Postgame Quotes - Oregon vs. Baylor
11/17/15 | Men's Basketball
Dana Altman - Head Coach Oregon
On the end of the game…
“Well we ran out of gas. You know, I have to get those freshman ready to go. Trevor (Manuel), Roman (Sorkin), and Kendall (Small), we've got to get them ready to go in practice here for more action, but we rode those six guys pretty hard and they were able to finish it.”
On the difference in the game…
“The difference in the game was us creating 18 turnovers for 28 points. You know, our little press hurt them a little bit… I thought our effort was good. We had some really bad offensive possessions in the second half there when they made their run, and we had some bad defensive possessions that let them back in the game, but it's a great start.”
On what made Baylor's zone so difficult…
“They ran a cross between a little bit of a 2-3 and a 1-3-1. Those wings are so big, and you just can't simulate their size in practice. They put (Taurean) Prince on one wing… and it's just a big zone. You have to attack it from the baseline, I think, and you have to get it in the paint area there. Dillon did a nice job in the first half. We had some good looks. I thought we attacked it pretty good…”
On the game's tempo…
“Defensively, they are known for that. I don't think anyone scored 75 on them all of last year, but we're a little bit faster paced if you look at the number than they are. It's just a good win for us. I didn't know what to expect tonight, I really didn't. I thought we had had some good practices, but until you throw guys out in that situation I really didn't know what to expect. I thought the guys did a nice job.”
Elgin Cook - Forward, Redshirt Senior
On the offense…
“Baylor is a great team. We just had a hard time figuring out their zone. They played very well on defense.”
On the feeling of this being a new team
“Last year was a completely different team, so we've got a lot of new players and we're trying to work them in. We've just got to come prepared for each practice and get better.”
On the confidence this win gives the team…
“It's real big, I think it's gives us a lot of confidence but at the same time , you've got to come to practice and work and get better tomorrow.”
Dwayne Benjamin - Forward, Senior
On the preparation for the game…
“We always felt that with the right practices that we had, and with Coach Altman and our coaches, that we were ready. We just knew what we had to do. We had to fight, rebound and defend, and that's it. That's what we did tonight.”
On length and quickness…
“They were strong. They've got a lot of big bodies in there but we used out length and our quickness to counteract that. I think that was a big part of it.”
On winning such a big game…
“It was a pretty big game. It was a highly ranked team and we knew that was a good team and we just wanted to see where we were compared to them.
Scott Drew – Head Coach, Baylor
On turnovers putting them in a hole early…
“That was the Achilles' heel tonight. They got 28 points off of our turnovers. You take away the 28 points and now it's a tremendous defensive performance and you can win with that with our offense. You've got to give Oregon a lot of credit. I thought their press, their matchup zone, their crowd. As a staff, I wish we had a couple more days to work on some things because I think we could've given them a better showing offensively. I really give them credit for putting us out of sync. Those turnovers, again, were the ballgame, in my opinion.”
On the near comeback in the second half…
“That's something that you look at it and those guys got us back into it. It's tough because you go back with your starters, or at that time, you ride out the people that have been playing well. I thought the guys that came in, it was a great experience for them. We're a much better team because of a game like this. We might have taken a loss, but I think it exposed some areas where we've got to get better and it will make us hungrier to get better. It gets you ready for what you face in conference, and at the end of the day that's what playing quality teams like Oregon at their place does.”
On Oregon…
“They are one of nine schools to win a tournament game each of the last three years. I think if you check the scores tonight, most of the home teams win in a marathon, especially early on in the year. It's a great learning experience for us. We'll get better from it. I know that, again, it's not about where we are right now. It's about where we will be and a game like this will get us to where we need to be.”
