WATCH: Jaylen Clark Talks Shot Adjustments, Stakes of UCLA-USC
UCLA men's basketball guard Jaylen Clark spoke to the media ahead of Tuesday morning's practice at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Clark talked about what he's been doing in the gym to fix his recent cold shooting streak, what's at stake against USC on Thursday, where he stands in his pursuit of the single-season steals record and the importance of getting deflections on Thursday night.
How much work have you been putting in on your shooting?
Oh, a lot, a lot. I've been missing a lot of bunnies around the rim, stuff like that, stuff I was making at a higher rate at the beginning of the year. Been working on getting my second foot down, finding the rim, something on shooting, like spin and stuff.
How's that been going?
Probably good, though, good.
Who works with you on that? Just yourself?
Yeah, yeah. I be here by myself with little shooting machines to rebound for me so I can get them up faster and don't have to chase them around. Sometimes the managers will come too.
Long hours doing that? Coming in before practice?
Yeah, nah I come late at night. I come here when probably no one else – probably 10:30, 11. Yeah, I mean, I stay for, like, and hour, then get back home, shower, sleep, wake up, be right back here at 8:30.
Working on specific shots or everything?
Yeah, right now, just really my floaters. I always work on my catch-and-shoot cause you can never do too much of that, but right now, my floaters. That's a big part of my game and it's kinda on-and-off right now and I need to get it to where I'm hitting it consistently again.
Is the repetition for confidence or are you trying to fix something mechanically?
Nah, more confidence, cause I'm not missing them by much. They're hitting the back rim or in-and-out and stuff. But I just need to get it to where I feel like I can drop it every time like I was at the beginning of the year.
Is there such a thing as a good miss?
Uh, yes and no. I feel like a good miss is a reboundable miss, so if it's something that's not starting up a team's fast break or transition and you actually have a shot at rebounding – so like anything that falls within the first circle, the little arc – I feel like that's alright. If it's popping way off and they're able to run and grab it, I feel like that's a bad miss.
Haven't beaten USC at Galen since you've been here – how much do you want to check that box?
Oh, a lot. I mean, a ton. I mean, it's a big game for them, it's a big game for us. We gotta rebound, keep pushing for our dreams and our coach sent us a thing that they're on the bubble for the tournament, so they need this game. And, I mean, you beat UCLA, I'm pretty sure that's a Quad 1 win, so that helps you out in a lot of categories.
Do you know Vincent Iwuchukwu at all?
Nah. Though I did hear he did have the thing, so it's cool to see him back playing again and stuff.
Does it take the pressure off when the USC game isn't the last game of the season?
Uh, it's basketball at the end of the day, I feel like. Every game, I feel like, is as equal in importance. At the end of the season, I feel like more people probably come out to watch cause it's a more exciting time of the year, especially when you're in the conference tournament and eventually March Madness. But I mean, to us, it's, I mean, the game you're trying to get to is the very last one. So every game, regardless of if it's USC or Washington State or Oregon State or Oregon, they're all looked at equal in our eyes.
What's the update on your pace for the steals record?
Oh, I mean, sheesh. I've gotten, like, three a game I feel like almost every game. Do you have it?
51 steals in 20 games
I'm behind. I was about to – I think I'm a little bit over 2.5, but how many games do we got left in conference? 11, and then, like, in Vegas if it goes right then four...
Three, cause you don't want four in Vegas
Oh, cause we'll have a bye. And then March Madness, if things go right, four. It's gonna get close towards the end, gonna get close. But I think I'm, like, in shooting range.
Is the record 97?
No, I think 93. Yeah, so I'm in range, yeah.
How important is it to get the deflections number high to set the tone early in this game?
It helps. I mean, even if you look at how we were scoring the ball – especially me, I was getting, like, six to eight free points a game just off breakout steals or just running. I feel like that just gets everything else going more smoothly. You have 10 free points at the end of last game – you add six to eight free points to the outcome, that's the difference. So that's huge for us, humongous.
What's the key to executing as a team in the halfcourt offense?
Yeah, we gotta screen better and pass it better. I know there's a few times I came off, I threw a lackadaisical pass that got stolen. There was times I was trying to backdoor and we weren't communicating and it'd get thrown out of bounds. If we eliminate stuff like that, I think we'll be fine. And setting really good screens and getting people open. I don't know how many turnovers we had last game, I know it wasn't a ton, it wasn't a ton. So if you clean up those two, three, four possessions, I mean, that could be it too. But, I mean, you can always play the what if game. So yeah.
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