March 7, 2009
OU Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“It was a really entertaining game. Oklahoma State has gotten so much better since the last time we played them. Those kids kept battling and kept making plays. James Anderson had one of the best performances I have seen in this building. He was tremendous. I’m very proud of our guys. We have 27 wins, 13 in conference. I am happy for our seniors. All three of those guys played really well and Omar (Leary) hit some huge shots for us. Good win for us, it closes out the regular season and we will start getting ready for the Big 12 tournament.”
On Blake Griffin’s Performance:
“He is really good and I thought early in the game he was really patient moving the ball out of the double. We knew it was coming, but not exactly where. Last game we showed him and talked about where it came from and what would be open. Early in the game they came exactly where they came last time and we just didn’t make them pay enough because we didn’t hit enough open jump shots. I think he did a good job of being aggressive and getting deep position.”
On Willie Warren:
“The kid is a really good player and he made a huge shot for us. He has been doing that for us all year and he has been really good for us all year. We anticipate him being really good the rest of the year for us making big plays. I don’t judge Willie by points. I know a lot of people do. In my mind he is a playmaker. We have two playmakers, sometimes three. Willie and Blake are our playmakers, A.J. (Austin Johnson) when he is healthy. The rest of our guys are either finishers or facilitators.”
On potentially playing Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament:
“If it is Oklahoma State, our guys should be very familiar with them. I don’t know if that is good or not because we couldn’t stop Anderson tonight. (Byron) Eaton was terrific against us as well. It should have some familiarity with what they do, some of the calls and some of their plays. The bottom line when you get to this point in the year – I call it the ‘fun time’ – you have to go out and make plays. You have to make it happen because there are no more excuses, there is no more of anything. You have to make plays. If it is Oklahoma State then we will have to go out there and make plays against them.”
Sophomore Forward Blake Griffin:
On if today’s game brought the team’s swagger back:
“I think so, a little bit. We are going to come out and take it game by game. It’s not like we came out and beat OSU and now all of our problems are solved. We have to get better every day.”
On being more animated today:
“I was just trying to get that swagger back I guess, get the team going. I just decided to get excited and show a lot of emotion to get our team back in it this afternoon.”
On being more aggressive when OU’s outside shots weren’t falling:
“Coach Capel just told me, when you get the ball, get low and go to work. That’s what I tried to do. Our guys did a good job of getting me the ball inside, which made it easier on me to go at it.”
On the challenge of possibly playing three games in three days in the Big 12 Championship:
“It’s tough, not only physically but mentally. Being able to come in and execute well three days in the row is always tough. Everyone is always excited come tournament time, so you have to be ready to play every day.”
Senior Forward Taylor Griffin:
On the possibility of playing OSU in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals:
“I have no problem with that. We have had a pretty good record against them the past four years. Yes, they are a good team, and it’s a big-time rivalry, but I always have fun playing them. So why not play them again?”
On if today’s game brought the team’s swagger back:
“I think it takes more than one game to get that back. Yes, it was important for us to come out and win this game today, but more importantly we had to play well while doing it. We had to play well on defense, and play well together. When we play well together, that is our swagger, that’s what makes us really good. So, it’s not just a one-game thing. We are going to have to carry it into the Big 12 tournament and build on it from there.”
On the importance of being a No. 1 seed:
“Like anyone else, we feel that the No. 1 seed has the best road in the tournament. We know that anyone can win, but we think that the No. 1 seeds have the best position. Of course we think we can get to the championship, but we want to give ourselves, like everyone else, the best position to get there. Yes, it’d be nice to be a No. 1 seed, but a No. 2 seed will work as well. It just comes down to winning.”
Senior Guard Omar Leary:
On his second-half 3-pointers:
“I just love having those opportunities. I feel that I can help the team out by knocking those down, and thankfully I did that. Whatever the makeup of the game is, regardless if we are hitting shots or not, I really believe I can hit those shots.”
OSU Head Coach Travis Ford:
Opening comment:
“I want to give Oklahoma a lot of credit. They made big plays when we were right there. We just couldn’t come up with that big rebound or that big shot. We put ourselves in position but we missed opportunities. You have to do things on the road and we just didn’t and they did. We have to do those things when it becomes winning time. Oklahoma is a great team. Blake Griffin may be the best player I’ve ever gone against as a player or a coach. He made incredible plays tonight. You have to give Oklahoma the credit.”
On the game plan for guarding Blake Griffin:
“He’s 6-9, the fastest guy on the court, jumps the highest on the court, strongest guy on the court, great skills, great touch, great understanding, great attitude, great demeanor and great team player. He understands that the other team is going to send everybody at him and it doesn’t seem to bother him.”
On what he learned about the team tonight:
“You look at the stats and you probably think we should have gotten beat by 20, so I think that says a whole lot about our basketball team. Our team has come a long way. We have a very tough schedule, especially early in the year. The kids are trying to learn a new system and we lose our starting center who was playing 24 minutes a game. We battled a lot of different things this season and we’ve came full circle. We’ve learned from a lot of our mistakes and learned a lot about our basketball team. Our chemistry is better, our coaching staff understands our team better and our kids have figured out their roles on the team.”
Senior Guard Byron Eaton
On the play of James Anderson:
“James (Anderson) played great today. I don’t think the team knew what kind of player they were going to get today. He kept us into it. He kept us close all night. Myself and Terrel (Harris) just wanted to give him some help on the defensive end and keep getting him the ball because he was doing a great job of scoring tonight. In the second half, Marshall (Moses) hit some shots to help him out when he got tired. He still came back and gave us some points. We’re going to need that the rest of the way.”
On Blake Griffin:
“He’s a great guy. It must be great to know you can get him the ball and he’ll give you production. He’s a great person. I talked to him during breaks and he didn’t get cocky or anything. He was just playing hard and staying humble. He’s just a great guy. I want to congratulate those guys on what they accomplished here this evening.”
Sophomore Guard James Anderson
On his game plan:
“I was just trying to attack and be aggressive.”
On what this game did for Oklahoma State’s NCAA hopes:
“I think it set us back a little bit. It is going to give us a different mindset that we have to fight at the Big 12 tournament. We have to go out there and try to win it so we can get into the NCAA tournament.”
On what changed in the second half:
“They threw some different guys at me but I just kept attacking. They got a little winded at times I just started looking for my teammates to get them some shots. They were focusing on me so I was just trying to kick it out to get Byron (Eaton) and Keiton (Page) some shots.”
