The ‘Man of Steal’ talked about how the Trojans were able to challenge the Bruins, as well as how he adjusted to hit the game-winner.
UCLA men’s basketball guard Jaylen Clark spoke with reporters ahead of Wednesday morning’s practice at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Clark talked about how he was feeling a week after his game-winner against USC, the reaction across campus, his thoughts on a potential nickname, teams leaving him open from 3, what he learned from the second half against the Trojans, Utah’s defense, David Singleton’s shooting and his pursuit of the Bruins’ single-season steal record.
Been basking in the afterglow of that big shot?
Uh, a little bit, not really though. I didn’t move (???). It was cool that night, for sure. After that, I mean it’s like, people move on to other games, there’s other things happening, other situations.
What about in class? Anybody give you a standing ovation?
Ah, no. When I’m in class, I just slide in, I have my hood on most of the time. I’m just there to learn, for real, you know what I mean? That’s what I pride myself on. THat’s the cool thing about going to a school like this, you know what I mean? The education is so important and being able to leave with that degree carries so much weight.
Some people on the message boards have called you the Man of Steal – you like that one?
Yeah, no, that one was cool. My mom showed me a picture of my head on Superman or something like that. Yeah, that one was cool.
A little surprised when you’re so open on two 3-point looks like that?
Uh, yeah. But I mean, when you’re playing with (???), he’s the first option, so I’m pretty sure they was focused on running him off. And then when he grabbed the rebound, they probably was just lost.
Is it easier to hit that second 3?
Yeah, much easier. I mean, you get to shoot it right away, you get to adjust. Most of the time, you get one shot, you gotta adjust three, four, five possessions later. When you get it back like that, it was pretty easy.
What was USC doing defensively in the second half that shut you guys down?
Um, I think they was just packing it in and I think their pride kicked in. I was talking to the guys, I don’t think none of us expected to be up 20 at half, I don’t think anybody in the building expected us to be up 20 at half, and we probably thought they was gonna roll over like teams like Maryland did. But they fought back and you have to tip your hat off to that.
Coach was saying some of the veterans may need to have their minutes limited at this point in the season – do you partake in that or are you full go?
Yeah, I’m full go. Come out here, practice hard every day, play as much as the team needs me to. I’ll take my time off after the season.
Have you watched Utah on film?
Oh yeah, we watched them already.
What have you seen from them?
I mean, everybody knows when you beat Arizona by like 20, that’s – they’re a really good team. That’s really impressive, so I mean, just that game alone, watching the film off of that, I mean, you gotta respect them, that’s a hard-fought game.
What do they do defensively that’s tough?
I think that because they’re such a (???) team, they don’t give up no layups. So if you’re not hitting 3s, it’s gonna be a long game against them.
So you’re looking at more potentially open 3s?
If that’s what they give us, then yeah.
Is that happening more frequently, teams marking David Singleton…
Oh yeah. Well I mean, who wouldn’t mark him? I think he’s – he has to be, statistically, one of the best shooters to ever come out of here. I don’t know the numbers, if you know what I mean, but from what I’ve seen, I mean, he’s gotta be at least a top 10 shooter of all time in UCLA history, that’s up there with some of the great that came out of here. So if you don’t mark him, he’ll go rip off five, six seven of them in a row, so I would suggest marking him.
Have you checked your numbers for being the single-season leader in steals?
I know I’m a little behind. I gotta be in the high 30s by now, low 40s. Do you know the number?
I think it’s 95 or something
Yeah, I’m talking about, like, where I’m at right now.
39
I’m at 39? And how many games have we played?
16
I’ve only played 15, I missed one, so I played 15. How many games left?
15 to go, 16 to go
And that’s including March Madness.
No
Oh, ok. So I’m cool. Yeah, I’m good. Yeah, I’m good. Got like 40 halfway, another 40, then probably like – we’ll probably go on a deep run, like eight more games – so I’ll get that. Yeah, I’ll get that for sure.
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