Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
November 21, 2010 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 21, 2010
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Oklahoma State Cowboy Basketball
Postgame Quotes vs. Nicholls
Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010
Head Coach Travis Ford
Opening Statement
“I thought it was going to be interesting how we came out and responded this game because some of the problems we've been having like guys not understanding things. This was a true first scouting report game where we had to really change some things we taught from day one, which is normal, to try and guard this basketball team. We did a lot of preparation for this game and we were anxious to see how our guys would respond. I thought they responded tremendously. I thought the effort and the focus was there.
“The first fifteen minutes of the game was the best we've played, but we didn't finish the half very well. They had eight points with over four minutes to go and ended up with 22 and scoring six out of the last seven possessions. We weren't happy with the way we finished the first half, but overall I thought the effort, the execution and the focus was the best we'd seen on both ends of the court. I wasn't happy with the 15 turnovers. We were very sloppy and weren't very strong with the ball. But I thought we were very focused on defense even though we gave up a lot of points to one young man. But he's going to shoot 20 more times than anyone else on the team.”
On guarding Anatoly Bose
“Fred Gully did a terrific job. J.P. Olukemi did terrific, he just got into a little bit of foul trouble. But J.P. did everything we told him to do. Our philosophy is we don't want anybody to get in the middle of the paint. We wanted to force him middle because that's where all the help was at. They run all their offense through the middle of the paint. So we changed our philosophy defensively in a matter of two days. J.P. and Fred did a good job. I thought those two did the best on him.”
“As the game goes on and you get a big lead you tend to relax a little bit and I think that's when (Bose) kind of went off on us a little bit. But give him credit he earned it. He got 37 and I think he earned them.”
“Fred was a good matchup because he's a tough kid and a tough defender. Fred isn't afraid of contact and everyone saw how many screens they set. I counted one possession of theirs the other day and they set like 25 screens in one possession. We told our guys they are going to be bruised tomorrow. They set screen after screen. But Fred doesn't mind. He's going to get through screens and get low and do exactly what we tell him to do. And the best thing about Fred is he loves the challenge.”
Junior guard Keiton Page
On if this was his most complete game
"Yeah, definitely. I came out and got in a rhythm early. My teammates were doing a good job of executing plays and getting me open shots and I got a couple to go early on. I think our defensive intensity was good tonight, and that lead to better offense as well."
On playing the defensive intensity
"We prepared well for this team. We knew coming in that they had two really good players in (Anatoly) Bose and (Fred) Hunter. We just prepared really well this week and we knew that defensive intensity was going to be the main point to this game."
On if knowing they had to face two good players helped them to prepare better
"Coming in, we knew this was going to be the best team we faced so far. It was just a little bit different: we haven't faced an offense like that this year, with the back screens and cutting off staggers and stuff like that. So, we spent a lot of time in the gym this week going over their offense and working on our defensive principles, and I thought we stuck to them pretty well tonight. That's what got us a 'W' tonight."
Junior forward Darrell Williams
On if knowing they had to face two good players helped them to prepare better
"We went over it over and over and over again, getting ready for their plays. We prepared ourselves to play good defense help-side and just help each other."
On him and Marshall Moses on the defensive glass
"It was very big. They led teams in offense rebounding every game, so it was a big thing that coach kept letting us know that they're an elite team in offensive rebounds. My thing was just to out-rebound everybody."
On why he was more successful offensively in this game
"I was just rushing (in the previous games). I just needed to calm down and play my game."
