Oklahoma State University Athletics
Mason and Gottlieb Chat Transcript
February 11, 2000 | Cowboy Basketball
Feb. 11, 2000
On Saturday, the Cowboys travel to Norman to take on the Sooners. Both teams are playing well, they are bitter in-state rivals, and both are fighting for position near the top of the Big 12 standings. Yes, this is an important game.
An edited transcript of the Feb. 11 ESPN.com live chat session follows.
Kent Corser: Desmond, heading into your toughest part of the team's schedule, where do you see the team going?
Desmond Mason: I think right now the team's playing well, we have guys coming off the bench contributing, the schedule's getting really tough, we have to keep our confidence. We are going to try to get the conference championship.
osuhoops: What is the main concern defensively on the Sooners?
Doug Gottlieb: When you play OU, you always have to worry about Eduardo Najera. He's one of the best players in the country. They all shoot the ball very well, defensively the main focus is never having a lapse, if you get caught sleeping, they can hit a 3-pointer one, two, three times in a row, and you can't fall behind on the road. Our main focus is trying to get a stop every time down the court, or making them shoot with a hand in their face.
Desmond Mason: I think the main thing is playing with intensity. They play hard for 40 minutes. If we do that, it will be fun. We have to play with a lot of patience also.
TulsaRoger: Doug, Are you ready for the focus the OU fans will put on you.
Doug Gottlieb: Yes, we're ready. The best part of playing OU is the atmosphere which you play. It's great to come out, we're going to have 13,000 screaming against us. We're trying to keep them as quiet as possible, and they will try to keep it as loud as possible. We will try to turn the negative they yell at us into a positive.
Desmond Mason: I think that it's a big rivalry, the crowds will be in the game, we have to make plays and slow the game down, keep the crowd out of the game. We have to force them to take bad shots. The main thing is to control the tempo of the game and the crowd.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk: Doug, opposing teams fear your playmaking ability, yet they tend to back off of you and let you shoot the 3-ball if you want it. Do you see yourself taking that shot more often in the future?
Doug Gottlieb: It depends on the momentum of the game. The coach talks to me a lot about taking the right shots at the right time. It's kind of hard to answer the question, because it depends on the game. When you are open and in rhythm, those are the shots you're supposed to take and I will take.
Jones: Desmond, Doug, compare the state of the conference against some of the other major conferences. Specifically, ACC and SEC.
Desmond Mason: I think we have a great conference this year, a lot of tournament teams, a lot of ranked teams. Our guys are playing hard within the conference, everybody's fighting in the conference. We have some great players playing, some great teams and some great coaches.
Doug Gottlieb: I'd say that in years past our conference was considered fourth, fifth or sixth. I truly believe this year this conference is as good as anyone around. A lot's going to depend on the rest of the season. Especially the top six teams in our conference are as good as anybody around.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk: Doug and Desmond, what is the toughest place to play a road game in the Big 12?
Doug Gottlieb: I'd probably have to say Kansas or Oklahoma. Probably Kansas because Kansas has been so good. They're not nasty like some fans. Some places they want to call you every name in the book. Kansas, their crowd is really into the game, from the time you step onto the court until you leave the arena. Oklahoma and Missouri are a close second.
Desmond Mason: I agree with Doug. Oklahoma is also a hard place to play. Kansas fans, they are all into the game. I respect their fans like that. They're not nasty. They don't go out of their way to do stuff.
TulsaFan: How confident are you that you can get a victory in Norman?
Desmond Mason: I'm really confident just for the simple fact that we're playing well right now. We won down there before, we just have to do things that we know how to do. On the road we have to shorten the length of the game, play one possession at a time. I feel confident about my team and my teammates, and hopefully we'll come out of it with a win.
Doug Gottlieb: Its funny because, if you answer no, there's something wrong with you. If you answer yes, you're viewed as cocky. Confidence is the best way to answer. This core has played together for three years. We've seen both ways, winning in Norman and losing in Norman. We have guys who know they can do it. We know we can compete on the road. If we do get a lead, you have to make free throws, and we can do that. We have guys who have been there before.
OSU'81: You've lost only twice this year. What have you learned from those two losses? What types of teams do you feel you have the most difficult time matching up against?
Doug Gottlieb: Both of our losses are similar. There's no one thing that a team that gives us trouble. Texas A&M beat us, we came back and beat them by 32. Any time you have three or four guys who are seniors and don't have the game they are capable of having, you can lose. We didn't come out in the right mindset in those two games (against A&M and LSU).
Desmond Mason: We do look back, we felt we should have beat those teams. I think LSU has a really good team. Down at A&M, they played really well. We learned, it was good for us. Now we're playing a lot better, doing the little things we need to win.
Eck: Who does OSU plan to match up with Najera? Who will OU likely match up with you, Desmond?
Desmond Mason: I think most of the time they'll play zone. Nolan Johnson might guard me. I think me and Eduardo have fun guarding each other, I think he will probably guard me at some point in the game.
Mark W.: Will you get away from doubling down in the post (other than Najera) to try to limit their guards good looks at the 3?
Doug Gottlieb: When you play Oklahoma, the toughest thing to do is defend the 3-point line. Almost everybody they have is a prolific 3-point shooter. the way to cut down on the percentage is not leave them, and have a hand in their face. That's our main focus.
Desmond Mason: We're probably going to double at times in the post. They have got great shooters, we have to make them put the ball on the floor.
Doug Gottlieb: We respect Oklahoma because they play really hard. It's going to be a great game in the state of Oklahoma. There are three great teams in the state of Oklahoma, and two of them are playing each other on Saturday. Thanks a lot for chatting with us.
