Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
January 26, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2013
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
Washington State 71, Oregon State 68
January 26, 2013
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head coach Craig Robinson
Opening Comment...
"That was a hard one to swallow and a hard one for those guys in the locker room to swallow. It is my job now to keep them up, because we still have a whole lot of basketball to play. I thought aside from a couple little mental mistakes that our guys played hard and executed the majority of our game plan. A couple of shots here and there, a couple of foul shots, irrespective of the feel of the game, and we probably could have pulled that one out."
On whether a coach can get fined for getting a technical...
"We don't get fined, but if I comment on anything, I will get a public reprimand. I guess they could fine us, but I don't know. If you are going to ask me about the officiating, I am not going to say anything but I feel like I don't need to say anything."
On whether the officiating can affect the game...
"The tone of the game is dictated by the officiating and it affects the players."
On whether the officiating can affect the players...
"If you start out the game with two offensive fouls for Devon, it is going to make him a little jittery about going to the basket when he can be in the game, because he was out almost the whole first half after those fouls. It is one of those things that you have to adjust to, but the players and the coaches are used to adjusting to that because at some point it comes back to working in your favor most times."
On Oregon State's rebounding and missed free throws...
"Well, those are two things that if you had taken care of that business, you might have been able to weather the other stuff. The second chance baskets were just really disappointing because we had done such a good job all year on the glass and today we did not. The foul shots were again disappointing because I think if you make a couple more foul shots that might put you in a situation where it is harder for them to go down and do stuff because they are a little bit pressured. I thought we did a terrible job on (Mike) Ladd in the first half and a terrible job on (Brock) Motum in the second half. Guys in this league can play and you have to be able to stop what they are doing."
On the technical foul...
"I thought there was an opportunity to get a call because right after that Roberto foul, which I don't know how he could have fouled a guy diving for the ball, but `hey I have to look at the tape.' They called the foul on Roberto, and then the very next play Devon goes up for a rebound and was clearly shoved in the back, which I thought if this is working out, that might be a chance for him to even it out. But it was not called. That was my boiling point or whatever we want to call it. I don't think it makes sense to get a technical to fire up your team. If they are not ready to play, they are not ready to play. That one was just a heated moment and I was upset. I yelled `call a foul' and got a technical."
On whether the Beavers played with the same intensity they did against Washington...
"I thought the intensity level was there and the fight was there. I thought they did a better job getting some of the 50/50 situations this game. I thought we did a better job getting the 50-50 situations (against Washington). I never have an issue with this team's desire, fire and hard work. Maybe at practice they lose their focus on playing hard, but I didn't see that today. I saw some critical miscues at times that you can't have in close games like this."
On missing Eric Moreland in the final minutes when he fouled out...
"Oh, absolutely. I think he comes up with some loose balls and rebounds that no one else can do on our team. So yeah we missed him. I will have to take a look at the tape, because I didn't even see that last foul that they called on him."
On overcoming the boiling point...
"We were right there, in a one possession game, and poor Olaf (Schaftenaar) goes all the way in and comes out. There were still a lot of opportunities for us to win the game in spite of everything that was going on and that is pretty much all you can ask for. You want to have an opportunity to win the game down toward the end. I thought the guys managed the end-of-game situations very nicely. Fouling, getting rebounds, going down and making a quick shot, getting a timeout and all of that stuff that you need to do when you are coming from behind. We just came up a bit short there."
On Ahmad's shot at the end of the game...
"I thought he got a pretty good look. I was surprised that they didn't foul, but he got closer than I expected. When he got past them, I thought that one has a nice shot of going in."
On Ahmad playing well the past two games...
"Part of it is the awareness of knowing that he has been going up and down and he is trying to correct it on his own. As a staff, we try and hit him with things that will help him not have so many ups and downs."
On Ahmad sharing the ball with eight assists...
"I think the eight assists were strictly due to the fact that everybody knows that guy can make shots. They are out on him with two guys and today he did a fantastic job of finding the roll guy where he could catch it and lay it up. That is just a function of how he is being played. Where we will see it is when he is not scoring as many and what else he is doing. Today I thought the steal he got toward the end of the game was a key play that keeps you from having those ups and downs."
On the play of Joe Burton...
"His stat line doesn't look all that spectacular with five rebounds and three blocks. Joe is a smart basketball player and he takes his opportunities as they come. We needed to spread out the inside a little bit, so I wanted to bring Olaf (Schaftenaar) in because they would be worried about him making a shot. That helped Devon (Collier) get open in the low post in the second half. I think that this might be a stat line you look and say `Joe had an off game', but I thought he helped us out a lot. He got some really big rebounds and toughness plays. I am surprised he only got one assist, but he was throwing passes that set up other things."
