Post Game Quotes
January 19, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2008
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Head Coach Lorenzo Romar
General Comments:
"Oregon State for us has been one of those teams where we've had our struggles and tonight was no different. I applaud our guys, in the midst of a game that seemed like it was getting away from us at one point, for hanging in there, buckling down and doing what we needed to do to come up with the victory. You have to give Oregon State a lot of credit. There is a lot of controversy centered around there team right now. They haven't won a game. And you wouldn't have been able to convince anyone if they didn't know that by the way they went out and they scrapped."On Venoy Overton: "Venoy's decision-making has a improved immensely. Just give Venoy a couple of turnovers a game. Let him have those because he is going to make more positive plays than he is negative. When he is playing freely he really makes an impact on the game. He kind of picks his spots a little more, but yet he is always trying to be aggressive, he is always trying to push the action. That is a great sign of maturity. But on the other end of the floor may be his best area of maturation. Venoy in New York was pretty good. But defensively he has gotten so much better. He puts a lot of pressure on the basketball. He is like a little gnat and that is what you love to have from your guards out front."
On Matthew Bryan-Amaning: "He has slowed his game down and he is taking his time. Consequently he is not picking up the travelling turnovers that he picked up earlier in the year. He is playing a little more calmly."
On Quincy Pondexter: "Quincy is going through this situation where he is kind of being a rebuilt engine. He has really worked hard to become a better defender and rebounder. Quincy is, I believe, on his way up. It's pretty good timing in this Pac-10 race to have these guys starting to step up."
On Brockman down the stretch: "It's no secret that he is our leading scorer and teams double-team him and try to take him out of the game. But down the stretch when we needed a bucket our guys found Jon Brockman. I think that is a sign of progress."
On why the game got chippy: "Two teams fighting hard. One teams with no wins saw potential victory and they were going to give it all they had. Another team thinking, `man we're at home and we might not come out on top.' Just guys getting after each other. Good ole hard, aggressive basketball."
Oregon State Head Coach Jay John
On any extra intensity in tonight's game:
"I don't think there was anything extra. We're growing up. We're learning how to compete. We're working harder all the time. We played a 38-minute game. We had some turnovers that turned into lay-ups for UW. With the turnovers, we put ourselves in a tough position and Brockman made some great plays to get UW some easy stuff. But I don't think there was anything extra. We got our butts smashed the other night against a top ten team, with a bunch of guys that are 21 and 22 years old. We weren't ready for Washington State. We weren't ready for that experience. Our guys made some plays and keep getting better. It's frustrating for the guys to not get a reward for their efforts. But life's not always fair, either."On OSU's young team: "I have one senior, a couple of juniors and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. And they're playing in most difficult conference in the country, right out of the gate for many of them. They've got to learn to taste this. Many of us learn the hard way. The hard part is understanding it, when you take things for granted in practice and that slippage is something you can't afford to lose. Our kids gave a great effort tonight."
On the last four minutes of the game: "Jon Brockman made some great plays. That extra put-back and he got fouled up. In terms of offense, we had some turnovers. We had some turnovers that turned into run offs...Officials can get screened. There are a lot of big players out there. And the foul that turned into an intentional and giving them the ball back. Then its 76-72. If you don't have the two free throws and have to give the ball back it's not 76-72, it's 74-72. But it didn't happen that way."
On Calvin Hampton's play: "He's a sophomore. He's going to keep getting better. You never know when the light's going to click for guys."
On the rest of the team: "Josh Tarver's getting better. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well today, but he's on the cusp of doing some very good things. We've got guys who are just having to sort it out and realize that they have more control than they think. But when you're young you don't necessarily think that way. Your sense of urgency isn't nearly as sharp. This is good for them, it helps them."
