Nov. 13, 2012

California Head Coach Mike Montgomery

On Ricky Kreklow:
"We pushed the doc in order to try to get him some minutes. He's practiced. We certainly could have waited until the next game but we felt like we wanted to try to get him some limited minutes just to get him on the court and see what that was going to feel like. He just gives you a dimension that really helps us because he is so active. He created a lot of possessions for us. He isn't afraid to hit the floor. He's not afraid to go after the ball. He hasn't played in a long time. He missed five weeks this preseason. I thought he did pretty well. I thought there was some slippage at times offensively, but I thought the energy and the effort were great. I don't think anybody on the team didn't notice him getting us an extra possession or making a play. I saw some smiles."

On comparing Ricky Kreklow to Jorge Gutierrez:
"Jorge was pretty unique, but I think there's some truth because Ricky isn't afraid of contact and isn't afraid to throw himself into the fray. If you look at his knees he's got floor burns all over. When he sets a screen you know that screen is going to be set. Once he gets rhythm offensively and once his teammates figure out how to use him, you're going to see a very valuable player which gives us some depth on the perimeter at last. It gives us five guys. We need to figure out whether we need to have those people on the floor and get into a four out situation because right now our bigs are not producing at a level that is satisfactory. We may use Jeff Powers or Kalil Johnson or Ricky or Allen to play four out. It's something we'll have to look at."

On Allen Crabbe and the offense:
"In the first half I thought that Pepperdine did a good job of locating him and driving him off the line. They made sure to not give him open looks. He was probably a little bit unaccustomed to that in terms of driving it and taking one more dribble into traffic. Ironically, I thought that the pass the Kreklow made to him got him going. It was nothing more than good basketball. He drove right at the guy and came to a two foot stop and delivered right on time. Allen got a rhythm shot and dropped it and score five right before the buzzer. It's important for us to move the ball. I thought that at times we were trying to make home run passes. That's just not what is going to make us successful. It's the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the pass that scores the ball that we want. When we made multiple passes we were much more efficient on offense."

On the offensive rhythm:
"I think the thing that happened was [Allen Crabbe got] the rhythm shot. Guys have to experience a little bit of success. He's a really good shooter. The thing that is a little discouraging for him is that the guards had dropped the ball to the bigs on a number of occasions and they didn't finish. Allen made a really nice dropoff one time and the big fumbled the ball on a point blank shot. We've got to get our bigs to start finishing around the basket."

On limiting the offensive rebounds in the second half:
"We harp on it all the time. We harp at the bigs to rebound the ball. I thought Robert went in did a better of going up with two hands. We've told them that if you can't grab it at least knock it out of there and don't let them rebound the ball. There were occasions where we were standing there and they jumped once or twice and we didn't move a muscle. If you can't get it, knock it out. We'll make them play against half-court defense or maybe we'll get it. We did a little bit of that. Robert went in and was a little more physical on the boards. Allen, at the end, did something Jorge used to do and jumped and got a couple rebounds where the bigs were not jumping. That's what we're not doing."

Allen Crabbe, Jr. G
On the difference this year when your shots were off and adjusting to improve your shooting:
"I'm telling myself this year I can't let my offensive game fade, and I wasn't making shots but I just kept telling myself to keep shooting them. Ricky over here's always in practice telling me to shoot to stay high. I just kept shooting the ball, I mean, they were there and I didn't want to pass them up. A shooter has to get in a rhythm by shooting shots not shying away from them."

On the difference for you between the first and second half:
"I think it's just, I just started getting some cheap baskets and getting tip-ins on the offensive rebounds and my teammates were finding me. I just got into a rhythm and I was knocking the shots off."

On is this game the start of what's expected to come:
"I guess you could say that in a positive way. I just feel like I was just blessed with the ability to shoot the ball. If my teammates find me and then I get hot then they're going to find me even more and so I just felt like if I get the opportunities I can't pass them up, I need to help my team and put points on the board."

On what you thought about what Ricky did and what you expect he'll do to change your team:
"I knew I was always going to be happy playing with Ricky, but after tonight, I think it's going to be pretty exciting. Once he gets into a rhythm and he starts taking these types of shots, I was definitely excited with him. He battles extra possessions, he was hustling, and all that extra he brings to our team. In practice, he's always the one on the ground and fighting with people trying to get the balls but he just brings that energy for us and I really think that's going to help us this year."

On the nickname from the media... Jorge light:
"You could put it like that. He's not going to shy away from anybody if the coaches want to put him on a tough defender. He's a tough offensive player. He's not going to shy away from it or back down so I guess you could put that "Jorge light" on him."

Ricky Kreklow, R-So, G
On how you felt tonight out there making your Cal debut:
"Good, I mean it felt good to finally play. It had been a long time since I had been on the floor and something I had been really anticipating so especially having had surgery six weeks ago, it set me back, but to finally be on the floor again felt great."

On how do you think you played:
"I think I did okay. I mean I did what I anticipated I was going to do, I mean hoping some of the shots fall but I mean, first night out, realistically it's probably not going to happen. I felt like I gave a good effort out there on defense, rebounds, steals, finding Al [Allen Crabbe] and Justin. I think I did okay."

On if defense is what you want to bring to the team:
"That's one part of your game that's always going to be consistent. The offensive is going to come and go, your shots are going to be there some nights and some nights you're not going to hit anything. What always going to be there is how hard you're playing and how well you're defending. That's effort, really. That's the one thing I expect out of myself every game."

Pepperdine Head Coach Marty Wilson

On the Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs combination:
"Obviously [Allen] Crabbe, he is a pro. He will be making a lot of money next year, sorry for Cal fans but he is going to be making a lot of money. He has great poise, he shoots the ball as well as anybody I have seen. [Justin] Cobbs hurt us in a way we didn't expect, especially early in the first half. Shooting three's, he got in a rhythm. It's a great duo between the two guys and they can hurt you in a number of ways."

On what they can take away from tonight:
"I think our guys grew up, they developed, we are seeing more and more good things especially when playing higher-lever, bigger, more physical guys. We only shot 52 percent in the second half, so they are starting to buy in and see what we are preaching; they are starting to see that it is working. We want to continue to get better every day and become a better team in January, February, March than we are in December."