The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Quotes: Texas vs. No. 22/24 Oklahoma State
02.09.2013 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2013
TEXAS
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On whether his team is embarrassed and frustrated about their performance this afternoon: Yes, I'd add baffled to it because I wish I could show you the way we practiced the last few days. I think that's what you would say, too. Why? I can't explain it. Other than when the lights come on - on the court, we don't play the same way. I can't explain it. Someone asked about confidence. When you're turning the ball over and doing things like that, I can't answer it. I don't see it. I don't understand it. We didn't rebound. It wasn't a very pretty game anyway you look at it. Defensively, we need to rebound better. We need to get to the glass. I thought they did a good job rebounding the ball. We've got to put the ball inside some and get something going. You need to catch it, but you need to have guys who are willing to put it in there when guys are open. Everybody talks about playing hard. You've got to play hard on offense. You need to set good screens and you need to make hard cuts, knowing that you could be denied. You need to make one or two cuts. You've got to move the ball. That's all the things we've talked about and we've done. There will be a different team on the floor Wednesday night. I can tell you that. Go back and look at the turnovers. Javan (Felix) had a tough day. He had eight turnovers. That's a lot - eight of the 15 total turnovers.
On whether Myck Kabongo and Demarcus Holland will start next week: They will definitely start. I think you asked me the other day about rhythm. We don't have rhythm. We don't have anything going. I realize some of it is because Myck plays point differently than Javan. When we are in practice, one team is playing one way and the other is playing another. All year long, we have tried to get consistency and we haven't (achieved it). We need to run. It is pretty obvious. Every team does. It is hard to score against set defenses all the time. Running is not just the point guard. It's everyone doing their job, getting out in transition and getting their lanes. We just haven't consistently done that this year.
On his team's problems with rebounding and whether defensive rebounding would help with their running game: That's one thing I've told or big guys all year. There is no doubt that Cameron (Ridley) and Prince (Ibeh) are trying--they really are. We would love for them to score, but what we've got to have from all our post players is rebounds. You need to set good screens. You need to play defense. I thought Prince and Cam were really trying. Maybe Cam is trying way too hard because he wants to do well. They work. They put time in. Jaylen (Bond) came in. He did a good job. He ended up with six rebounds. Prince had six rebounds in nine minutes. He had four fouls and blocked some shots. The problem is that you have same guys who keep getting driven by. He can get over there some, but if the guards don't at least fight for a different angle, he's got no shot at it. Why do I know those guys are going to start? Myck Kabongo has been our hardest worker all year. He's never wavered from that--every day. He earned it a long time ago. It's been hard on him (to not be able to play). There's no doubt that he has to start. He has a great affect on Demarcus. Demarcus is going to be a heck of a player. He competes. There's no doubt that those guys will be in the starting lineup.
On whether he'll also start his best rebounders with Kabongo and Holland to get transition plays going: Probably the biggest dilemma for me is that Papi (Ioannis Papapetrou) plays well at the post, but Jonathan (Holmes) was having the best year of anyone on the team. What we really envisioned were those guys out there. At the start of the year, what we wanted to do was to use those three big guys, based on need and what they were doing. Jaylen (Bond) plays hard and rebounds the ball. Rebounding - a lot of it - is wanting to get it. It's not just the big guys. The guards need to be a part of it. We've lost a lot of games this year. A big part of it has been that our guards haven't blocked out and done their part. We always have three guys on the glass. Always. Sometimes we have four. We haven't gotten any rebounding out of the small forward position.
On whether he agrees with Papapetrou, who said his team was not able to play as a team today: I can tell you the way we practiced and the way guys started the game, I could see it. Think that's one of the things we talked about the other night. There are three things we told those guys (that we are looking for from them). They are going to be graded on effort. They are going to be graded on being fearless. I want them to play. I don't want them to play in doubt. I want them to play. If they are playing and it's not working and they come out of the game, I want them to want to be coached. That's all. But, players have to hold each other accountable, too. I think that's where they are frustrated. The same things we're talking about we've been talking about now for 23 games. That's probably why their frustration is at a high level. The things were asking really aren't that complicated.
