Oklahoma Postgame Quotes

Dec. 4, 2008

Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“We feel fortunate to get this win and I thought USC was terrific. It is very rare that you beat a team that shoots 50 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the 3-point line. I thought their guys really stepped up and made some big plays. (Daniel)Hackett was terrific, so was (Dwight) Lewis. (Keith)Wilkinson came off the bench and made a couple 3's, Leonard Washington made some 3's. But again we found a way to pull out a win. So we are pleased with the win, not necessarily with how we played, pleased to be 7-0 and look forward to getting back to work tomorrow.”

On being outrebounded for the first time this season:
“They are a good team. I think for the season they are plus-10 a game on rebounding. I didn't think we did a good job pursuing the ball today and I don't think we did as good of a job as we have done blocking out. That is an area of concern for me because that really has not happened with us this year.”

On USC not fouling late and trying to force a turnover instead:
“I understand the strategy of trying to force a turnover and it worked for them. We have to be better. One of the things we did after the Purdue game when we got back Monday – I watched tape with our guys from Purdue. One of the things I talked with them about – and we showed them on tape – was one of the teaching points. That game we were up one, we threw it down to the corner, which leads to a trap. You have to know not to throw it down to the corner. In that game we were very fortunate. Again in that situation (tonight) we were up three, they have to foul us. We have to be smarter than that and not throw it down to the corner. We have to understand the game situations better because that was a huge play and they were able to come down and cut it to one.”

On the USC defense leaving Austin Johnson open in the first half:
“Last year when we played at USC they did not guard David Godbold at all. It worked for them. David couldn't make a shot so they stuck with it. This year they did that with Austin and it looked like maybe what they did was play the percentages of what he was shooting coming in the season from behind the arc. A.J. made them pay early and they kind of got out of that defense a little bit. They did it still at times against different guys in the second half. I thought that was huge for us for him to make shots because it kind of got them out of that defense and allowed our offense to flow a little bit better when we really executed and cut and moved the ball. He was big for us tonight. Certainly it hurt when he wasn't in the game, he was cramping pretty bad. When he wasn't in the game our offense was affected. He made some big plays for us.”

Sophomore Forward Blake Griffin
On the physical nature of the game and USC:
“They are a pretty good matchup. They hit the boards hard and really did a good job.”

On the lift that Austin Johnson delivered to start the game:
“We actually prepared for that all week, because last year they sagged someone off. They actually didn't guard David Godbold last year. We practiced that and thankfully A.J. did a great job of stepping up and hitting some shots. I think he (scored) our first eight or something like that. For him to do that and make plays, they can't do that anymore (leaving a player open) and it opens up plays for somebody else.”

On not getting a double-double for the first time this year:
“They did a good job of blocking out. They really made an effort to and did a good job of getting the rebound.”

Senior Forward Taylor Griffin:
On this being the most physical game to date:
“It was. I think this USC team is by far the most athletic team we have played. It is going to be a hard matchup when we have to play hard and play team defense. I don't think we did a very good job of that tonight. They kind of exposed us, several times. They played really well and we didn't.”

On getting down 9-0 to start the game:
“I'm not going to blame it on anything, but we definitely weren't ready. I don't know what it was. They came out ready, hitting. We didn't have the defensive pressure on (Dwight)Lewis, and he made us pay for it.”

On managing the game down the stretch:
“I feel we're experienced already this season in those kind of situations. We just didn't come to play for 35 minutes and then it started coming down at the end and we started playing like we're capable of playing. At that time they already have momentum and they're already going so it made it even harder. The biggest thing we need to work on is making sure we come out ready to play hard, and play 40 minutes.”

USC Head Coach Tim Floyd
On OU and Blake Griffin:
“Oklahoma has a fine team, they really have a special player in Blake Griffin. They did a great job of utilizing him, especially in the second half when they got the ball in his hands. We tried a variety of different things in order to try and stop him.”

On USC's performance:
“We had a little foul trouble in the second half and struggled when (Leonard) Washington went out of the game with the fragrant foul. Keith Wilkinson got into foul trouble, which really put us in a bind. Overall, I'm very proud of our team and I think we grew tonight. We executed offensively and had an understanding of where we needed to go.”

On his team's future:
“That game will help us when we get into league play. We are very thin right now; we basically have seven guys and generally played six tonight. But hopefully we will get some reinforcements in here within a week or two to help us as we try and move forward.”

On OU's Austin Johnson knocking down 3-pointers in the first half:
“We took a calculated risk early in the game by not guarding Austin Johnson and forcing him to take shots, keeping the ball out of (Blake) Griffin's hands. He was four-of-23 from the 3-point line, but then he made us pay. He made three shots, we extended and went to a couple other defenses and he did a nice job of knocking them down.”

On containing Blake Griffin:
“We have a very good rebounding team. I don't know what our margin is but I have never had a team that rebounds like this. We technically had a guy behind him and did a great job of blocking out. Our guards are big and they came back to the boards tonight.”

On Leonard Washington's flagrant foul:
“I didn't see the play, but I will look at it on film. Those guys are a crew that has a lot of experience, they look at the monitor and have great 20/20 vision and didn't like what they saw. I wasn't as in favor of the other flagrant because it was an open-floor play, and he went through the guy's hands as he was trying to lay the ball up. Maybe he came hard, but if he came soft then it's a three-point play. It's a matter of opinion and a judgment call, and those guys have good judgment.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors