WATCH: Mick Cronin on Finally Beating USC, UCLA Nearly Blowing Lead
UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin spoke to reporters after the Bruins’ 75-68 win over crosstown rival USC on Saturday. Cronin talked about what it meant to beat the Trojans for the first time in his career, the environment at Pauley Pavilion, what went wrong down the stretch as his team nearly blew a big lead and if the Bruins are ready for March Madness.
MICK CRONIN
How does it feel to get that win over USC?
To be honest with you, I didn’t like the way we finished the game. We got March coming up, I came here to try and lift the 12th championship. We had some egregious errors down the stretch, we were going after rebounds for no reason, instead of getting back on defense. And the and-ones. That’s a cardinal sin on our team. If you can’t foul enough to stop the layup, you’ve got to let it go. We had two of those. We went after a rebound for no reason, Johnny had no chance to get it, and that’s how we lost this game last year. I know you guys weren't here, But that’s what happened. But I don’t think about that stuff as much as you guys do. I just don’t. I mean, I know I kid around, but I really try and chain myself because I’ve got my goal of staying focused on coaching and trying to accomplish what we have to to get better.
Jaime doing what he did against a guy 4 inches taller than him?
Peyton didn’t get to play today, because I just didn’t feel like I had the chance to get him in with the intensity of the game. Jaime as a freshman, he listened. He gave us energy and hustle. He was far from experienced. He would corkscrew it, he wouldn't get on balance, and … we believe in individual instruction, I worked with him personally how to get on balance and (inaudible). He delivered for us. Obviously Johnny practiced yesterday and he’s far from where he will be, if he can stay healthy. So right now, we need Jaime to score.
Turnover difference?
Difference in the game. Tyger had eight deflections, even steals (inaudible) That and we did everything we could to let them back into the game. It’s at that moment where I hear my mother – she passed away in ‘05 – telling me ‘You’re wasting your talent.’ I got a really high ACT score. And she asked me ‘Why am I coaching?’ I could have been a financial planner, I could have been a lawyer, I could have been anything. My sister speaks Russian fluently. She’s got multiple degrees. I got a better score on the ACT than her. She’s gonna kill me for saying that. But I wanted to be in the gym all the time with my dad. But in that moment, when they cut it to two, I was questioning all my life decisions.
Similarities to last year come up in the huddle?
Do I bring up last year? I love you Sam, but that’s not your best one. But to your point, what I do bring up is we’ve got to keep playing. We’ve got to play to win. Once we let them back in, there was a minute to play, it was our ball, I called timeout. I knew we had to score. We had to execute to score or we were in deep trouble. Cody missed three layups to start the half but that was a big shot.
Missed free throws in the final minutes an issue?
What were we before? Cause we're 20-of-28, so what were we before that? We must have been 90% before that.
Don’t look happy – ready for the tournament?
I’m tired, it’s late. I’m hungry. No, I just feel we didn’t finish the game in the way we were supposed to finish the game. When you have 15 assists and one turnover, and you have a performance like Jaime did, we should have won by double digits.
Ready for March?
If we can get everybody healthy, we need Johnny…he’s only practiced one time in the last week. So his rhythm was terrible. We could have pushed him, I just don't believe in it. I’ve don't it all year with our guys, injured guys we’ve tried to sit them out. We’ve tried everything we can do to get to March fresh and healthy. So we’re close. Now it’s the Pac-12 tournament, knock on wood we can get through that. We need some games up there where we can have the right rotation. But we’re close. If we had won this game by double figures, and closed them out, I would have said ‘Yeah.” We just made plays down the stretch that had me questioning my decision to get into coaching.
I feel like you are ready for tournament, you are just in a bad mood.
Probably.
Same things you saw last year going into tournament?
Yeah. I think we're a better defensive team. The numbers will tell you – Tracy will know – we're a much better defensive (team). Now, we became a good defensive team last year when the tournament started. But right now we're much better. But I would say this, as coach Wooden said, 'The past doesn't predict the future.' And he would write those guys letters every year about, 'Just cause we won a championship, the past is the past.' So the work we put in, will determine what we do in the future. What happened last year in March has nothing to do with it. If we can execute at a high level, I like our chances of getting going in the tournament, and that's almost unheard of. (i think this is what he said at the end but idk)
Atmosphere tonight key to helping down the stretch?
It was great to have fans. I know the guys love it. I wish it was louder, to give you my honest answer. I think it's great to have everybody here but I think we're just too nice compared to some places I've been, we've been.
Sense something from your guys in terms of the LA rivalry being important?
Yeah. They were ready to win. Their energy and attitude was ready all week. They knew. But we have a lot of respect for them, they played their worst game of the year the other night, so you know they were gonna watch film and they're gonna respond. Andy's a great coach, Isaiah is a tremendous leader for them. There was no doubt that they were gonna go out here and respond. (inaudible). They're much too talented, they have too much pride. He's done such a good job building that program, I mean you knew it was going to happen.
Jules?
Yeah, Jules was great making shots. He was going through a rough stretch, a really rough stretch, where he shot 30%, 18% from 3, 30 overall, so it was nice to (inaudible). But he was really locked in, I was happy for him. Obviously, it was his last game at Pauley Pavilion, so I'm sure he was happy.
Johnny's injury?
You're killing me tonight. You think I care how many minutes a player tells me he wants to play?
Not that you took the advice, just if he was asking to play without restrictions
Yeah, either you're healthy or you're not. Just said he was healthy, I knew he was going for the rest of the game. I didn't expect (inaudible). I knew these two guys would have to do the scoring, and Tyger, because Tyger didn't have his best offensive game, I knew it was going to come from these guys.
Myles Johnson, steals, blocks?
Nine deflections on the game.
Myles' impact?
Oh definitely, definitely. And I thought Jaylen didn't get much done offensively, it was just his energy defensively when he was in there. Those two guys, they're not our best offensive lineup, but they are the best defensive, for sure.
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