Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
November 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2011
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Oregon State vs. Vanderbilt
TicketCity Legends Classic Championship Game
November 21, 2011
IZOD Center
East Rutherford, N.J.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
"It was a terrific tournament. The TicketCity Legends Classic didn't fail to impress. I hope the fans liked it. I thought my team did a terrific job. I know a lot of you guys are surprised by our team, but I'm not. These guys have been working like this since April. This team is extraordinary from a standpoint that none of them care what the other guys do except play hard and play together. I told these guys in the locker room that for the last 17 years this is the first time I've wanted to be on a team. I want to be on their team. I don't want to just be coaching; I want to play with these guys. They are just so much fun to watch and coach. I think that says it."
On what needs to happen for the Beavers to take it to the next level...
"We need to do a couple of things. We need to make our foul shots and we need not to have droughts that aren't so long. With respect to our defense, I'm pleased with; our fight I'm pleased with; our guts. This team has quite a lot of character and that takes you a long way. But in our league, in the Pac-12, character and guts don't get it all the time. You have to be able to execute."
On the final play of the game...
"The last play of the game never costs you the game. It's the other stuff that happens before then. The refs never really cost you the game. If you're doing what you're supposed to do, you don't win or lose by two. But having said that, there was a lot of contact from the time he took the ball out until the very end. But I'm not complaining. There was just a lot of contact."
On being surprised that it was Tinsley who took the last shot...
"Are you kidding? We were all over their two NBA guys and I thought our guys did a great job holding them under their averages. But they are a Top 20 team so they have a lot of players. I wasn't surprised that any of them did anything. I was just hoping it wouldn't go in. I think more importantly, I think people were surprised we were able to come back from nine points down. We came back as if it wasn't anything. We have to be in a position where we are up nine instead of down nine."
On Jared Cunningham's play in the game...
"Jared is a marked man now. We expect Jared to understand that and help Devon (Collier) and Ahmad (Starks) and Eric Moreland get the ball. I thought he did a tremendous job even though he was being covered so tightly. He had seven steals so he affects the game even when he isn't scoring 35 points a game."
Sophomore guard Ahmad Starks
On the difference between this Beavers team from last year...
"The team camaraderie is the biggest difference. How we all bond together. We are all playing for each other out there. Just like the comeback; that was just us talking as a team in the huddles and knowing the game wasn't over and having the power to come back. That's the biggest difference right there."
