Kentucky 75
New Orleans, La. (Smoothie King Center)
December 23, 2017
ย
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
โI thought today, we really put it together. Our guys have had a lot thrown at them. There were a lot of different man defenses thrown at us, coverages thrown at us, and then some zone. I thought our offense really handled that well. I was really pleased with our defense. I thought we did a great job on the backboard. We limited their second [chance] opportunities. We did the same thing at Michigan. These are teams that have really taken pride in their board play, and weโve done a good job on the backboard. Thatโs pretty important moving forward. So, itโs a great time for our guys to get a couple days off with the break. Hopefully our guys can travel safe. And the guy to my right [Aaron Holiday] was awfully big down the stretch. He proved what type of quality player that he is. So, just very happy about this performance.โ
ย
on his players being able to handle the travel and distractions
โWell, just growing as a basketball team. Weโre always preaching to just control what you can control. Whether thatโs noise on the outside like Aaron had talked about, the noise that weโre not very good, but these guys have just controlled that from the inside out. And theyโve just continued to work to get better. Then you have the distraction of what has happened to their teammates, and whatโs going on here, and he [Aaron] mentioned it โ donโt forget that this is UCLA and academics at UCLA, thatโs the top of the food chain. Itโs the most applied to university in the world, and for a reason. This place is a high, high level academically. So when we are going through finals or weโre taking midterms โ our guys took midterms while in China โ you have a lot going on. We practiced for five weeks where we thought weโd have 11 guys in that rotation and overnight that goes to eight. The trip to China really impacted our schedule and can really crunch what you want to do. Our time in China really took that first week, when youโre opening the season of college basketball. Our team also lost one game [in December] due to the fires in Los Angeles. So, weโve had a lot going on and thereโs been a lot thrown at these guys, and while five of our eight [rotation] guys didnโt play last year, weโre seen a lot of great growth. For me as a coach, thatโs just what you want to see. We are a better basketball team now that we were on the first of November. And that is what you want to see. I like where weโre at, and I like where we are as we go into league play. That doesnโt necessarily mean wins, but I like the demeanor of this team. Now, we have to be able to handle success as we move forward, having beat a very good basketball team. How we handle that success now as we go into our matchup against Washington State will be a key.โ
ย
on how importance it is for UCLAโs freshmen to see that they can win a game like this
โAbsolutely. And we have been showing them clips, a lot about last year. Especially offensively. When our ball has been stagnant and we have held it, we tried to show them clips of this yearโs team versus last yearโs team of how that ball moved. This [Kentucky] is an elite shot-blocking team. We wanted to drive and kick and not drive and try to finish. Iโm not sure how many blocks they ended up with, but they had one at halftime. I thought we did a really good job of not challenging their shot-blockers. We enticed it and then we wanted to kick out. We had guys who made open looks. Itโs things like that which weโve been showing our guys on tape of last yearโs team. Now, itโs good for them to see that, that โYou know what, we can win a game like this too.โ Itโs not just with our freshmen, but itโs also Alex [Olesinski] and Prince [Ali], who have been a part of our teams, but really didnโt play [last year]. So, now those guys who have not been a part of it, thereโs now a sense of it that they can grab onto, where if we can keep growing, we could be pretty good.โ
ย
on the value of a veteran guard like Aaron Holiday
โHeโs unbelievable. Iโve said all along that heโs like a pit bull who is just going to come at you. Iโve loved coaching him. These have been three great years here. When he was a freshman, we missed the [NCAA] tournament and he started every game. And then the next year, his sophomore year, we had a great recruiting class and then he doesnโt start. He comes off the bench, and in my mind there wasnโt a better player off the bench in the nation than Aaron Holiday. And his numbers all went up, and now boom here in year three heโs thrust into, โHey youโve got five new guys who you need to lead.โ The guys from last season are gone. He has just handled it tremendous. It doesnโt matter what you throw at him. He just gives you everything that heโs got. Thatโs the thing that I appreciate about Aaron.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on UCLAโs poise down the stretch
