Sampson & Player Media Day Quotes

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma men's basketball team held its annual media day on Tuesday afternoon at the Kerr-McGee Courtside Club at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, assistant coaches and players met with the press corps to discuss the upcoming season.

The Sooners open the 2004-05 season on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m in an exhibition match against Cameron at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson
On practice:
"Practice is really practice now. You always revert to this time last year and last year we couldn't have practice (because of injuries). Our practices are quality practices and we can get better. You can break down your defense and work on your defense against a good offense and work on your offense against a pretty good defense. Each day you can see a little bit of improvement."

Media Day Photos | OU Player Quotes | Media Guide

On players standing out:
"The first one would probably be (junior Kevin) Bookout. I remember Bookout's freshman year and last year he was playing with an injury. This time last year we weren't quite sure what he was going to do because he could only participate in non-contact practice the day before the game. He's going to have a good year. He's really improved. When he was a freshman, his game was on the block - five feet and in. He was really good to his left shoulder with a little jump hook. Now he can set a screen out on the floor, step behind screen and catch and shoot. He couldn't do that before."

"(Guard) Terrell Everett is going to help us. I like him a lot. He's kind of unusual for a junior college player in that he's a better basketball player than he is an athlete. Most are just the opposite."

On last year:
"We have such high standards here. A lot of teams will go to the Final Four. We have teams in our league that have gone to the Final Four. You have to understand, we followed up our Final Four appearance with an Elite Eight. For two years, we thought we were going to win every game we played. All of a sudden last year, I didn't know if we were pitching or catching half the time. We would play a game and instead of thinking we were going to really win it, I was trying to figure out how many healthy bodies we had."

On the sophomores:
"They're better and more mature. When a freshman loses a game, he has so much going on around him it's like he's in the desert. You can win with freshman, but not too many of them."

On the upcoming year:
"I like the direction this team is going. We're still young and we're not a veteran team by any stretch. We're not inexperienced anymore and that's a big plus. Last year, we were just way too inexperienced. We won't start any seniors, which means a lot of these kids will be back next year. We'll have some experience behind us. Taj (Gray) and Terrell (Everett) will play a lot of games for us this year, but they have some junior college experience."

On the team's strength:
"This team's strength will be on the inside. This is a team that's going to get to the foul line more. We'll shoot a much higher percentage from the floor because of where our shots are going to be coming from and who's shooting them. It still comes down to defending, rebounding, playing with some toughness, having some resolve about you. We'll be a lot better in that area. Because we'll be better defensively, we'll be a lot better offensively."

On point guard Drew Lavender's improvement:
"He's gotten older and a year better. The main reason is the people around him. Last year he had a lot of potential assists, but at some point the ball has to go in. He's got more guys that can make the shots. He's figured out the more time he throws to Bookout, the better chance he has of getting an assist. He has better people around him."

On the team's improvement:
"It goes back to practice. We've got a pretty good idea of how we're going to play in the (exhibition) game next week based on who's been at practice. Last year we didn't know who was going to play in the games until the day before. Familiarity is important. I'm excited to see this team play against somebody."

On the season's schedule:
"It's tough, but it's not the toughest one we've played. The year we played in the Final Four we played Maryland at home - and they won a national championship - and played at Connecticut and at Arkansas. This year we're at Purdue, have Connecticut at home and play Duke in Madison Square Garden. I think it's another tough schedule. The Great Alaska Shootout will be tough. Washington's really good and they're in everyone's preseason top 25 and has all five starters back. Alabama has its best players back from its Elite Eight team and Utah will be good. We'll play three games there and those will be good for us as we head into that next portion of our schedule."

On Bookout being back from injury:
"That's something we have to be careful with. He feels like he missed this huge party and he didn't get to go. He wants to do everything. Your team is going to get its personality from somebody - whether you want it to or not, it will. Your best players are your hardest workers. If your best players understand leadership, that's a great thing for our team. Kevin and Johnnie Gilbert embrace the vision of the program. All of our really good teams have had great leadership. Last year was probably the one year we weren't as strong in that area, but we'll be better this year."

On the new coaching staff:
"They are the biggest thing for our program. We've always been blessed to have a great staff and that's why they leave here and get head coaching jobs. I was honored that these guys wanted to come here and work for us and that they think enough of this program that they would want to come and be a part of it. Bob Hoffman has made a huge difference in our post play. It's been fun for me to sit and watch him. It's refreshing to have new guys bring in new ideas. Ray McCallum is just solid. You have to remember that he was the Naismith National College Player of the Year his senior year at Ball State. Ray is really good with our guards. He's good at breaking things down and showing them a different way. You can all be under the same circus tent but have different tricks. We all operate under the same tent here. I like what our new guys have brought into our program. Our staff is very, very good."

On junior post Taj Gray:
"The best low post player I've coached since I've been here is Aaron McGhee. He was scared of rebounding the ball when he first got here. Taj doesn't have that problem - when the ball's shot he goes to get it. That's his strength - he flies around and goes after a missed shot extremely, extremely well. He's not a great scorer, but will average 10-12 points. He's not going to lead us in scoring. He's one of four big guys that give us experience from previous playing because of his junior college experience."

On freshman center Longar Longar:
"He's an interesting kid to watch. Some days I think he might start and others I think he needs to develop more. That's how I felt about our freshman guards last year that started every game. I'm not sure what we're going to do with him, but that will play itself out. Some kids have higher upsides than others. Lazy kids don't get a lot better. Longar is a kid that's going to get a lot better because of his work ethic."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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