Postgame Quotes - UCLA 77, Washington State 68
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 77, Washington State 68
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
March 4, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Really proud of my guys. They just battled all year long. We had 28 regular-season wins. It’s pretty difficult at a place like this to do something that hasn’t been done or tie something that’s been done—a milestone. Twenty-eight regular-season wins. That’s the most ever. This has been a special team already, through the regular season, that I’m awful proud of. It was a lot of emotion in this game. I’ve been a part of 26 Senior Days and any time you’re part of the emotion—I told the guys, it just means you’re invested. If there’s no emotion, you’re not very invested, and I think you saw a lot of that today. I’ve just got a group of guys that, even though there’s three seniors that we’re awfully proud of, and two senior managers, it’s really a team. That team isn’t going to play in Pauley again, so they can see these endings of things. When you’ve got a team that’s so invested like this team, that emotion comes out. I’m obviously very, very proud of our seniors. They’ve been tremendous throughout their careers.”
on Jerrold Smith
"Jerrold has gone from practicing on the women’s team, to walking on to our team, to earning a scholarship this year. Really gave him a scholarship to say “Thank you” for what he’s done in the classroom because he’s just been excellent in the classroom since joining our team.”"
on Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton
“Bryce and everything he’s been able to accomplish and not waver. That’s been the thing I’m probably most proud of is, no matter what’s been thrown at him, he’s never wavered from doing what he does best and that’s be a great leader, be a great teammate, do everything he can to help his team. Both he and Isaac. Isaac has been phenomenal. Had to give up a year to come here. Both Isaac and Bryce were really, a couple of our first guys on campus when we took over here. Isaac’s 98 or 99 games and all starts speaks volumes of his consistency and what he’s been able to do in his career. Bryce and Isaac have meant a great deal to our program. Not just what they’ve done on the court, but what they’ve done off the court, how they’ve handled themselves. Tremendous Christian young men that get it and serve others and do what they do very humbly. So very appreciative of what our seniors have done and very appreciative of what this team has done. It’s not easy in this era to go 28-3 and do the things that this team’s done.”
on the team’s style of play heading into the postseason
“Well, I love it. We got a little stagnant tonight, I thought, for the first time in a long time. We haven’t been without TJ (Leaf) all year. I thought G.G. (Goloman) did a lot of good things for us tonight. He competed like crazy. I thought everybody had a lot of good minutes tonight. It was just different. We haven’t had to play that way for a while. Defensively, I thought we were really good. I thought we defended them a lot better than we did up in Pullman. [The game in Pullman] was really when the streak started, so that was a positive. Offensively, we haven’t shot 44% much this year, so we didn’t make a lot of shots. Again, 22 assists on 27 made field goals—that’s who we are—and another game where we have less than 10 turnovers. I obviously love where we are offensively. We get TJ back, that gives us, obviously, a huge weapon. Then defensively, we’ve grown a lot. Our efficiency defensively was like 96 at the half and I’m guessing that we made our defensive efficiency tonight, of 95. It’s getting better and we’re going to need that as now we get into postseason. Feel very, very good where we’re at. Got to get TJ healthy. I’ll feel a lot better when he’s healthy, but we get a healthy TJ back and we’re feeling pretty good about things.”
on TJ Leaf’s status
“I think he needed the rest. It was too big of a risk for us when we’ve got postseason looming. Shane and our doctors have been tremendous, but if this was the National Tournament, he probably would’ve been hurrying back. I think he would have wanted to do that. We’ve got a big picture we’ve got to think about as we got to the end of this season and I think that rest is the best for him because we can get him as close to 100% as possible, that helps moving forward with any other tweaking of it, because ankles are about getting stronger again once you’ve sprained it. Hopefully it’ll be eight-nine days before he plays in a game from the time that he did it. Hopefully that’ll be enough heal time. I know that he’s done very well in the last three days, so things are going very well.”
UCLA guard Aaron Holiday
On upcoming post-season play
“I think we are [ready]. Our defense is only thing that had to get better. I feel like it’s getting better every time so I think we’re ready.”
On Coach Alford’s performance this season
“He did a great job. He brought our team together. He brought in some new pieces, which obviously helped a lot. He just helped us get ready for this season. Last year, we didn’t have the season that we wanted, but he helped us get ready and prepare and this is what happened.”
On team confidence level
“We are very confident. Obviously on the offensive end, we can score with the best of them. Now that our defense is getting better it just helps us get even more confident.”
On going into the post-season
“Right now it feels great. We are going at a great pace right now. That’s all we can really ask for right now.”
