Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: OSU vs. Houston
December 08, 2018 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU head coach Mike Boynton
Thoughts on how the team played:
"We did some positive things. I thought defensively we were really solid, aside from giving up some crucial offensive rebounds that led to easy baskets. Offensively, we weren't nearly as good as we needed to be against a really good defensive team. But, we did have some really good looks that didn't go down today. You know, that happens every now and then. So, we have to figure out a way to learn from this and make sure that this doesn't affect finals week coming up and then go get ready for another really good team again next week.
On OSU's tough non-conference schedule:
"The message to them was that they have to be able to put this behind them and focus on their finals, and that the team improving is my job. So, this is on me to make sure that between now and next Sunday that not only do we do the right things in the classroom and take care of our finals, but I have to look and figure out: where do I need to make adjustments for this team to have success on the court?"
On struggling offensively and the mental strain of that on the players:
"(Houston) showed signs of a veteran team, you saw it in the last minute. They voluntarily took a shot clock violation. Very, very few teams can be smart enough, witty enough, mature enough to do that opposed to running in and trying to take a shot. That's a sign of a well-coached team, a disciplined team and a team that's going to have a lot of success this year."
On the team's positive response coming out of the locker room to start the second half:
"Our guys played with a great desire to win. We didn't always execute the best, and that's my job to make sure that we execute well. The kids need to continue to give the effort they were giving. But again, the response to our response, was that of a veteran team. That of a team who has been on the road in tough environments, and that wasn't going to be rattled by losing a six point lead and only being down by one with 18 minutes to go in the second half. There were some great lessons out there for us and we'll take advantage of them.
On Isaac Likekele playing well today:
"He did, and we needed him too. He was at a tough place, hadn't been playing as well. You know, started to see a little bit of him questioning his own confidence and I never want our guys to have that feeling. So, I was proud of his bounce back, his focus and an overall solid performance across the board today. We need that to continue, but we also need some other guys to also continue to get better and produce more as well."
On Houston's defensive strategy against Cam McGriff:
"He pressed a little bit because he wasn't getting great looks and he took some ill-advised (shots). I can remember clearly one in front of our bench trying to shoot one over two guys when there just wasn't a shot there. So, I have to do a better job with him of understanding that that is part of being a marked man. Sometimes, you have to find other ways to impact the game whether it be rebounding or setting screens and helping other people get open and that's my job to do that."
On balancing finals week and basketball:
"There's no question in my mind it's not even close, basketball takes a complete back seat this week. The most important thing we do here is educate young people and they have responsibilities in the classroom. So, we'll adjust to their schedules and then start figuring out later in the week as finals wind down how to start getting ready for the next game."
OSU freshman guard Isaac Likekele
On his aggressiveness against Houston:
"It wasn't necessarily the plan, it was just how the flow of things went. Coach Boynton has been talking to me a lot about having a clear mind and playing with more confidence. I just needed to play like I know how to play. I wanted to be aggressive and took the opportunities when they were there."
On the Houston game's influence on the rest of his season:
"I feel like I'm never going to force anything, but when opportunities come, I will take advantage of them."
On the competition OSU has faced thus far:
"It's definitely been challenging. Coach Boynton gave us the statistic the other day that we have the 37th hardest schedule in the country. It's really just building us up as a team. You go through ups and downs, but we have a bunch of great character guys in the locker room and on the staff. Going through this little rough patch is tough, but we will definitely bounce back."
OSU junior guard Thomas Dziagwa
On Coach Boynton's message to the team after the game:
"The message was mostly to just worry about us. We knew they were undefeated and we knew our current situation. Going into every game, we try to personally get better. We don't worry so much about the other team. We just want to get better on our end, hitting free throws and limiting turnovers. Obviously you gameplan, but we want to worry about ourselves right now."
On the influence of the effects of having the next week off:
"It will be great. Finals week is coming up. Coach has been preaching first and foremost that we're student-athletes, so we have a lot of studying to do. I think we have seven or eight days prepared for the next game. There will be a lot of practices with not a lot of scout, but practices focusing on ourselves. We will try to correct things and go back to the drawing board."
On being back in GIA after a road trip:
"There's no better place than Stillwater, Oklahoma. There's no better arena in the country better than GIA."
