Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: OSU vs. TCU
February 18, 2019 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton
On his message to the team after the win:
"There's still a lot of basketball to play. In a lot of ways, and probably for a myriad of reasons this team was written off and given up on about a month ago, and they never stopped working. They never stopped showing up and doing their jobs, so I was really proud of them for continuing to do that. Because, you know, you hear it so much it's kind of human nature that you maybe start to believe it a little bit. But, tonight and the last several games other than (Texas) Tech and maybe the second half against K-State, we've been in all of these ball games. These kids have played with a grit and toughness and resiliency that any coach and our fans should be proud of. I'm really proud of our fans. We had a pretty good crowd in there for having gone through what we've been through, so I'm really proud of them. I'm happy that we were able to get over the hump and now look forward to seeing what we can build from it."
On Cam McGriff:
"Cam's a warrior. He's a battler. He doesn't want to talk about that he's not 100 percent, but he isn't. He obviously didn't play particularly well. I even tried to get him going with that lob to start the second half. It was as beautiful of a play as you could have ever drawn up, but you could tell his mind just wasn't in the right place to be able to finish that because that's one you've seen him make a big time highlight out of. But, you know, he cares enough about his teammates and about us having success that he won't make an excuse. He won't talk about it and he'll just continue to go out there and do whatever he can do to help his team."
On Thomas Dziagwa:
"Dizzy is a guy who, you know, we've talked about 'hey, somebody has to shoot the ball'. We talked about Lindy (Waters) only shooting the ball five times the other day and Thomas doesn't need to be reminded that we need somebody to shoot it, and he'll shoot it from deep. But, he has supreme confidence because he works really hard. The twenty-thousand made shots in the summer, that's a big deal. That's why the kid can go through anything and still believe that he's a really, really capable player and I'm really proud that the numbers are showing up for him."
OSU junior guard Lindy Waters
On how nice it was to win the game:
"After going on a dry spell for a while, knowing that we should have beat them at their place, just shows that we have the tools to come out any said night and just get the job done. But there was a lot more confidence now. Coach Mike has really been encouraging. He knows the spot we're in but at the same time we gotta get better and he's gonna push us."
On if this win can propel the team forward:
"I mean we still got a lot of work to do. We gotta put this one behind us and we gotta focus on K State."
On playing more aggressive defense:
"With certain guys out, you know we're feeling a little slower here and there. We kind of sit back and play zone and let them come attack us. And we've totally just flipped a page and went back to where we started. Being the aggressors, coming out you see we're in our regular defense, 22 in line, I mean that's who we are. And we got away from that for a little bit, but we're back."
OSU junior guard Thomas Dziagwa
On scoring a career high 23-point in back-to-back games:
"It really means that I have really great teammates and a great coaching staff. To be honest my teammates had great screens and they throw me the ball when I'm open. And coach calls great plays for me. To be honest, I wouldn't trade these guys for anybody. It looks like I'm making the shots but they're the guys that are getting me open, so credit to them."
On his words in the huddle in the closing minutes:
"Coach was saying that we need to take today, I was just reiterating what coach was saying. We couldn't hope for the win, we had to go out there and take it. And the final few possessions I feel like we played good defense, and we earned this W. We didn't have the lead and the time ran out, I feel like we were pretty confident and we took this W."
On Isaac Likekele's performance late:
"He is a force to be reckoned with in this league. Tonight he came out with big defensive possessions and a big time offensive rebound. Whatever coach asks for him, he does it willingly. He's a great young man."
TCU head coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
"Congratulations to Oklahoma State, good win for them in front of their crowd. We are certainly disappointed. We have lost three close games and we are just not getting it done defensively and offensively. Give them credit, they came out on fire. We switched it up with some zone which I didn't think would be effective against them with their shooters, but we actually did a decent job and actually had them shooting farther out and more contested shots. We dug a hole for ourselves but yet gave ourselves a chance to win down the stretch and couldn't get it done. I thought the decisions we had in transition opportunities were not good. We were obviously fighting numbers and foul troubles throughout. One thing we didn't want to be was being in foul trouble, get them in foul trouble but certainly, it didn't work that way and we were the team with foul trouble."
On coming back from the deficit:
"We had a chance and we did get out of it, so I'm proud of our guys for doing that. I feel like our defense got a little better. We did fight back but I just thought that we could have done some better things, especially offensively. Our defense is going to be not as effective given our numbers and foul troubles. It's disappointing but I think the most disappointing thing was we had our chances and fought back and had opportunities to make the right play down the stretch and we didn't. It was across the board and not just one guy."
TCU junior guard Desmond Bane
On OSU's hot shooting from distance:
"That's obviously something that they do well and we knew that coming in. We just struggled to get stops when we needed to. You can't do that against anybody, whether they are making shots or not. We got to be able to finish plays down the stretch."
On playing with a shorthanded roster:
"It's tough but they were in the same situation. They played seven guys. It's not like we are the only team in the league going through this. Times like this, we just got to find ways to get it done."
On the implications of this loss:
"We still have a lot of opportunities left. We probably have the most home games left in the league. I believe we have three home games left and two on the road against teams that we have already beat. There are a lot of opportunities left for us. We just got to come together and find ways to win down the stretch."
