Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs West Virginia
January 26, 2013 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 26, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs West Virginia
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013
OSU Head Coach Travis Ford
On West Virginia starting fast
"We were very hesitant early in the game. We didn't handle the pressure early and we got caught chasing them on defense rather than guarding them. Once we started adjusting to their pressure, we were able to score a few more points. Then we jumped into a zone, and that helped us on both ends of the court. There were some long rebounds, and we were able to convert those into some open-court fast breaks to open the game up a little bit. We just got off to a slow start."
On the importance of the win
"This was a good win for us. I have a lot of respect for West Virginia's team, I really do. They have a very nice squad. They're hard to play against. They pressure you, they're physical around the rim, and they pressure you on the perimeter. We have a lot of respect for West Virginia's players and their coach."
On Philip Jurick's performance
"We've tried to send a message to all our players, especially the big guys inside, that we need to start finishing around the rim, go up strong, rebound the ball and have a physical presence around the rim. I thought we did that tonight. I thought we did a great job of having a very physical presence around the rim."
On the win preparing the team for the upcoming game against Iowa State
"We put 80 points on the board, so that helps us a little bit, knowing that we can do that, because we haven't been putting the ball in the hole as well as we'd like. But, we want to win with our defense, period. We want to win by rebounding the ball and having a tough mentality. I thought we did that today. Even though we put the ball in the hole, I thought our toughness for most of the night was really good. It was a little slow early, but then we got very tough."
On the players all greeting Coach Eddie Sutton before the game
"It's something I wanted to do. It's something I would have done last game, but I didn't know he was here. So, I had someone in charge of letting me know if he was here today. We just wanted to send our respects and condolences to him, but more than anything just the respect for him and letting him know we're all thinking about him. He is Oklahoma State Basketball."
OSU junior guard Markel Brown
On the importance of today's game
"It was very important, coming off a bad shooting night and having confidence for our game Wednesday. It was a very important game for us."
On the early deficit
"We just have to settle our guys down and withstand the pressure they were putting on us. We started attacking and getting the ball to the rim. Kicking shots out to Phil (Forte) in the corner helped us get back in the game."
On chemistry with Forte
"I got Phil open for some shots and he got me some assists, and I returned the favor. We took a lot of good shots and they were falling."
On the inbounds steal
"He made a big shot, I found him in the corner and the next play, the guy tried to throw it in the corner and I stole it and it worked out."
On the team's performance
"It's very fun, like Forte said, playing with your friends, making shots and letting the game come to you. It makes everything easy, you get into a flow and a rhythm and from that point when Forte was making shots, I felt like I wasn't going to miss after that."
OSU freshman guard Phil Forte
On his overall play
"I have the easy part, all I have to do is step in and shoot it. We have teammates and coaches that believe in me and want me to shoot the ball as much as possible, and that makes it easier to go out there with confidence and shoot the ball, and that's my role on the team. They do a great job of trying to find me, put me in motion and in a position to be successful."
On the team's performance
"It was a lot of fun. We just happen to be clicking in the second half. Shots were falling. We go out there and play together, we're brothers, we're always together, on and off the court, so we're playing with our friends out there so it makes it fun when everyone's hitting shots and making the extra pass to the open guy."
On differences from last game
"At Baylor, we were taking good shots, they just weren't falling. That's how basketball goes sometimes. We know we can make those shots, we just have to keep taking them and tonight they were falling."
On changing numbers
"I can't complain, 13 worked well today. I'm going to stay with that number. I understand the circumstance, it's out of my control, and there's nothing I could do about it and it's for a good reason."
On playing zone defense
"We're more of a man defensive team and the zone was always something we'd throw out to try to catch other teams off guard. When we went to the zone, it started our run and was working really well for us. It was working so we said, 'Why change it?' So we stayed in it and it helped spark our run and get us going."
On his pass to Marcus Smart to take a 15-point lead
"It was really big. It helped get the crowd going at that time, we got a defensive play and he was open and of course the dunk got the crowd going. It was great to get that momentum going and the arena got louder and it helped feed us."