On being an offensive-minded team
“You have to do what you’re best at. Our best asset right now is scoring. We’re going to try to keep that up as well as improving on the defensive end. We’re very comfortable going into the NCAA and Pac-12 Tournaments. “
UCLA guard Isaac Hamilton
on Senior Night
“The emotions were very high. It got us out of sync. I think we fought back and settled down. In the second half, we were back to our old self. This is a great team. We had a lot of ups and downs through this career but this is a special team. We hope to go deep in March and continue playing great basketball.”
on what he'll miss
“I’ll miss the atmosphere, being in LA, and being home. My family is here, and it’s convenient for them to drive 20 minutes to get here. It’s an honor being here at UCLA, it’s a great institution. You’re part of the Bruin family, which goes beyond basketball.”
on coming from a basketball family
“It’s very important. It helped set up today’s game. My brothers helped prepare me professionally, collegiately, every step of my way. It’s a blessing.”
UCLA guard Bryce Alford
on Senior Night
“Nobody really warned me it was going to be like that, to be honest. I was not ready for that at all. It kind of got me out of rhythm. The amount of emotion drains you a little bit before the game and it is hard to refocus. It was good for us to stay in it during the first half until we could get the wind under our sails.”
on leaving Pauley Pavilion
“It’s the way that we wanted to end our careers. I think it’s what Isaac and I deserve for all we had to go through here. It’s something that I know I’ll never forget. We have a lot of work left to do.”
on being offense-oriented
“It makes it fun for us to be able to go out there and showcase what we can do. We try to put a show on; it’s what we’ve tried to do all year. The brand of basketball that we play is fun for people to watch and even more fun for us to play.”
on coming from a basketball family
“It’s been a blessing. I had the privilege to play for my dad. That will never happen again after this year and it’s something that I’ve cherished a ton. To be able to have my family with me out here, that’s been awesome too. It definitely helps being a coach’s kid. My four years here have been awesome.”
on the upcoming conference tournament
“It’s a tune-up for the NCAA Tournament. You get into the rhythm of a tournament atmosphere. You play in a neutral site and play back-to-back days. It’s a chance to win a championship. We did it in with the pre-season tournament this year and we’re undefeated on neutral courts. For a team like us, who has won nine straight games, it’s good to stay hot. We’re a hot basketball team right now and we’re playing well. If you can continue a winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, that’s huge.”
On Coach Alford’s performance this season
“I think he’s done an unbelievable job. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people who could have gone through what he’s done and been able to bounce back the way he has this year and stayed positive through it all. It just shows the character of who he is as a man, more than anything. He’s never wavered on his guys. He’s never wavered from loving us and showing us that he cares about us, trusts us, and has confidence in us. As players that was reassuring coming into this year. It’s just been a blessing playing for him.”
UCLA guard Lonzo Ball
on breaking conference freshman assist record
“It’s a credit to my teammates. You can’t get an assist without them catching it and making it.”
on potentially playing last game at Pauley Pavilion
“I just felt for the seniors. They’ve been here for four years, and I’ve only been here one year. The emotion wasn’t the same for me. I’m thankful for all the fans and I’m a Bruin for life.”
on season performance
“I’m happy and my teammates are happy. Coach is happy, too. We tied the school record for wins.”
on team defense
“It’s getting better and better every day. We have a lot of guys who can play and guard different positions. That helps.”
on unselfishness
“If you’re a point guard, you should get your teammates involved before you. That’s just how I’ve been playing my whole life.”
Washington State Head Coach Ernie Kent
overall statement
“We’re not really in this for moral victories. Our defense was outstanding to open up the game and for about three-fourths of the game. They had about twenty open shots. We just missed a lot of our shots. If we were to have made half of them, that’s the difference in the game. They made their shots. The crowd really got into it at the eight-minute mark and at that point, they took control of the game. At that point we just let it go and as I said, we missed some shots.”
On the upcoming PAC-12 Conference Tournament
“We just have to realize that the conference season is over. We are definitely a different team now than when we opened up the season again the University of Washington. I really wish we could have a re-do. Everybody now is zero and zero, so we have to come out fresh out of the gate for the first game. We just have to get our mental right. We just have to really re-group because we’ve been on the road since Monday. So now we have to go back home, re-group and be prepared to fly out to Vegas for our game on Wednesday.
Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson
(Note: Tonight Josh Hawkinson set the Washington State career record for rebounds with 1,003 rebounds. He is also the 13th Pac-12 player to grab 1,000 rebounds in his career.)
overall statement
“We hung with them for three-fourths of the game and we just ran out of energy the last eight minutes. We just let down our guard and I think that helped them win the ball game.”
on preparing for the Pac-12 Tournament
“This is one of the toughest venues to play in, especially on Senior Night. They are a Top-5 team. We knew they would come out and be emotional and we felt like we could stay with them. It was all about finishing the ball game.”
on his personal growth over his career
“Right now we really want to focus on the conference tournament and go as far as we can go. I really want to set an example for the young guys to show how a program should be run. Coach has really turned this program into the right direction. We really want to get as many wins as we can in the tournament.”