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On his message to the team after the win:
"There's still a lot of basketball to play. In a lot of ways, and probably for a myriad of reasons this team was written off and given up on about a month ago, and they never stopped working. They never stopped showing up and doing their jobs, so I was really proud of them for continuing to do that. Because, you know, you hear it so much it's kind of human nature that you maybe start to believe it a little bit. But, tonight and the last several games other than (Texas) Tech and maybe the second half against K-State, we've been in all of these ball games. These kids have played with a grit and toughness and resiliency that any coach and our fans should be proud of. I'm really proud of our fans. We had a pretty good crowd in there for having gone through what we've been through, so I'm really proud of them. I'm happy that we were able to get over the hump and now look forward to seeing what we can build from it."
On Cam McGriff:
"Cam's a warrior. He's a battler. He doesn't want to talk about that he's not 100 percent, but he isn't. He obviously didn't play particularly well. I even tried to get him going with that lob to start the second half. It was as beautiful of a play as you could have ever drawn up, but you could tell his mind just wasn't in the right place to be able to finish that because that's one you've seen him make a big time highlight out of. But, you know, he cares enough about his teammates and about us having success that he won't make an excuse. He won't talk about it and he'll just continue to go out there and do whatever he can do to help his team."
On Thomas Dziagwa:
"Dizzy is a guy who, you know, we've talked about 'hey, somebody has to shoot the ball'. We talked about Lindy (Waters) only shooting the ball five times the other day and Thomas doesn't need to be reminded that we need somebody to shoot it, and he'll shoot it from deep. But, he has supreme confidence because he works really hard. The twenty-thousand made shots in the summer, that's a big deal. That's why the kid can go through anything and still believe that he's a really, really capable player and I'm really proud that the numbers are showing up for him."
OSU junior guard Lindy Waters
On how nice it was to win the game:
"After going on a dry spell for a while, knowing that we should have beat them at their place, just shows that we have the tools to come out any said night and just get the job done. But there was a lot more confidence now. Coach Mike has really been encouraging. He knows the spot we're in but at the same time we gotta get better and he's gonna push us."
On if this win can propel the team forward:
"I mean we still got a lot of work to do. We gotta put this one behind us and we gotta focus on K State."
On playing more aggressive defense:
"With certain guys out, you know we're feeling a little slower here and there. We kind of sit back and play zone and let them come attack us. And we've totally just flipped a page and went back to where we started. Being the aggressors, coming out you see we're in our regular defense, 22 in line, I mean that's who we are. And we got away from that for a little bit, but we're back."
OSU junior guard Thomas Dziagwa
On scoring a career high 23-point in back-to-back games:
"It really means that I have really great teammates and a great coaching staff. To be honest my teammates had great screens and they throw me the ball when I'm open. And coach calls great plays for me. To be honest, I wouldn't trade these guys for anybody. It looks like I'm making the shots but they're the guys that are getting me open, so credit to them."
On his words in the huddle in the closing minutes:
"Coach was saying that we need to take today, I was just reiterating what coach was saying. We couldn't hope for the win, we had to go out there and take it. And the final few possessions I feel like we played good defense, and we earned this W. We didn't have the lead and the time ran out, I feel like we were pretty confident and we took this W."
On Isaac Likekele's performance late:
"He is a force to be reckoned with in this league. Tonight he came out with big defensive possessions and a big time offensive rebound. Whatever coach asks for him, he does it willingly. He's a great young man."
TCU head coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
"Congratulations to Oklahoma State, good win for them in front of their crowd. We are certainly disappointed. We have lost three close games and we are just not getting it done defensively and offensively. Give them credit, they came out on fire. We switched it up with some zone which I didn't think would be effective against them with their shooters, but we actually did a decent job and actually had them shooting farther out and more contested shots. We dug a hole for ourselves but yet gave ourselves a chance to win down the stretch and couldn't get it done. I thought the decisions we had in transition opportunities were not good. We were obviously fighting numbers and foul troubles throughout. One thing we didn't want to be was being in foul trouble, get them in foul trouble but certainly, it didn't work that way and we were the team with foul trouble."
On coming back from the deficit:
"We had a chance and we did get out of it, so I'm proud of our guys for doing that. I feel like our defense got a little better. We did fight back but I just thought that we could have done some better things, especially offensively. Our defense is going to be not as effective given our numbers and foul troubles. It's disappointing but I think the most disappointing thing was we had our chances and fought back and had opportunities to make the right play down the stretch and we didn't. It was across the board and not just one guy."
TCU junior guard Desmond Bane
On OSU's hot shooting from distance:
"That's obviously something that they do well and we knew that coming in. We just struggled to get stops when we needed to. You can't do that against anybody, whether they are making shots or not. We got to be able to finish plays down the stretch."
On playing with a shorthanded roster:
"It's tough but they were in the same situation. They played seven guys. It's not like we are the only team in the league going through this. Times like this, we just got to find ways to get it done."
On the implications of this loss:
"We still have a lot of opportunities left. We probably have the most home games left in the league. I believe we have three home games left and two on the road against teams that we have already beat. There are a lot of opportunities left for us. We just got to come together and find ways to win down the stretch."
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