University of Oklahoma Athletics
Oklahoma Postgame Quotes
December 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2008
Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“I am very pleased with the win. I thought it was another strong defensive effort. One of the things coming in, we didn't want Maine to get comfortable. We did a good job of pressuring and not allowing them to get into anything. We were more athletic. Their coach does a good job with their team, but I thought our athleticism over ran them a little bit today.”
On teams trying to match up with Blake Griffin:
“That is something he should exploit with whoever we play. I don't think there are many people that can match up physically with him. He got high-percentage shots tonight and finished them.”
On Willie Warren:
“I thought Willie was good. I thought he attacked, especially in transition. We have to do a better job of hitting him ahead in transition or having him initiate because he is the best for us when we get ahead and when attacking the basket or when he has the ball. I thought he did a good job, I thought he was patient. I didn't think he forced much and I thought he did a good job.
“That is what scorers do. They find different ways to have impact and Willie is not just a shooter, he is a scorer. He did that this evening; he has been doing that since he has been here. He is a good shooter and when he gets in a good rhythm and starts making shots, it's going to make him even more dangerous.”
On OU's bench tonight:
“I thought they did a solid job. Obviously, Ray (Willis) brought a lot of energy, especially on the offensive end. He is an aggressive kid and very talented offensive player. He did some nice stuff. Orlando (Allen) did a good job protecting our basket and being a really good defensive presence for us. We have to get Ryan (Wright) playing a little bit better. He still has a lot of rust, but we believe in him and think he can really help us this year. I thought Kyle Cannon did a good job. He had four rebounds, especially on the defensive end, in the time he played. Cade (Davis) got some good looks. He didn't knock them down, but I thought our guys on the bench did a solid job for us.”
OU Player Quotes
Sophomore Forward Blake Griffin
On the lack of emotion in the game:
“I felt like we brought it from the very beginning and it kind of went down from there. We didn't really do a good job in the second half, but in the first half we had pretty good emotion.”
On the inside advantage:
“Some film we had seen they did a pretty good job when playing zone. I kind of noticed they helped off a lot. I just stayed aggressive and the guards did a good job of finding me.”
On the top-five ranking and how teams play against them:
“When we have a team like we do, people are going to be coming for us. They want to be that team that beats us. Coach Capel tells us that teams are going to try to make a name off of us. Our biggest thing is not to take anybody too lightly. If we come out and play our A game we're going to be alright.”
On OU's pressure defense:
“I think that is one of our advantages this year. I feel like we are a lot more athletic and we have the bodies to be able to press. To be able to sub guys in and not get too tired really puts a lot of pressure on a team. Even if we don't get turnovers right away, it's not as easy as just walking the ball up the court, so it kind of tires teams out.”
Freshman Guard Willie Warren
On his offensive game:
“My three-ball wasn't looking so nice at the beginning, I was like 0-for-2 and one was like way over. So I made my mind up then I wasn't really going to shoot anymore 3's. But I shot like two more in the second half.”
On getting to the basket:
“Blake draws a lot of attention down there. That opens it up and we reverse the ball quick because they are so focused on Blake. So it is easy for our guards to penetrate lanes.”
On being ranked fifth in the country:
“It's just basketball. We take every team like they are top five, top 10, or whatever. We are going to play everyone just as tough.”
Maine Quotes
Maine Head Coach Ted Woodward
On Oklahoma:
“Obviously, I think Oklahoma is a very good basketball team and we knew we had our work cut out for us when we came in here. I have a lot of respect for them. They have a great player in Blake Griffin and also a very talented team. Tonight we were a little physically overmatched and, unfortunately, I think it got into our mindset. Obviously, I think they are going to have a tremendous season, all the way through March.”
On his team's poor execution:
“All of our guys know how good Oklahoma is and what they are ranked and have heard about Blake Griffin, and I obviously have a very young basketball team. Out of the 11 guys I have, six of them out there tonight were freshmen. It's only the second time they have been in an environment like this and I was disappointed that we weren't able to execute some of the things that we have been executing throughout the course of the year. We have been pretty solid in a lot of different areas, but they had a lot to do with that and it is a growing process for us to be able to handle a team like that and still be able to execute the things we want to.”
On matching up with Blake Griffin:
“It's a tough match-up for everybody with Blake (Griffin). We don't have a ton of size, but we have good size for our league. We certainly don't have the size that you would have going against the Big 12 or some Big East teams, and certainly Griffin is a big, physical presence down there and also a very smart basketball player in how he gets into areas to score. We knew that coming into the game and he did a lot inside that was a physical problem for us.”
