Postgame Quotes - UCLA 78, Oregon State 60
UCLA 78, Oregon State 60
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
February 12, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“I’m really proud of our guys. I thought with our offense scoring 78 points and shooting 53 percent with the slow pace of the game was pretty good and pretty efficient. I thought we missed a lot of shots that we normally make so to get to 78 points and do the things we like to do was great. I thought we were great on the backboard as they got a lot of their rebounds in the last four minutes. We made some adjustments at halftime, especially going with the press to start the half. We are not a pressing team but we thought that it would generate a little higher tempo than what they wanted to play at and I thought it got our guys going.”
on using the press to start the second half
“It got us active. We are not a pressing team. It’s not something we are going to show a lot of, but against a team like this that wasn’t looking to attack the basket until late in the shot clock, we thought it would get them into some quick shots. And it worked. In the first five or six minutes of the press they took some quick shots. Even if they made them it got the tempo to where we wanted it. So I liked it from that end. And it made our guys more active. We got more deflections off of passes. It wasn’t so much with the press as what we did defensively. We wanted to trap [Drew] Eubanks and I thought we did a good job. He and [Stephen] Thompson are their leading scorers and I thought we did a really good job on those two.”
on changes made on defensive end
“We are just more efficient defensively. We are in the right spots more, more active, getting in a stance more. There’s obviously a lot of talk about our defense and doing this for almost 26 years is almost comical to be honest with you. Other teams aren’t critique like our team is. We are 23-3 and I can find you teams all across the country that have our record or less than our record that people want to talk about their defense. But if you look at teams that have played us, they came in with one defensive efficiency and when they leave it’s a little bit different. It’s what you hang your hat on, it’s who you are as your identity. Our team is a very efficient offensive team. In fact it’s number one and has been from day one. Yes we want to continue to improve defensively. That’s a huge key for us. But we aren’t going to all of a sudden start playing a 50 possession game to hold people in the 50’s. That’s just not what we are going to do. Now if we can get teams to around 75, that’s going to be more efficient for our guys. I think that our guys are focusing a lot more in February that we have made a lot more strides defensively. Our pick and roll defense is better, our rebounding is better, finishing plays has been better. I think those things have triggered not giving up as many threes in the month of February. So there are a lot of things that the guys have adjusted and done a good job doing.”
on being picked as a four-seed in the East in tournament preview
“I wish we could control it besides just winning games. Going into that we were 22-3 with wins over Kentucky at their place, who was ahead of us, and at least two more teams that hadn’t won two top-five games. We have two top five wins, one against Kentucky when they were number one on their home floor. Oregon we split with, with that loss coming on a last-second shot and the win with them being number five in the country. We only have three losses. We lost at Oregon, at USC, who I think is a very good basketball team who has won over 20 games already, and we lose to Arizona at home who is a top-10 team. I like what we’ve done. If anything it is a little bit of motivation for our guys because we have been a top 10 team all year long. After Kentucky, which was in early December we’ve only been out of the top-10 once. So our guys have done a lot of really good things. We can only control so much in the end. There is so much parody in college basketball. I think those 16 teams you see ranked, there will be teams not in there on Selection Sunday and there will be teams moving up or moving out. There is so much basketball to be played in the next three or four weeks before we get to that point. We have a month to get ready and prepare for that so it’s all about getting better before we get to the postseason.”
UCLA Senior Guard Bryce Alford
on trapping defense
“Yeah, I think any time that we’re being aggressive on defense, that’s when we’re doing our best. Anything that can get us active really helps. Then we play a team like this, who really slows the tempo down and plays the opposite pace that we want to play. The first half, we didn’t do a good job of establishing the pace and they kind of handled that, and so second half, we just wanted to come out and be aggressive and try to speed them up.”
on what team needs to do to continue playing at high level
“All year we’ve been saying it’s on the defensive end. I think we just have to continue to get better on the defensive end and keep doing what we do on offense. That’s our staple. We’re an offensive team, we know that. We’re not going to be a team that locks people down and keeps people under 65 very often. We know who we are. We know our identity and now it’s just about figuring out ways to keep getting better on defense. I think the past two weeks we’ve done a really good job of that.”
on doubling the post
“I thought we did a great job. That was our game plan, was to take (Drew) Eubanks out of the game and try to double him as much as we can early, and do the same thing whenever Stevie (Thompson) came off a ball screen. We were doubling both of them, because they’re very good players and we knew that those two were kind of their engines to the team. So if we could limit those two as much as we could then that would really help us. I thought we did a really good job of that.”
on how much fun it is to play for this team
“It’s awesome. It’s awesome to see, it’s awesome to play. It’s just been a blast, to be able to play in front of sold-out arenas just about every home game and kind of have that buzz here back. And just having fun with these guys. It’s so much more fun to win that it is to lose. Anytime you can have a season like this, me being a senior, it’s a dream come true. We’re just looking to finish what we’ve started.”
