Oklahoma State University Athletics
New Orleans Quotes
November 16, 2016 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State head coach Brad Underwood
On the team's start:
"Great start, I thought we were pretty dialed in at the start and I loved our unselfishness."
On Leyton Hammonds' performance:
"Leyton was tremendous early. He got it going and that was good to see. We all know that he's a capable scorer, but that's not what impressed me with Leyton's game, it was the 13 rebounds. He took that challenge upon himself."
On Lucas N'Guessan:
"I was really pleased with how Lucas impacted the game. In more ways than one, it was great to see him get a little confidence on the offensive end. He's starting to figure out the pace of the game."
On having six players in double figures:
"The 22 assists and ten turnovers, we shared the ball. We took the opportunities that we knew were there. I loved the pace and the tempo was very good. This team can get going in making shots in a hurry."
On facing UCONN in Maui:
"We'll see a different style and a different team in UCONN on Monday that has a big shot blocker. Every night is something new but we are grasping it. We are going to go fight for three straight nights, no matter who is on the other bench. See you in Maui."
OSU senior guard Phil Forte
On yesterday's practice:
"We worked a lot of defense. A lot of transition defense. Giving up that many points is definitely something we can't do. We had a lot of things to correct and so we took that time to work on the necessary things and come out here tonight to fix that. It was intense, like every other practice is. I think the coaches try to challenge us mentally, probably more than physically yesterday. But going in as players, we knew what we had to do. We knew we had to improve, giving up 90 points. No matter who we're playing, we can't give up that many points."
On the 3-pointer that bounced off the rim and went in:
"You just smile and laugh at it. It still goes in the book as three points. Definitely not how I draw it up, but I guess it's just a little shooter's touch."
On Mitchell Solomon and Leyton Hammonds:
"Whatever it is, you know we need him out there for sure. He's one of our best players. The way he plays the game, how smart he is and what all he brings to our team. We can't have him or Leyton in foul trouble, so it was good to see. Especially Leyton, he got in his groove early. That's what you see out of him. He's out on the floor and we need him on the floor. We need Mitch on the floor, too. Especially coming up against some of the teams that have bigger guys. They know that and it's always good to see them get out there and not get in foul trouble."
On the Maui Invitational:
"I mean that's what you want. Growing up as a kid and as a basketball fan, you're always watching the Maui Invitational. Always around Thanksgiving, it's a tournament I've always watched growing up. So to be able to play in that is a huge honor. So I'm looking forward to it. Our team hasn't really been tested against some NCAA tournament teams yet, so that'll be a challenge that we're looking forward to. Just take it one game at a time. Go out there and try to get better still. Nothing changes. We have to do what we do and then take it one game at a time and go from there."
OSU senior forward Leyton Hammonds
On three 100-point games in a row:
"We're just running. Coach wanted us to run in transition and try to get in the pass lane. Try to get easy buckets. But, when you have a point guard like Jawun Evans and a shooter like Phil Forte, points are going to come. We just have to play hard on defense."
On a well-rounded game:
"We had a lot of guys in double figures. We shared the ball really well today. But our main thing was defense. We were just playing great on defense, everybody was. It kind of gave us some energy on offense to share the ball and get easy baskets. It made it easy for us."
On yesterday's practice:
"We just have to be better on defense. We have to rebound, too. Especially the bigs, because this team was a pretty good offensive rebounding team. So we just tried to be our best today on defense and on the rebounding aspect of it. We just tried to play hard on defense."
On playing against UConn:
"They're a great team. We just have to do what we do. Play defense and come out with great energy, intensity, rebound and run in transition. Just do what we do. They're a great NCAA tournament team, so we just have to accept the challenge."
UNO head Coach Mark Slessinger:
Slessinger on the progression of his team as the game progressed:
"We did very few things at a high level, and we have to get better on all aspects offensively. We have to execute at a much higher rate. We have to be able to communicate defensively at a higher rate, which we did not do. We'll get there. This is the first road test of three, and we have to hope that it brings us together, galvanizes us and makes us a lot better of a team."
On the performance of Erik Thomas and Jorge Rosa:
"Erik [Thomas] was solid again offensively. We never really got a rhythm the whole night. We had some good counter and some back court action that we looked for, and we weren't able to finish those the way we wanted to, but then Jorge [Rosa] gave us some spark off the bench, really played solid and did a good job. We're pleased with him, and that's what we expect in bringing him in. We hope he can continue to grow, get better defensively and do the things he needs to do."
On Brad Underwood and the Cowboys:
"They're [OSU] solid. They [OSU] have two very talented guards. [Phil] Forte and [Jawun] Evans did very good, and that will carry them a long way."
About UNO's next game against Tulsa:
"You have to have a short memory when you're on the road [talking about the loss against Ok State]. We know we have a tough one against Tulsa. It's a very difficult place to play. They have a very good ball club, and we know we're going to have to play at a much higher rate than we did tonight. I am disappointed for our guys that we didn't play better. I'm disappointed that we didn't have a better collective effort, and we'll want to correct that immediately."
UNO's Erik Thomas
On UNO not being able to get back into the game after it got out of hand:
"Honestly, we just couldn't get back into what we've been practicing. We were having a hard time getting into our offense, and it turned into us getting turnovers. It was showing on the scoreboard."
On Oklahoma State's speed and scoring transition:
"They were fast and long, but I think if we would have executed on our offensive side, we would have been fine, but it took us a long time to get into our offense. Their [OSU's] defensive athleticism just caused them to get up real quick and real fast."