UCLA 77, Washington State 68
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
March 4, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Really proud of my guys. They just battled all year long. We had 28 regular-season wins. It’s pretty difficult at a place like this to do something that hasn’t been done or tie something that’s been done—a milestone. Twenty-eight regular-season wins. That’s the most ever. This has been a special team already, through the regular season, that I’m awful proud of. It was a lot of emotion in this game. I’ve been a part of 26 Senior Days and any time you’re part of the emotion—I told the guys, it just means you’re invested. If there’s no emotion, you’re not very invested, and I think you saw a lot of that today. I’ve just got a group of guys that, even though there’s three seniors that we’re awfully proud of, and two senior managers, it’s really a team. That team isn’t going to play in Pauley again, so they can see these endings of things. When you’ve got a team that’s so invested like this team, that emotion comes out. I’m obviously very, very proud of our seniors. They’ve been tremendous throughout their careers.”
on Jerrold Smith
"Jerrold has gone from practicing on the women’s team, to walking on to our team, to earning a scholarship this year. Really gave him a scholarship to say “Thank you” for what he’s done in the classroom because he’s just been excellent in the classroom since joining our team.”"
on Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton
“Bryce and everything he’s been able to accomplish and not waver. That’s been the thing I’m probably most proud of is, no matter what’s been thrown at him, he’s never wavered from doing what he does best and that’s be a great leader, be a great teammate, do everything he can to help his team. Both he and Isaac. Isaac has been phenomenal. Had to give up a year to come here. Both Isaac and Bryce were really, a couple of our first guys on campus when we took over here. Isaac’s 98 or 99 games and all starts speaks volumes of his consistency and what he’s been able to do in his career. Bryce and Isaac have meant a great deal to our program. Not just what they’ve done on the court, but what they’ve done off the court, how they’ve handled themselves. Tremendous Christian young men that get it and serve others and do what they do very humbly. So very appreciative of what our seniors have done and very appreciative of what this team has done. It’s not easy in this era to go 28-3 and do the things that this team’s done.”
on the team’s style of play heading into the postseason
“Well, I love it. We got a little stagnant tonight, I thought, for the first time in a long time. We haven’t been without TJ (Leaf) all year. I thought G.G. (Goloman) did a lot of good things for us tonight. He competed like crazy. I thought everybody had a lot of good minutes tonight. It was just different. We haven’t had to play that way for a while. Defensively, I thought we were really good. I thought we defended them a lot better than we did up in Pullman. [The game in Pullman] was really when the streak started, so that was a positive. Offensively, we haven’t shot 44% much this year, so we didn’t make a lot of shots. Again, 22 assists on 27 made field goals—that’s who we are—and another game where we have less than 10 turnovers. I obviously love where we are offensively. We get TJ back, that gives us, obviously, a huge weapon. Then defensively, we’ve grown a lot. Our efficiency defensively was like 96 at the half and I’m guessing that we made our defensive efficiency tonight, of 95. It’s getting better and we’re going to need that as now we get into postseason. Feel very, very good where we’re at. Got to get TJ healthy. I’ll feel a lot better when he’s healthy, but we get a healthy TJ back and we’re feeling pretty good about things.”
on TJ Leaf’s status
“I think he needed the rest. It was too big of a risk for us when we’ve got postseason looming. Shane and our doctors have been tremendous, but if this was the National Tournament, he probably would’ve been hurrying back. I think he would have wanted to do that. We’ve got a big picture we’ve got to think about as we got to the end of this season and I think that rest is the best for him because we can get him as close to 100% as possible, that helps moving forward with any other tweaking of it, because ankles are about getting stronger again once you’ve sprained it. Hopefully it’ll be eight-nine days before he plays in a game from the time that he did it. Hopefully that’ll be enough heal time. I know that he’s done very well in the last three days, so things are going very well.”
UCLA guard Aaron Holiday
On upcoming post-season play
“I think we are [ready]. Our defense is only thing that had to get better. I feel like it’s getting better every time so I think we’re ready.”
On Coach Alford’s performance this season
“He did a great job. He brought our team together. He brought in some new pieces, which obviously helped a lot. He just helped us get ready for this season. Last year, we didn’t have the season that we wanted, but he helped us get ready and prepare and this is what happened.”
On team confidence level
“We are very confident. Obviously on the offensive end, we can score with the best of them. Now that our defense is getting better it just helps us get even more confident.”
On going into the post-season
“Right now it feels great. We are going at a great pace right now. That’s all we can really ask for right now.”
