The Bruins already beat Stanford back in December, going up 17-0 on the Cardinal in the opening five minutes.
UCLA men’s basketball guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. spoke with the media ahead of Tuesday morning’s practice session at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Jaquez talked about the Bruins having the longest active home winning streak in the country, his chemistry with David Singleton and Tyger Campbell, his 3-point shot starting to fall, the importance of hot starts and how he may have had a late growth spurt.
You guys have the longest active home winning streak in the country…
*Knocks on wood*
What’s gone into that?
Um, I think it’s just we enjoy playing at home. We love playing in front of our fans, we enjoy defending our home court, we take it as an advantage for sure and we just – we’re excited. We’re comfortable there and we just love playing in Pauley.
Your pregame dance with Dave – just having fun out there? What was the genesis of that?
Yeah, I think we were just having fun. We have a little routine – Logan gives me the ball, I get the ball, me and Dave, we do our little dance. I just try to have fun, get the spirits high, get the energy flowing. Just positive energy throughout the team and we know it starts with us, so we just try to, you know, get the guys into it. I know Kenny’s a big dancer on the team. Adem, Dylan, they all love dancing, we all love dancing as a team, so it’s just something fun that we do.
You and Tyger between-the-legs alley-oop – how long have you guys been doing that?
Um, we’ve been doing that for a while now.
At least two or three years?
Yeah, something like that. It just came about, like I said, another thing that just gets the energy up. When you see a guy catch a dunk and he throws it as cool as he does, everyone just jumps behind and just gets our energy up. And I think little things like that are – they go unnoticed a lot of times, and I think there are little things that are important to the team that help us just get our energy up before games.
Your rebound numbers are way up – what do you attribute that to? More spring in your step compared to last year?
I would definitely say a lot more spring in my step. I was actually looking at the stats of just, like, the other night and just examining what I could do better and where I’ve improved and things like that. And I think yeah, a lot more spring in my step as well, I think that’s a big one. And also just being in the right spots I think is really important, and reading the ball off the rim is something that just helped me a lot as well. Just trying my best to, like, not jump too early or too late for a ball, and really just be on time with my jumps and my rebounding.
Been a point of emphasis for you to shoot more 3s and slow down your shot?
Um, yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, in the beginning of the year, I was feeling very confident about my shot and I just didn’t get off to a great start. And I know that with more shots, you get more opportunities to make them. So me and coach Ivo, we were talking a lot about that, but I just improved my volume and my percentage went up, it was crazy. Crazy how that works. But yeah, I mean, I felt good the whole year, and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, I’m just happy right now they’re going in.
Have you gotten taller?
I thought – I’m glad you said that, cause I think I did get taller. I was looking at some of the other guys, I was like ‘Did y’all get shorter, or did I just grow?’ I don’t know, maybe I did, I thought I did. Maybe, like, a little.
We have to get the measurement
Yeah, we have to. I’ll tell that to the other guys.
How much are you able to pull from your first game against Stanford when it’s been so long since that first matchup?
Um, I think – yeah, that was very early in the season. I think even now, we’re a way different team than we were back then. So I think you gotta take it as a new team, really, and understand what they’ve done, I’m sure they’ve made a lot of improvements since the last time we played and so have we. So I think it’s gonna be a new battle with new challenges, and I’m excited to see what – I’m excited to watch the film and see what they have in store.
What was the common thread of starting 17-0 against Stanford and then going up big early on Maryland?
I think just our energy on defense, it all starts on the defensive end. When you get steals and stops, it allows you to go out and get in transition and get easy layups. And I think the best offense starts with a good defense, and I think in both those games that you mentioned, our defense was just on high alert in the very beginning. And that’s why we were able to get out early and jump on them and have early leads.
What’d you think of what they were able to do against Arizona?
Um, I mean, taking out No. 4 Arizona is not an easy task to do, so props to them. Like I said, I haven’t really watched the film, but I think we’re gonna get through that today and I’ll have a lot more insight to what that’s all about.
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