On where Sheldon McClellan's effort level is: You'll have to ask him. I have no idea. It's consistency. You have to realize, too, that things change as you get older. Roles change every year and game to game. We need Sheldon to score. That's what he does. We're not asking him to guard anybody other than to be solid. He's got to work at running the floor. Guys who really want to score will hunt for shots. They don't want to get back and play a set defense because they know teams will game plan. So you want to get out in transition and run. He should be one of the best at running the lane, but he doesn't do that consistently. When he gets screens, he needs to come off them. He needs to fight to cut. They're going to make him work. He can't make one cut, not get the ball and stop or throw his hands up in the air like he's getting fouled. He needs to cut. He needs to play. With that said, that's why I've always said that when you're a guy that people count on, it's a lot of responsibility. You've got to be ready to play every single night. Even if you don't get the ball, you need to think to yourself, "If they're going to guard me this hard, I need to make cuts and get my big guys some shots."
Freshman F Ioannis Papapetrou
On the game: You can look at the stats and say we didn't play defense and look at the percentages and say we played badly, but the bottom line is we're not playing as a team. Guys aren't buying in to what we want to do - offensively and defensively. I don't think we really know how to play as a team. We have to give credit to Oklahoma State because they played a great game. They came in here fearless and we didn't show up. Hopefully we go back to work tomorrow and get ready for Wednesday.
On losing: When we lose a game we are going to be frustrated. More than frustrated, we are embarrassed. We are angry at ourselves and blame ourselves for this loss. We are going to get better and Wednesday we are going to be a full team.
On the return of Myck Kabongo: Myck plays really hard. Myck has a year of experience and he is really going to help our guys.
On the rest of the season: We have to look at each game separately and one game at a time. We are going to go everywhere and try to win every game.
Freshman G Demarcus Holland
On playing with Myck Kabongo: We can speed guys up and take them out of their offense. We both know that we don't really get tired as fast as everyone else. I think we'll run the floor harder and when we get the rebound in transition, Myck is going to push the ball and get more transition points and more stops on defense.
On today's positives: We didn't stop playing. We didn't let them roll over us and we kept fighting. We didn't execute as much on offense as much as we wanted to.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Head Coach Travis Ford
Opening statement: I am happy with our win. I think our guys really were locked in, especially with defense. They understood what we need them to do on that end of the court. I liked our approach to start the game. Offensively, it was not pretty, we turned the ball over a lot but it is not something I am overly concerned with at this point. I thought we played good defense, we have been asking our guys to give better defense all year, especially three-point field goal defense.
On the emotional games of late: I was concerned coming into this game. We have respect for this team, they have been through so many tough games and we have been through some mentally tough games, we had a lot of guys playing 40 close minutes. We did some things the last few days to get our guys minds off those games and to relax, to enjoy this journey rather than talk about those close games.
Junior G Markel Brown
On their perimeter defense: I think we put a lot of emphasis on the perimeter, going into practice we worked on doing what Baylor did to us, getting into a shooting rhythm and getting our hands up when we shoot. We wanted to put emphasis on that. They [Texas] did not shoot too well but I am glad it all worked out for us.
Freshman G Marcus Smart
On Texas: Texas is a well-respected team and to see them struggle is hard. I am sure they will come out of the slump that every team has, it only takes one night. They have to be ready, they will bounce back because they have a great coaching staff and players.
Sophomore F Le'Bryan Nash
On the maturity of the team: The biggest thing for us is to play as hard as we can. We are on a five game winning streak, I think my teammates and I are loving it, it was a good win, we respect Texas so much. We are trying to keep climbing the ladder with our effort to make a big run in the tournament.