Oklahoma State University Athletics
TCU Postgame Quotes
January 02, 2016 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU Head Coach Travis Ford
Thoughts on the game:
"Our guys were really focused from the tip. We have talked about our identity as a team and what we want that to be, today it was defense. We aren't the greatest offensive team. We are going to have to win games with our defense. That means you have to scrap and claw. A word we have talked about as a team this week is relentless. We had our boys define it for us, what does it mean and then we outlined how are we going to gauge ourselves if we are going to be relentless. During every timeout, we gauged where we were on deflections, on 50/50 balls, rebounding margin and charges. We won three of the four. We have to have an overachieving mentality, if we have that then we give ourselves a chance. I think we did that the whole game except for the last 5 minutes of the first half."Â
On Jawun Evans in the second half:
"I thought Jawun really got loose and got in a rhythm. As we said over on the bench, he's got his game face on now. He's pretty good when he's got his game going. I thought Leyton Hammonds had a really good second half. I thought Mitchell Solomon had a good second half. During the first half, he looked a little timid so I didn't go with him. In the second half, I put him back in and I thought he put in some really good minutes for us. Anytime we've had success this year, it has been a collective effort from this team. Anthony Allen had a great start. Anthony Allen did terrific. Jeff Newberry had a terrific game. Jawun Evans in the second half. Leyton Hammonds, Mitchell Solomon, Tyree Griffin gave us three assists. Jeffrey Carroll has 10 points for us. That's who we are, we have no superstars. We are a collective unit. We are the definition of "winning as a team." I thought we did that today."
On Leyton Hammonds expanding his offense:
"We've been begging him to do that. It's something he's had to get used to as a player. Leyton would rather sit out there and shoot a three, but he's long, he's athletic, he's strong. We're asking him to drive the ball because he can. He can drive to score, and he can drive to draw a foul. He's also a great free throw shooter. We run the very first play of the game and the plan was to get him to drive, instead he pulls up and shoots a three. We're just confused. So then he starts putting it on the floor with a drive right and a drive left. He drives and gets fouled, he drives and pulls up for a jump shot. That's what we need from Leyton, he needs to be a complete player and he has the ability to be that."Â
On Jeff Newberry:
"There's no secret recipe to becoming a great player. It's about getting extra shots in, it's about doing the extra work. It will pay off for you. I had a long talk with our team about this. If you have a good attitude and you work hard eventually you will have success. Newberry has stayed very positive. He finally got his mask off, this is his first game back without it. He's a lot more comfortable without it. We've given our players freedom to shoot the ball if they are open. Because, about two or three games ago, we were hesitating too much with the basketball. We are going to win games on the defensive end. Win it on defense, and then have fun on offense. Newberry is one of the players on our team that can score in a variety of ways, and we need him to get his 12-14 points each game."
On the swing around the defense to Newberry:
"It's a confidence thing, when you see that ball coming around to you. It's amazing when everybody shares the ball and when you make that extra pass, good things happen. That's what I tell my players. When you concentrate on being a great teammate, good things happen to you. Everybody wants something good to happen to them, but the only way you are going to have success is if the team can do it together. If you understand how to be a good teammate, then good things will come your way."
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OSU Forward Leyton Hammonds
On the team's defensive success:
"Deflections, blocked shots and steals is the message the coaches have put in our minds. That's what Coach Ford wants us to do defensively. We're a team that is going to outgrind you and that starts on the defensive end and that's what we did today."
On getting a win in the conference opener:
"It's always good to start off with a win, but we've got another tough one coming up. This was a tough game as well. We played a very good TCU team, I just thought we played a little bit better. It was good to get the win, but we're taking it one game at a time. That's how you have to do it in the Big 12. One game at a time."
On the players feeding off of one another:
"I feel like we do feed off of each other a lot. We're one unit out there and when one guy is making shots, we all feel like we're making shots."
OSU Guard Jeff Newberry
On his first game without the mask:
"It felt great. I was really hyped up going to practice and I don't think anyone realized that it was my first day without the mask. I felt like there wasn't something weighing me down out there."
On the team's ball movement:
"It's really fun to play like that. I feel like we're a unit. On that play the thing I was worried about the most was not making that shot and messing up the whole thing. So I was just worried about that shot and fortunately I made it."
Head Coach Trent Johnson
Opening Statement:
"In the second half, there was a long stretch there where we were pretty bad. The big emphasis for us after we closed within two in the first half was to pound the ball in the post, but we got perimeter happy. We started to go off on our own and try to do our own thing. We got what we basically deserved which was a good old-fashioned butt whooping. They did a really good job getting us isolated once they had the lead and pounded the ball off the bounce into the post, drive and kick situations. I thought they had really good ball movement that started at the point of the attack and in the lane. We would have to help, but then when we'd get the ball it was one pass, shoot ill-advised threes or the post man would drop it. We had 15 turnovers and only three assists. We aren't where we need to be in terms of mental or physical toughness versus good people. We need to get it corrected and find out how competitive we want to be because this league has no mercy on people who don't want to compete and play at a high level."
On turning the ball over:
"I attribute it to our inability to be tough, disciplined and do exactly what we've be taught to do. It's going to cause problems against good teams. It's disturbing that it still happens with how much we address it. Oklahoma State is a great example of guys playing together as a team with a lot of energy."
On the second half:
"We just stopped competing there for a stretch and I don't know why. It just bothered me. But like I said, we have a lot of work to do to figure it out. It's not stuff that we haven't worked on, but for them it becomes a situation where when we start playing people in this league, it tests your manhood and you find out what you're about."
