Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
January 08, 2014 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 8, 2014
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs Texas
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014
OSU head coach Travis Ford
On the win over Texas
"I thought the zone was very good for us to start the second half. Defensively, I thought we did a good job on a team that really pushes the basketball. They got some transition points, but as much as they emphasize it, you've got to start playing percentages a little bit. We couldn't rebound with them. We couldn't. I told the guys at halftime that we were fighting and battling. I had no problem with our effort. We just weren't coming down with it. We're going to have to get a little more toughness to get some rebounds. Texas is just so much bigger than us. I told them in the locker room just now that we can't use that as an excuse. We've got to figure this thing out, rebounding-wise. I thought our defense in the second half was much better. Le'Bryan Nash was in awful foul trouble the whole game and never really had a chance to get loose and play, so it was good to win when he wasn't able to get his game going as well as he's been playing. We got to the foul line. That was the key. We didn't shoot (foul shots) real well. We took care of the basketball. That was big in a game of a lot of possessions. It gave us a few more opportunities to score. We made some bad decisions on offense. We've just got to clean a lot of things up for us to continue to be our best."
On Marcus Smart
"I thought Marcus played like Marcus Smart tonight. He made some mistakes, but his leadership and how he affected the game (were great). He played a pretty good basketball game, as far as his effort and leadership. He did some really good things."
On Phil Forte
"I thought he played great. His defense was the best he's played in a long time. He battled for some rebounds. He's knocking them loose. I liked Phil Forte's full game. He made some big shots...He was terrific."
On continuing to learn to play without Michael Cobbins
"I think that we settled in a little bit better tonight. We can tell a little bit. We've talked a little bit more about it tonight that he wasn't going to be playing. We didn't talk about it much before the Kansas State game. We didn't want them to think too much about it. We talked about some things we needed to do behind the ball in order to keep the ball from getting to the rim, and I think we did a better job of it tonight against a team that loves to drive it. It's still a work in progress as far as the rotations are concerned. That's the biggest thing. We put Brian Williams out there at the four for few minutes, and he hadn't played at the four all year long. I'm going to have to get him some work at the four. I wanted to get Gary Gaskins in, but he's hurt. It's a swollen knee for him, so we need to get him back going. The process is still about the rotations as far as the bench is concerned."
On the upcoming road trip to West Virginia
"They're one of the hottest teams. They're a team that is off to a 2-0 start in the league. They have a great backcourt. One of the top backcourts in the country. They have high scoring guards. I think they have the highest scorer in the league right now. They're playing great basketball, especially at home. I'm sure it will be a big crowd over there, just like when we went to Kansas State and it was sold out. They're a team that's playing as well as anybody right now. We need to get off our feet, get some rest and get ready for the long road trip."
OSU sophomore guard Marcus Smart
On getting used to playing without Michael Cobbins
"We're definitely getting better. Texas is a great team, and they've been playing some really good basketball. We knew their big guys coming in here would cause us a little bit of trouble, but we collectively gave an effort together as a team. We pulled together and got the understanding that we were going to have to play like we had him on the court, even though he wasn't there."
On how the team can improve tonight's free throw struggles
"We have to get in the gym. It's crazy because after every practice, we don't just have to shoot, we have to make 100 free throws each. It's kind of weird coming in tonight and seeing our percentages from the free-throw line. We just have to keep at it. It's a repetition thing, and hopefully we can get better at it."
On the team's game plan coming into the game
"They have some really talented big guys down low, but we weren't scared of them. It took a lot without Cobbins, but we have some guys that are very versatile, athletic and can play above the rim, so we just had to use that as a strength and to our advantage."
OSU senior guard Markel Brown
On combining with Brian Williams to block six shots on the night
"We were doing a good job of helping out on the big guys. We're going to have to do a lot of that now that Mike (Cobbins) is out. Someone has to protect the rim there, and it has to be from guards and big guys now."
On consistently putting up big games against Texas
"Man, I don't know. It's just about going out there and playing hard. We had to get our first win in the Big 12, especially after coming off a loss against Kansas State. We just wanted to go out there and play hard and play basketball. Like Marcus said, it's a process adjusting with Cobbins out, so we had to do whatever we could to scrape out a win."
On the team making adjustments after halftime
"They got a lot of second-chance points off of offensive rebounds. We were stopping them in the second half, but they had some big physical guys. Kamari (Murphy) came up big on the inside, battling 300-pound, 6' 9" and 6' 10" guys. We was just giving it his all. Getting the big guys in foul trouble, getting some rebounds and getting into transition was helping us out a bit."
Texas head coach Rick Barnes
On Oklahoma State playing physical from the start
"That's what we thought (they were going to do). There's nothing different about that. We thought that, so that didn't catch us by surprise at all. We were trying to do the same thing, but we turned it over and didn't execute the way we needed to. When you give up 51 free throws, it's hard to overcome."
On his team's performance
"We're so, from an execution standpoint, inconsistent. That's what I told our guys, Jon Holmes has to find a way for us to stay in the game. He starts the game and was on the bench because of plays he didn't make. Turnover turned into a foul, the block out turned into a flagrant, it's an easy call to make. It's one thing to play hard but it's another to play smart."
On Damarcus Croaker
"Everybody looks at him because he made some shots but what they don't see what he does defensively. We knew in the scouting report that you don't get back up. We knew that they would do it at the start of the half and he came to bench for the third time and I asked him, 'How many more times?' And he said, 'No more.' It shouldn't take two more times, it's part of the scouting report. Those are the plays, they see guys making shots and you wonder why they're not playing and there's a lot more to the game than just points."
On Markel Brown
"He's gotten better. I knew he was a good player, there's a lot of good players in this league. But I'm just focused on my team. He's a good player, what he did tonight, 14 free throws will get you 27 points pretty easy. He's a good player. What I look at more than anything between him and (Marcus Smart) is they had nine assists and one turnover. That impresses me more than the 27 and 24."
