Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
December 22, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Oregon State vs. Illinois-Chicago
December 22, 2010
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
On the game ...
"I think what our guys looked at was the fact that they beat (No. 12) Illinois and they worked their tails off all week long. This is what happens when you work that hard and then you have a sustained effort for 40 minutes. This was one of the few games we've had this year when we got a sustained effort from everybody for 40 minutes."
On your intensity at practice this past week ...
"I was a little bit more animated, I'll use that term. I'm trying to train them out of that. I think these guys need it because they are still pretty young. With the seniors, that's all they know because I've had to coach like that to sort of break us out of the habits we were in. My demeanor changed but they had to play. I can yell and scream or I can be cool and calm and collected, but they still have to execute so this is completely on them."
On coming out fast in the second half despite a big halftime lead ...
"We are still figuring out how to handle this. We wanted to make sure that we came out with a good start. We wanted to make sure our defense sent the message again, just like the beginning of the game. What pleased me most about this was that our choices in this game were probably the best since I've been here at Oregon State. I thought there were times we could have pushed the ball and made mistakes or not push the ball and be too cautious. I thought just about every decision was the right decision."
On the confidence the team ...
"It was pointed out to me that 65 of our 74 points were scored by freshmen or sophomores. It's interesting that we have been talking about confidence because we are at the point where confidence should take over for our program, not just on a game-by-game basis, because we have been putting the work in for the last two-and-a-half years and it's our turn to see the results. They really took to that this week and tonight. They played with a lot of confidence."
Freshman forward Devon Collier
On the key to playing better defense ...
"We started off in a 2-3 and then we matched up when the ball got swung around. It all started at practice when we started working hard. We just needed to bring it to the game, and that's what we did, and we executed well."
On the overall intensity of the team ...
"We were more active and everybody was talking. When everybody talks, and we know where the play is at, we can be an effective defense."
On the confidence of the team after the game ...
"I feel like this motivated us and practice is going to make us work harder and push each other so we don't fall back and we keep moving forward. We kept the lead and we didn't let them come back. That was a positive for us."
Freshman guard Roberto Nelson
On the individual 10-point run he had in the first half ...
"The guys just got me open shots. If you watch it, they were penetrating and I was out there hitting open shots."
On playing a team that just beat No. 12 Illinois ...
"That's why we came out this week and were eager to play this game. We knew that we had to get it done in practice in order for it to translate to the game. We just try to fire each other up in practice."
On the confidence of the team after the game ...
"I think it's good to have a win like this, especially a big win. We haven't really put teams away like this and I think we really showed people what we can do. To have this game going into the Pac-10 has us going in ready. Speaking of confidence, that was our main issue. I think guys were hesitant to shoot shots. Now that we are shooting those shots, they are going in and we are just playing better."
