Oklahoma Postgame Quotes

Dec. 2, 2007

Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
"We're really pleased to get this win. TCU had been playing really well up to this point. We had a great deal of respect for their team, their program. They played Texas Tech awfully tough and that got our guys' attention. They led for a good part of that game. I was really proud of our guys. I thought they responded in a very high fashion, and not just because we made shots. That certainly helps when you make shots, it makes everything look better. But I thought we played hard, I thought we defended at a high level and, up until the last four minutes, I thought we put together two halves of basketball. That's something we've been talking about since Thursday and our game at USC."

On individual performances:
"I thought Crock (Tony Crocker) was terrific. He did a lot of things for us. He had his career high of 20 points in the first half. I thought Blake (Griffin) did a good job as the game went on. I thought Keith Clark and Taylor Griffin did a very good job off the bench. Omar Leary and Austin Johnson did a good job, David Godbold was able to come in and help us by hitting some shots. Longar (Longar) had nine rebounds and finished some plays around the basket. We're really pleased with the win and we look forward to this hopefully helping us get better."

On what went well, besides making shots:
"We've defended at a high level. The thing for us is, if we can get good consistent guard play and make shots, that helps our post guys. I felt kind of bad for Blake at USC because he was double- or triple-teamed the whole game, even before he caught the ball. That's going to help him because he has to figure out different ways to impact the game. But when we're making shots like this, hopefully that opens things up even more for our inside guys for them to be able to play one-one-one. We think they can be difficult to guard when they're played one-one-one."

Oklahoma guard Tony Crocker
On his 6-for-7 3-point shooting in the first half:
"When we started, I made some wide open shots. Once you hit some and you kind of get going, you feel like you're going to hit your next few. So even when they started guarding me tighter I was still feeling it. I just went ahead and kept shooting and they kept falling. If the defense closed out on me, I just kicked it to a teammate and let someone else shoot it."

On if he could tell during warm-ups that it would be a good shooting night:
"We were shooting around in practice yesterday and my shots weren't falling. Most of my shots were hitting the back of the rim and it seemed like I couldn't make anything. All of the guards were missing. It was a little bit better during warm-ups before the game, and once the game started everybody was hitting."

On if he felt like he was in a zone:
"Yeah, I would say I was in a zone. Coach Capel said to keep playing like I was playing. I wanted to get 30 (points). That's something I haven't done before. He told me to keep doing everything, including rebounding. I didn't even know it until after the game that I had nine rebounds. But I was just trying to play, trying to have fun out there."

On if he gained any extra motivation from playing in his home state and in front of his mom:
"Yeah, there was. We were stretching before the game and I was looking for her. I was real happy that my mom, my little brother and my cousin could come. Coach Capel said that if I'm going to play like that every time in front of my mom that she needs to come to all of our games."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors