University of Oklahoma Athletics
Postgame Quotes
December 21, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2010
Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“First of all, it's always good to get a win. I thought we did some good things out there today defensively, with the exception of a couple of plays early. I thought we were pretty solid throughout. Second half, I thought we found a better rhythm offensively. We had some opportunities in the first half, we just didn't finish plays strong. I thought we settled for some jump shots when we had opportunities to drive inside and finish some plays. I thought we did a better job in the second half.
“It was good to see Calvin Newell have a good game. Calvin and I talked earlier today. He's kind of in a transition phase to figure out how exactly to be most effective. He's used to scoring his whole life and he's maybe been a little bit less aggressive and trying to pass, not knowing when to score. One of the things we talked about was -- just be you, just go out and play. If you have opportunities to score, take shots with confidence. We have confidence in you. I thought we saw that today.
“I thought Tyler Neal was really good for us, he made some very positive plays. I thought C.J. Washington was very good, especially when Andrew (Fitzgerald) got into foul trouble. Although Cade (Davis) was in foul trouble early I thought he did some very good things for us. Pleased with the win but we have a lot of work to do. But it's good going into this break with our guys feeling somewhat good about themselves.”
On handling turnovers:
“I think we've been pretty solid defensively the last three, four games. I think we've gotten better. I think we've made tremendous strides in that area. Obviously an area where we have to continue to get better is (not) turning the ball over. We had 11 tonight so we have to get better there. I think we had four at halftime and all of them were travels. So because of that they weren't able to turn those in to scoring opportunities; they were dead ball turnovers. We still have to value the ball better because we think that we can be a pretty efficient offensive team, especially when we're making shots. We've been able to get good shots, it's just a matter of the guys stepping up and making them.”
On the talent on the bench:
“I thought they were good. I thought they came in with energy -- all of them. Nick Thompson, Tyler (Neal), Calvin (Newell), C.J, (Washington), Barry (Honoré) the minute he was in there -- I just thought those guys had a lot of energy and that's what we need from them. We need them to know what we're in on offense, the purpose of what we're in on offense. We need those guys to do what they do. We've defined their roles and we need them to accept, embrace and love those roles and do them to the highest of their ability every time they're in the game.”
On his team learning to be comfortable in ugly games:
“That's who we are. We aren't the pretty girl anymore. We were that three years ago when we that guy who's destroying the NBA right now. We have to be the one that comes in and we can't be afraid to -- not that we're going to play dirty -- but we have to do all the dirty stuff. We've got to block out every time. I was very disappointed in that in the end, I thought we had some major slippage there. We've got to not only block out, we've got to pursue rebounds. We've got to screen, we've got to put bodies on people, we've got to communicate, we've got to talk. When you're overly talented, sometimes you can get away with maybe one or two of those things. The really good teams don't. I tell our team all the time, you can hear a really good team. Really good teams always talk. We challenge our guys to embrace that -- to become a good team and to really communicate well out there.”
Senior Guard Cade Davis
On the offensive flow in tonight's game:
“Yeah, we always feel more comfortable at home anyways and I think that kind of rubs off on us. We kind of got in the flow of things offensively. We are shooting the ball pretty well here at home pretty much every game. We started well early and started getting shots and making them.”
On Calvin Newell's performance:
“He was big-time. We brought him in to defend (Sultan) Toles-Bey because he was getting off on us early and we really tried to bring him (Newell) in and put some pressure on him. Calvin's defense led to him getting some offensive points and he was shooting the ball really well and creating for himself, just coming off of ball screens. It's good for him to come off the bench and be a spark offensively and defensively for us.”
On the contributions from the bench tonight:
“We did a tremendous job. Tyler (Neal), C.J. (Washington) and all those guys, we really need those guys to step forward, especially in Big 12 play. These next few games we need to get them in and get their confidence built up, because Andrew (Fitzgerald) has been in foul trouble a lot lately and we're going to need those big guys to step in and give us something on the offensive end.”
On what direction he believes the team is going:
“I think if you look overall, we are getting better and we are going in the right direction. Hopefully after this game and this short break we have along with the next two non-conference games, we can continue to build off of that, stay together as a team, build confidence in one another and get some guys some more playing time. Hopefully we will be peaking once conference play begins. We're really going to have to be solid going into that with as many good teams that we have in our conference this year. We've still got a lot of things to work on but we're headed in the right direction.”
On the team's defensive play:
“That's been our key focus the whole time, all year long. We're not going to be a team that goes out and outscores people. We're going to have to play solid defense and keep teams from scoring. We've been holding teams to pretty low percentages and hopefully we'll keep getting better at rebounding. Overall, I think we're getting better.”
Freshman Guard Calvin Newell
On how his defensive play led to a big night offensively:
“He (Toles-Bey) had nine straight points and Coach (Capel) wanted me to come in and take him off of his hot streak. Once I did that, my defense led to offense.”
On his play the last few games coming off the bench:
“It's been tough for me, because I'm a freshman and I've got a lot to learn. I've just tried to stay positive and work with Coach Capel. He's been (helping) me (get) better. So has Cade. He's been helping me get through these tough times. So I just stay positive and when my number is called I just do what I have to do.”
On what tonight's performance does for his confidence:
“I try to stay humble, but it's definitely a good confidence booster for the next game. I will come out ready to play.”
