Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
January 12, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2013
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No. 4 Arizona 80, Oregon State 70
January 12, 2013
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head coach Craig Robinson
Opening Comment...
"This game can be summed up by the fact that I thought we played a lot better than we did the other night (vs. Arizona State). I was very pleased with our effort. I was really pleased with our execution for probably 85 percent of the time, which is not good enough. We have to have that 100 percent of the time, but the effort was fantastic. Just to give you a little bit of insight on what we talked about in the locker room, we talked about understanding that you just played a team that is whatever they (Arizona) is going to be after this weekend, but I still think they should be in the top 10, down four guys and we didn't play that poorly. We had a couple of stretches where we made some mistakes, missed some foul shots, didn't get to some loose balls but you clean some of that stuff up and you're playing well against a really good team, and one of the top teams in our conference, down four guys."
On Arizona's effort in comparison with Oregon State's...
"I thought the separator was that we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had because we had some of those same ones. We had some offensive rebounds, we had some loose balls and then we end up where two guys are fighting for it, step on the line. Joe (Burton) fell down, tried to throw it to another guy after he made a great defensive play, so there were so many of those types of things that we were on the downside of and you can't play a piecemeal game like that against a team that is this good. You can do it in the non-conference and get away with it, so I think it was more the stuff that we didn't take advantage."
On his team's focus during the game...
"I saw about 90-percent focus. They are being a little bit hard on themselves. I thought they were very focused and it wasn't focus in my opinion, it was the fact that against these good teams you have to execute. These guys were very focused, we would call a timeout, call a play, offensive or defensive, they ran it and everything was fine. We changed defenses a lot and we didn't miss any assignments that I could see. I will go back and look at the tape but any missed assignments that I could see they handled when we changed these defense, so they were locked in pretty well as far as I'm concerned. I just think when you are undermanned, overmatched and playing against one of the best teams in the conference, you have to execute properly 75 to 80-percent of the time."
On not having Eric Moreland against the Wildcats...
"They are athletic and we had built our team around being somewhat athletic too and I thought Devon (Collier) did a great job on the boards. It was great to see Joe (Burton) have a great game because Joe is not as athletic as those guys, but he brings something that they (Arizona) don't have, so they were having trouble with him too. If you have Eric in there that gives you one more piece that you can go to and we could have used Vic (Robbins) today when Challe (Barton) got in foul trouble. In the first half Roberto (Nelson) wasn't on all cylinders, so we could have used Vic as well. This is one of those games, but for us all of the games are ones that we need Eric."
On the return of Victor Robbins...
"Vic will be able to play on Saturday (Jan. 19 at USC) and Eric we are hoping is going to be able to play on Saturday. I will know on Monday, so if you guys come to practice on Monday I should have an answer because we do not practice until 2 p.m."
On using various players in his rotation...
"This game they played hard and they played mano-a-mano with a good athletic team. Langston (Morris-Walker) falls into that category. He is athletic enough to be out there, he is just playing more because he deserves to play more. He plays well in practice, he plays hard all the time and he makes very few mistakes, so when I say alchemy, I mean sort of having six guys to play when you have nine guys. This week without Eric we are trying to play a little bit of different defenses just to give our guys a blow. I am using way more timeouts than I normally use, so if you want to call that alchemy then you are right on but from a talent standpoint and a personnel standpoint just remember and I have to keep reminding my guys this, this team is not only down Eric (Morleand) and Vic (Robbins), but Angus (Brandt) and Daniel Gomis and Jared Cunningham if you really want to look at it as well as Rhys Murphy who already graduated. He would have been a senior this year as well so I am not making any excuses but I want the guys to understand they aren't doing too badly."
On the play of Roberto Nelson...
"It felt like he was having an off day. And I didn't want him to feel like he had to try to force it. When I took him out in the first half, both Challe and Langston were playing great and I didn't want to take them out because they were defending. At that time, we needed defense and didn't need scoring."
On turning the corner from starting 0-3 in conference play...
"I want to see how we play when we're at full strength. Some of this is just a function of us not being at full strength. Having said that, the execution part is number one. You can't win on the road in this conference no matter how good you are if you don't execute. If you look at the subset under execution, I want to see us get back to rebounding the way we did. We had 14 assists on 24 baskets. That's how we play. When you're down a man or two, it gives guys subconsciously the feeling that they need to do it on their own. The third thing is that good teams make foul shots. We missed nine foul shots. You make four more and the game's a little bit closer."
On getting out and going on the road after three home losses...
"It's never a good time to get away from Gill. This is a great place to play. We played the Civil War game. Those are 50/50. Last year, we lost at home and won on the road. Then you play a team that's at the top of the league and another that's ranked and at the top of the league. I'd much rather play here than anywhere else. I'd take my chances here any day."
Junior guard Ahmad Starks
On the 0-3 start to the Pac-12 season...
"It's definitely a tough start. You don't feel like going into conference play with three straight home games that you'd lose them all. It's just tougher for us, and now we head to the road and we have to focus and figure out how we come out with wins on this L.A. trip."
On missing the front end of one-and-ones and allowing offensive rebounds...
"That kills you. It's a little demoralizing when that happens because I remember when we were down two or four points, and we'd miss the front end of a one-and-one or miss both free throws. That's the difference in momentum and could be the difference in the ballgame at some point. The offensive boards killed us. We have to somehow get in there, box people out and just capitalize on those opportunities."
On missing Eric Moreland in a game like this...
"His presence in the interior is incredible with his length and athleticism. He can guard guys on the perimeter and guard multiple positions; shot blocking and rebounding of course. Some of those offensive rebounds would not be the case if he was in there. Devon is big but he can't handle it all himself. He had 15 rebounds, but along with Eric in there, it would be tougher."
Junior forward Devon Collier
On team's communication in this game...
"I feel like we communicated at about a seven [out of 10]. It was just the drives to the middle, the penetration. We just have to play better defense as a team. We just have to lock in and focus."
On Arizona's length...
"They had a big lineup. It was a lot of size in there, so it was kind of difficult. But if we just moved the ball around to get everybody moving so it would be much tougher for them to guard us. Being stationary, that makes it easier for them to guard us and harder for us to make baskets. Their big men were able to stay in the paint."
On missing Moreland...
"We miss Eric, we miss Angus, Gomis. We have a lot of people missing that could have helped us tonight, but we've got to play with what we have. We use these games as learning experiences. We'll learn from it, see what we need to work on and just work harder. By the time they do come back, we'll be better."
On the confidence level of the group...
"We still have practices and tapes to watch to look for our mistakes and to learn from them. We have to see the mistakes we made so that we don't make them anymore. They got a lot of offensive boards, so that means everybody has to box out and not try to leak out. It just little stuff like that that kills us. Free throws can kill us. If we can cut those little things down we'll probably be closer in games."
On their chances against UCLA...
"We haven't had as much talent as we have here. We just have to work hard and Coach Robinson has had teams who worked hard and beat ranked teams. Hard work beats talent. We just have to play hard."
