OU Men's Basketball Quotes

March 16, 2008

Head Coach Jeff Capel
On receiving a six seed:
"I wasn't really paying attention, I was writing on my bracket. We are really happy, really excited and really anxious to get going. We know who we're playing, we know we're in and we know where we're playing, so we're just excited to get going."

On Saint Joseph's:
"I have a lot of respect for St. Joseph's. I've known Coach Martelli for a while. When I was an assistant for my dad at Old Dominion we played them. That was when Jameer Nelson was a freshman. He's one of the better coaches in the country. They are a hot team right now and they lost a heartbreaker last night. It's going to be a big game for us. We'll be anxious to get going."

On Oklahoma returning to the NCAA Tournament:
"It means a lot. Obviously it was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year. Throughout everything we went through, we were able to accomplish that. I think you have to give all the credit to our players and the guys in our program for how hard they've worked and persevered through so many different things this season."

On the excitement of the NCAA Tournament:
"We'll have four guys who have played there before, five if you count Ryan Wright. Hopefully those guys will start sharing past experiences. You also hope that our freshmen and sophomores who haven't been (there) are already excited. If you have to have someone prod you to get excited about this, then you really shouldn't be playing college basketball."

Junior Forward Taylor Griffin
On if he was surprised at receiving a No. 6 seed:
"I was surprised. I think most of us were expecting a seven seed. Being a six seed is great for us. It was a surprise but a good surprise. For a team a couple of weeks ago people were talking about as 'on the bubble,' to have a six seed is great."

On what he knows about Saint Joseph's:
"Not a whole lot. They're an East Coast team. It doesn't really matter what we know now, it is what we are about to know in the next two or three days."

On what is means to get the OU basketball program back to the NCAA tournament:
"It is big-time. Oklahoma is a program that should be in the tournament every year. Last year was an off-season for OU basketball. We are back to where we should be and we have to continue to build off of this year."

On playing Friday rather than Thursday, and what it means to have an extra day to get healthy:
"I think that is a big thing for us with all of the injuries we have suffered this year and how we don't have a lot of big men this season. It's good for making sure Blake (Griffin) and Longar (Longar) are healthy, as well as getting an extra day of preparation. You couldn't have asked for a better seed or a better position for us to be in."

Freshman Forward Blake Griffin:
On receiving a No. 6 seed:
"We're definitely happy about it. We'll be getting prepared this whole week, then take one game at a time and do our best. I wasn't even looking when our name first came up and I heard some people say something and I looked up. I was pretty surprised we were a six seed, but we'll take whatever we can get. I was looking for a seven, but six is even better."

On playing on Friday as opposed to Thursday:
"I'm a little bit excited, but at the same time I kind of want to play as soon as possible. It really doesn't matter as long as we made it. We'll be playing no matter what."

On Saint Joseph's:
"I don't know a lot about them. I watched them play on TV but I didn't watch anything in great detail because I had no idea. Obviously if they are in the tournament they are a good team. They've won 21 games so far, so they will be a tough team."

On playing in the tournament:
"It means a lot especially because of last year. This time last year our season was over."

On playing an unfamiliar team:
"It's hard to judge how a team plays until you've actually played them. The same goes for them playing us. They're not going to know exactly what we do well and what we don't do well. That's one of the things that makes this tournament so interesting."

Senior Center Longar Longar
On receiving a six seed:
"It came quick, I wasn't even paying attention. I looked up and saw the number six seed and Oklahoma and started wondering who we would play next. Saint Joseph's is a good team. We will start preparing for them over the next couple of days. It's exciting, everybody is excited. Alabama is a great place to play. I couldn't tell you how excited we are.

"We are fortunate to have a six seed going into the tournament. I didn't expect it, but we have it. We have to prepare for these guys next. It's the time of the year when you have to play your best basketball. This is what we've prepared for all season. We are going down there with a lot of excitement."

On getting back to the NCAA Tournament:
"It feels great. Everybody put in the work all summer long. We put in the work to put ourselves in this position. Now we just have to go and take it."

On Saint Joseph's:
"I've watched them play and I know they have great guards. It won't be an easy first-round game."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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