@oregonstatembb Holds Local Media Day
October 07, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The OSU Basketball Center was filled with several cameras, notepads and cell phones (for tweeting purposes) on Wednesday when Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle, his staff and players were available for interviews at the annual Media Day.
Below are some of the quotes from Tinkle and the players as the team prepares for the upcoming season. You can also click on the play button on the photo above to watch a video recap.
Head coach Wayne Tinkle
On the freshmen transitioning…
“It is a tough transition. Right now they are in the honeymoon phase. School just started, we are in week one of practice, everyone is playing their tails off. The grind will hit them at some point, when midterms hit and the academic demand hits, we then start traveling, playing games. They are used to playing every minute of every game and taking every shot. A lot them will be coming off of the bench, or maybe even all of them, playing limited roles, that is when the grind continues. That is when it always hits the freshmen, with so many games and so much travel.”
On which veteran he thinks has improved the most…
“Jarmal [Reid] had a great spring, let it slip a little in the summer but was dealing with some family matters. Olaf [Schaftenaar] in the weight room probably had as big of improvement as anybody. Gary [Payton II] went and did some great work with his dad in the Bay Area this summer, and his leadership has been really good and that's what we asked of him. Also, Malcolm [Duvivier] has put in a ton of work on his game. Now we need to continue with the mental part of him being more of a facilitator and a playmaker and not putting so much pressure on himself to do things for us.”
Senior guard Gary Payton II
On coming into this year with Pac-12 experience…
“Same thing as last year, just stay in the gym, stay humble, work every day and be more of a leader. We have a lot of freshmen so I need to lead them and have them behind my back. They are going to help me have a good year and I am going to help them have a great year.”
Freshmen guard Stephen Thompson Jr.
On if the practice facility has become his second home…
“Oh yeah. When we first got here in the summer, every night we the freshmen would be in here pretty late. We would go past midnight a lot of the time.”
Freshmen forward Tres Tinkle
On playing for his dad...
“I'm looking forward to it. I'm just starting to get used to it now. I'm not really sure what to expect. I have seen his angry side, a side I have never seen before, so that is going to take some time to get used to. I think the pros are definitely going to outweigh the cons in this situation.”
Freshman guard Derrick Bruce
On his expectations for the team…
“I think if we all just come together as a team we can really do something really big.”
Junior center Cheikh N'diaye
On what he is most excited about for this upcoming season…
“I am excited for the new guys. Last year we were a rebuilding team and this year we have a full team. We will be in really good shape this year.”
Junior guard Malcolm Duvivier
On what his motivation was in the offseason…
“We learned so much last season, I felt like we were so close all season to our goals. This year we have all of these freshmen coming in who are to have big contributions. They are going to give us that extra depth to help us get over the humps. What we have this season has just motivated me to want to prepare myself the best I can.”
Freshmen forward Drew Eubanks
On if he feels like it has been forever since he committed...
“It feels like we just committed like a month ago, but if you really think about it we committed over a year ago. I have never regretted my decision. I really like it here, and I like the coaches and the players.”
Senior guard Langston Morris-Walker
On how he brings the freshmen in and gets them up to speed…
“The freshmen are great to work with, they are quick learning, smart players and I don't think it is going to be a problem.”
Senior forward Daniel Gomis
On coming back for one more year…
“I really enjoyed myself last year and had a really good talk with Coach Tinkle and he really wanted me to come back. I enjoy this group and it was one of the main reasons I decided to come back.”
Junior guard Daine Muller
On how he ended up at Oregon State…
“I started playing for Coach Tinkle at Montana and a month before our season I had surgery on my calves for compartment syndrome and redshirted that year to try and get back. I never really got back so in the offseason I had another surgery on my calves again and decided to stop playing. I transferred to Montana State and just went to school as a student and tried to recover and about June Coach [Tinkle] reached out to me about running a camp here and let me play with the guys and see how my legs were. They seemed good enough to try and walk on here.”
Freshman center Gligorije Rakocevic
On coming together as a team…
“We are together every day 24/7. We have classes together, we sleep, eat, and do our homework together. We are trying to learn a lot of things from each other so we are getting there as a family.”
Freshman guard Kendal Manuel
On what feature the freshman class brings to the team…
“We are all able to score and last year I feel like the team lacked that at times and our class is really good at scoring. But we are obviously going to have to buy into the defensive principles that Coach has but I think that will help a lot this year.”
Senior forward Olaf Schaftenaar
On what he is most excited about this year…
“It's my last season so I'm really excited to get out there. We have a great group of freshman so looking forward to those guys helping.”
Sophomore forward Matt Dahlen
On how the first couple of practices have been…
“We are feeling good. A little rusty but that's kind of to be expected. All the freshman are coming in and doing really well. They are all working really hard out there.”
Senior forward Jarmal Reid
On it being his last year…
“It's a big motivator. Bitter sweet being my last year with a great group of guys but I'm very excited and we are all working hard here and ready to get going.”
Junior center Justin Stangel
On things he is looking forward to this season…
“I just really hope we can come together as a team like we have been the last couple weeks and months during the summer and early fall. As long as we work together and grow together it should be a pretty good result.”
