Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
November 12, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Oregon State vs. CSU Bakersfield
2nd Annual Nike N7 Game presented by Spirit Mountain Casino
November 12, 2011
Gil Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
"The first thing that comes to my mind is what a nice crowd it was to have for your first game. We had 5,400 people for our first home game(and I think that is the most we've had in my four years at a first game, so that was terrific. To see that many students come out when there is other stuff going on, it just warmed my heart. To have a performance like that on the Nike N7 Game, which means a lot to a lot of different people was really nice. But we still have stuff to work out. The first thing I saw on (the stat sheet) was those turnovers. It's interesting because I thought we had a lot of turnovers, but I didn't think we had that many. Most of those turnovers came from guys trying to be unselfish. It was really not trying to force the turnover. We had a spurt there against the press, which we didn't practice against, and so the guys were kind of `winging it', so that's my fault. It was really nice to see having that many turnovers and not losing the points off turnovers margin."
On the amount of steals and turnovers Oregon State had...
"I always look at the turnovers first, and then I go right to the points off turnovers, because if you can close the gap, then it helps you. Most teams don't cause as many turnovers as we do, so you give up 22 turnovers; that is disastrous. For us right now, that is less disastrous, but that is something that we need to work on."
On man-to-man defense contributing to the turnovers...
"It is interesting, I never imagined that playing man would get us more steals then playing the 1-3-1;I really didn't. The reason I like playing man-to-man is because it helps you in rebounding, you are guarding a guy and it's easier than zone. It's really nice to see us getting as many steals as we did. That team wasn't bad, those guys can play. I hope they do well the rest of the season, but it was fun to watch our guys play man-to-man, take a smack to the face, and then come right back."
On CSU Bakersfield's athleticism and size...
"We knew they were athletic, but they were a little bit bigger than I thought they were going to be. When you do this long enough, when you got six or seven junior college players coming in, you're going to play against guys that can play because you have to be able to play if you go to junior college. I like the way our guys came out and just wanted to set the tone for our side."
On man-to-man defense contributing to the win...
"That stretch they had in the second half when they scored like five times in a row, we calmed ourselves and shorted up our `D' and stopped them eight or nine times straight. That is strictly your defense. What happened for us that I am hoping we can continue is that we were able to score off of those stops. We would like to keep track of how many times we stop somebody and then convert on the other end because if you keep that margin high you are going to win a lot of games."
On Ahmad Starks and his improvement from last year...
"Ahmad is one of these guys who is a basketball junkie and an aficionado of the game. He knew at the end of last season what he needed to work on. He needed to get stronger, needed to be more confident taking that three-point shot - more aggressive I should say, not confident, aggressive. He was certainly a true point guard when we recruited him, he just liked to pass it and set it up for other guys. We need him, because he is such a great shooter, to bang that shot and open things up for us. Those two things he worked on. As you can see with his body, he does not look like he did when he played last season. Thirdly, he was an offensive player in high school and at the beginning of last year. Now, he's not quite as good as Jared, but he is catching up on the defensive end."
On Oregon State's shooting performance...
"I need to watch the tape because I see this zero-for-seven in the second half [on the stat sheet] and I really think we took two shots that we just missed. When I was watching the game, the feeling I got was that we were trying to be too unselfish instead of taking what was right there because we were up. It was a very interesting phenomenon; we were missing shots because we were being unselfish. I think out of the 22 turnovers, I bet eight or ten of them were because we were being unselfish. We'll have to take a look at the tape and how we're going to get better at that. The great thing is, you win a game like this and there is still stuff to work on. It's setup perfectly for the next practice."
On Joe Burton and the contribution off the bench from Eric Moreland...
"I have been saying to people who will listen to me, Joe Burton came back this year a completely different guy. It's for the better and it's not just on the basketball court. He has devoted himself in the classroom, he has devoted himself to weight room and he has worked on his conditioning. I bet he played the most minutes. That is what he does at practice, we'll be working on something and he'll see that the second team or third team is not doing it as well as an opponent would do it, he asks if he can flip his jersey over, then he doesn't take a break in practice. This kid has really matured in all phases of his life. When you're doing this job, that is what gives you that good feeling and then to see him have success out on the court, you just hope he can continue it. He's put in the time and effort and really the mindset has changed.
