Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Postgame Quotes
January 08, 2000 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 8, 2000
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
"I thought that first five minutes, we might have set Big 12 basketball back a lot by the way we played. Defensively, both teams played all right, but offensively, I thought both teams were really stagnant. Part of the reason is James (Dickey) knows what we're doing, and we know what they're doing. We've been around each other so long. At times, it's hard to get your offense going like it should.
"I thought we played much better the second half. Overall, defensively we played a good ballgame. We certainly didn't play very well offensively. I thought our big guys did a better job of rebounding, Alex (Webber), Fredrik (Jonzen) and Brian (Montonati), in particular. Desmond (Mason) did a good job, also. I think our board play was a big key in the ballgame. Shot selection wasn't very good, and when it's not very good, that's when you have a low percentage from the field. We're a much better ballclub than 35 percent.
"Like I told our squad, we're happy to win the game and glad for school to begin Monday so we can get back into a structured environment. I think that kind of messes ballclubs up sometimes."
On starting Alex Webber
"We had a visit with Alex the day before yesterday. We talked to him and pulled out some film of the way he played against Wichita and the way he played last year late in the season. We really just did some counseling with him and told them that he's a lot better player than what he's been playing. Yesterday he went out and had a good practice. Fredrik has been coming off the bench and doing a good job. He did again today. I just made the decision that I'd go ahead with Alex, and I was pleased that he played much better today."
On Brian Montonati
"Well, Brian just continues to play very good basketball. He missed a couple
of shots he should have hit in the second half, but otherwise he had a great
percentage from the field. He played outstanding."
Oklahoma State Players
Center Alex Webber
On Texas Tech Andy Ellis getting injured
"It wasn't as bad as it could have been. When Ellis got hurt, they went to a
smaller lineup. It wasn't that bad. I saw Ellis fall, and I wasn't sure he
was going to get up from that. He came down pretty hard. When he was in the
game, it became more physical."
On the question of whether he was going to start or not
"I didn't expect to start. i probably shouldn't have started with the way
I've been playing lately. I haven't been focusing lately on my job and my
role on the team. I had a meeting with the coaching staff the other day, and
we got a lot of things off our chest. I knew I had to come out and start
playing harder in practice. The last few days, I had some really good
practices, and that might have helped. I have had four years of starting and
not starting. If Fred (Jonzen) is playing better than I am, then he should
start. It doesn't have much to do with starting and who is not starting. I
could start and still play only two minutes of the game. I was glad to see
that they still a little bit of faith in me and gave me the nod to start."
Forward Brian Montonati
On the intensity being defense or the first game of the conference season
"I think over half of it was defense. We kind of knew what they were gong to
do. We took them out of a lot of stuff they were running offensively, but
offensively for us, I think it was poor shot selection. They forced us into
some bad shots. We have seniors, and we can't have that happen."
On him becoming a go-to guy
"I've been paying my dues and waiting in line. If I got greedy or
disappointed or I'm not playing, I had to be patient and wait my turn.
Things have been working out great for me."
Oklahoma State Locker-Room Quotes
Joe Adkins
On his running 3-pointer late in the game
"The shot clock was running down so I really didn't have a choice. He was
taller than me so I just wanted to put it a lot of arc on it. I really just
wanted to get it up in the air and have a chance to rebound it, but it just
fell for me."
On holding Texas Tech on offense
"Holding a team to 47 points, when they are a very good offensive team, is
saying a lot about our defense. We struggled a lot offensively, so we
depended a lot on our defense.
Fredrik Jonzen
On taking Andy Ellis out of the game
"We knew that we had to control (Andy) Ellis. He's been averaging 19 points
and nine boards a game, so we knew we had to shut him down, and I think we
did a pretty good job on him tonight."
On the OSU defense
"I think the whole team did a good job on defense today. We held them to
about 47 points. We just need to go and work on our offense right now. We
should have won by more than whatever we won by. We're standing still too
much on offense. We have to find our positions and know exactly what to do."
Texas Tech Coach James Dickey
"I was really proud of the way our guys competed, but they didn't play well enough to beat a top-15 team on their home court or win a conference game on the road. In the first half we gave up 18 points due to second chances.
"I thought our defense was sound in what we were trying to do. We gave up some offensive boards. (Alex) Webber and (Fredrik) Jonzen hurt us in the first half. They were six-for-six. I thought we did a good job on the perimeter guys.
"In the second half, I really thought that Webber had a big three-point play at about the seven-minute mark that was critical and then Joe Adkins just hit a huge shot that was a dagger to us late with the shot clock running down. His percentage is not great, but he's money and a timely shooter, but we knew that going in.
"They did what a great team will do. They had four guys in double figures and when their stars were not scoring, they had other people step up. I thought that probably more than anything, (Brian) Montonati hurt us in the second half. We didn't do a good job with Webber and Jonzen down low. We got a little bit fatigued. We just don't have enough players. We need more players."
On never getting the offense flowing
"That's their defense. They're very good defensively. They have good help.
They're strong. They're aggressive. They talk. They've got five seniors,
two of them have been in the program the entire time, the other guys have
been here three-plus years. They're a great team, and they're coached by an
outstanding basketball coach."
Texas Tech Players
Guard Rayford Young
On the OSU defense
"They are a great defensive team. Not just one-on-one, but team defense.
They were doing a good job of helping each other out. I couldn't really get
any good looks today."
On his performance
"I really couldn't knock down the three today for some reason. For the past
three years, I have always done a good job of shooting in this gym because
it is a great shooting gym. Today, I just couldn't knock it down. I still
should have hit a few more jumpers at the end."
On teammate Andy Ellis leaving the game
"Andy (Ellis) is such a good player. He came out of the game and it really
hurt us because he is our first or second leading scorer. That really hurt
us as far as rebounding. Brodney (Kennard) played a great game. He just
battled the whole night."
"It was a great defensive game. These two teams are similarly coached. I think the key was them playing at home. When you play at home you are going to get that extra lift. That is something that really helped them."
On OSU's clutch shooting
"Me and Joe Adkins played against each other in high school and college and
he never fails to hit a big shot in the end. No matter how he is shooting on
the year. What is amazing about those shots is we were right in their face.
Those are back breakers. When you play great defense for 25 or 30 seconds
and a guy hits a shot right in your face that can really hurt you."