On defending the three-pointer:
"The three-pointer has opened up the floor tremendously. NBA and college teams that can really shoot the ball are really tough to defend. Houston was making tough shots and they were making a lot of shots. It's tough to defend. It spaces the floor and then drives become easier, then rotations break down and you give up threes. Shot making is contagious and that's what happened for them tonight."
On the position of the team after losses:
"Nobody in that locker room came to Oklahoma State to play easy games. This is an elite program, we're going to play elite teams. Right now we're in a rough patch, but my freshman year we started the Big 12 0-6, but we bounced back really well. I'm not concerned about our record right now. We just have to get better every single day. We're on the verge of overcoming this hump."
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson
On Houston getting to 8-0:
"Some of that has to do with your schedule. I was looking at the teams that coach Boynton has and the schedule he's got and I think we would be 4-4 as well. They have some great wins, they beat LSU, they beat Memphis...we're a good team, we're not a great team. I think our team can get better as we go. Mike has played a tough schedule, we played Oregon, we played BYU. They might be 8-0 if they had our schedule. They are going to be a good team."
On memories in Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"It was never easy in here, Oklahoma State was always good. The building was always a tough building, the fans are great here but those teams are good. That coach sitting courtside tonight - he was good too. I told someone that when you get older you look back at certain things, but when I first got to Oklahoma, it was a blessing for me and coach Sutton was the coach at Oklahoma State because he made me a better coach. I was a young guy and I was trying to do the best I could. It was a tough league, it was the Big 8 when I first got into the league, I think I was 37 years old, half the time I didn't know if I was on horseback or foot. I was coaching with all these older guys, so much better at coaching than I was and then when we got to the Big 12, we spread and all of a sudden we had 12 schools. You always focus on your rivals, but Coach Sutton made me a better coach. I always look back on those times knowing that if you don't prepare your teams well, and have a really good plan you are going to struggle against them because you know he would. Two outstanding programs that were fighting for every inch, neither team would ever give in. But I always had great respect for this building. A lot of it had to do with the guy whose name is on that court out there. He was special, a special coach."
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Thoughts on how the team played:
"We did some positive things. I thought defensively we were really solid, aside from giving up some crucial offensive rebounds that led to easy baskets. Offensively, we weren't nearly as good as we needed to be against a really good defensive team. But, we did have some really good looks that didn't go down today. You know, that happens every now and then. So, we have to figure out a way to learn from this and make sure that this doesn't affect finals week coming up and then go get ready for another really good team again next week.
On OSU's tough non-conference schedule:
"The message to them was that they have to be able to put this behind them and focus on their finals, and that the team improving is my job. So, this is on me to make sure that between now and next Sunday that not only do we do the right things in the classroom and take care of our finals, but I have to look and figure out: where do I need to make adjustments for this team to have success on the court?"
On struggling offensively and the mental strain of that on the players:
"(Houston) showed signs of a veteran team, you saw it in the last minute. They voluntarily took a shot clock violation. Very, very few teams can be smart enough, witty enough, mature enough to do that opposed to running in and trying to take a shot. That's a sign of a well-coached team, a disciplined team and a team that's going to have a lot of success this year."
On the team's positive response coming out of the locker room to start the second half:
"Our guys played with a great desire to win. We didn't always execute the best, and that's my job to make sure that we execute well. The kids need to continue to give the effort they were giving. But again, the response to our response, was that of a veteran team. That of a team who has been on the road in tough environments, and that wasn't going to be rattled by losing a six point lead and only being down by one with 18 minutes to go in the second half. There were some great lessons out there for us and we'll take advantage of them.
On Isaac Likekele playing well today:
"He did, and we needed him too. He was at a tough place, hadn't been playing as well. You know, started to see a little bit of him questioning his own confidence and I never want our guys to have that feeling. So, I was proud of his bounce back, his focus and an overall solid performance across the board today. We need that to continue, but we also need some other guys to also continue to get better and produce more as well."
