Cuonzo Martin on Tyson Jolly: “We’re very happy to have him on board. He’s a great addition to our program. Very talented young man. Tremendous character guy. Guy that loves to compete, plays extremely hard. I think he’ll really upgrade us from a toughness, physical standpoint, athletically as well, so we’re happy to have him on board.”
Cuonzo Martin on what it says about Tyson Jolly to stay committed to Cal: “Those are the guys you fight for til the end, because what happens is he had options: Two high-powered instate schools where he grew up at. He decided to do something different. He wanted to be a part of our program. I’m just excited to have him on board. Just his passion, his energy as a basketball player, his love for the game, his willingness to get better, continue to improve, the way he interacts with his teammates, all those things you need in your program, and I think he’s a good piece to coach in a basketball program.”
Cuonzo Martin on his thoughts going in to Friday: “For our team, we took off yesterday, because you have to take one day a week off, so we get back at it today and tomorrow. You know again, just continue to play hard, continue to share the basketball like we did the last game, continue to improve defensively, one-on-one defense, team defense, helping and recovering, and I thought the guys showed, about 80-percent of the game, I thought they showed that on the defensive side of the ball, and one thing we try to do is it isn’t so much about how many points you score in that game because you come down and make quick shots and quick baskets, but it’s really trying to execute the offense to make plays, to make three, four, or five passes to execute because there will be nights when the shots won’t come as easy as they did, so it wasn’t about trying to score 100-200 points, that sort of thing. It was about really trying to play good basketball and the guys that got in the game to be able to execute, to play a lot of guys because at some point, we have to cut it to 8 or 9 guys, this is what it is.”
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not Kingsley or Kameron will be used against Rice’s big man: “Oh yeah. They should. I didn’t think King played as well. I didn’t. I thought he got off to a slow start, and again, it’s tough guarding a smaller guy, an no excuse, but I thought after watching film, I thought that Kam did some good things, he fouled the three-point shooter, but outside of that I thought he really did some good things. Really run the floor, having a posting presence. I had no problems with the way Kam played at all. Not at all, and the last three weeks he’s played really well.”
Cuonzo Martin on Tyson Jolly’s recruitment: “The thing about him is he was a guy that that didn’t want to give up. He actually tried to petition for another year in high school because he basically missed his junior year of high school and they didn’t grant him that, so he more or less played three years of high school ball, didn’t’ play as much as a freshman, so it just speaks to his character, his make up, his family, his willingness to continue to play and compete, he didn’t make excuses for it. But when he plays the game, he plays extremely hard and sometimes when guys come back from situations like that very hesitant, but not him. He played at a high level, you saw him on the AAU circuit late, you saw him with his high school team, how he played, how he competed, he’s one of those guys who you have to respect for that.”
Cuonzo Martin on what it says about Tyson Jolly to stay committed to Cal: “Those are the guys you fight for til the end, because what happens is he had options: Two high-powered instate schools where he grew up at. He decided to do something different. He wanted to be a part of our program. I’m just excited to have him on board. Just his passion, his energy as a basketball player, his love for the game, his willingness to get better, continue to improve, the way he interacts with his teammates, all those things you need in your program, and I think he’s a good piece to coach in a basketball program.”
Cuonzo Martin on his thoughts going in to Friday: “For our team, we took off yesterday, because you have to take one day a week off, so we get back at it today and tomorrow. You know again, just continue to play hard, continue to share the basketball like we did the last game, continue to improve defensively, one-on-one defense, team defense, helping and recovering, and I thought the guys showed, about 80-percent of the game, I thought they showed that on the defensive side of the ball, and one thing we try to do is it isn’t so much about how many points you score in that game because you come down and make quick shots and quick baskets, but it’s really trying to execute the offense to make plays, to make three, four, or five passes to execute because there will be nights when the shots won’t come as easy as they did, so it wasn’t about trying to score 100-200 points, that sort of thing. It was about really trying to play good basketball and the guys that got in the game to be able to execute, to play a lot of guys because at some point, we have to cut it to 8 or 9 guys, this is what it is.”
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not Kingsley or Kameron will be used against Rice’s big man: “Oh yeah. They should. I didn’t think King played as well. I didn’t. I thought he got off to a slow start, and again, it’s tough guarding a smaller guy, an no excuse, but I thought after watching film, I thought that Kam did some good things, he fouled the three-point shooter, but outside of that I thought he really did some good things. Really run the floor, having a posting presence. I had no problems with the way Kam played at all. Not at all, and the last three weeks he’s played really well.”
Cuonzo Martin on Tyson Jolly’s recruitment: “The thing about him is he was a guy that that didn’t want to give up. He actually tried to petition for another year in high school because he basically missed his junior year of high school and they didn’t grant him that, so he more or less played three years of high school ball, didn’t’ play as much as a freshman, so it just speaks to his character, his make up, his family, his willingness to continue to play and compete, he didn’t make excuses for it. But when he plays the game, he plays extremely hard and sometimes when guys come back from situations like that very hesitant, but not him. He played at a high level, you saw him on the AAU circuit late, you saw him with his high school team, how he played, how he competed, he’s one of those guys who you have to respect for that.”