on if the team paid attention to the bracket preview
“Not really. We were focused on Oregon State more than anything. If anything, it just shows we’ve got work to do. That we can’t be satisfied with where we’re at. We’ve got a big-time record so far, through our first 26 games. Being 23-3, that’s not an easy thing to do. It just shows that we’ve got work left to do and it probably motivated us being 15 out of 16 on that list.”
on what specifically is helping with defensive improvement
“I think it’s all of us understanding things better, not just the young guys. Obviously, this is their first go-around through conference play against this caliber of individual ball players and teams. If anything, I think it’s just us getting used to each other, playing together and just figuring out what our identity is on the defensive end. The coaches have done a great job of figuring out what we’re good at on the defense and what we’re not good at and figuring out that when we’re being aggressive, that’s when we’re at our best on defense. I think that’s been one of the biggest things--that we’ve started to be a little more aggressive and not been on our heels.”
on if anything specific has been said about the defense
“We had a team meeting after the SC loss, that was strictly the players. I kind of led that meeting and we just kind of talked it out and hashed it out and said if we want to do what we want to do and reach the goals that we want to reach, then we’ve got to play defense. We know we can play offense and that’s the fun part of the game, but it’s even more fun when you can shut somebody down and make a team frustrated that way. I don’t know if it was the team meeting, I can’t really answer that for you. I don’t know that something just clicked, but you’re right, the last two weeks, we’ve really started to play better defense and we just have to continue to look forward and move forward.”
UCLA Freshman Guard Lonzo Ball
on what has led to defensive improvement
“Just focus. We’ve proven that we can guard. We just have to be able to sustain it for 40 minutes and just keep working to March.”
on if anything specific has been addressed with defense during practice
“We just went back to split squad instead of scout team versus starters. Now it’s just all mixed up. Probably the only difference.”
on how much fun it is to play with this team
“It’s always fun when you’re winning. It helps a lot [that] the brand of basketball we play is very uptempo. On top of that, the fans are great, too. It’s very fun playing in here and we love the fans.”
on getting more comfortable attacking
“I just take what the game gives me. The beginning of the season, people were playing me for the drive, so the passing lanes were open. Now they’re playing the passing lanes a little bit more and it’s opened up the lane for me.”
on how he thought the team did applying press on defense
“We just tried to speed the game up. We know Oregon State likes to control the game a lot like that. The press was just to keep the tempo up.”
on if it was difficult to get up for Oregon State after win versus Oregon
“No. Every game at home, the fans are going to come out and support. We just have to try to play our best at all times. Obviously we started slow tonight and we picked it up in the second half.”
UCLA Freshman Forward TJ Leaf
on what has led to defensive improvement
“We’ve been doing a heck of a job in practice, staying into it mentally and just getting better at it. It’s definitely showing on the court.”
on how much fun it is to play with this team
“The fans have done a heck of a job coming out and supporting. Every night we try to go out there and give them what they want to see, which is getting out and running and playing good defense. I think we’re doing a better job of that.”
on playing in front of celebrities
“No matter who’s there, when the lights come on we’re going to go out and compete our hardest. It’s really cool, though, when you see the celebrities out there. You just want to put on a little more of a show.”
Oregon State Head Coach Wayne Tinkle
on overall performance
“They’re really good; I thought it started at the end of the first half. We played exactly the way we needed to but then two or three positions we got soft with the ball which led to leak out dunks and they got six points right there. And in the second half because we’re young, we let doubt creep in. But they’re really talented. In the second half they went to their press back man, so we made an adjustment to put our guards back and we didn’t have any problem with it. But in the first time out, we asked our players why you think they’re pressing and they responded in order to speed us up. We were taking threes and if we make them, then great, but if not we have to continue to play at our pace."
on Lonzo Ball
“He’s impossible to guard, you try to squeeze him in transition with another player and he comes flying by you. Lonzo’s a great passer, has great vision, and he can catch fire from three. And defensively I don’t think he gets enough credit for the things that he creates on the defensive end."
on Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton
“They’re some of the best cutters off the ball that we see. We show our guys highlights of them. If you want to come off baseline screens watch those guys."
on second half performance
“They’re really good; I thought it started at the end of the first half. We played exactly the way we needed to but then two or three positions we got soft with the ball which led to leak out dunks and they got six points right there. And in the second half because we’re young, we let doubt creep in. But they’re really talented. In the second half they went to their press back man, so we made an adjustment to put our guards back and we didn’t have any problem with it. But in the first time out, we asked our players why you think they’re pressing and they responded in order to speed us up. We were taking threes and if we make them, then great, but if not we have to continue to play at our pace."
Oregon State Sophomore Guard Stephen Thompson Jr.
on his overall performance
“I feel like I could have done more for our team, especially defensively and rebounding. I really wish I could’ve helped our team at the end, especially when UCLA went on that late run."
on playing back at home
“It felt really great to be back, the weather is very good, it’s been raining a lot in Corvallis. It was also fun because I had some of my family and some of the people I grew up with here.”
on how to build on this performance
“We just have to keep working; we went through a lot of adversity this year. We had a lot of injuries, guys leaving and transferring, so it’s been really tough. But we just have to keep working.”