Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
November 18, 2014 | Cowboy Basketball
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Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs Northwestern Oklahoma State
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
OSU head coach Travis Ford (from postgame radio show)
On the win over Northwestern Oklahoma State
"Our energy level, enthusiasm level and togetherness were all much better today. We came out with great intensity and played well together. I thought that the first group especially passed the ball extremely well. There were a lot of good things. The negatives were that we turned the ball over too much and our free throw shooting has got to get better. (Our free throw shooting) has been off the charts, to be honest with you, so hopefully we can knock down our free throws and get better. Overall, I thought our guys played hard."
On if the energy level plateaued at any point in the game
"No, I thought we kept it going pretty well. I was pretty much playing two groups, and I tried to get the second unit as many minutes as possible. Obviously, Leyton Hammonds got in some foul trouble and didn't get the minutes he normally would get. We try to get everybody, so everybody should have been fresh to play hard. (Le'Bryan Nash) was the only one that played any significant minutes at 24, and that's not very high for him. Phil (Forte) only had 23. Everybody I thought continued to play hard throughout the game. We still aren't guarding one-on-one very well. We've still got to guard much better off the dribble better than we are. Those are some things to kind of work on."
On Jeffrey Carroll's performance
"I was very pleased. If you had told me before the game that he was going to get a double-double and only make one three, I would have told you that you were crazy. He found other ways to score and rebounded the ball. He's an athletic player, and he uses his athleticism. Those were good minutes for him. He's got to handle the ball a little bit better and continue to work on his one-on-one defense. He can shoot the ball, but it's good for him to score 15 points and only make one three. That was good to see."
On center Anthony Allen's ejection
"He got all tied up and it was just foolish. I'm disappointed in him, but we'll deal with him. I don't want that to distract from our other players who played hard, even though it does put a little bit of a damper on (the win). Him acting foolish doesn't need to take away from everybody else playing hard, and we'll deal with him."
On getting Michael Cobbins back for Friday night's game
"He's itching to get out there, and he can obviously help our basketball team with his experience. It's his first game back, and we've got to be patient with him. I know he's excited about playing and we're excited about getting him back."
On Friday's game against Milwaukee
"These games we've been playing have been good for our basketball team to play, but our level of competition is going to rise drastically on Friday night. This Milwaukee team is a really good veteran, experienced basketball team. They've got size and they've got good guards. This is going to be a very difficult challenge for our basketball team. I hope we get a great crowd. I really hope we do. I hope we get some great fan support. Our kids need it and deserve it. If you're an Oklahoma State Cowboy fan and you want to watch some basketball, come watch us play Friday night. These Cowboys, your Cowboys, are working hard, going to school every day and are part of the OSU family. We just need everybody to pack Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday night. We're going to need it."
OSU freshman wing Jeff Carroll
On his start
"I was just trying to rebound the ball and stay aggressive the whole game, like Coach Ford told me. It felt great, it gave me a lot of confidence throughout the whole game, and I think that helped me perform."
On building confidence from last game
"It helped a lot, just trying to stay focused on rebounding. My shots weren't falling, so I had to just do something else to help the team."
OSU senior wing Le'Bryan Nash
On bouncing back from last game
"It wasn't just Coach Ford (who was upset), it was us too. Our team decided that wasn't a good game for us, that's the biggest step for us. We always want to play great, and we knew we could do better than last game. We came out and proved that we've got to play from the start, we've got to jump out and jump on teams. Just play Cowboy Basketball, just get out there and have fun, you've got to have fun playing this game."
OSU junior guard Jeff Newberry
On playing intense defense
"We take great pride in that, that's what we concentrate on. I know that's what I concentrate on, I want to be one of the best defenders in the league and on our team. We push (Jeffrey Carroll) to play defense every day, we know he can score, but we want him to play defense. He's doing a better job, so everyone is taking pride in not letting their man get past them and not letting the other team score."
On his chemistry with Tyree Griffin
"We play a lot together in practice, he's a scrappy guy. He motivates me to be scrappy too, because I'm athletic. We just get after it and try to make stuff happen when we get in."