On being an offensive-minded team
“You have to do what you’re best at. Our best asset right now is scoring. We’re going to try to keep that up as well as improving on the defensive end. We’re very comfortable going into the NCAA and Pac-12 Tournaments. “
UCLA guard Isaac Hamilton
on Senior Night
“The emotions were very high. It got us out of sync. I think we fought back and settled down. In the second half, we were back to our old self. This is a great team. We had a lot of ups and downs through this career but this is a special team. We hope to go deep in March and continue playing great basketball.”
on what he'll miss
“I’ll miss the atmosphere, being in LA, and being home. My family is here, and it’s convenient for them to drive 20 minutes to get here. It’s an honor being here at UCLA, it’s a great institution. You’re part of the Bruin family, which goes beyond basketball.”
on coming from a basketball family
“It’s very important. It helped set up today’s game. My brothers helped prepare me professionally, collegiately, every step of my way. It’s a blessing.”
UCLA guard Bryce Alford
on Senior Night
“Nobody really warned me it was going to be like that, to be honest. I was not ready for that at all. It kind of got me out of rhythm. The amount of emotion drains you a little bit before the game and it is hard to refocus. It was good for us to stay in it during the first half until we could get the wind under our sails.”
on leaving Pauley Pavilion
“It’s the way that we wanted to end our careers. I think it’s what Isaac and I deserve for all we had to go through here. It’s something that I know I’ll never forget. We have a lot of work left to do.”
on being offense-oriented
“It makes it fun for us to be able to go out there and showcase what we can do. We try to put a show on; it’s what we’ve tried to do all year. The brand of basketball that we play is fun for people to watch and even more fun for us to play.”
on coming from a basketball family
“It’s been a blessing. I had the privilege to play for my dad. That will never happen again after this year and it’s something that I’ve cherished a ton. To be able to have my family with me out here, that’s been awesome too. It definitely helps being a coach’s kid. My four years here have been awesome.”
on the upcoming conference tournament
“It’s a tune-up for the NCAA Tournament. You get into the rhythm of a tournament atmosphere. You play in a neutral site and play back-to-back days. It’s a chance to win a championship. We did it in with the pre-season tournament this year and we’re undefeated on neutral courts. For a team like us, who has won nine straight games, it’s good to stay hot. We’re a hot basketball team right now and we’re playing well. If you can continue a winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, that’s huge.”
On Coach Alford’s performance this season
“I think he’s done an unbelievable job. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people who could have gone through what he’s done and been able to bounce back the way he has this year and stayed positive through it all. It just shows the character of who he is as a man, more than anything. He’s never wavered on his guys. He’s never wavered from loving us and showing us that he cares about us, trusts us, and has confidence in us. As players that was reassuring coming into this year. It’s just been a blessing playing for him.”
UCLA guard Lonzo Ball
on breaking conference freshman assist record
“It’s a credit to my teammates. You can’t get an assist without them catching it and making it.”
on potentially playing last game at Pauley Pavilion
“I just felt for the seniors. They’ve been here for four years, and I’ve only been here one year. The emotion wasn’t the same for me. I’m thankful for all the fans and I’m a Bruin for life.”
on season performance
“I’m happy and my teammates are happy. Coach is happy, too. We tied the school record for wins.”
on team defense
“It’s getting better and better every day. We have a lot of guys who can play and guard different positions. That helps.”
on unselfishness
“If you’re a point guard, you should get your teammates involved before you. That’s just how I’ve been playing my whole life.”
Washington State Head Coach Ernie Kent
overall statement
“We’re not really in this for moral victories. Our defense was outstanding to open up the game and for about three-fourths of the game. They had about twenty open shots. We just missed a lot of our shots. If we were to have made half of them, that’s the difference in the game. They made their shots. The crowd really got into it at the eight-minute mark and at that point, they took control of the game. At that point we just let it go and as I said, we missed some shots.”
On the upcoming PAC-12 Conference Tournament
“We just have to realize that the conference season is over. We are definitely a different team now than when we opened up the season again the University of Washington. I really wish we could have a re-do. Everybody now is zero and zero, so we have to come out fresh out of the gate for the first game. We just have to get our mental right. We just have to really re-group because we’ve been on the road since Monday. So now we have to go back home, re-group and be prepared to fly out to Vegas for our game on Wednesday.
Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson
(Note: Tonight Josh Hawkinson set the Washington State career record for rebounds with 1,003 rebounds. He is also the 13th Pac-12 player to grab 1,000 rebounds in his career.)
overall statement
“We hung with them for three-fourths of the game and we just ran out of energy the last eight minutes. We just let down our guard and I think that helped them win the ball game.”
on preparing for the Pac-12 Tournament
“This is one of the toughest venues to play in, especially on Senior Night. They are a Top-5 team. We knew they would come out and be emotional and we felt like we could stay with them. It was all about finishing the ball game.”
on his personal growth over his career
“Right now we really want to focus on the conference tournament and go as far as we can go. I really want to set an example for the young guys to show how a program should be run. Coach has really turned this program into the right direction. We really want to get as many wins as we can in the tournament.”