On the play of Langston Morris-Walker...
"We have been seeing that in practice and in games. Defensively, I have no hesitation in putting him in the game. He is starting to understand where he can get stuff going on offense. You don't have to make him a specialist just coming in on defense and taking him out on offense. All of the young guys have made tremendous strides this year. When you have guys out with injuries and with suspensions that is what happens when they get some opportunities. They either use it and shine, or they fade off into the sunset. I think all four guys are going to be able to help us this year."
On moving forward after the loss...
"You beat a team that is at the top of the league (Washington) and you lose to a team that is at the bottom of the league (Washington State). You have to talk again about consistency. If we can get a consistent level of play for two or three weeks, then you can assess where you really are as a team. That is my job to get us playing consistently. This week there were more positives than negatives. I look all the way back to the UCLA game. I thought we played pretty well for the majority of that game but not all of it. The USC game the same and then you had Washington and then this game. We have to just dig out of this malaise and it is a tough thing to do, but good teams can do it.
Junior guard Ahmad Starks
On whether he had a good look on the final shot...
"Yeah, I did. It was actually a really good one. It was just the guy was riding my arm a little bit. When we talked about the officials in the locker room, we can't blame it on them. But on the last shot he was riding my arm and it was still a great opportunity."
On some of the offensive fouls in the game...
"A lot of offensive fouls that we would say were questionable calls. Devon (Collier) had a few of them and I think Roberto (Nelson) had one. Those calls changed the game and those could have been and-1's or free throws. It definitely determined the game a little bit, but we can't try to blame it on that situation."
On making the layup at the end instead of trying a three-pointer...
"I was just taking what they were giving me. I wanted to set up for the three actually, but I didn't want to take a bad shot in a situation. I just tried to get as close as possible and draw Devon's man to me, but he stayed back and I just put it off the glass taking what they gave me."
On the strong play of Mike Ladd in the first half...
"He got a lot of hustle buckets. He wasn't really breaking us off the dribble or anything. I had him for some, Roberto (Nelson) had him, but it seemed like he got some offensive rebounds and different things like that. It was just tough. He was really active in that sense but nothing too much off the dribble."
On moving forward after the loss...
"It can always be a positive outcome as we work towards this Bay Are trip next week. You have to make it that way. You can't just say that you learn from it and go on, you have to actually learn from it and take it to the next step and that is our task right now."
Junior guard Roberto Nelson
On the difference in the second half...
"I think Washington State got a lot of second chance buckets and they got all the intangible stuff like diving on the floor. I mean there were a couple possessions where we could have turned the game around, but I think they just outhustled us in the second half."
On why they were outhustled...
"It is definitely frustrating, and being a player on this team, I definitely need to voice my opinion a lot and just try to maintain an effort so that I can set an example for these guys. Like I said, we just need to play harder because that's what it comes down to. It was a grind-out game and the team that played the hardest came out with the win."
On the reaction to Craig Robinson's technical...
"The reaction got us going a little bit, but I think it should have gotten us going a lot more. I think Washington State got to play a little more chippy than us. They were playing us pretty physical and stuff. It was definitely tough offensively when they were able to play that physical, then to go on the defensive side and not get the same calls. We just need to fight through that and play harder. There were a couple of buckets in the second half where we could have changed the momentum of the game and we failed to."
On officials letting the physical play happen inside...
"Yeah, especially if you are trying to be aggressive and go up and get fouls. Sometimes it's a tough call; that charge call and the block call is really tough especially for a ref because it happens so fast. There were a lot of charges tonight and Washington State did a great job, but I think there were definitely a few that could have gone our way.
On whether this was the most physical game of the year...
"It was one of them, but it wasn't the most physical."
On when the momentum slipped away...
"I don't think they pulled away until the very end. We were just two baskets off in the last couple of minutes, and I don't think they pulled away until the very end. When the ball went up, we had the rebound and it bounced off of our foot and that was tough because we were in a situation where we could have potentially cut the game to a one bucket lead from them. I think that was the tough part, giving them the ball back after we played great defense."
On how much of a mental task games like this can be...
"Like I said, mentally it takes a toll on us because this was one I think we let slip away from us. We just have to keep grinding and that is all we can do. We can't hang our heads at all. We just have to go back to the lab and go to work and just try to get those couple of extra stops a game. I think with those couple of extra stops a game, and a couple of more free throws, it could be the difference in these close losses that we have."