Eric, on the other hand, we all knew if we can get Eric to calm down, he was going to be a good player. He is super excitable. It's good; you have to have guys like that in your program. Sometimes he doesn't have the greatest practices but I'll tell you what, he's matured. This is the second mature game he's played. That exhibition game I told him that was the most mature game he'd played until this one. This one was even more mature. He had one point there where he was going to dribble that ball up and try to take it all the way and I'm telling him `no don't, you're playing such a good game don't blow it'. He pulled up, passed it, and looked at me like he was completely disappointed. But with most kids, he is going to look back on that and realize that was the right decision. I couldn't be happier with the way he's coming along. Again, we all have work to do, but if you can get that kind of production off the bench, that's pretty good."
On pulling Challe Barton out of the game and then putting him back in right away...
"When I put him in I said, `look we have a little bit of a lead, what you can't do is commit a stupid foul and throw the ball away'. So what did he do? [Committed a] stupid foul and threw the ball away. He's a freshman and not only is he a freshman, but he's a foreigner. His English is so good that we take for granted that there is a lot of stuff over here that he doesn't get. He's been playing European rules his whole life; he doesn't even know what a one-and-one is. They don't shoot one-and-ones and they can run in whenever they want. He just needed to calm down. He's just a freshman, he had to calm down and I told him `the only mistakes you'll make, is if you do something stupid mentally or you throw the ball away, so just relax.' `If you take a shot and it doesn't go in, I'm not going to be mad, I want you to get out there and get some experience, just don't throw the ball away.' Obviously, I said it shorter than that and wanted to put him back in. You know how kids are, he looked over at me and I was mad, and I didn't want him to think I was mad and he wasn't going to play well. I needed him to know I was mad, what I was mad about and put him back in and say just chill."
Sophomore guard Ahmad Starks
On the steals...
"Coach (Robinson) said right off the jump, I have to start it off with a lot of pressure and that is just what I tried to do. So when I start it off, these guys are coming behind me for help to bring the intensity and that's what we did today."
On the man-to-man defense...
"It is a lot of fun, but at the same time, we still have a lot to work on out there. Each day we practice it, so we will get better and better and hopefully continue to do a good job out there."
On the work ethic this year...
"There is definitely a different attitude. In practice every day, guys are coming down and working hard. We are sore after a lot of practices just because we are going so hard that we may need to tone it down a little bit. But these guys are doing great and it is good to see us translate it to this first win, but we can't get too excited because we have games back-to-back-to-back coming up so we have to focus on those."
On the fast break points...
"We always want to get the easy baskets. This year we focus on pushing the ball and getting easy baskets a lot more in practices. Especially off the defense, we need to capitalize on those buckets. Getting those easy baskets are important because they get us up early or even late in the game so we definitely want to get those."
Junior forward Joe Burton
On team readiness in the first regular season game...
"We need to work on our turnovers and our decision-making. Coach (Robinson) said we had 22 turnovers. If we cut those down to half, we will blow teams out."
On the win and looking ahead...
"Winning is always fun. When you have a group of guys like my teammates, it's fun. In practice going over our assignments, scouting the other team and then the game is just an extra benefit. I'm glad we won and that everybody had fun. This is just another game down and we have plenty more to go. One day at a time."
On the team's roster depth...
"You take me out and put Eric (Moreland) in. He's 6-10, long arms and he does the same thing I do. It's like looking in a mirror. You take out Ahmad (Starks) and you have "Berto" (Roberto Nelson) or Challe (Barton) and other people coming off the bench. That is a good thing to have depth on the bench because the starting team goes out there, plays hard and gets up 15 points then we need a rest and the subs come in, take it up a notch and they go up 20. It's good thing that we have depth and I'm grateful for the guys on our bench."
On ability to keep focus when CSU made a run in the second half...
"Last year we would have crumbled. This year we have chemistry and our demeanor is to stay calm and poised. We have a point guard over here (looking at Ahmad Starks), the general, and he calms us down and gets us all set-up. Again, I'm grateful for having this guy. He keeps everybody in line."
On the Nike N7 game and what it means to him...
"It means a lot. I'm happy we pulled it out with a big margin win like we did. I'm just playing for the Native Americans across the Nation. It's an honor to put this jersey on, play the game of basketball, and to be in college, learning and getting knowledge for the future. I'm just acting as a role model to the young Native Americans and to the reservation. It's good to give them hope and motivation to strive to be the best of their abilities."
On his own offensive versatility...
"I'm a little guy out there. Whatever they want me to do, I do it to the fullest, 100 percent. If they want me to get boards, I'll get boards, steals, I'll get steals. I even hit three's from time to time (with laughs)."