On Houston's defensive strategy against Cam McGriff:
"He pressed a little bit because he wasn't getting great looks and he took some ill-advised (shots). I can remember clearly one in front of our bench trying to shoot one over two guys when there just wasn't a shot there. So, I have to do a better job with him of understanding that that is part of being a marked man. Sometimes, you have to find other ways to impact the game whether it be rebounding or setting screens and helping other people get open and that's my job to do that."
On balancing finals week and basketball:
"There's no question in my mind it's not even close, basketball takes a complete back seat this week. The most important thing we do here is educate young people and they have responsibilities in the classroom. So, we'll adjust to their schedules and then start figuring out later in the week as finals wind down how to start getting ready for the next game."
OSU freshman guard Isaac Likekele
On his aggressiveness against Houston:
"It wasn't necessarily the plan, it was just how the flow of things went. Coach Boynton has been talking to me a lot about having a clear mind and playing with more confidence. I just needed to play like I know how to play. I wanted to be aggressive and took the opportunities when they were there."
On the Houston game's influence on the rest of his season:
"I feel like I'm never going to force anything, but when opportunities come, I will take advantage of them."
On the competition OSU has faced thus far:
"It's definitely been challenging. Coach Boynton gave us the statistic the other day that we have the 37th hardest schedule in the country. It's really just building us up as a team. You go through ups and downs, but we have a bunch of great character guys in the locker room and on the staff. Going through this little rough patch is tough, but we will definitely bounce back."
OSU junior guard Thomas Dziagwa
On Coach Boynton's message to the team after the game:
"The message was mostly to just worry about us. We knew they were undefeated and we knew our current situation. Going into every game, we try to personally get better. We don't worry so much about the other team. We just want to get better on our end, hitting free throws and limiting turnovers. Obviously you gameplan, but we want to worry about ourselves right now."
On the influence of the effects of having the next week off:
"It will be great. Finals week is coming up. Coach has been preaching first and foremost that we're student-athletes, so we have a lot of studying to do. I think we have seven or eight days prepared for the next game. There will be a lot of practices with not a lot of scout, but practices focusing on ourselves. We will try to correct things and go back to the drawing board."
On being back in GIA after a road trip:
"There's no better place than Stillwater, Oklahoma. There's no better arena in the country better than GIA."
On defending the three-pointer:
"The three-pointer has opened up the floor tremendously. NBA and college teams that can really shoot the ball are really tough to defend. Houston was making tough shots and they were making a lot of shots. It's tough to defend. It spaces the floor and then drives become easier, then rotations break down and you give up threes. Shot making is contagious and that's what happened for them tonight."
On the position of the team after losses:
"Nobody in that locker room came to Oklahoma State to play easy games. This is an elite program, we're going to play elite teams. Right now we're in a rough patch, but my freshman year we started the Big 12 0-6, but we bounced back really well. I'm not concerned about our record right now. We just have to get better every single day. We're on the verge of overcoming this hump."
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson
On Houston getting to 8-0:
"Some of that has to do with your schedule. I was looking at the teams that coach Boynton has and the schedule he's got and I think we would be 4-4 as well. They have some great wins, they beat LSU, they beat Memphis...we're a good team, we're not a great team. I think our team can get better as we go. Mike has played a tough schedule, we played Oregon, we played BYU. They might be 8-0 if they had our schedule. They are going to be a good team."
On memories in Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"It was never easy in here, Oklahoma State was always good. The building was always a tough building, the fans are great here but those teams are good. That coach sitting courtside tonight - he was good too. I told someone that when you get older you look back at certain things, but when I first got to Oklahoma, it was a blessing for me and coach Sutton was the coach at Oklahoma State because he made me a better coach. I was a young guy and I was trying to do the best I could. It was a tough league, it was the Big 8 when I first got into the league, I think I was 37 years old, half the time I didn't know if I was on horseback or foot. I was coaching with all these older guys, so much better at coaching than I was and then when we got to the Big 12, we spread and all of a sudden we had 12 schools. You always focus on your rivals, but Coach Sutton made me a better coach. I always look back on those times knowing that if you don't prepare your teams well, and have a really good plan you are going to struggle against them because you know he would. Two outstanding programs that were fighting for every inch, neither team would ever give in. But I always had great respect for this building. A lot of it had to do with the guy whose name is on that court out there. He was special, a special coach."
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Players Mentioned
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