Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Postgame Quotes For Game Against Kansas
January 15, 2002 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 15, 2002
OSU Men's Basketball
vs. Kansas
Jan. 15, 2001
Postgame Quotes
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
"I think that is about as poorly as I've had a team play in the first half, especially at home. You expect that on the road. You have to give them (Kansas) a lot of credit. I thought their defense was really outstanding early in the game. We did a poor job of executing. As I told the team before the game, in order to beat Kansas you've got to stop their transition. Our transition defense was non-existent that first half. Their big guys ran hard. Their guards got the ball down. We just didn't do a very good job.
"I thought we competed a lot better in the second half, and we played them pretty evenly. That first 20 minutes was just not a very good display of basketball. I certainly feel badly for our fans who tried to do everything possible to help us. It just didn't work."
On OSU's defensive struggles
"You've got to give them (Kansas) credit. They're the highest scoring team in the country. They've got three guards that can really handle the basketball. Their big guys run well. We were dropping two guys back when we shot the basketball. If I had to fault anybody, I thought our guard play tonight on both ends of the floor was probably the difference in the ball game. When your starting guards go six for 23 from the field, you're not performing very well offensively. I thought the biggest thing was our defensive breakdown in transition. We rebounded with them well. I thought that would be the second biggest key. We did a decent job of rebounding. We didn't turn the ball over that many times against them, but we certainly didn't do a good job defensively in transition."
On Kansas
"They're the best Kansas team we've seen since the days of (Paul) Pierce and that group of guys. Unlike some of those teams in the past, Roy (Williams) isn't playing as many people. I think he's depending more on seven or eight people like most teams do. Collison and Gooden are probably the best one-two punch that you have in college basketball, as far as the front line is concerned. Then you throw in Hinrich and Boschee. Miles is certainly a bright young player. I think that they are a legitimate team to go a long ways in the NCAA tournament."
OSU Forward Fredrik J?nz?n
On the first half
"They took control from the jump ball, we were never in the game. They beat us every way that you can. The effort that we had tonight will get us nowhere."
On bouncing back after the loss
"I think that we need to rededicate ourselves with half of the season left and we're in the Big 12 Conference play. We need to practice harder every day and do those little things so that we can put that 40-minute effort together. We haven't had that dedication and discipline, and that's where we need to change."
OSU Guard Victor Williams
On the quickness of Kansas
"We kind of knew that they were going to be like that, after watching film of KU. That was the emphasis before the game, that we get back and stop their transition. We didn't do a good job of that today, which led to a lot of transition points."
On the offensive struggle
"We didn't do a good job of getting our half-court offense at all. That's a problem that we have had all year, scoring in the half court. Against a good team like Kansas you're going to have to score a lot of points in the half court. We didn't do a good job of that."
OSU Forward Terrence Crawford
On the game
"We just have to play harder. Like Coach Sutton says 'we play like we practice.' If we don't practice hard then our results come out on the court. I thought most of us were scared. Fred (J?nz?n) came out and played well, but unfortunately some of the other players couldn't connect. Until we learn to lsiten to plays and play hard on defense and execute on offense, it is going to be hard to get a win. We just have to be positive and focus on Texas Tech. We need to work hard these next couple of days at practice and listen to what Coach Sutton says."
On playing time
"I got to play a little bit more today. Our guards were flat and so coach gave me an opportunity to go out there and try to create a spark. I didn't play as well as I wanted to, but hopefully things will get better for us."
OSU Forward Ivan McFarlin
On the game
"We just have to play harder. Like Coach Sutton says 'we play like we practice.' If we don't practice hard then our results come out on the court. I thought most of us were scared. Fred (J?nz?n) came out and played well, but unfortunately some of the other players couldn't connect. Until we learn to lsiten to plays and play hard on defense and execute on offense, it is going to be hard to get a win."
Kansas Coach Roy Williams
On the first half
"We haven't played any better so far. Against Nebraska we had a bunch of shots, but we didn't have that challenge defensively like we had tonight with Baker, J?nz?n, Sanders and Victor Williams. I thought that Drew Gooden, Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles played well defensively. We were really good defensively and we made shots. The first half we were good at both ends of the court. "
On learning from losses
"We lost Saturday and we had to learn from our mistakes. I wanted the kids to know that we could come down here and win. We have had good teams that came down here and lost, and we have had good teams that came down here and won."
On win
"We made shots and were able to get the ball off the board and get down the court. This was a big-time game and a big-time win."
On Oklahoma State's second-half defense
"I wish we had played better the second half. We didn't make many free throws the second half. We had to give Oklahoma State credit because they continued to play defense. You know you're not going to get easy shots against Oklahoma State if you allow them set their defense. You might if you attack them and that is what we did."
On Drew Gooden
"Drew Gooden has been playing well. If you throw out last week's game, he has played better the last few games than maybe anyone I have had. He was more focused tonight than he has been in a while."
