Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
December 09, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2011
Oregon State vs. Idaho
December 9, 2011
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
Opening Statement...
"I was actually not as frustrated about this as most might think. When you are close to the game of basketball as a player or coach, you realize that a guy or two will have a bad game. It is rare when your whole team has a bad game, including myself. My job now is to get our guys' spirits back up, because it has been a long time since they have lost a game. We had begun to expect that we would win every game we play, which is not the case."
On a rough week for the team...
"This is a hard week to play regardless. We had four guys have exams today, making practice off kilter. I honestly thought that our past few practices went well and that we were ready to play today. Obviously, I was wrong."
On team looking forward to tomorrow...
"These guys have gotten used to playing well, and when they don't, they want to move on to the next day so that they can get back to work. For the first three years, I had to get on the team to motivate them for the next day. For this team, I have to settle them down from the idea that they will win every single game. They are all just so hungry to win that it is hard to get them to understand that losing is part of the game."
On the team's performance...
"Idaho played a great game. We didn't play as ourselves today. We usually get the hustle plays, the big rebounds and convert turnovers. It was a global meltdown; myself included."
On how to improve...
"We needed a game like this. We have been playing with a lead all season, except against Vanderbilt. This was as close to a conference game as we have had, so we needed this."
On over-passing the ball...
"This team is completely unselfish. I wouldn't say to a fault yet, because I think they are still learning what plays they want to make individually. This is a good group of guys to work with, because you can coach them hard and none of them will take it personally. I am happy that they are over-passing right now, but we will tighten that up as we go along."
On having a bad game as a coach...
"I felt for my team and I could see their effort. The one thing that is truly consistent about our guys is their effort, and that they don't take plays off. Tonight they didn't execute as well as they have recently. When you're a coach who has been a player, you almost want to go out there and grab the loose ball for them, and you can't do that. I am included in this team and I won't say we had a bad game without including myself."
On a talk with Cunningham on the bench...
"Jared is terrific. He has had to carry us many times and tonight I could see the pressure on his face. I told him to relax, and explained to him that everyone plays poorly, but the good players don't often. I told him to go to the basket and get fouled so that he could watch the ball go in from the free throw line."
Sophomore guard Roberto Nelson
On the energy in the game...
"We played really hard out there. Idaho made some big plays at key times and I can't take any credit away from them. They hit big shots at big times, and when we were going out there and making a run, they hit a three so it was kind of hard to bounce back from the deficit that we put ourselves in. I have to give all the credit to the Vandals because they did a real good job of executing and hitting big shots when they were needed."
On the events this week...
"We have to go out there and play our best and win one for him (Fred Thompson) - win the rest of them for him. We have to dedicate the rest of the season to him. He was a close friend of ours, and I know if something would have happened to one of us, the whole Beaver Nation would be supportive of us as well."
On Jared Cunningham's performance...
"Jared was out there competing. He didn't have the best game stat-wise maybe, but we needed him more than anything. If he wasn't out there, who knows where this game would have been."
On Coach Robinson's words after the game...
"He just wanted us to pick our heads up. He said that we needed something like this. We all didn't play at our best this game. Normally it's one or two people that didn't really have a good game, but it was all of us as a team tonight and we can put that into perspective and take that into practice tomorrow and try to work through it and be ready for Tuesday."
On bouncing back...
"I can't wait for practice tomorrow. We have to put this game behind us. Even though there is a loss on the schedule now, we just need to put it behind us and remember this feeling and take it to the next opponent and make sure we grow from it."
Junior forward/center Joe Burton
On this result humbling the team...
"No one is invincible. It's just a wakeup call. We all know that we're going to lose games and win games. But Idaho is a really good team and we just didn't come to play today. We fought hard, but it just wasn't enough."
On reasons for the result...
"It wasn't our best game. Shots just weren't falling."
