Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Missouri State
December 08, 2012 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 8, 2012
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Postgame Quotes
Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State vs Missouri State
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012
OSU head coach Travis Ford
On team's overall performance
"Overall I liked it, we had a bad stretch there to start the second half. For the most part I like it, I liked what we did. That was a Missouri State team that has played some real tough games, they're really good defensively. They did some things today defensively and offensively that we really haven't seen all year long that we've had to guard against and run our offense against. I couldn't ask for better defense in the first half, it was great, the rebounding was great. We had a little bit of a letdown, when you get them to miss as many shots in the first half, the mindset is that they are going to miss automatically, we'll play hard but they're just going to miss. I told our guys, you have to give Missouri State credit. They went out and went right at us. For the most part I was pleased with it, there are some things we need to get better at but I'm glad we won."
On playing despite Marcus Smart's foul trouble
"Anytime Marcus [Smart] gets into foul trouble that early it's not good for our team, except for when Kirby Gardner plays like he did today. Kirby really stabilized us, played great defense, ran the offense and really gave us a spark. Michael Cobbins is starting to get his rhythm back, which is good to see. It was good to see that when Marcus doesn't have one of his better days that we can still pull out a win."
On the flagrant foul call
"Marcus is such a competitor and sometimes when you compete as hard as he does it can get the best of you, it normally doesn't for him. Missouri State was really pressuring us, there was a lot of hand-checking and things that they weren't calling, but you just have to adjust. And he didn't mean to do it, they called it intentional and it wasn't intentional, he was just trying to clear himself. But Marcus is going to be fine, I'm glad we were able to get a 20-point victory when he plays a limited role in 21 minutes. That's pretty good for our team."
On team depth
"Jurick, Cobbins and Murphy have done a pretty good job of running down the four and five spot, and those guys are doing pretty well. They're rebounding the ball, passing the ball a lot to the post and scoring a lot of baskets, which is something we have been begging for. Our guards need to get some shots."
On finals week
"This is one of the toughest weeks of the year, it's just very psychological, very mentally draining for our players. There's still so much going on. They have finals, practice, still have to lift weights and prepare for games and things like that. We're going to give them a couple of days off to focus on their academics and finish things off strong in their classes and on their finals. And then we start practice back Tuesday and we just have to fit it in between finals which is always kind of difficult. But on Friday and Saturday we can't even practice in our gym so we have to find somewhere to practice because of graduation. So it's a difficult week, it'll help us get out and recruit a little bit, but the most important thing is our guys finish up strong on their finals."
On where the team is now
"We're 7-1, I'll take that. I just see so much room for improvement for our team. It doesn't mean we just keep winning games, and that's not to say we're that great of a team, we're just not offensively in a rhythm, we have to run it better. We have to make more shots, and I think we will, and that will make everything else look better. But as long as you continue to hang your hat on the defense and hang your hat on rebounding, this is two games back-to-back that we've rebounded really well and played defense really well for most of the year. Good things will happen, I think it will be really great when our offense starts to click on a more consistent basis. I'm glad we're 7-1, but I think there is a lot we can do better at this point."
On home crowd
"Wow, I can't tell you how much that means for the students to come out, and what a difference they make for us. They were loud, the whole lower bowl was packed again and behind the baskets, which is great for our team. Our players comment on this, and I'm going to continue doing whatever I can to get the students here. I've enjoyed meeting a lot of the students on campus and inviting them to the game. I hope they're having fun and we really need their support, it makes a big difference."
Oklahoma State junior guard Markel Brown
On the team struggling to stay in the game mentally
"We had a good first half against them. We came out sluggish and slow against them in the second half, and they started scoring on us. We can't do that on a consistent basis or it will hurt us in the long run. We have to keep going out there and playing the same way we did in the first half."
On having a feel for where the team is performance-wise
"We have a pretty good feel for the team. I think the loss actually helped us a lot. We learned a lot from that loss and took it into consideration. I think when some guys on the team don't have good games, we have other guys on the team who step up for them. I think we are in a pretty good position right now."
On the defense of this team compared to previous years
"This defense is a lot better. We have guys flying around and helping each other out all the time. We have a bunch of different guys with the same size who can make switches on different defenders when they need help. It's great going out and playing defense with these guys."
Oklahoma State sophomore forward Michael Cobbins
On the team struggling to stay in the game mentally
"From our perspective, in the first half, they were missing a lot of shots. In the second half, they came out shooting a lot again, and give them credit for hitting more of those shots. We have to change that though and not let that happen again."
On getting a good amount of playing time while still recovering from injury
"It felt pretty good. Coach trusted me with some minutes, and I came through for him. It's definitely feeling like I'm getting back in the rhythm of things. "
On letting the game come to him
"That was definitely one thing I came into this game trying to think about. I wanted to stay calm and let it come to me, versus last game where I was trying to rush things. This game was a lot better."
Missouri State head coach Paul Lusk
Opening Statement
"Oklahoma State has a very good team. They're talented, and the played like it."
On the positives he saw in the second half
"I thought we did some good things. I thought we started the game OK, but we got that steal, and don't convert on the free throws. Drew [Wilson] is doing some good things — we need him out there — he just made some fouls that you can't do. We're doing the same things we did in the first half, we just got a couple shots to go in. That always helps."
On his team's shooting struggles this season
"It's who we are. We have to quit talking about it. We have to get better in areas, and when we struggle to score, you have to value possessions and not turn it over 14 times, but we are who we are. We still have to find ways to get better and guys just have to continue to work — get in the gym and take shots. I thought we had some good looks, even when they went zone. We got the ball in the high post and got some good looks. We can take threes if the ball gets to the paint, but you can't take threes, unless you're a real good shooting team, on the first pass of the offense. You have to get paint touches and play inside-outside basketball. That's what we're trying to preach to our guys."
On the amount of three-point shots his team takes
"We take too many threes. But, when you struggle to score, you hate to tell a guy not to take a wide-open three that's either off a penetrate-and-pitch or an inside-outside touch. I'm really kind of tired of talking about it because I want our guys to be confident, but they have to be able to put the basketball in. They have from three to six (o'clock) every day to show me they can do it. Some of those you have to take because they're wide open shots. We just have to get some of them to go."
