Oklahoma Postgame Quotes

Jan. 21, 2009

Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“First of all, I'm proud of our guys. I thought we played a really, really good second half. I thought Nebraska was tremendous the first half. They shot the ball well and (Ryan) Anderson was terrific. The way we were trying to guard them didn't work because they drove us, they got good looks, they made shots, they spread us out and we had no movement and no sense of purpose with what we were doing. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half and I thought our defense was better. Obviously, we got ball movement. Blake (Griffin) was tremendous and Austin (Johnson) was really good again. I thought Omar (Leary) came off the bench and gave us really good minutes and hit a really big shot for us, and I thought Cade's (Davis) defense on (Paul) Velander was very good. Again, really proud of our guys for this win and we look forward to Saturday.”

On adjusting to Nebraska's physical play:
“They play hard and they cut hard. They cut with a purpose all the time. We didn't do that all the time tonight and it showed, especially in the first half. They are a very good defensive team and they scramble. What they lack in size they make up with how hard they play and how physical they play.”

On handling the double-team defense on Blake Griffin:
“We knew they were coming, we didn't know where they were coming from because they do it different ways. We felt like we could still go through the double because it was not like a 6-8 (double). Last year was (Aleks) Maric, 6-11. I thought Blake did a better job of getting deep position. I thought we did a better job of getting movement and getting the ball to him in those positions and we finished.”

On Austin Johnson:
“His assist-to-turnover ratio has been really good. What he has done the past three games is he has scored. He is a confident basketball player right now. He is taking good shots and there is calmness when he is on the floor for our basketball team. He does a good job.”

On finding a way to win:
“We have shown that we can do that. I think there is something to say about that with this team. We have had different kinds of adversity – guys not playing well, guys in a funk, us not shooting the ball well, us not doing some things well – yet we still found a way to get 18 wins against one loss. We have done something good where have found a way. It doesn't always look pretty, it drives me crazy sometimes, but I like being 18-1.”

Sophomore Forward Blake Griffin
On the changes made between the first and second half:
“We competed. The first half we were just going out there playing and just kind of going through the motions. In the second half we came out and scored points and really got after it defensively.”

On getting-double and triple-teamed throughout the game:
“Our coaches were telling me all week (about getting my shot off early) and it kind of took me a while to figure out exactly where. I feel like they didn't run at me as hard in the second half, which allowed me to get off more shots.”

On his performance in the second half:
“I was trying to move, screen up and screen down. Just keeping us in the offense and not allow them to sink back into the lane on us. Also, just moving around on defense and talking a lot more, really just being more active.”

On playing against a guard-oriented team like Nebraska:
“They are very good at what they do defensively and offensively. It is tough because a lot of time when teams triple-team and double-team they leave a guy open. They didn't do that when I got the ball. They got back out and did a good job rotating.”

Senior Guard Austin Johnson
On the defensive pressure by Nebraska:
“It is just a different look than you see from most teams. They kind of scatter around and they work on that all the time so they are good at it. It is just a different look and you have to get used to it. I think we adjusted at halftime and got used to it and kind of settled down.”

On if OU will face a tougher defensive team than Nebraska this season:
“I don't think we will. We knew coming in – because the coaches talked about how they were going to be the hardest team, work the hardest, pressure the hardest – they are going to come out, be ready and guard the hardest.”

On trying to slow down Ryan Anderson in the second half:
“We knew he had kind of been in a slump lately. In the scouting report, (assistant) coach (Mark) Cline said that just because he is shooting the way he is right now, just ignore it because he (Cline) knows the way he can shoot. Coming out, he was on fire. He couldn't miss, he had 17 at half. We came in at halftime and talked about how someone had to step up and stop him. I think that Taylor (Griffin) and Blake did a good job on him.”

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler
Opening statement:
“First of all, they're just a good basketball team. We made some mistakes and they hung around. When they got the opportunity to make some plays, they made them. That is what a team that is ranked wherever they're ranked is supposed to do. If you don't shoot free throws better than 5-for-14 on the road, then you aren't going to beat a good basketball team; and that is what we shot. I think if we would have shot free throws better, then we would have had a chance. I thought the score was too high at half time. Our defense wasn't nearly as good as it's been but that is because of Blake Griffin. Then they had some guys step in and make some 3's. When you score 27 points from 3's and you have a guy like that, what do you do? Like I said from day one, they have a good basketball team. There is nobody I respect more in this league than Jeff Capel. I think he is doing it the right way. You never hear anything negative out of this program. I've got all the respect in the world for that guy.”

On the play of Ryan Anderson:
“He got some open looks and hit some shots. We weren't trying to do anything different. We just tried to get the Griffin guys in ball screens on the floor. When we did those things and didn't get impatient, I thought we got some good looks. I thought our guys maybe took a few 3's quicker than they should. You can't play the 15-second shot game with those guys. We had to get it down there and make them play defense for 25 seconds and we didn't do that.”

On how difficult it was to guard Blake Griffin:
“You guys think he is the player of the year, so you tell me. I'd like to have somebody like that. He's nothing more than what I thought he was going to be. He is a great player. He is a load whether you're small like us or big like Texas. He's been a load for a lot of people.”

On why they didn't intentionally foul Blake Griffin:
“I don't know. I don't believe in that. I never think about going in there and fouling those guys intentionally like they do in the NBA. If it was a one- or two-point game toward the end, then we probably would have fouled him. We just had a hard time rebounding missed free throws, but our guys fought hard. We have a chance to be competitive.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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