The Bruins have bench support for their star point guard for the first time in his career, giving Mick Cronin options in the rotation.
UCLA men’s basketball point guard Tyger Campbell spoke with reporters ahead of Wednesday morning’s practice at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Campbell talked about staying healthy as the season progresses, handing some minutes over the the younger guards, mentoring Dylan Andrews, his biggest takeaways from the USC game and how he plans to adjust heading into the Utah and Colorado games.
How much of it do you know you have to conserve your energy and prevent injury? How much are you thinking about that?
Uh, well I just say all that comes with going to treatment. When I’m out there, I’m playing as hard as I can, so I’m always beat up after the game. So I’d just say committing to keeping my body right, cause when you get in the thick of the season – I don’t know many games we’ve played, maybe 15 or 16, we have maybe 10 or more left – it’s just trying to keep my body right for the rest of the games, and I trust coach. If he puts me on the bike, I’m gonna go on there, but I always stay ready and I’m just ready to play always.
How much would it help Dylan and Will to play more and give you an extra minute or two of rest per game? Does that matter to you, or not really?
Um, well, obviously when you’re a young guy, whenever you get the chance to play, it’ll help you later in your career. But yeah, I think it would help their development, but I know I trust coach and he has the right game plan going into every game and, you know, we don’t try to sway from that.
How much does it help you to stay fresh?
Oh yeah, um, of course it helps a lot when they get in. They always give us good minutes so it keeps me fresh and they give me (???) so when I get back in the game, I’m ready to play.
Are you a bit of a mentor for Dylan?
I would hope so. I can’t really say, but I talk to him a lot, always try to keep his confidence up. He’s a good guy, so he listens to what I have to say. He’s a willing learner so yeah, I’d like to say I’ve helped him along with his way this year.
When he’s in, are you a little more invested with his performance?
Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure. Whenever he’s in, I wanna see him do really good with the time that he gets. And so yeah, and then when he comes out and back on, talking to him, trying to keep his head up and just making sure he’s ready to play, cause we’re gonna need him.
There have been times when you’ve been on the court together…
Yeah, very few.
What does that bring to the court when both of you are out there?
Um, you know, DA’s such a good defender, so I think when we’re both on the court, we’re two – I’m a smaller guard, you know, he’s like a little bit taller, so when he plays off, I can play some combo more. And I think it just helps me get off the ball because he’s such a good passer, decision-maker. I can just focus on trying to score and other things.
Biggest takeaway from the USC game you’re focusing on heading into the Utah game?
Um, I’d say we gotta play 40 minutes of basketball. You know, we came out in the first half, had a good 20 minutes, and then the second half, we blew a pretty big lead. And so I’d just say play until the buzzer.
Did they change how they defended the pick-and-roll in the second half?
I mean, they were throwing a couple different things at us, but for the most part, we had scouted for it and yeah, we just weren’t making the right decisions in the second half.
What do you guys need to do better with post feeds, getting Adem the ball cleanly?
Uh, it’s just a matter of looking for it. You know, when you catch the ball on the wing or at the top and you see the bigs (???) or if they’re posting hard, it’s just trusting them to throw it in there and just hoping for the best. So we just gotta look for it more.
What kind of improvement have you seen from Adem over the course of the season and lately?
It seems like he’s starting to slow it down a little more. You know, at the beginning of the season, he would drop some passes, this and that, but it just seems like he’s more confident now. And we just try to instill confidence in him, let him know – to me, he’s one of the best big men in the country. And so I’m just trying to make sure he’s confident every day coming in and that he’s doing the right things.
Seems like two-types of offenses – when you’re initiating by passing and when you’re going iso. What kind of determines that?
Uh, well I’d just say a lot of the times it’s the team we’re playing. If we feel like we can get the right matchup or – either way for the big or the guard – we’ll probably go a little more iso. And then if we know it’s a team that’s a lot in the gaps and, you know, plays where you could face help defense, try to move it more, break them down, so it’s really just the team.
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