On the team's start:
"Great start, I thought we were pretty dialed in at the start and I loved our unselfishness."
On Leyton Hammonds' performance:
"Leyton was tremendous early. He got it going and that was good to see. We all know that he's a capable scorer, but that's not what impressed me with Leyton's game, it was the 13 rebounds. He took that challenge upon himself."
On Lucas N'Guessan:
"I was really pleased with how Lucas impacted the game. In more ways than one, it was great to see him get a little confidence on the offensive end. He's starting to figure out the pace of the game."
On having six players in double figures:
"The 22 assists and ten turnovers, we shared the ball. We took the opportunities that we knew were there. I loved the pace and the tempo was very good. This team can get going in making shots in a hurry."
On facing UCONN in Maui:
"We'll see a different style and a different team in UCONN on Monday that has a big shot blocker. Every night is something new but we are grasping it. We are going to go fight for three straight nights, no matter who is on the other bench. See you in Maui."
OSU senior guard Phil Forte
On yesterday's practice:
"We worked a lot of defense. A lot of transition defense. Giving up that many points is definitely something we can't do. We had a lot of things to correct and so we took that time to work on the necessary things and come out here tonight to fix that. It was intense, like every other practice is. I think the coaches try to challenge us mentally, probably more than physically yesterday. But going in as players, we knew what we had to do. We knew we had to improve, giving up 90 points. No matter who we're playing, we can't give up that many points."
On the 3-pointer that bounced off the rim and went in:
"You just smile and laugh at it. It still goes in the book as three points. Definitely not how I draw it up, but I guess it's just a little shooter's touch."
On Mitchell Solomon and Leyton Hammonds:
"Whatever it is, you know we need him out there for sure. He's one of our best players. The way he plays the game, how smart he is and what all he brings to our team. We can't have him or Leyton in foul trouble, so it was good to see. Especially Leyton, he got in his groove early. That's what you see out of him. He's out on the floor and we need him on the floor. We need Mitch on the floor, too. Especially coming up against some of the teams that have bigger guys. They know that and it's always good to see them get out there and not get in foul trouble."
On the Maui Invitational:
"I mean that's what you want. Growing up as a kid and as a basketball fan, you're always watching the Maui Invitational. Always around Thanksgiving, it's a tournament I've always watched growing up. So to be able to play in that is a huge honor. So I'm looking forward to it. Our team hasn't really been tested against some NCAA tournament teams yet, so that'll be a challenge that we're looking forward to. Just take it one game at a time. Go out there and try to get better still. Nothing changes. We have to do what we do and then take it one game at a time and go from there."
OSU senior forward Leyton Hammonds
On three 100-point games in a row:
"We're just running. Coach wanted us to run in transition and try to get in the pass lane. Try to get easy buckets. But, when you have a point guard like Jawun Evans and a shooter like Phil Forte, points are going to come. We just have to play hard on defense."
On a well-rounded game:
"We had a lot of guys in double figures. We shared the ball really well today. But our main thing was defense. We were just playing great on defense, everybody was. It kind of gave us some energy on offense to share the ball and get easy baskets. It made it easy for us."
On yesterday's practice:
"We just have to be better on defense. We have to rebound, too. Especially the bigs, because this team was a pretty good offensive rebounding team. So we just tried to be our best today on defense and on the rebounding aspect of it. We just tried to play hard on defense."
On playing against UConn:
"They're a great team. We just have to do what we do. Play defense and come out with great energy, intensity, rebound and run in transition. Just do what we do. They're a great NCAA tournament team, so we just have to accept the challenge."
UNO head Coach Mark Slessinger:
Slessinger on the progression of his team as the game progressed:
"We did very few things at a high level, and we have to get better on all aspects offensively. We have to execute at a much higher rate. We have to be able to communicate defensively at a higher rate, which we did not do. We'll get there. This is the first road test of three, and we have to hope that it brings us together, galvanizes us and makes us a lot better of a team."
On the performance of Erik Thomas and Jorge Rosa:
"Erik [Thomas] was solid again offensively. We never really got a rhythm the whole night. We had some good counter and some back court action that we looked for, and we weren't able to finish those the way we wanted to, but then Jorge [Rosa] gave us some spark off the bench, really played solid and did a good job. We're pleased with him, and that's what we expect in bringing him in. We hope he can continue to grow, get better defensively and do the things he needs to do."
On Brad Underwood and the Cowboys:
"They're [OSU] solid. They [OSU] have two very talented guards. [Phil] Forte and [Jawun] Evans did very good, and that will carry them a long way."
About UNO's next game against Tulsa:
"You have to have a short memory when you're on the road [talking about the loss against Ok State]. We know we have a tough one against Tulsa. It's a very difficult place to play. They have a very good ball club, and we know we're going to have to play at a much higher rate than we did tonight. I am disappointed for our guys that we didn't play better. I'm disappointed that we didn't have a better collective effort, and we'll want to correct that immediately."
UNO's Erik Thomas
On UNO not being able to get back into the game after it got out of hand:
"Honestly, we just couldn't get back into what we've been practicing. We were having a hard time getting into our offense, and it turned into us getting turnovers. It was showing on the scoreboard."
On Oklahoma State's speed and scoring transition:
"They were fast and long, but I think if we would have executed on our offensive side, we would have been fine, but it took us a long time to get into our offense. Their [OSU's] defensive athleticism just caused them to get up real quick and real fast."
Players Mentioned
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