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Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“It’s good to play against someone else. This game tonight will give us an opportunity to have a great film session tomorrow and to look at some things that we did well and some things we didn’t do well. We looked about how I expected us to look with this being our first game with so many young guys. I thought we shot the ball well. I said from the beginning that I think this team can be a really good shooting team. There are some things we have to continue to work on defensively – individual straight-up man and help-side defense. I thought our ball-screen defense was pretty good. Our sense of urgency has to get better. Offensively, our execution has to get better and being careless with the ball. Those are things we can correct, will correct and look forward to getting back to work.”
On going 13-for-23 from 3-point range:
We were 13-for-23 and Willie (Warren) didn’t make one and he is a very good shooter. (Tony) Crock (Crocker) missed some early that we feel really good about him making, as did Tommy (Mason-Griffin). I think we have a good shooting team. I think this can be a strength of our team.”
On the offensive change from last season to this season:
“We are going to shoot 3’s this year. That is going to be something we do. If we can rebound and get out and run, that is the best offense for us. Offensively, we have two guys who, if a play breaks down, can make something happen. Willie and Tommy can do that. Both of them can go under ball screens and shoot it, shoot it with range, play off of a ball screen or go flat for them. You have guys like Crock, (Steven) Pledger and Cade Davis who you have to be accountable for and that opens up the floor for Willie and Tommy to be able to make plays.”
On the freshmen:
“I thought they were great. All of those guys are talented and I thought they all did good things. They all have some work to do. Tommy had some careless turnovers. Tiny took one bad shot and has to rebound better and be more of a post presence. Drew (Fitzgerald) did some good things. Steve (Pledger) shot the ball really well. The one thing he can do is shoot the ball and, on top of a lot of other things, I thought he defended well today too.”
On Tiny Gallon’s rebounding performance:
“He has always been a guy who can rebound at a high level and he has long arms. It is something that he has to get better at. Even with his size he has a great pair of hands and we need him going after rebounds. I told him that you have to have the mindset that every rebound is mine. Our team needs to do that. If he can do that and learn to do that consistently, it helps us become better.”
Sophomore Guard Willie Warren
On the game:
“I thought we did very well. You know, it was closer than we would have liked in the first half. Before the game I talked to the team to let them know that this is a statement game for us. Everybody was going to wonder how we would do without Blake [Griffin]. I think we answered a lot of questions tonight.”
On him getting to the basket tonight:
“That’s one thing I didn’t do as much last year when we had Blake down there drawing the double team, so it was hard to do that. But without the big fellow down there getting all the attention and the double team, it’s easier for us to penetrate and kick.”
On if it felt like a complete night:
“I could tell my jump shot wasn’t falling but I try not to (let that get to me). What Coach Capel says, he wants us to lose ourselves in the team. If my jump shot isn’t falling, I’m not out there worried about myself, I’m just trying to get the win. So I did whatever I could to help get my team the victory.”
Senior Guard Tony Crocker
On tonight’s game:
“I think we did some things good. We also did some things we need to work on, but overall we did pretty good.”
On what got them fired up in the second half:
“I really thought our defense picked up. That turned into steals and transition points and we started to get back on defense. I really think that transfers to playing better on offense.”
Freshman Guard Tommy Mason-Griffin
On the experience of tonight’s game:
“I just wanted to get out there and get a feel of the different transition, different help defense, guys that are quicker, stronger, and faster. So I just wanted to go out and contribute a little bit, get comfortable a little bit.”
On the contribution of the team’s freshmen:
“We didn’t want to come in the game looking to score, we just wanted to play defense and get easy baskets on the other end and get steals. Pushing the ball, everybody staying wide and keeping the offense spread led to 3-pointers.”
British Columbia Head Coach Kevin Hanson
General comment:
“I think they are in for a great season. I thought he had a very good recruiting class. They have all the pieces that they need to have a great run this year. I’m pretty impressed with them. They are a little bit more of a team this year than the last time that we saw them a few years ago in Vancouver. To be honest, I was pretty happy with the first three quarters of the game, and then in the last 10 minutes they just turned it to a different level that we just couldn’t compete against.”
On Oklahoma’s perimeter shooting in the second half:
“That was pretty impressive. You look at the stats in the second half and they just shot the lights out of it. In transition they were able to penetrate. That was a shooting display you are not going to see very often.”
More on the game:
“For a Canadian school to come down here, you are never quite sure what to expect with the different caliber of play. There was a different level of intensity, even in the last 10 minutes of the game. They are a little bit bigger in size and have thicker bodies. Obviously, they have spent some time in the weight room. That was a big difference since the last time we saw them.
“We come down here to work on specific things. It is a great opportunity right now. We have played one conference game. We can go home now, refocus on what we learned in this game. You certainly get your weaknesses exposed by playing a team as gifted and well coached as these guys are. Overall, you are obviously disappointed in a 40-point game, but I think there are some positives, believe it or not, that we can take away from this game.”
