Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Texas
March 02, 2013 | Cowboy Basketball
March 2, 2013
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Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs Texas
Saturday, March 2, 2013
OSU head coach Travis Ford
On the victory over Texas
"We turned the ball over way too much. In the first half, it was all about them making threes and us turning the ball over. But we had the one big spurt that really ignited us, and it came from our defense and our pressing. Our press was pretty effective for most of the night. And I thought our overall defense was good. When we didn't turn the ball over, we defended them extremely well, especially in the second half. Offensively, we were very sloppy. We made some very good plays and made some big shots, but we never really got into a rhythm as far as running our offense. We forced a few things, but our defense was good for us, and our defense created some offense."
On Marcus Smart's slow start and strong finish
"When he starts out bad, he usually picks it up. He was pressing a little bit. I took him out to let him relax. He was pumped up. You're talking about two of the best point guards in the country going against each other. They were both trying to overdo it a little bit. Once we took him out to let him settle down, he was great. He makes so many different plays for you. He had four steals, six rebounds. He does so many things to help you win. But no question, he knew I wasn't happy with him early, but he settled down and got our team where it needed to be in the second half."
On Kirby Gardner's performance off the bench
"I thought he was terrific. I recognized him in the locker room after the game. I wish I could have gotten him a few more minutes because he really gave us a great spurt. We also tried to get Marcus (Smart) off the ball a little bit, and let Kirby run the point a little bit. It was a pretty good team when Marcus was at the two. It gave us a pretty good spurt. I thought Kirby Gardner did a great job."
On Markel Brown passing the 1,000 career point mark
"That was a great shot. An incredible shot, but I didn't realize that. I didn't even know he was that close. Markel had a pretty good game for us. Six rebounds was something I asked him to do before the game. I thought he did a great job of that. He made some shots. He handled the ball and made his free throws. I'm very proud of his effort. He did a great job."
"He made some really great moves today. He went strong to the hole and got to the foul line seven times, which is great for him. I liked his pace and I liked how hard he played."
Looking ahead to Iowa State on Wednesday
"That's one of the toughest places to play in this league. They, from what I understand, have been selling out every single game. Their fans really support their basketball team and it's always been tough to play there. We'll get ready and head down there. It was a great game here. It went down to the final shot, and we were able to make it. It seems like all of our games with them are close. If we can keep it close and have a chance to win at the end, I'll take that. They're a great team that's hard to guard. Great three-point shooting team. They play well really well at home, and again, they have great crowd support."
OSU junior guard Markel Brown
On his windmill dunk
"That was my No. 1 dunk right now. That's definitely the first time I've ever done that dunk in a game. I've been working on it lately in practice, so I've been waiting to pull that one out. I feel like it was a difficult dunk to do and to do it on a big stage and in front of a big crowd is exciting. My teammates have been telling me to do that dunk, and when I finally got the chance to do it, I did it. The dunk gave us the lead, it gave us a lot of momentum. The guys picked up the defensive intensity and the dunk got them fired up."
On the over-the-backboard shot
"I actually have (practiced the shot). Marcus and I, after practice, do half-court shots and all kinds of weird shots. When I shot it, I didn't think it would go in, but I gave it a chance and it fell. So I was kind of surprised when it went in."
On the team's chemistry
"We just like to be around each other, on and off the court. Coming into practice, we love to practice and compete against each other. Off the court, we stay at each other's houses playing video games and things like that. So it builds a lot of chemistry and we just like to go out there and have fun. I don't think anyone cares who gets the share of the game at the moment, we just go out there, play hard, try to make plays for each other and just try to win."
On the team's capabilities
"We know what guys can do and what they are capable of doing. Like little Phil (Forte), we know once we drive and he's open for a three that he's going to knock it down. Le'Bryan (Nash) has a really good post game, and he can also take big guys off the dribble. It's just little things like that, getting Marcus (Smart) into the post, knowing what our strengths and weaknesses are, playing against each other, competing and making each other better. So just going out there and putting all of those things together on the court is hard to stop."
Sophomore guard/forward Le'Bryan Nash
On the defensive performance
"We made them turn the ball over, we shut them down. We held them down as a team to eight points and we just went on a spurt. We love going into the press, especially when we are at the four position. We love pushing guys, I think we are the most athletic team in the Big 12 and we love turning people over and converting into easy baskets. When we do that, it makes our job easier on offense."
On the last two games of the season
"I think we have to (improve), especially with the two games we have coming up in Iowa State and Kansas State. Iowa State is a hard place to play, we have to clean it up and knock down shots. We have to defend well, we have to keep the ball and run our offense, because Iowa State is probably the best scoring team in the league right now."
On his wrist
"I thought I had broke my wrist again. I was saying, 'Please don't do this again'. It was a sharp pain that kept coming. When the game kept moving the pain started going away so I knew it wasn't broke."
On attacking the rim
"I think I'm good at attacking the rim, so when you're good at something, you try to keep doing it. Attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line like I did in the preseason. I got away from that in the middle of the year. Keep doing that and trying to helping this team win."
Sophomore guard/forward Brian Williams
On his performance tonight
"It felt pretty good, I feel like I'm starting to get back a little bit and get a little more comfortable out there."
On being an x-factor for the team
"I consider myself that. I just try to come off the bench whenever Coach (Ford) feels like he needs me in the game and try to make plays."
On how he's progressing from the wrist injury
"I'm at 60-70 percent. I still have a lot of room for improvement. I'm getting more confidence in my shot. I feel like that West Virginia game helped me get a little more confident shooting the ball and making plays."
On looking ahead to postseason play
"Everybody's pretty excited about it, there's a good buzz and a good vibe going around the team right now. We're still just taking it one game at a time."
Texas head coach Rick Barnes
On today's performance coming off of the team's victory over Oklahoma
"Well, we were pretty good in the first half. It was a physical game, though. That's why it's hard for me to understand the discrepancy with the fouls. I thought both teams were playing hard and physical, but we came out doing a lot of good things. They came out and got aggressive, so we started turning the ball over in ways that we can't continue to do. I think Oklahoma State is a good defensive team, but we didn't move the ball and do the things that we wanted to do. Guys kept stopping the ball, we didn't get the player movement that we wanted and they changed defenses to where we couldn't do what we wanted to do. They got us out of rhythm."
On Myck Kabongo's play
"I don't know why Myck (Kabongo) didn't do what we asked him to do. I think Myck got caught up in trying to do too much by himself. He was trying to create contact against their zone pressure, but he needed to continue to fight the pressure. We expect him to do that. Where we are right now, though, that shouldn't bother us. We need to move on. We actually talked today about not having the ball in his hand. We didn't get in there and do as much with it as we wanted to."
On Oklahoma State's potential as a team
"I like their chemistry. I like that they are a really good defensive team. I think Travis (Ford) has done a really good job of putting that chemistry together with them. I think that Marcus Smart needs to stay on the floor. They're a different team without him. He's a very physical player, and he's a tough matchup for a lot of college teams. I think his personality has really affected this team. He's a key guy. He makes this team different. They're a good team. They went through a period there where they won some close games, which gave them the right amount of confidence and momentum."
