Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Portland State
November 25, 2012 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 25, 2012
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Oklahoma State Head Coach Travis Ford
Opening statement
"We kind of did what we were supposed to do. I thought there were a lot of good points that we could learn from and get better at. Go back to when we put the schedule together; we wanted a week off after Puerto Rico to learn who we were and work on things, but that didn't really work out at all the way we planned. We didn't get anything done this week at practice because we didn't have enough bodies. I was out there practicing Wednesday and Thursday, and that's not good. We actually needed to keep playing the way we had been playing with as few bodies as we had. I was really concerned about how we were going to come out in this game, because we had been extremely sloppy in practice. We don't have any competition in practice. It's basically 4-on-4. If we ever put five guys together, it was usually just 5-on-0 offense, so we didn't get much accomplished this week and I was really concerned what this game would be like.”
“I was glad that we got out to a good start. That was important for us; keeping the momentum going from last weekend. The positives … we passed the ball extremely well coming out of the gate. We got a little bit sloppy later, but we passed the ball well and rebounded better in the second half, so those were positives. We defended extremely well in the first half. We've got to get better when we have the big lead. Our defense kind of relaxed a little bit and got sloppy with the basketball on offense. The percentages in the second half were not where we wanted them. We have goals for that, and that's not where we want them, but for the game as a whole they were better.”
“Glad to get out of it with a win, and now we've got another week off, even though I wish we could keep playing because of numbers. Hopefully we can get (Michael) Cobbins back at some point this week, and maybe even (Marek) Soucek back, so that will help at practice a little bit, but we'd much rather be playing games right now."
On the number of first-half assists
"Twelve assists in the first 14 minutes. We had nine in the first six or seven minutes, then they dropped off a little bit. That's something we've been saying should be a strength of our team, is passing the basketball. When they opened up in a zone, that's extremely important. You had better be scoring off of assists. We were able to find some open guys and got some shots, but we turned the ball over too many times in the second half, way too many.”
On Marcus Smart
"He was passing the ball. He wasn't taking too many shots, but when he was, he was taking tough shots, which kind of led to his percentages. I didn't mind some of those shots he took. It's just hard to get going with shots like those. When you're looking to run a team as much as he is, it's hard to get in the flow of scoring. He can make some of those, but him getting those assists is what we've been looking for."
On the defense
"Percentages and points allowed are goals we're trying to reach. I wasn't real happy with our defense in the second half. We really could have set a tone and met some goals for ourselves, but the three-point percentages were a little higher than what we want. We definitely want to hold them under 60 points."
Oklahoma State Junior Guard Markel Brown
On the success of this season's offense
"It's way more crisp. We're playing with each other. You can tell that we can score in good situations. Adding Marcus (Smart) to the point guard spot has really helped. He's moving the ball well and putting up crazy numbers in assists. We are just playing better as a team overall."
On the team's chemistry
"We have been having this thing called 'brotherhood' this year. We play for each other. Off the court, we hang out with each other, whether we're in each other's rooms or things like that. It just all goes back to the court. Even with the guys that we have out right now, guys are stepping up in those spots and doing what it takes to help the team."
On doing 'the little things' right during games
"It's very important to play hard. We like to go out there and work on our defense, no matter who we are playing. We have certain goals for each game and we have to go out there and meet those goals. It's very important to guard hard defensively, no matter who we are playing."
On improving his game in multiple areas
"Going back to the N.C. State game, I wasn't very happy with the game that I had. I shot 2-for-11, so today was a good game for me. I had to come out and make shots to get my comfort level back up."
Oklahoma State Freshman Guard Phil Forte
On coaches continually marking him as a great shooter
"After a while, you just get used to it. I know that's what it's going to be like every game, so I have to find other ways to be able to contribute to the team besides just three-point shooting. My shooting isn't always going to be there, so there are lots of other ways to affect the game besides shooting."
On what he can do when he isn't shooting the ball
"As time goes on, more and more teams are going to know that I can shoot the ball. We have so much talent on this team and so many other guys that can make plays. If there are two people on me, I know I have someone I can pass it to on this team. We don't really care who scores because if someone is open, we're confident they can do what they do."
Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving
On Oklahoma State
"They are as good as advertised, as we saw on television. At the Puerto Rico Challenge, they played some good teams and we saw what they did to N.C. State. We knew coming in here it wasn't going to be easy."
On similarities with OSU
"When they're playing a team like us, their length is such an issue, we're so undersized at the wings, even against (Marcus) Smart, look at their three guards, they've got three or four inches at every position, so we had a mismatch from the beginning. They'll probably be playing most games in the Big 12 with a size advantage and they have a size advantage on the perimeter playing defense, you can see why they are so good that way."
On his team's effort
"That's why I subbed all five of those guys out, because our effort was a disappointment and an embarrassment to start the second half. So, I went with that second group and they came in and competed for about seven minutes and did some things offensively and defensively. Then our starters came in and played well down the stretch. I just told the guys we have to keep competing and fighting hard. We have to be ready to go to play."
On encouragement from the game
"I was really encouraged by Lamont [Prosser] tonight. I thought he made some good plays in the second half, he's aggressive to score and he wasn't backing down. Those guys aren't easy to score against because they obviously had a big size advantage on us. I thought Marcus Hall had some good defense and he got some good offensive rebounds, he slashed one. I was happy with him as well."
On Gary Winston
"Gary and I have had some good talks over the last few days. Gary is his own worst enemy at times. We talked about critiquing every single day and having a good attitude and focus. He had it Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and when he does play at a high level, like today, he has a great half."
On improvement's moving forward
"We can be playing really well, but it's not so much about the record but about getting better as a team. We need to have a good week of practice and play harder and need to compete and execute the things we need to do. We are fighting a little bit of selfishness that we need to clean up and we'll do it, that's the fun part of coaching."
