UCLA Coach Ben Howland Press Conference Notes

UCLA Men’s Basketball
Teleconference Quotes
Head Coach Ben Howland

(courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

on the game between two top 5 teams

“You have two very good teams and we have a lot of respect for Washington State. When you look at what they have been able to accomplish in the last year and a half, it has really been incredible. They are a team with Final Four potential. It’s definitely a big game.”

on what makes Washington State successful

“They have so many good players and they are really disciplined and very patient. They run their offense well and they play great defense. They are a complete team. They don’t turn the ball over, they don’t beat themselves, they take good shots and they are unselfish. That’s why they are 14-0.”

on where Darren Collison is with everything that has happened to him this season

“I thought he played very well on our road trip to the Bay area last weekend, especially in the second half against California. I thought he played extremely well. He doesn’t have his knee brace on so I don’t think his knee is a factor at all. He came back on Sunday and got food poisoning and was out this week for two and a half days. Yesterday, he just got bruised on his hip.”

on Darren Collison’s latest injury

“If you just looked at it on film, it looked very benign. You could look at it and think nothing happened. It must have hit him just in the right spot.”

on how Washington State has improved offensively from a year ago

“I think [Aron] Baynes is an added factor now. He’s very good and he’s playing a lot more minutes. He’s shooting 61 percent from the floor and gives them a really good inside presence. They have great scoring balance and they have an inside-outside game now. [Derrick] Low is still their leading scorer and does so many things, [Kyle] Weaver is a great scorer and facilitator, so they have a lot of pieces that make them tough to defend. They are very patient and they don’t care who scores. They truly are a team and there is no one worried about themselves, which is really impressive. They really are great screeners, they set very good physical screens. They also do a great job of reading them [screens].”

on the play of the WSU guards Low, Weaver and Rochestie

“All three of those guys can run the offense, especially [Taylor] Rochestie and [Kyle] Weaver. Rochestie has 69 assists and just 29 turnovers, so that’s a great ratio. Weaver is second on the team with 59 [assists] and 31 [turnovers]. Rochestie is definitely a concern, he’s a great player.”

on when James Keefe will get the minutes he needs to start producing

“He played 17 minutes last night [against Washington] that were critical for our chance to win. He did a good job and I was pleased with James’ output last night.”

on all the injuries this season

“There’s things that you can control and there’s things you can’t. The things you don’t control, you have to deal with them and that’s what we’re doing. It’s all part of the fun.”

on playing a tough game like this without a lot of time between games

“We’ve got our hands full, there’s no question about it. It’s going to be a very difficult game. The turnaround time, making it so short, makes it more difficult from the standpoint of preparation time, but we’re here for TV.”