On Marcus Smart
"He does a great job of not only finding me but everyone else, so anytime I can flip the script it's always nice."
On calls made by referees affecting their play
"It's something you really can't control. It's out of our power. Not every call is going to go your way so that's something you just have to move on and come together as a unit and move on."
WVU Head Coach Bob Huggins
On the switching of momentum during the game
"The game turned when they threw the run-and-jump at us. We handed them the ball. We helped off the ball side and gave them a couple of threes. I think that's really when the game changed. I think the 2-3 zone kind of just compounded that."
On Markel Brown and Phil Forte's play
"It's obvious, they made shots and we didn't. We helped them by leaving them open to get them started. It's a lot easier to make one after you've made a couple. We helped off the wrong people at the wrong times."
On the team's lack of effort
"I don't think it's physical at all, I think it's mental. The last game, we played a lot more pressure than we played today. Still, our guys aren't playing a lot of minutes. I know in 1993, we played about seven guys. They pressed the whole game, and we ran in motion. We cut hard. They would practice three hours every day. They never acted like they were tired. It's a state of mind. I don't think our guys think they're tired, they just let down. I don't understand."
On players missing assignments
"We had a timeout where we were going to run a set against the zone, and I couldn't even get my guys on the right side of the floor. I think if you look at my teams historically, we've scored at an extremely high rate after timeouts. I can't get these guys on the right side of the floor, and they know it. I don't know what goes through their heads."
WVU senior forward Deniz Kilicli
On what happened after the first 15 minutes of the game
“We didn't score. We lost the momentum and we didn't do well on defense. It's all about getting that momentum and that's what we had in the beginning probably for about the first 15 minutes. They were making shots and we were answering them with shots and we were stopping them. Then they started to zone and all the momentum stopped. I don't know why because normally we are better when they play zone. It's really hard to put my finger on it. I don't know what's going on.”
On losing momentum during games
“We practice for three hours so this should be a walk in the park for us. At least that's how it use to be. We would come in and play the game. Even the guy who would play 40 minutes a game would be fresh after the game. That's how we use to be. I think it is more mental. I don't know where everybody's head is. That's a big problem. Before this, I knew exactly what everyone was thinking and it was easy to motivate people. It was easy to motivate guys when they were down. It just doesn't happen anymore.”
On OSU guard Phil Forte
“That's the problem in connection. We don't come help. It's the only thing he can do, is get the ball and shoot it. He's not going to create anything dribbling the ball. He's not going to play pick and rolls or anything. He's just going to come shoot the ball.”
On not knowing plays
“We've run these plays for five years now. Some of these guys have run these plays for two years now and they still don't know where to go. It's not about us not practicing or us not making and effort to teach everyone. It's either not important or they just need help. The easiest thing to do in basketball is score. We're being told what to do in the timeout and then we can't execute the draw. Those are the little things that get the other team going.”
On team chemistry
“We don't have problems with chemistry. Everyone hangs out together and all that cliché stuff. We're always around each other. I don't think we have a problem with that. But once we get on the court everyone becomes blank at one point in time and that's really hard to deal with.”
WVU freshman guard Eron Harris
On what happened after the first 15 minutes of the game
“We lose focus as a team. We were focused and they went on that run and then we just lost focus and we never gained it back. We made small runs, but overall they focused more than we did. They were a lot better players than us. A game this big we're supposed to be focused and we just weren't focused. We weren't shutting them down.”
On OSU guard Phil Forte
“A few times the ball got turned lose and the guy on him (Forte) left and that left him open. Other times he shouldn't have gotten any shots off. We just did dumb stuff. All he does is shoot.”
On preparing for Kansas on Monday
“This game is in the past now. Tomorrow we'll go to practice and prepare for another team. Hopefully we can fix our focus problems and be able to focus long enough. We're a good team and everyone sees the potential we have. We just have to sustain it.”
On why the team doesn't come together
“We watch film for hours and they give us the scouting report on paper. We go through every play. What they do and what they don't do. Some players don't listen. Collectively as a team we have to be on the same page and we're not on the same page all the time. We're still working on that.”
