Postgame Quotes

Nov. 12, 2010

Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“It feels good to win. I like the way we won. I felt we were together the whole game. Even guys that didn't play were very into the game, cheering on their teammates. I thought we did some really good things. I thought we shot the ball with a good percentage and really attacked their zone inside-out. We have to get better rebounding the basketball. (Andrew) Fitzgerald has to do a better job for us. At times he was leaving out, and we need him down there on the glass for us.

“I thought our freshmen did a really good job, Cameron (Clark) and Calvin (Newell) specifically. I thought Tyler (Neal) came in and gave us some good minutes. And I thought Nick (Thompson) was good. Kind of did a little bit of everything. Pleased with the win but we know we have a long way to go with a lot of work to do. It feels good to play well and play together.”

On OU's passing tonight (17 assists on 25 field goals):
“They played zone, so we weren't dealing with a lot of pressure. I thought we attacked their zone. Even some of our turnovers were unforced, trying to be too cute sometimes or thread the needle. We have to be a team. We hit singles. We have to put guys on base and move the runners. We can't go swinging for the fences. That's not who we are.”

On the play of Andrew Fitzgerald down low:
“We've worked with him a lot. I think he knows how important it is. You look at our exhibition game, in the first half we couldn't throw it in the ocean, especially from behind the arc. We came out in the second half and went inside-out and Andrew was able to score. He was presence down low for us. Andrew was able to score for us down there last year. His two best games were against Kansas and Kansas State. Those were his best scoring games. He has an uncanny knack for getting the ball in the basket. He shot a pretty good percentage. We're going to need him to do that for us all year.”

On freshman guard Calvin Newell:
“Calvin has gotten better. He is understanding how to slow down a little bit. He still gets going 100 miles per hour out there and sometimes his emotion makes him do that. I rather a guy be that way where you have to make him slow down than have to rev up. We think Calvin is going to be a good player for us and it was good to see him do positive things for us.”

On Cade Davis taking just four shots:
“I thought Cade did a really good job playing within the flow. And although he only took four shots, he was the most important player out there for us. Just how he was in the huddles, how he was in the huddles on the floor, just the positive things he was saying, how encouraging he was to Cameron, Calvin and Tyler, and to all the guys out there. Cade's going to score for us -- that's the least of my concerns. I thought he did a really nice job of not trying to force things.”

Sophomore Forward Andrew Fitzgerald
On preparing for this season:
“I've improved a lot, especially in the summer time with me dropping all the weight, getting stronger and just posting up stronger in the paint. The jumper is there, but you can't live on it.”

On improving from the first game:
“Everything has been going well. We looked way better this game than we did in our exhibition game. We're way better on defense and I think everybody on the team -- we all want to win. Anybody that came here doesn't want to lose so the whole concept of the team is just to win.”

Junior Forward Nick Thompson
On the team:
“I just think on our team, we've got a lot of people that can score the basketball. We're taking advantage of that, especially with Fitz inside. He's really good at finishing with the basketball.”

On his game-high seven assists:
“Passing the ball is one of my strengths. All of the teams I've ever played for has had some really good scorers. I'm just trying to get in where I fit in.”

On if he's ever played point guard:
“I actually played a little bit of point my freshman year. Actually I've been playing some point a little bit in practice, too.”

On the season ahead:
“I think definitely we're moving in the direction we want to be moving. I can definitely tell you we're not satisfied. We're happy about where we're at right now, but we're definitely hungry and ready to do a lot more. But I think we definitely have the pieces and we're headed in the right direction as far as not being selfish and everybody's got the same goal – and that's just to win. Just do whatever it takes to win. We're willing to do that.”

Freshman Guard Cameron Clark
On playing in his first collegiate game:
“The way we shot the ball out there, we look like a good team. It's fun playing with these guys.

On his game-high 11 rebounds:
“Coach is just saying we all have to go out and size doesn't matter. We just have to box out and get boards.”

On working as a team:
“Everybody can score. We all just have to chip in and do what we can to win. That's the main thing.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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