Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
December 29, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Towson 67, Oregon State 66 (OT)
December 29, 2012
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head coach Craig Robinson
Opening Comment...
"Well, let me start off by saying how disappointed we are with how we played the second half of that second half. You go up 19 like we did and you have an ability to sort of make a team quit and you don't make the plays you need to make. That's what happened in this game. You look at our production in the second half and three of our top guys -- 2-for-12, 4-for-15 and 3-for-13 -- on stuff that I think they normally would make. We were right for the picking and Towson, my hats off to them, they played a great game in that second half and muscled their way back into this game.
"Another thing I want to point out is that it was a fantastic turnout for a game where the football team is going to be on TV. I really appreciate Beaver Nation and just want to say `we'll get them next time.' "
On the number of offensive rebounds Towson got in the second half compared to the first half...
"I'd have to take a look at the film, but I don't think it's an effort thing; I think it's a focus thing. We took that part of the game for granted, because we did such a good job in the first half. I have to do a better job of making sure these guys stay motivated throughout the entire game so that doesn't happen. I think if you are concentrating on your job at hand, there shouldn't be a lapse in effort or motivation or whatever. I think they just outplayed us. We were getting to a point I think too, that we were getting to be a little bit complacent about just showing up at Gill and winning games. So this was a good comeuppance for us prior to Pac-12 play."
On the poor shooting in the second half...
"I think those guys got a little bit more physical so that we had to make tougher shots. I thought that once they started a little bit of a run, we took some ill-advised shots. And then we just missed shots like you do sometimes. We could have been thinking ahead to the next game; thinking ahead to the Pac-12 season; thinking ahead to signing autographs and watching the football game and having fun. You never know what goes through each individual's mind. Anyway you shake it out, we didn't play well in that stretch and gave them confidence and they felt like they could win the game. They just took it from us."
On whether you can take a positive out of this...
"If you looked at our stats and look at that first half, you would never think that we would only shoot 23 percent in the second half. That's one of those things that you can point to and say `okay, that's not going to happen most of the time; that hasn't happened to us in a long time.' So you are glad that something like that might happen before you get to the conference. I'm also pointing out to these guys that this is exactly what you can't do when you get into conference play. So that's a teaching point there. When you are changing a culture, or having changed a culture here, where now we think we should win every game, you have to remember you have to go out and win every game. You can't just think it and expect the other team to lay down. That's particularly the case when it comes to conference play."
On working on tightening up the defense...
"I think that I have been very adamant that we have to play better defense. But when I look at the tape and I look at our stats, our defense is a whole lot better than it was a year ago. I'm trying to keep a nice balance where they understand we still have work to do, but they have to understand that they have come a long way so they build up confidence in their defensive ability. Last year I think we held teams to under 40 percent shooting seven times for the whole year. This is the seventh time this year we've done it and we're only halfway through the season. This one is bitter because we lost the game. I think our defense was pretty good. It was the rebounding and them getting their second-chance points. They had 15 second-chance points. That's a lot for us to give up. We've been doing a really good job on the boards this year and this was hopefully just an anomaly."
On whether Roberto pushed off at the end of the game...
"That's one of those that one would think that you would not get that called on you in your own home gym. But that wasn't the case. There was a lot of contact going on in that game for the whole first and second half, and it got called differently. But I'm not blaming the refs for is. We shouldn't have been in that position. I thought it was a heck of a play and it's too bad."
On the team's lack of focus this close to Pac-12 play...
"I could feel it coming on. We haven't won this many games since I've been here. Again, I tell you guys all the time that everything is learned behavior. We're still learning. We haven't had a five-game winning streak since I've been here so that means these guys haven't. They have to understand that as you get better, the next game gets harder and not easier. That's one thing that young adults don't understand that life gets harder as you go on and are successful. It doesn't get easier. There are more things that come along with success that you have to deal with. So I'm hoping that they learn that lesson."
