Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: OSU vs Arkansas-Monticello
November 03, 2017 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU head coach Mike Boynton
Overall thoughts...
"I thought we started out pretty tight. We missed some really good looks in the first half. Guys were a little tense, that's normal, normal jitters. I told them just relax, play the game. We've worked so hard and they wanted to do what we asked them to do. Once we settled in we made a few shots. I think one of the things we did really well was share the basketball. Get to the offensive glass but obviously we have to maintain a better defensive focus throughout possessions. Sometimes you find a younger teammate panic and go take an ill-advised shot. Older teams aren't going to get rattled in that situation. This wasn't a game where they were going to get rattled because they play four guys who played at a pretty high level and a lot of minutes for them. Credit to them for having a good game plan knowing that we would pressure and not giving into that."
On Shine's performence…
"I purposefully wanted to play him a lot. Just to get him over the fear of getting hurt again or worried about whether he's really ready. I wanted him to play a lot tonight and we accomplished that. By doing that he was able to have a lot of opportunities because his teammates are playing pretty unselfishly. He got some pretty good looks and knocked them down."Â
On Averette's spark off the bench
"That's one of the things we've talked to him about is just being a guy who can be a dynamic game changer for us, specifically on the defensive end. He's another guy who can step up that pressure even more. I was really proud of his effort on the ball defensively."Â
On Kendall Smith…
"It was a first game, I didn't think he was at his best. He showed some flashes of things he's potentially capable of doing for us. Right now he's got to learn how to take more leadership out there on the floor and be more of a vocal leader out there. In terms of trying to get guys in position to score, he did a really good job of that. Then he tried to pick his spots where he could score himself."Â
On preparing for Pepperdine?
"Well first things first we've got to go watch film. Try to figure out what things we can improve on, what things we can build on that we did well in. There's always a delicate balance between those two things. We've got to quickly turn our focus to preparing the right way against a good Pepperdine team that's going to come here and try and get their first victory the same way we were."
OSU redshirt junior guard Tavarius Shine
On playing his first game back from his injury:
"It felt good. It's more of a blessing for me that I could actually be back out there and play with my teammates, my brothers. That's the biggest thing for me, is that I actually have a better opportunity to play the game I love to play."
On having a greater impact on the offensive end than he used to:
"(Coach Boynton) just wanted me to step up, just bring energy to the team. Not just offense, but still play defense, you know and take the open shots, when it's there take it. (Coach Boynton) puts a lot of confidence in me."
On Coach Boynton's head coaching debut at OSU:
"I feel like he did good. First year head coach, big confidence, a lot of pressure, but I feel like he did great. We started out kind of slow, got a little rattled, but he kept us all together, so I think he did great. He's going to be a going to be a good coach."
OSU senior guard Jeffrey Carroll
His thoughts on Shine's performance:
"He looked like the vintage 5 that I know. T-Shine, I mean he's a gym rat. He's been working so hard to get back out there on the court and it's cool to see him back out there playing."
On how it felt to finally play an actual opponent:
"It felt good. We're so tired of just playing against each other every day in practice, beating up on each other and playing so hard against each other. It felt good just to play somebody else and in different colors."
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Overall thoughts...
"I thought we started out pretty tight. We missed some really good looks in the first half. Guys were a little tense, that's normal, normal jitters. I told them just relax, play the game. We've worked so hard and they wanted to do what we asked them to do. Once we settled in we made a few shots. I think one of the things we did really well was share the basketball. Get to the offensive glass but obviously we have to maintain a better defensive focus throughout possessions. Sometimes you find a younger teammate panic and go take an ill-advised shot. Older teams aren't going to get rattled in that situation. This wasn't a game where they were going to get rattled because they play four guys who played at a pretty high level and a lot of minutes for them. Credit to them for having a good game plan knowing that we would pressure and not giving into that."
On Shine's performence…
"I purposefully wanted to play him a lot. Just to get him over the fear of getting hurt again or worried about whether he's really ready. I wanted him to play a lot tonight and we accomplished that. By doing that he was able to have a lot of opportunities because his teammates are playing pretty unselfishly. He got some pretty good looks and knocked them down."Â
On Averette's spark off the bench
"That's one of the things we've talked to him about is just being a guy who can be a dynamic game changer for us, specifically on the defensive end. He's another guy who can step up that pressure even more. I was really proud of his effort on the ball defensively."Â
On Kendall Smith…
"It was a first game, I didn't think he was at his best. He showed some flashes of things he's potentially capable of doing for us. Right now he's got to learn how to take more leadership out there on the floor and be more of a vocal leader out there. In terms of trying to get guys in position to score, he did a really good job of that. Then he tried to pick his spots where he could score himself."Â
On preparing for Pepperdine?
"Well first things first we've got to go watch film. Try to figure out what things we can improve on, what things we can build on that we did well in. There's always a delicate balance between those two things. We've got to quickly turn our focus to preparing the right way against a good Pepperdine team that's going to come here and try and get their first victory the same way we were."
OSU redshirt junior guard Tavarius Shine
On playing his first game back from his injury:
"It felt good. It's more of a blessing for me that I could actually be back out there and play with my teammates, my brothers. That's the biggest thing for me, is that I actually have a better opportunity to play the game I love to play."
On having a greater impact on the offensive end than he used to:
"(Coach Boynton) just wanted me to step up, just bring energy to the team. Not just offense, but still play defense, you know and take the open shots, when it's there take it. (Coach Boynton) puts a lot of confidence in me."
On Coach Boynton's head coaching debut at OSU:
"I feel like he did good. First year head coach, big confidence, a lot of pressure, but I feel like he did great. We started out kind of slow, got a little rattled, but he kept us all together, so I think he did great. He's going to be a going to be a good coach."
OSU senior guard Jeffrey Carroll
His thoughts on Shine's performance:
"He looked like the vintage 5 that I know. T-Shine, I mean he's a gym rat. He's been working so hard to get back out there on the court and it's cool to see him back out there playing."
On how it felt to finally play an actual opponent:
"It felt good. We're so tired of just playing against each other every day in practice, beating up on each other and playing so hard against each other. It felt good just to play somebody else and in different colors."
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Players Mentioned
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