Watch: Myles Johnson Talks UCLA's Pregame Rituals, Utilizing Wingspan and Size

MYLES JOHNSON

First taste of playing in Pauley?

It was great. The fans were great. When everybody calls your name and you get to wave at them, that was pretty cool.

Know that was coming or surprise?

Caught be by surprise. didn't know that was coming.

Didn't talk to teammates about rituals?

No, we're doing it and I just picked on and just when you hear your name raise your hand. It felt – it was pretty cool, it was pretty cool.

Giving Jake Kyman a black eye?

Accidents do happen in basketball sometimes and I told Jake that these things, they have a mind of their own sometimes. I'm not trying to hurt nobody, but it just happened. It was unfortunate that it was such a big bruise, I know his girlfriend was really mad at me.

Free throws looked improved?

Definitely working on it a lot. It was one of my biggest weaknesses coming. Definitely put in a lot of work and the results are looking good. So you got to keep it up and stick with it. Kind of just clearing my mind was the biggest thing for me.

Emphasis on putting ball back up after offensive rebound?

Yeah, Cronin tells me that all the time, 'You're right there. You're the biggest person we have. We can't design a play with you posted at the rim with the ball that close.' Pretty much he tells me if I get the ball, first instinct is to look at the basket. Especially if there's a double team or a lot of people around me then passing out is better.

Why feeling of passing out instead of going back up?

Kind of just intuition. Passing out, you get a new clock, you get a rebound, you get to run something. But just kind of intuition.

New free throw routine?

Oh yeah. I just slowed up. I used to do more dribbles, now it's just one dribble. Kind of (inaudible) and then kind of release. Forget about it, and if I miss it, it's okay, I can make the next one. And not to worry about the misses as much is another big thing for me. I kind of get down on myself a lot.

Conditioning seem to be good. You feel like you've made strides?

Oh, yeah, definitely. As I'm getting older and older is these later years in college, conditioning has been the thing. That's another thing we're working on. In the last game, it felt really good moving up and down the floor. Felt really good. Probably the best shape I've been in for most of my college time.

Playing in Pauley for first time after growing up in Long Beach?

I felt great. After the game I got to see a lot of friends and family that are around here that couldn't make it all the way to Jersey every game. The atmosphere was great, fans were good. Just for an exhibition game I was surprised that there was that many people . They were packed and they were loud. It was just a great time.

Wingspan?

Different numbers every time. It's been 7'5" and some change. Some people say 7'7". I haven't mentioned in a long time so I don't really know off the top of my head. But I would say in the range of 7'5" to 7'7"

Opponents underestimating that?

Yeah, sometimes someone lays it up, and like, 'I'm right there. I don't know why you're laying it up. Easy block.' It definitely catches people off guard. They don't think I have that much of a reach. And then they think, 'Oh, I'm never going shoot when I'm there.' Definitely helps out to have long arms.

Confidence and Aggressiveness offensively?

Offensively, I stepped it up because Cronin always emphasizes that, 'You're the biggest person out there. When you call for the ball, demand it.' They're going to get it to me and I'm right there to put it in. I'm strong enough to where most of the contact shouldn't be a problem. So demand the ball more and be more offensive minded. He says he's seen me make those shots all the time, so he's very confident in my offensive ability.

Teams underestimating Peyton's long arms too?

Yeah Peyton, his athleticism and his arms, I think he's the only person that has anything close to my wingspan. Just him being a freak athlete and those arms, he's going to have just as many blocked shots that I have. It's always good to have two people that can do that, in different positions too. Kind of a problem for the other team that we have a guard that can block shots and me that can block shots.