Oklahoma State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes
March 12, 2008 | Cowboy Basketball
2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball
Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes
Sprint Center * March 12, 2008
HEAD COACH SEAN SUTTON
On tournament:
“Kansas City has always been a great place to play the Big 12 Championship. We have a lot of great memories over
here, playing in this city. I know we'll have a tough challenge tomorrow playing against Texas Tech.”
Difference in team coached by Pat and Bobby Knight:
“I think Pat is letting them have a little more freedom, and they're playing faster. With this team, you see them pushing the
ball harder. He's giving guys who can shoot the ball a little more freedom to shoot it early. They're playing zone defense,
which I'm sure, Coach Knight, the first time he saw that had some choice words for Pat. Coach Knight was so stubborn
about playing man to man, much like my own dad. I think he's done a good job. They're playing hard. It put him in a tough
spot when Coach Knight decided he was going to step down. I never liked playing against friends, but when you're in the
same league you don't have a choice.”
What he has learned from this year:
“Being positive with our guys to continue to work and continue to correct some of the mistakes we were making, that's the
biggest thing I tried to do. Sometimes it takes one game to get stuff turned around.”
SENIOR GUARD/FORWARD MARCUS DOVE
Challenge playing Texas Tech:
“We've got to stop their main guys and contain everybody else, don't let anybody else have a big game. We've got to
contain their big three. We haven't had a chance to play them without Bobby Knight coaching, so that will be a challenge,
and harder to guard them. They have been playing a lot more freely now.”
“We know their personnel, and they know our personnel. We're both in the same division in the Big 12, so we know what
they do and they know what we do. In the end it doesn't matter, just who executes.”
On post-season:
“Right now we're not going to worry about the NCAA tournament, and more about the Big 12 Tournament, and that starts
with our first game tomorrow.
On Coach Sutton:
“One thing that kept our ship steady was Coach Sean never showed any signs of panic. It always made us believe that,
no matter what our record was, we had a chance to win each game.”
JUNIOR GUARD BYRON EATON
On late season run:
“The main thing was, how much do you care? Everybody put their hands and we all said we care. The coaches did a
great job staying with us. The main thing was, once we got on the court, you know, we all help one another out. We
stopped trying to be for one another. We all started caring for one another and things came around for us.”