โYeah, we showed great poise. At the end of the game, it was maybe two minutes left and all I kept saying was that weโve got 30 seconds. Weโve just got to take care of the ball and run that shot clock all the way down, and weโll be in good shape. So, thatโs what we did. Obviously that Michigan game didnโt end like weโd wanted it to. [In that game] I was the main reason, and I had seven turnovers tonight, too. But Iโm just glad that we got the win.โ
ย
on playing in the New Orleans venue that his brother Jrue calls home
โWell, itโs always special to play where your brothers play. Obviously heโs doing really well right now, so thatโs good. But just to get the win out here, itโs just awesome.โ
ย
on what the Bruinsโ win over Kentucky means in the bigger picture
โIt means a lot. First off, it shows that we can win, even though weโre young. And second off, it shows that weโre actually good. Iโm tired of people saying that weโre not good just because we had mishaps at the end of a game or whatever it is. It just shows our team chemistry and how good we are right now at a young age.โ
ย
on the key for UCLA to handle its travel schedule and any distractions
โI couldnโt tell you โ plus, weโve got school in there too. Man, weโve just stayed focused throughout the entire game, in every game that weโve played, weโve just stayed focused. Coach did a great job letting us know what we were going to do beforehand. Itโs just about keeping us ready at every game, for every moment.โ
ย
on whether this game was one that he had circled on the calendar (because of Jrue)
โYeah, Iโd rather have him be at the game, but obviously heโs playing right now. But, itโs a game. I think Iโm going to play hard every night. Thatโs really all I can do.โ
ย
on UCLAโs defensive adjustments
โWe just โ again, Coach [Alford] drew up a good game plan and we went right to it. Obviously, we had our game plan coming in and we executed very well on the defensive end.โ
ย
on his mentality late in the second half in a close contest
โJust to calm down. Obviously, we got a little bit rushed there toward the end. I had some turnovers. But just to calm down and stay poised. Coach kept preaching it to us and our teammates kept preaching that to us, so thatโs really what we had to do.โ
ย
UCLA 83, No. 7 Kentucky 75
New Orleans, La. (Smoothie King Center)
December 23, 2017
ย
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
โI thought today, we really put it together. Our guys have had a lot thrown at them. There were a lot of different man defenses thrown at us, coverages thrown at us, and then some zone. I thought our offense really handled that well. I was really pleased with our defense. I thought we did a great job on the backboard. We limited their second [chance] opportunities. We did the same thing at Michigan. These are teams that have really taken pride in their board play, and weโve done a good job on the backboard. Thatโs pretty important moving forward. So, itโs a great time for our guys to get a couple days off with the break. Hopefully our guys can travel safe. And the guy to my right [Aaron Holiday] was awfully big down the stretch. He proved what type of quality player that he is. So, just very happy about this performance.โ
ย
on his players being able to handle the travel and distractions
โWell, just growing as a basketball team. Weโre always preaching to just control what you can control. Whether thatโs noise on the outside like Aaron had talked about, the noise that weโre not very good, but these guys have just controlled that from the inside out. And theyโve just continued to work to get better. Then you have the distraction of what has happened to their teammates, and whatโs going on here, and he [Aaron] mentioned it โ donโt forget that this is UCLA and academics at UCLA, thatโs the top of the food chain. Itโs the most applied to university in the world, and for a reason. This place is a high, high level academically. So when we are going through finals or weโre taking midterms โ our guys took midterms while in China โ you have a lot going on. We practiced for five weeks where we thought weโd have 11 guys in that rotation and overnight that goes to eight. The trip to China really impacted our schedule and can really crunch what you want to do. Our time in China really took that first week, when youโre opening the season of college basketball. Our team also lost one game [in December] due to the fires in Los Angeles. So, weโve had a lot going on and thereโs been a lot thrown at these guys, and while five of our eight [rotation] guys didnโt play last year, weโre seen a lot of great growth. For me as a coach, thatโs just what you want to see. We are a better basketball team now that we were on the first of November. And that is what you want to see. I like where weโre at, and I like where we are as we go into league play. That doesnโt necessarily mean wins, but I like the demeanor of this team. Now, we have to be able to handle success as we move forward, having beat a very good basketball team. How we handle that success now as we go into our matchup against Washington State will be a key.โ
