Post-Game Quotes
January 31, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2008
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Head Coach Lorenzo Romar
General Comments:
"Obviously we couldn't contain Brook Lopez. He impacted the game against us as maybe as much as any player we have played against since we've been here. Offensively it is difficult to contain him. Then defensively he and Robin allow their guards to really get physical with you. We just couldn't get much going at the rim. They were the better team tonight, that's for sure. I can't remember the last time someone beat us this way at home. Maybe back to Gonzaga a few years ago."On the Lopez twins: "Their size bothered us. When you just talk about match-ups, to me there was one match up: Brook Lopez. No one else scored in double-figures. No one else really impacted the game offensively other than Brook. But you have to credit Stanford. Coach [Trent] Johnson and his staff have done a good job of making it clear this is the direction this team is going to go. [They] are going to get that ball to Brook and there is a good reason for it. Brook was unstoppable."
On not coming to play: "I don't know what it was, but again I don't want to discredit the job that Stanford did. They thoroughly beat us. I would've liked to have seen us play with a little more passion tonight with so much at stake. I don't know how tentative we were. Last year when were playing at Stanford they did the same thing early. They blocked a lot of shots early. I remember specifically that we came back and had every chance to win that game."
On Brook Lopez: "Stanford exposes any lapses in your defensive coverage. They shot 42 percent. When you look at the stat sheet that 42 percent had a lot to do with when Brook was not shooting. We tried to defend him a number of ways. We played behind, we fronted, we doubled him. But he scored a lot of different ways on us."
On Cal: "I think the preparation is different for each team. They don't have a Brook Lopez. They have a Ryan Anderson that is a completely different player, but presents all sorts of problems. Brook rarely left the paint. Ryan Anderson will score in the paint and he will score on the perimeter. Cal is one of those teams that has been close and tonight they got over the hump."
On poor free throw shooting: "Joe Wolfinger is an outstanding free throw shooter. I've never seen him do that in practice, horse, anything. Rarely does he step up there and miss free throws like that. Even the one that went in kind of hung on for dear life so to speak. Sometimes it can get contagious. I know Jon missed a few and then he shot one that was just a wild shot. That was mental. He settled down and came back and did a better job."
Junior Jon Brockman
General Comments:
"If you don't play like you want to win the game then you are not going to win anything in the Pac-10 and we didn't come out like we wanted to win today. We got what we deserved, I think."On his injury: "It's pretty sore. It definitely limits everything that I'm doing. But, that's the season. You've got to play through stuff."
On the team not coming to play: "No one is coming out saying, `I'm not going to play today.' I think there are just times when, whatever it is, you can tell that guys aren't their normal selves. For whatever reason we weren't our normal selves today."
On the Lopez brothers: "Brook had a great night. So did Robin. I don't think they are ever going to play basketball where they are not going to block shots. That is something that we knew coming in. There are going to be times that they are going to block your shot because that is what they do. I think for the most part we did a decent job of just coming at them. But they were monsters tonight and they helped their team win."
On coming back against Cal: "We have to change a lot of stuff. If we come out like that we are not going to win a single game for the rest of the season in the Pac-10. We had stretches in the second half where we started chipping away. But we've got to just come out and stick to our defensive principles. And on the offensive end we didn't have the flow that we've been starting to have, for whatever reason. If I knew the answer we wouldn't have lost today. We have to play in less than 48 hours against Cal and we have to bring it."
On Stanford: "They're good, especially when their big guys are doing what they did to us. Part of that is what we did. There were times when we just let them have multiple and-one's in a row and we can't let that happen. They're going to be in the mix when it comes down to it. They're a pretty good team."
On Brook Lopez: "Players get that confidence and the mentality of owning the court. As a freshman last year he was trying to figure everything out and everything was new to him. But this year he is an experienced player in the Pac-10 and he's going to be able to [take over a game] just with his athleticism and his work ethic. He is a great NBA Lottery type of guy."
Stanford Head Coach Trent Johnson
General Statement:
"We gave our maximum effort. We did a good job of recognizing where we needed to get the ball and did a good job keeping their composure. It was a good win for us. Any win in this league, either on the road or at home, is a good win."On Brook Lopez: "There are so many parts of his game where he needs to improve. I was more impressed with the way he kept his composure. He didn't get in foul trouble. With Jon Brockman and Artem Wallace Washington does a really good job of attacking the basket at angles. We talked at Cal so much about not getting silly fouls and I think we did a good job tonight. Again, Robin lost his composure against Jon, which is going to happen. He did a good job tonight. We're getting better. He's one of the best players in the league. I think Robin did a very, very good job of staying down on Jon [Brockman]. A couple times he made Jon work and blocked his shots."
On Stanford's force from the beginning of the game: "That's what you would expect from a senior, junior, sophomore experienced team. We're going to play off of emotion. We've got a purpose for when we play and how we play."
On what he was most happy about tonight: "For me, it's always about contributions from the bench. We're able to play nine, ten guys. Landry Fields is coming...I'm always going to be happy when we get contributions from guys who are always engaged."
On being happy with Brook's game: "On one end of the floor. Offensively, yes. I'm never happy with anybody defensively."
On Jon Brockman: "Jon had thirteen points and thirteen rebounds. He was right on his point average. That's not easy to do. He's a special player and a special person."
