California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening Statement
“Good win, great environment. Great to have Tyrone (Wallace) back. I thought the guys fed off of that. Our guys had a good week and the guys that come off the bench and don't play a lot played a big part in this win. In their prep work of duplicating and trying to simulate Oregon's 1-2-2 or 1-2-1-1 back-to-the-zone matchup, I thought they did a really good job in practice, getting our guys prepared to play against this. It showed tonight in our preparation for the game. With Tyrone back, we had fun, we played hard, we played together. Twenty assists to 11 turnovers, it was a good game. It was great to see Jabari (Bird) shoot the ball well. When he's shooting the ball in that ballpark, we're a tough, tough team to deal with.”
On Cal's Defensive Performance
“The thing we talk about and spend a lot of time doing is getting better defensively. I always say it's never too late. We talk about hands high when someone catches the ball, a wide stance without fouling and ultimately, having pride. It's 'High, wide, and you've got to have pride' in defending a guy one-on-one. It's real simple, you can't allow guys to help [all the time] and everybody's helping, helping, helping. At some point, it's got to be man-on-man and you have to do your job. [Oregon's] one of the best teams if not the best I've seen as far as the dribble weave and attacking the rim. The thing about it is, when they attack, especially with (Elgin) Cook and Dillon (Brooks), you're talking about guys that are 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, 230 pounds and they're coming downhill. That's a hard thing to deal with for 40 minutes in a game [as well as] Tyler Dorsey who can make shots. Our guys took pride in that and accepted the challenge. It's a lot easier when they play well. “
On Informing the Team of Tyrone Wallace's Clearance via a Group Text
“Tyrone just got cleared today so I said [to the team], 'Tyrone's cleared for takeoff' and the guys were happy about that. He's a senior, he's a leader of our team and guys were excited about that because they want to see him on the floor. We're not the team we need to be without Tyrone. For about 20-plus minutes, I thought he did a good job. He was winded out there, but I wanted to keep him out there as much as possible. When we could, I took him out of there. I took him out the last three minutes because I thought he was exhausted, but he did a good job. For a guy that wasn't practicing while he was out – he hadn't practiced – that wasn't easy against a caliber of team like that … he hadn't practiced since he was injured – that was the last time he practiced.”
On Jabari Bird's Hot Start and Overall Play
“It was a good start for the team. With the way he and Jordan (Mathews) shoot the ball, you have to identify them and so everyone else can do their job. When Sam (Singer) drives the ball – those 11 assists, Sam did a great job making decisions and making the passes because those guys (Bird and Matthews) did their job. With those guys making shots, it's hard to say, 'I can help off this guy, I can rotate here.' You can't do it … and with Ivan (Rabb) down low, that's a tough matchup in itself and Jordan making plays and making shots, it's tough.”
California Players
Jabari Bird
On what this win can do for the season
“It's a big confidence booster. We got Tyrone (Wallace) back. We got a big win over a good conference team at home, and we continued our home winning streak. So we're just looking to keep it rolling to Saturday for our game against Oregon State.”
On his hot start in the first half
“I was just trying to be aggressive and make plays. The ball just happened to keep going in and I got some good looks from my teammates attacking the lane and kicking out to me for open three's. I just did my job and made them.”
On how he can continue to have games like tonight
“I'd like to have more games like tonight. It felt good out there tonight, to make those shots and get the crowd hyped, but the main thing for us is to go out there and play as a team. We played hard on the defensive end and shut down a really good offensive team. That was the main thing for us and me tonight.”
On guarding Dillon Brooks
“He's a talented ball player I had to try and make it tough for him tonight. In the second half, I got a little lazy and fouled him, and he got some easy layups. But, for the most part, I tried to make him work and make him make tough two's.”
Tyrone Wallace
On what he gained from sitting on the bench while injured
“I thought sitting helped me today. I thought it was good to see the game from a coach's perspective. Since I wasn't able to play, I was able to watch the guys perform and see what was going on out there on the court during the game. I think the main thing was just noticing breakdowns and noticing what we could do better, and when I'm on the court, preach that to the guys. Just try and be aware of the things that are going on. Tonight we did a really good job, besides the last six minutes. I think we put them to the line a little too much and had some turnovers in the end, but not a lot to complain about.”
On the team's ceiling
“ I think the sky is the limit. We defended really well tonight. They struggled. We got a couple 30-second shot clock violations against them and we forced them to take tough shots. I don't think they were able to get comfortable today. So we just have to continue to bring that effort on the defensive side of the ball, and you see what it leads to on the offensive end where we get run outs, open shots and we're able to have fun.”
On if this was the team's best game
“Probably so. We did a lot of things very well. There was a lot of attention to detail one through five and whoever was on the court. Guys were helping each other out when they were driving the ball, rotating and everything. We were blocking shots, our bigs were, that is. This was definitely a big win for us. Got to keep playing well and taking it one game at a time.”
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
On the game
“We got kicked, I don't know how else to put it. The point difference and their second-chance points never gave us an opportunity to get back in the game. They came out hot. We'd get a run started and they kept getting second and third opportunities. Twenty-seven to eight second-chance points really killed us. I didn't have them ready to go, and that's just as much my fault as it is anybody's. We didn't push out early, and once they started getting the three's to go we just couldn't keep up. When we did get pushed out, we didn't come out and get the ball on the second-chance opportunities. Offensively, we were standing up and defensively we were standing up. We just didn't have much bite. We never got the run we were hoping for.”
On Cal
“That is the Cal team you expect when you play them at home. We are not the only victims of a loss here. They are a talented team. They have (Jaylen) Brown, Ivan (Rabb) and Jabari (Bird) really got it going tonight. It can be easy to overlook a guy like Jabari when you have to worry about Brown driving and Ivan at the post, and that team can really spread you out. Once they got the three's going, they really spread us out and we just couldn't recover. Going 9-16 from three and hitting the first five or six really gave them a push.”
On bouncing back
“You just have to bounce back. It was not what we wanted or what we were hoping for, so now we have really got to bounce back. The team was shocked, and it'll take some leadership to get these guys to bounce back. When you get beaten like that, especially so early in the game, it really shakes you up. It takes leadership to bounce back.”
On lack of timeouts called in first half
“That was a mistake. I kept thinking it really was my fault. I definitely take the blame there. I should have used all of them. We have stayed away from those early timeouts and our guys usually bounce back, but we got to the first TV timeout and it was already 18-6, and that showed I should have taken one before then. I waited too long, but it didn't really seem to matter. No timeout or TV timeout really seemed to help us bounce back. I should have taken some, really I should have used them all.”
