University of Oklahoma Athletics
Postgame Quotes
December 09, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2010
Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“It was good to get a win. I thought we did some good things in this game. I thought our defense in the first half was very good. We switched it up several times and tried to give them different looks to keep them off balance. This Gardner-Webb team was a team that in their last game shot 61 percent from the floor. I think in the first half we had them right around 31, 32 percent, so I thought we did some good things there. I was a little disappointed with the way we started out the second half defensively. I thought we had an opportunity to really expand that lead. We had a stop on the very first possession, but after that it was almost like we were satisfied with what we had done in the first half. We have to be a team that is constantly hungry and constantly trying to get better. I thought we took a step back off of a very good performance that we had there in the first half, but we were able to respond. We started getting some stops and we were very fortunate to make some shots.”
On playing hard defensively:
“I thought we played hard. I don't think we have not played hard in any of our games this year. You can't say that about us. Now we haven't always played smart, but I think these guys have given pretty good effort. I thought we did that in the first half. I thought it was a determined effort. Guys were really trying to defend, which is something we've really emphasized. We have had hard practices all week just because I felt like we have to get better defensively. I thought we took some steps in doing that tonight.”
On improvements since the five-game losing streak:
“Two of the areas where I thought we had not been good during the five-game stretch were our on-the-ball defense and turning the ball over. We were just getting blown by (on defense), which was forcing help. Then offensively it was us turning the ball over. If you look in those games, I think we shot right around 47 percent from the field, but our opponents were shooting well over 50 percent. Those are the two areas where we tried to get better, and I thought we did some good things in both of those areas tonight.”
On Andrew Fitzgerald's role as a player:
“Andrew has to understand how important he is to us and how to not commit silly fouls, because we need him on the floor. We are a different team when he is not in the game for us. All season long we felt like he has been able to score the ball and do some things down low, but he has to not commit lazy fouls.”
On Cameron Clark's improvement tonight:
“He has had three really good practices and did some good things. I thought he had a chance to have at least six more points if he could have finished a couple more of those lay-ups. I still think he is going to be a really good player for us and I thought he created some chaos in our 1-3-1 zone at the top and was able to get his hands on some balls.”
Sophomore Forward Andrew Fitzgerald
On OU's defense:
“I think tonight was the best performance on defense that we've had all year. Everyone was communicating. I think that this long week of practicing and preparing for this game -- we were ready for this game. ”
On the win:
“I think that we really needed this win to build confidence. One thing about confidence is that it helps everything; helps with defense and offense. That was a confidence win.”
Sophomore Guard Steven Pledger
On OU's improved defense tonight:
“We had a long week (of practice), defensive drills and things like that. Just going hard for the ball, that's what contributed to that.”
On the importance of the win:
“It definitely gives this team morale; we definitely needed a win. It's given us confidence.”
Sophomore Guard Carl Blair
On the game:
“I just felt that we had to get in a rhythm. We were trying to win; that was the main thing for everybody. We just felt we had to come out there and do whatever it took. If I played five minutes, I was going to give it the hardest five minutes I could play. If I played the whole game I was going to do the same. The main focus for everybody was to get the win tonight and stay focused. This week has been real hard; practice has been crazy. We just have to keep building.”
On limiting turnovers:
“Going on the road, we have to limit our turnovers. We have to play as perfect as possible. It's being confident with the ball, taking care of the ball, getting it to everybody in the right spots.”
Gardner-Webb Head Coach Chris Holtmann
On the game:
“I think we started slow again, played tentative, but give Coach Capel and his kids credit. I though they came out and defended us and got to us early. Our liability all year has been a couple of different things, but one has been stretches where we have trouble scoring the ball. You have that with a young and inexperienced team, and that's what we have. But give them credit. I thought they guarded us and made us make tough and contested shots.”
On struggling in the second half after cutting OU's lead to four points:
“That's happened to us a lot. It's been a combination of not being able to get the defensive stops we need to at critical times. We've had moments where we have as well, but we've had some offensive stretches where we've struggled. They played underneath us all night, and like I said, made us make shots, contested shots. We got them in transition on that run to cut it to four. [We] got some transition baskets. But give them credit. I thought they made some shots. (Andrew) Fitzgerald had a really nice night and I thought Cade Davis was good as well.”
