Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Panhandle State
November 02, 2011 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 2, 2011
Oklahoma State Cowboy Basketball
Postgame Quotes vs. Panhandle State
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011
Coach Ford Quotes
Opening Statement
“I thought our effort was good tonight. I thought we played hard, with a good attitude and everybody got in and contributed. There are a lot of areas for improvement. I think our youthfulness really shows at times. That will hopefully get better with time. I thought Panhandle's pressure hurt us a bit early and it caught us by surprise a little bit. I do think we adapted to it as time went along. I'm anxious to go back and see if we were in the right places on defense, did we block out, did we screen, all the detail things. There are some things we can learn from this. You have to give them credit because they played really hard. They shot theball well and three-point defense is an area we have to get better on. Overall I thought some guys showed good energy tonight.”
On Le'Bryan Nash
“He played well, like he should have. It's only going to get harder after tonight. I like the pace that he played with and his shot selections. I don't think he forced it a whole lot. I like how he got his points. It was from the free-throw line, going to thebasket and posting up. He only took one from the three-point line and he's been shooting really well in practice. I think that shows that he's playing smart. I'm anxious to watch our film and see how he's playing defensively.”
On who stood out to him during the game
“I liked what Michael Cobbins and Brian Williams were bringing to the table. We've talked a lot about them being stat guys — blocked shots and steals and making plays. The moment they don't use their athleticism or their energy and length then they become very average players. But I thought they did all that tonight. They were flying around and making plays for us. Those two played with great energy and madeextra-effort plays. I thought Keiton (Page) played well on limited minutes. I actually played him a few more than I was wanting to. I thought Markel (Brown) played with a lot of energy as well although he made a few too many turnovers.”
Sophomore guard Markel Brown
On his thoughts of the team's performance
"First game, we just want to go out there and see where the team was at, see how the team was looking coming out of practice. I think we did well so far, as far as sharing the ball and helping each other on defense."
On the depth of the team
"We have a lot of depth on the bench. We have great guys coming off the bench; guys that could possibly start for other schools or even later on in the season. I feel like we have a lot of weapons on offense and I think we're going to use them."
On the big men running the floor
"They didn't have issues. We run a lot in practice and that's one of our goals, to get the ball, run and push it."
Freshman guard/forward Le'Bryan Nash
On his thoughts of the team's performance
"For me, it was a great performance by the team. I thought we were going to go out there and struggle, but we didn't. We played defense real well, only holding them to (56) points. We wanted it lower, but it was a good effort on defense. Defense was a big part of it."
On how comfortable he was in his first game
"I was real comfortable. I've been playing college basketball since June with these guys, so I just took it as another basketball game. Go out there and be comfortable, and play my game, play Cowboy Basketball."
On having a double-double
"I didn't want to score 26, to tell you the truth, but it's just part of the game. My teammates just got me the ball in the right situations, and I was scoring the ball — a lot of and-ones and was going to the free-throw line a lot. Rebounding the ball, that's a big part of my game. I like rebounding and taking off with it. I try to rebound so I can get the ball and go with it. That's a big part of my game."
Redshirt freshman guard/forward Brian Williams
On his thoughts of the team's performance
"It took us a minute to get going. It was a pretty good game, we just have to get sharper and execute better with less turnovers and just get in the gym and work on our game."
On if he had butterflies at the start of the game
"I had butterflies at the beginning because I love the game, but when I start flowing and playing a little bit, they go away."
On his performance
"I missed a lot of shots I feel like I should have made. My teammates looked for me, I wanted to give them that assist and knock them down."
