Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
January 06, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2013
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Oregon 79, Oregon State 66
January 6, 2013
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head coach Craig Robinson
Opening Comment...
"You can't start the second half on a 15-2 run negative and expect to beat a team that is getting votes in the top 25. I think that pretty much sums it up. This has to be a two-half game and we have noticeably not played a good two-half game in a while so that's something I need to have us work on. It's disappointing because this was a great opportunity when you're playing a team that is this good and has a chance to be ranked. You want to take advantage of playing them at home and playing them early. I just don't think we took advantage of that. But the upshot to this is that we have 17 more games (within the conference) so I'm trying to keep these guys really positive and just move forward. I don't think anybody is going to go 18-0 this season."
On his team's play during the early part of the second half...
"We just didn't make plays. I'll have to look at the tape, but what I saw just watching the game was that we ran some stuff and got some good looks and didn't complete them. That could be nerves, that could be the moment. It could be the fact that it's the first conference game, it could be anything. It could be psychological, which I'm not actually poo-poo-ing at all. I think we still are at a point where we have to feel like we can win games like this and not just suppose we can win games like this."
On how his team can make up for a 20-point differential in points in the paint...
"(We can) play better defense. I actually thought in the first half our defense was pretty good, but in that second half I just thought we got so caught up in the fact that we couldn't score, we let our defense lapse. When they (Oregon) get some of those transition baskets that are layups, those count as points in the paint, too. It was just hard to stop the bleeding once it started."
On his team's depth...
"I probably could have gone a little deeper, but we only had one game this week so I didn't think the guys were that tired when we were playing in the first half. In the second half, I just thought we made some mistakes. We turned the ball over and then once they (Oregon) went on a run we tried to make it up by trying to swing for the fence rather than grinding it out like we normally do."
On if the team needs more scoring out of Jarmal Reid, Challe Barton, Langston Morris-Walker and Olaf Schaftenaar...
"No. We have five guys averaging double figures and we probably have five guys who have scored more than 20 points. Don't quote me on that, but I could make an educated guess. We have enough guys who can score. What we need to do is for those guys who can score to be able to score."
On his team's leadership without senior center Angus Brandt on the court...
"Since Angus has gone down we have had a void in the leadership department. I try to get across to these guys that I can't be a leader. I can be a leader on the sideline, but not on the court. I think a lot of that has to do with it. I think we have a group of very nice kids, but we don't have anybody that's going to take somebody and kind of shake them out of the negativity like Angus would do. I think you may be on to something. Again, it's a little bit early in the conference (schedule) for me to try and figure too much off of one game, but we've thought about that as a staff."
On what portions of the second half he will use as teaching moments...
"Like every minute of it almost. There will be a lot to show in the film room, but I think these guys know. I thought that we didn't get to the foul line enough. I thought that we had wide open looks that we passed up to try and get something different, maybe better, but different. We are kind of a team that when we're open, we shoot the ball and I thought we passed up some shots today trying to get better shots. There's plenty of stuff that we can show these guys. You play a half like that, I could probably spend a whole day with them in the film room."
On the importance of his team's transition game...
"It was really big. We talked about this in the pregame. We talked about it all week in preparation. We have to prevent them (Oregon) from getting transition baskets. Transition `D' was one of our points of emphasis. I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half, but in the second half, again, when you're trying to fight back and you take long threes and you don't get offensive rebounds; that almost acts as its own outlet for them."
On if the team still needs to learn to play without Angus Brandt...
"I think so. I think we do. We played a non-conference schedule where we had a few games where we could play not to our best abilities and still win. That's not going to be the case in the conference and I think we have to deal with that and learn from that."
On players like Roberto Nelson wearing their hearts on their sleeves and carrying the burden of this loss...
"There are two things. One, as a sort of experienced backcourt that they are, they should take responsibility for it. That's first and foremost. That's why they're taking responsibility for it. That's part of the whole leadership thing that we're talking about. But secondly, you have to have them understand that this is one of 18 games and it's going to be a jumbled conference if what I'm seeing on the tapes bears out. So you can't stay in the negative for too long. You have to move on to the next game. We have to get ready for Arizona State, which is a winnable game. Every game we play here at home is going to be winnable. You can't let them get mired in their own despair after one game."
On if the backcourt only having one assist raises a red flag...
"No. I think that was just kind of the way the game was going. Our guards are our leading scorers so I think that they (Oregon) keyed on our guys and when they weren't open to score they made the pass that might have led to the pass. But our assist total, that's low for us. We usually have more than eight assists. We're usually in mid-double-figures in assists so you have to credit their defense.
On this year's team compared to last year's team after both opened their conference schedules with a loss...
"This team is better than last year's team. This is the best team I've had us start a Pac-12 season with in five years. This team is better in a lot of ways. Before last year I'll say we had to do a lot of alchemy to try and win games; trickery. We had to make up for the huge difference in talent level. I think we have enough talent on this team to be a good team in the conference. Like you've heard me say many times, the rest of it is going to be up here. You have to be able to be mentally tough enough to know that you're good enough."
Junior guard Ahmad Starks
On whether the team got away from going inside...
"We got Joe (Burton) some touches and Devon (Collier) some touches. Devon kind of got us back in the early part of the second half. He got us going and we were able to feed him the ball a little bit. I guess we could go a little bit more inside out instead of focusing on the perimeter play."
On playing the first Pac-12 game without Angus Brandt
"I feel like we miss Angus a lot. We are going to miss him a lot this whole season. With the way Angus was rebounding at the beginning - his presence, his offense, his strength, his size - we are going to miss that. Everybody else has to make up for it. The guards, Roberto and I have to help with the boards, help with everything. We just have to look at the tape and then go from there, just to pick it up in all areas."
On when he felt like the game had slipped away...
"Not until later in the game. We always felt like we had something going a little bit. Towards the end, it obviously did slip away."
Junior guard Roberto Nelson
On Oregon taking control in the second half...
"They just outplayed us. I think we got a little ahead of ourselves coming in with the lead and didn't execute as well as they did. They came out with a purpose and played extremely hard."
On adjustments made by Oregon in the second half...
"They were really outworking us. They did a good job of getting easy transition buckets and they were going hard. In the second half they really hurt us in transition. I don't think we got back as well as we did in the first half and we weren't able to run with them."
On his team's depth...
"I'm not really worried about our depth. We have some really good freshmen who can contribute and do a lot of good things. Tonight they (Oregon) wanted it more, but I wouldn't say they are deeper than us."
On guarding Oregon guard Damyean Dotson...
"He got a lot of his points in transition. I don't think he scored very much when they were running set plays. All of his buckets came from easy transition looks and kick-out shots. I think we needed to do a better job with our transition defense and contest their shots."
