Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes
December 03, 2014 | Cowboy Basketball
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Post-Game Quotes
Oklahoma State vs. North Texas
December 3, 2014 | Gallagher-Iba Arena | 6,086 att.
Final Score: Oklahoma State 87, North Texas 61
Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford
On the team effort in the win over North Texas:
"It was an incredible team effort. I love to toughness of our team and the mentality of our team as a whole. We were missing (Le'Bryan) Nash, Leyton Hammonds and (Marek) Soucek. Those are three of our post players, and this was a game that I was concerned about because we haven't really been practicing well, the guys we had out and the different defenses that they run. Our guys responded, and responded in every aspect, from offense to defense. Everything that we asked them to do, they went out and did it. We were changing things in timeouts, we were playing guys in positions they've never played and they just responded. It's fun to coach a team that has that mentality. I think we played 10 or 11 guys for double-digit minutes. It was a total team effort."
On the first-half run that took control of the game:
"It was a big spurt led by three-pointers. We needed somebody to step up because we were without 18 points from (Le'Bryan) Nash. I kind of felt like Phil Forte might have a big game. We were wondering where the other points were going to come from, but they came as a committee, and that's great. I thought Michael Cobbins played well. Anthony Allen played well. All of those guys' numbers were great. Two guys whose numbers might not have stood way out that really helped us were Anthony Hickey, who had five assists, no turnovers and seven rebounds, and Christien Sager, who gave us great energy minutes and really sparked us in the first half."
On the solid contributions from so many players so far this season:
"It's fun to coach them. If they just continue to stay very humble and hungry, keep getting better and accept their roles, we have a chance. We tell our team that we have four main guys and that everybody else needs to do their job. It could be different guys every single night. It's a great challenge to keep everybody on the same page. As the season continues, it's going to get harder and harder. Guys aren't going to play double digit (minutes) every single night. They can continue to be hungry to help the basketball team if things don't go their way, but as of right now, I like the mentality of the team."
OSU junior guard Phil Forte
On picking up his scoring tonight:
"I just thank God and thank my teammates, those are the two things that are always there for me whether I'm playing well or not. The best part about tonight is my teammates were happier for me than I was."
On his three-pointer before halftime:
"I didn't even know the shot clock was winding down, I just saw it and knew that the game clock was going down. I figured I'm open and I might as well shoot it, then the buzzer went off. It looked straight on and I knew it had a chance."
On his performance:
"I wasn't necessarily thinking scoring, but everyone had to step up, whether it was rebounding or a steal here or there. Everyone had to contribute in some way and I was just thankful for my teammates. They were looking for me and any chance they had to get me the ball or set a screen for me in transition they did that. That's the great part about basketball, it's a team sport and it's just whoever has the hot hand, we're going to try to go to that. Luckily tonight was me, and I just give all the credit to my teammates."
OSU senior forward Michael Cobbins
On Phil Forte's performance:
"Outstanding, we talk about how everybody's going to have their night and obviously it was Phil's night. Everything he put up fell through, we just love to have him. He creates energy for everybody else and we just piggy-backed off of that."
On emphasis on rebounding:
"Definitely, that's always been something that we've tried to get better at every year I've been here. It looks like it's coming along."
On playing with Anthony Allen:
"It creates a presence down low to protect the rim. It gives the big guys down low something to work with and then it opens up everything for the outside as well."
On getting comfortable:
"I give credit to the coaches, they've been trying to boost my confidence, which has been helping me play a lot better in games."
North Texas Coach Tony Benford
On the size of Oklahoma State:
"Mike (Cobbins) is a shot blocker, I've known him for a long time and he's been a good player for them. He and Allen both were really tough inside. We didn't do a good job on Forte, and their big guys did a solid job inside."
On the rebounding numbers:
"They really hurt us there, but hey, we have to do a better job of boxing out. But they got those offensive rebounds, they didn't have a big guy in there, or they had one big guy in there, so we just didn't do a great job of hitting guys. We have to get back to practice and do a better job working on hitting and finishing possessions with rebounds."
On the execution of the game plan:
"I'm really disappointed with the way we played in the second half, we didn't execute. But I'll give them credit, they have a good ball club even without Le'Bryan and they did a really good job of executing and getting Forte some shots."
