The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Quotes: Texas vs. Oklahoma
02.28.2013 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2013
TEXAS
Head Coach Rick Barnes
Opening Statement: It is a crazy game. You go to the kids, the momentum, things happen and I tell you with what our group has been through this year and, obviously we got lucky on Myck Kabongo's shot. For a guy who has been through the things he has done he deserves something good like that. I thought they brought their energy for themselves. Nothing was happening in this building and they got it going and I thought the best thing was they were oblivious to everything except what was going on inside the lines. I think they really got lost in the game, I think they got lost in the team, and there were some great plays made by a lot of people.
On Myck Kabongo and the comeback: He was terrific and I don't think people truly understand what he did, you are going to look at his line, but to me, the most impressive thing was the 37 minutes at the level that he competed at on both ends. At halftime, you know I wasn't really happy and I asked, 'who was going to guard this guy?' Myck said, 'I will guard him.' I said, 'who is going guard this guy?' Myck said, 'I will guard him if that is what it'll take.' That is the kind of attitude we want. Myck and Demarcus Holland said during a timeout, 'we are going to keep playing,' and that is all we could do. We got aggressive with it and then the momentum swung. We started making some shots but one team gets back on their heels a little bit because the other one is coming because you are down 19 and I mean you guys have been around long enough to know that when momentum changes, some teams are like what just happened. I am sitting here myself thinking what just happened. But it happened and they are guys that deserve the credit for it.
On thoughts about the overall team: I have always thought we have character guys. But what I have never understood is why we don't do what we do everyday in practice. That is what I have never been able to figure out. And actually, I am going to tell you at halftime tonight, I am there and I finally look at Dean Melchionni and I said, 'Dean, you have been around here for four year, what do you say?' he just said, 'We don't play like we play in practice. You guys play each other harder in practice than you play out here. Why don't you do it like practice?' And we did. And then after the game, I said, 'Dean what do you think?' And he said, 'we played like the lights were out.' These guys are character guys. I thought two of the biggest plays of the game were Demarcus Holland's two threes because he said, 'Okay, you are not going to guard me then I am going to shoot it.'
On team's initially reaction to the comeback: I think at the time it was like 9:30 or somewhere near there, and I just said, 'we have been here down this much and you guys have comeback and won. You got to keep pressing." One thing we did in the press that was really good was we didn't foul. We didn't foul and they were a terrific offensive team. Earlier in the game, I don't care what we did, they made shots and we weren't great defensively but they still made their shots. The biggest thing is we stayed after it, we scrambled and we made some plays and think about it, they had the lead, they were not attacking. What we did better when we really came back was we stopped letting them turn the corner. We kept them in front of the back court and then in the second half when we got out of the press we did a much better job standing in front of the ball and that was because of the momentum swing and they weren't nearly as aggressive coming off of it as we were.
Myck Kabongo
On last shot of regulation: The play was for Sheldon. It was supposed to be a dribble hand off, but that way was closed. We needed to make a play and I made a play at the end and it went in.
On full court pressure: We were down and whenever you're down you've got to play with some sort of urgency. We just wanted to do something we have practiced a lot and it worked out for us. It gave us a lot of energy. What really helped us were the fans. That's what people need to understand. They come here to watch us give our effort and when we do, this place gets loud. It was great to see the Erwin Center get loud like that. It makes it an intimidating place for opposing teams to come and play. When we give that effort, that's what we're going to get from our fans.
On personal responsibility: Well, it's really about the team. Anything that Coach (Barnes) asks me to do, he'll be the one to tell you that I'll be willing to do it. If I have to guard a 4 man, I'm going to do it. I don't put pressure on myself. I've been practicing with these guys and these guys have been there for me. They told me, "Myck, there's no pressure on you. Just come out and play your game." They know what I'm capable of doing. We work hard as a team and that's all I'm worried about, the team. I don't feel pressure.
Sheldon McClellan
On OU doing Horns down hand signal: No I didn't see it at all. Like Papi (Ioannis Papapetrou) said, we wouldn't have worried about it. We just wanted to get back in it and we came out and got the win and that's what matters.
On press sparking second half run: I would say so. We knew they couldn't handle the ball that well after watching that previous game and Coach wanted us to come out and pressure the ball and we got what we wanted.
On setting up with Myck Kabongo back: It makes it a lot easier. There are not many guards in the country that can do what he does off the dribble or be able to create shots for other people. In the first half we weren't shooting the shots we were supposed to shoot and Coach got on us. In the second half we came out attacking.
On defense in second half: We were playing with more sense of urgency in the second half. In the first half, they made shots and teams are going to make shots and go on runs, but in the second half we played with more sense of urgency.
On thoughts of having this kind of team since start of season: Definitely, but that's not our fault and that's not Myck's fault. We just had to play with the guys we had. Having him back is a big addition, especially if he's going to do what he did today. He deserved this.
Ioannis Papapetrou
On locker room at halftime: We were down by 18 or something like that. It was a moment where Coach was mad, everybody was mad and we were mad at ourselves because we knew we weren't playing that good. It was really loud but we were trying to find a way to get back in the game and we did.
On what was turning point: It was the last seven minutes when we came back after being down 22 points. During the second half we come out and were trying to come back and Oklahoma made a couple shots and we got kind of stuck. With seven minutes left we just decided to go all out. We were down 22 points and we had nothing to lose. It worked out for us.
On Myck Kabongo's last shot: I prayed. It was great. Actually, I ran into him and we bumped a little but he kept going. I knew if he missed that shot I would take the blame because I ran into him but he threw it up and he made it. It was an amazing shot.
OKLAHOMA
Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening Statement: It was a very disappointing result. We played really good basketball for 32 minutes of the game then everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. We certainty contributed to the last seven minutes of the game. I credit Texas for making big plays, they stayed on the attack and did the right things. I am disappointed that we let this one slip away. We have to get through it even though it is going to hurt for a while.
On Oklahoma's next step: When you lose a ball game, you are always going to look back to see the things that went wrong. Certainly, there was a lot of opportunity in this ball game when you are up 22 with seven to go. At this point, we have to regroup. That is the nature of conference play. It was a big ball game but there is another big ball game three days from today. We have got to learn from it an try to replicate the first 32 minutes of the game.
Romero Osby
On Texas' comeback: That is life that is the game of basketball. We love it and we hate sometimes because of that kind of thing. We just did not make the plays. We have to get stops down the stretch. We cannot say that karma came back because he did that [Horns down hand gesture]. If we won the game there would be nothing said about it. I am not going to put that on him.
The difference of Texas play in overtime: After the final play in the second half, they put the press on us, which gave us the momentum; they got buckets and free throws, which made the difference.
Sam Grooms
On the game overall: We did not take care of the ball; we have to crack down with full court press. They were active, got some lose balls and so steals that lead to points for them.
On Myck Kabango: He is definitely one of the premier point guards in our league and the country. He is active and he is fast, he is always on the go making plays. If you are his coach then you appreciate it but if you are playing against him you hate it. He never really stops. He continues to come at you, which leads to a lot for his team.
On the last shot of the second half taken by Myck Kabango: That was as hard of a shot that they come by, I was surprised that he made that. He had the flow going and made the shot.