ย
on how importance it is for UCLAโs freshmen to see that they can win a game like this
โAbsolutely. And we have been showing them clips, a lot about last year. Especially offensively. When our ball has been stagnant and we have held it, we tried to show them clips of this yearโs team versus last yearโs team of how that ball moved. This [Kentucky] is an elite shot-blocking team. We wanted to drive and kick and not drive and try to finish. Iโm not sure how many blocks they ended up with, but they had one at halftime. I thought we did a really good job of not challenging their shot-blockers. We enticed it and then we wanted to kick out. We had guys who made open looks. Itโs things like that which weโve been showing our guys on tape of last yearโs team. Now, itโs good for them to see that, that โYou know what, we can win a game like this too.โ Itโs not just with our freshmen, but itโs also Alex [Olesinski] and Prince [Ali], who have been a part of our teams, but really didnโt play [last year]. So, now those guys who have not been a part of it, thereโs now a sense of it that they can grab onto, where if we can keep growing, we could be pretty good.โ
ย
on the value of a veteran guard like Aaron Holiday
โHeโs unbelievable. Iโve said all along that heโs like a pit bull who is just going to come at you. Iโve loved coaching him. These have been three great years here. When he was a freshman, we missed the [NCAA] tournament and he started every game. And then the next year, his sophomore year, we had a great recruiting class and then he doesnโt start. He comes off the bench, and in my mind there wasnโt a better player off the bench in the nation than Aaron Holiday. And his numbers all went up, and now boom here in year three heโs thrust into, โHey youโve got five new guys who you need to lead.โ The guys from last season are gone. He has just handled it tremendous. It doesnโt matter what you throw at him. He just gives you everything that heโs got. Thatโs the thing that I appreciate about Aaron.โ
ย
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on UCLAโs poise down the stretch
โYeah, we showed great poise. At the end of the game, it was maybe two minutes left and all I kept saying was that weโve got 30 seconds. Weโve just got to take care of the ball and run that shot clock all the way down, and weโll be in good shape. So, thatโs what we did. Obviously that Michigan game didnโt end like weโd wanted it to. [In that game] I was the main reason, and I had seven turnovers tonight, too. But Iโm just glad that we got the win.โ
ย
on playing in the New Orleans venue that his brother Jrue calls home
โWell, itโs always special to play where your brothers play. Obviously heโs doing really well right now, so thatโs good. But just to get the win out here, itโs just awesome.โ
ย
on what the Bruinsโ win over Kentucky means in the bigger picture
โIt means a lot. First off, it shows that we can win, even though weโre young. And second off, it shows that weโre actually good. Iโm tired of people saying that weโre not good just because we had mishaps at the end of a game or whatever it is. It just shows our team chemistry and how good we are right now at a young age.โ
ย
on the key for UCLA to handle its travel schedule and any distractions
โI couldnโt tell you โ plus, weโve got school in there too. Man, weโve just stayed focused throughout the entire game, in every game that weโve played, weโve just stayed focused. Coach did a great job letting us know what we were going to do beforehand. Itโs just about keeping us ready at every game, for every moment.โ
ย
on whether this game was one that he had circled on the calendar (because of Jrue)
โYeah, Iโd rather have him be at the game, but obviously heโs playing right now. But, itโs a game. I think Iโm going to play hard every night. Thatโs really all I can do.โ
ย
on UCLAโs defensive adjustments
โWe just โ again, Coach [Alford] drew up a good game plan and we went right to it. Obviously, we had our game plan coming in and we executed very well on the defensive end.โ
ย
on his mentality late in the second half in a close contest
โJust to calm down. Obviously, we got a little bit rushed there toward the end. I had some turnovers. But just to calm down and stay poised. Coach kept preaching it to us and our teammates kept preaching that to us, so thatโs really what we had to do.โ
ย