UCLA's Steve Alford Speaks to the Media on Wednesday
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA basketball team practiced in Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, marking the team’s fourth practice on the renovated court since returning to the building last weekend.
Two days shy of the team’s exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, head coach Steve Alford and several players met with members of the local media prior to practice.
UCLA hosts Azusa Pacific on Friday, Oct. 31, in Pauley Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. A live video and audio broadcast will be available online (free of charge) by visiting uclabruins.com.
Quotes from head coach Steve Alford
Wednesday, Oct. 29
on expectations from Friday’s exhibition game
“Well, we get to play against somebody else. We will have about 20 or 21 practices under our belt and all against one another. So, that exhibition game and the scrimmage that follows will give us opportunities to go against somebody else. We aren’t really doing a scouting report or worrying about what they do, but that will give us film to see what actions they did which hurt our defense and what we were doing, offensively, that they were easily able to guard. Right now, going blue [versus] gold and going against each other, there is a good familiarity with it. We need to play somebody that doesn’t know us really well right now.”
on a projected starting lineup for Friday's game
"I'm not sure. If we had to start today, I’d have Bryce [Alford], Isaac [Hamilton], Norman [Powell], Kevon [Looney] and Tony [Parker]. If everything goes well the next couple days, that’ll probably be how we will go. What I have really liked, we had a scrimmage about four or five days ago where we did multiple combinations, and being able to swing Kevon [Looney] to a lot of areas now that he is healthy really helps us. We can go big, which is what will be different. We can go with a big lineup where you’ve got possibly Tony [Parker] and Tom [Welsh] in there at once. And then we can go long and athletic when we are resting both Tom and Tony or we have foul trouble or you want to change the tempo, then we can go really long and big with Kevon and Wanaah [Bail] and G.G. [Goloman]. The two guys who I think have really done some things way ahead of where I thought they would be right now are Wanaah and G.G. Seeing what they’ve been able to do in the first 20 days of practice has been really encouraging.”
on Kevon Looney’s hip
“Really good. He has had no problems. We had a 40 minute scrimmage – I can’t remember which day – but it was over the weekend. And he was great. He played in just about every minute of that. It was just a day-to-day thing to make sure that it did not get to be anything long-term, and we hope that it won’t be anything long term. He’s doing a good job with treatments. He has not been slowed at all. We have had a little bit of illness going through the entire team. So, it’ll be good to see today where everybody is at, coming off of a day off. Hopefully, they were able to get some rest. As far as the hip, hopefully he doesn’t have any problems.”
on taking precautions with Kevon in Friday night’s game
“I think we wouldn’t monitor just his hip, he seems full go that way. We’re going to play it by ear, not just with him but with everybody. That [game] is really our only time, publically. Our next one is a private scrimmage, so this is really our first dry run through and our only dry run through before we open and play seven games in 14 days. So, we have to approach this exhibition game where we are getting some guys minutes. We’ll really try to use the atmosphere, the officials to the clock to the fans to everything else, that this is the only dry run that we are really going to have. We’ve got to make good use of those 40 minutes.”
on UCLA’s backcourt depth (with Bryce, Isaac and Norman)
“I think you could see that combination as long as we stay healthy, a lot. But we really like what Noah is doing. And like I mentioned with Kevon, in the last seven to10 days, being able to play him and swing him – to play a four guard lineup with Kevon, or when we sub and it becomes maybe Wanaah and Tom or Wanaah and Tony. Those are your two bigs and three guards but one of those three guards could be Kevon. That’s what has been really encouraging. We thought that would happen. You’re going to end up having a five guard rotation anyway. Depth wise, we don’t have one body that we would have had last year, with guards. But knowing that we can play Kevon there now, pretty comfortably with that, it does give us a little more flexibility in the back court that we didn’t know, for sure, we would have about seven or eight days ago.”
on being able to return to Pauley Pavilion after a flood damaged the floor July 29
“It’s been terrific. [Renovations] provided a new weight room and a nutrition room. But the floor has really come out well. We got the bleachers all back in here. And as I’ve said before, really the people behind the scenes here deserve all the credit. They worked really hard. Something like that really hit, I mean it gutted the lower level here, to get everything back and fully functional even earlier about a week earlier than what we thought, we are very grateful for that. And I’m very thanks to the Clippers’ organization as well. We were able to get a few practices in there. It helped us to get away from campus and to get into a facility like that really help us. Everybody involved has been terrific. But it feels really good to be back in here.”
on what Tony Parker needs to do to continue improving
“His maturity has been great. Through 20 practices, he has been working at a very high level. He has been running the floor. He knows that we want to play that way. Both he and Tom are doing a really good job of running the floor. Tony is a little bit more used to it because he was here one year ago. He has been getting on the front end of some fast breaks, which you didn’t that a whole lot last year. He has been rebounding the ball very well. The rebounding so far has been good. It’s been dispersed between about six or seven guys. That is a positive, because we knew that we were giving up a lot of rebounding, especially with Kyle leaving. The rebounding has been good, and obviously Tony anchors that. He has been really good in the post. His development and Thomas’ development will be a big key to how they defend the post and how they defend pick-and-rolls without getting in any foul trouble. If they do that, it’s really going to help us do the things that we would like to do. Both of those guys were legitimate go-to guys in the post. They know what to do with it, and they know how to score. And he’s been making more free throws in practice, so that is a positive.”
on the improvement and highlights of forwards Wanaah Bail and G.G. Goloman
“We knew both of them were hard workers, but their production with rebounding – with Wanaah, he is really rebounding the ball at a high level. He is running the floor and getting put-backs and getting tip-dunks, and he’s really defending well. He’s probably been our best screener, which has really helped our offense. He is doing things that we are asking him to do, and he’s not doing the things that he should not be doing. And when you do that, you have a chance to look pretty good. He’s been doing that. With G.G., you’ve just got a really skilled 6-10 kid. We knew that. He’s got to continue to get stronger. He’s working every day to improve with that. He lifts about one or two more times than what the rest of the guys are doing. He’s enjoying American food. So, the weight and the strength parts will happen through maturity and through getting older and being over here a little bit longer. He has only been over here [the United States] for almost two years. So, that will happen. But he has an incredible skill set and we are seeing that. He’s a very, very good passing big man. That’s really helped us offensively.”
on G.G. Goloman being a factor in UCLA’s rotation
“He’s fighting for it. We’re early. It’s not quite November. And I don’t think we are set for a rotation yet. If we had to start today, G.G. is definitely fighting for that. His scrimmage was good and his practices have been really good. The guys like playing with him. He’s got a really good understanding. For a young player, he has a very good understanding of how to play. He moves the ball. He spaces the floor well. He runs the floor well. And like Wanaah, he’s not trying to do things that he isn’t quite ready to do yet. So, you look better by staying away from those weaknesses. He’s doing a good job with that.”