University of Oklahoma Athletics
Postgame Quotes
December 08, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2011
Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening comment:
“I am really happy for the guys. I thought a lot of different guys played well. It was a good win, well rounded. I really liked their team. Coach [Scott] Sutton will always have them ready and prepared. They are very sound and fundamentally great. I was really impressed with the job he has done there; no surprise, but a really, really good team. Different guys played well. C.J. [Washington] in the first half came in and gave us a big lift and that was huge. Then Carl [Blair] came in in the second half and really picked things up defensively and gave us a little energy there. Drew [Fitzgerald] and [Steven] Pledger were scoring consistently for us all night and we need that. It's nice have a lot of guys contributing. Again, the opportunity to learn and to win and make progress is always good.”
On OU's defense:
“We had stretches of really good defensive play and then we had stretches where we kind of got extended when they drove the ball at us. They are shooting one-and-one with 12 or 13 minutes to go in the second half, which is something you never want to see. So we've got to do a better job with sliding our feet and not getting into the bonus early. But, a lot of good plays. A lot of good plays defensively, and yet, as you expect, we are going to keep making progress. Guys have done a great job of making progress every day in practice. That is the thing we have been really impressed with by this group. They are not just going game to game. They want to get better in practice.”
On his expectations of the team:
“This group, once we learned the attitude of them working hard and their desire to really improve individually and as a team was very genuine, we were really impressed by that. We felt like we were going to have a good basketball team. The thing that they know and really believe is that they understand we have got to get a lot better. As long as we maintain that balance of improving but realizing we have a long way to go, then we will become as good as we can become. That's our goal. Guys in certain ball games have made good progress. I am looking forward to continuing that.”
On the Sooners offensively in the new system:
“They have been very unselfish and that is the key. As Cam [Clark] and Pledge both said, they are comfortable with the fact that if it's not quite there then they can give it up and expect to get it back later if that's the right play. They are making a lot of good plays for each other. I think for Pledge, his game is going to continue to mature and develop.”
On OU's rebounding:
“The guys have done a good job of focusing on that. Every day there is a comment made about rebounding when a shot goes up in practice, whether it be from the players or coaches. They understand the significance. They understand the expectation wasn't there early for us being a good rebounding team and the need for us to overcome that if we are going to be a decent team. These guys have made that a priority and they have done a good job.”
Junior Guard Steven Pledger
On how Cameron Clark has improved since he has been at OU:
“It's amazing. Definitely from (his) freshman year to now, he's slowed down a lot. Last year he was quick, he tried to get it off as fast as he possibly could, but now it's more being patient whenever he catches the ball. He's looking around, he's probing. He's not looking at the man in front of him, he's looking at the help (defense). If the help isn't there, that's when he's going to attack. So he's doing a great job.”
On his improved consistency:
“That's the main thing I've been trying to do, trying to be consistent every time. Don't have a burst and then slouch, a burst and then slouch. That's not something that this team needs. So I'm just trying to keep it consistent.”
Senior Forward C.J. Washington
On his strong play off the bench:
“I had to come in, Romero (Osby) was in foul trouble. I came in the game and one thing Coach (Kruger) says I need to do is bring energy. That's all I'm trying to do. My teammates got me the ball when I needed it to score. I try to impact ORU (while) on defense and do what I can to help this team win.”
Sophomore Guard Cameron Clark
On his strong play the last few weeks:
“I feel like it has been better. We've been doing a lot better swinging the ball and getting open shots, so it helps me out a lot.”
On his offense and being patient:
“I would say it's coming within the offense. People have been attacking the help defense, so I've been able to knock down wide open shots.”
ORU Head Coach Scott Sutton
Opening comment:
“That was a game of missed opportunities for us. Give OU credit, they obviously had a lot to do (with it). But, we were 1-for-15 from 3. Besides Dominique's (Morrison) last shot, we had good looks. We had good looks all night. Shooters have to step up and make shots. As a team, we missed 10 shots. No, I'm going to call them layups; 10 layups that you have to convert if you're going to win a tough game on the road. A lot of that is toughness. Some of it is mental toughness on the road against a good team, to have the confidence to step up and make shots; have the toughness to finish shots in traffic. We didn't do that tonight. It ended up being a 14-point game. We had lots of opportunities.”
On Oklahoma's performance:
“In the first half especially, they really hurt us on the offensive glass. They shot 52 percent in the first half and I think had nine offensive rebounds. There weren't a lot of misses on their part and they got well over half of them. That's what they are doing. They have done a great job at instilling toughness into their guys. They will crash the glass every time. We knew what they were going to do. We just didn't go a very good job.”
On Oklahoma being picked to finish tied for ninth in the Big 12:
“I think they're better than that. Again, this is my opinion. It's going to be hard to finish ahead of some of those teams because of how talented they are. But I wouldn't be surprised if they finished right in the middle of the pack or sneak up to fourth or fifth. I think (Lon Kruger's) done a great job. They play extremely hard. I think they understand their roles. They have some weapons. They need to continue to develop their bench, but C.J. (Washington) came in and played great.”
ORU Senior Forward Dominique Morrison
On Oklahoma:
“They're a good defensive team. They pressured us hard. A lot of it came down to us missing shots. Personally, I missed a lot of easy shots that I should make, some easy layups. They crashed the glass hard and got a lot of offensive rebounds, but in order to stay in the game we had to make shots and we just didn't make those easy shots.”
On OU's Cameron Clark:
“He's a big-time athlete. Anytime a team is on TV that we're going to play this season I am glued to the TV. I watched him play in Anaheim and watched him play last season. He's a big-time athlete with a nice pull-up game. He was hitting a lot of shots.”
On ORU shooting 1-for-15 from 3-point range:
“It was us. Not taking anything away from their defense, but we had a lot of good shots. A lot of shots we should make. We were 1-for-15 from 3; I bet from two feet in we were 1-for-20. We missed a lot of shots. Not taking anything away from their defense. They're a great defensive team but those are shots we have to make.”
