Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs UTSA
November 16, 2011 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 16, 2011
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Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs UTSA
NIT Season Tip-Off • Second Round
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford
On the game
“I think our young basketball team grew up a little bit. I've been a part of a lot of come-backs as a player and coach. This was one of the most rewarding, but San Antonio (UTSA) is a better basketball team than us right now. They have four returning starters and went to Australia this summer. They are just further ahead of us and have really good players and coaches. I knew, even with Keiton Page, this would take a special effort. I watched enough tape on San Antonio to realize they are really polished because they're well coached and went to Australia and have everyone back."
"To win the way we won with a young basketball team is very exciting. This is great because we can have this to refer back to. We told our players to believe in the system and someone is going to have to make a play. I told them I will manage the clock and call the timeouts, but against their zone, there was not much we could do. I told them it was in their hands and someone had to make a play. The biggest cheerleader who never gave up was (Cezar) Guerrero, he is the one guy in the huddle who kept saying we were going to win and would break the huddle with 'win'. We just kept telling them to believe in the system and somebody was going to have to make a play, whether it is a steal, block, or a three."
"If we can bottle up the sense of urgency we played with the last two minutes and overtime, then maybe we have a chance at being a decent team down the road. We had several guys who didn't play till the last five minutes. It was really fun and was really good for our young basketball team. In a game like this, we are never good without Keiton. I told our coaches last night and said I don't know how they are going to stop Keiton from getting shots.”
On the steal and three point shot
"When they scored, I was yelling we had to get a steal. That one deflection got the steal. He (Guerrero) had the knowledge enough to know the time on the clock and find the three point line and launch it. I'm glad it went in and it was a great steal.”
Oklahoma State freshman guard/forward Le'Bryan Nash
On Cezar Guerrero's performance
"Wow. I really believe in him ... We were just watching ... his high school highlights earlier. And, he was showing me stuff he did in high school, and I've seen it in college now ... This kid's ridiculous, man. We all knew he could shoot, but man, that was a big three he hit to make it 77-77. He's a great performer."
On what the team felt being down so late
"To tell you the truth, when Cezar hit his first three, I thought we were back in it, even though we were down by eight or something. I was like, 'I know the seat was getting hot ... something good is gonna go for us.' Then (Jéan-Paul Olukemi) got fouled and he made both of his free throws. Then (Cezar's shot) happened, so we all believed in it, that's why it happened, us all believing in it. We really wanted to go to New York."
Oklahoma State freshman guard Cezar Guerrero
On how fun it is for him playing
"That's just me. Like my brother always told me, if basketball (isn't) fun to you, then don't play it. Basketball, to me, I try to make it fun. It's always fun to me. I mean, I get the crowd involved and everything going. That's just me, I'm that type of player and I live for these moments ... and I couldn't do it without these guys."
On his confidence
"I've always thought of myself as a confident player. I believe in myself. It's confidence ... These guys give me the confidence and I just live with confidence. I'm confident in my own abilities. I know what to do with the ball in critical situations. I just live for these moments."
On his role with Keiton Page out
"I told (Page), 'I got you'. When he was putting on his regular clothes, I told him, 'I got you, don't worry about it. I'm here, I'm gonna support you and I'm ready to take on that role to become that leader for you'. There's always moments for us to be leaders in this game and you've got to take your opportunity to be a leader on the court. Just take it, and flourish with it."
UTSA Head Coach Brooks Thompson
Opening Statement
"I don't have a whole lot to say. Obviously, it's a very disheartening loss, and we felt like we should have won. We didn't execute there at the end, but I'm very proud of our basketball team, coming in here and playing the way that they did. Still, a very disheartening loss."
On tonight's close loss compared to last night's close win
"They were very similar, in the fact that the kids showed great heart. We've got a chemistry and a group of guys in there that felt like they should have won this game too, so it was a pretty emotional locker room in there. You have to be proud, as a coach, to coach those types of guys. They have showed their character these past two nights, and I think that just a little bit of inexperience came out on our part, and we didn't make the plays to close the game."
On the team's last possession before overtime
"We did have a timeout there. We switched the press break to try and get the ball to Michael Hale's hands. Oklahoma State guarded it well. We should have connected on it. It cost us the game, but it's a play where you let it go and let it flow. If it was anybody's call it was mine."
On how he feels about the team's future
"I feel as good as you can. In my sixth year at UTSA, my staff and I have put our heart and soul into this program. Five years ago, we would come in here and get beat by 50. We wouldn't be able to beat teams like Oral Roberts, who have the experience and coaching knowledge. Knowing that we had opportunities to win that game, we're very proud of who we're coaching, and we're very proud of where we're coaching. All the credit goes to our players."
