Post-Game Quotes: Oregon vs. Utah
02/07/16 | Men's Basketball
Dana Altman – Head Coach, Oregon
Opening statement…
“I thought our activity in the second half was pretty good. Again, points off turnovers and second chance points are always big stats for us. Not giving up a bunch of second chance points and winning that points on turnovers. I thought those two stats were key.”
On Brooks' performance…
“Offensively he did a lot of good things. He finished plays. Really pleased with the way he started the second half, when he got it in there and kicked it to Chris and got the dunk, and had two assists there early in the second half.”
“With the nine assists, I thought that was pretty good. People tend to put everything on the offensive end. He had a great game offensively and he did, but he had six rebounds, nine assists, only two turnovers, had two steals, and I think he had a couple of communication gaps on defense. He's had some great games. This ranks right up there. It was a good performance.”
On putting teams away early…
“I prefer that. We don't need to make them close. We have been at home and now we are heading on the road. I like the progress we are making, and what excites me is I think there is more.”
On Bell's performance…
“Jordan gave us a big boost. Chris didn't practice the last two days and offensively he gave us something but defensively he wasn't into it like he usually is. I though Jordan gave us a good lift. He has three blocks; I think all three in the first half, but I thought his energy really helped us.”
On the league standings…
“I use a different formula to figure who is in the lead depending on the road. Arizona has five home left, but only two road. Some teams the schedule flips. Now we have three at home and four on the road. My formula for figuring out how is in the lead and where everyone is at is a lot different.”
Elgin Cook – Senior, Forward
On Dillon Brooks' 30-point game…
“Dillon was confident, he made a lot of shots and did a lot of good things for us. He played a real solid game.”
On Brooks' progression from freshman to sophomore year…
“Dillon's the first one in the gym every day, he's working hard in the weight room, and he's been a leader on and off the court, that's what we need from him. He's playing defense better, his body looks a lot better, he's more confident, he's shooting the ball a lot better and his feel is just better.”
On what needs to improve…
“There's still a lot we need to work on. I think towards the end of the first half and the second half we had some mental lapses and gave them some easy buckets, we just weren't communicating as a team. I'm sure Altman will look at the film and he'll get us on the practice floor and make sure we get better at those things.”
On the importance of getting two wins this weekend…
“It was a big weekend for us and we just need to continue to get better. We're going to be on the road, and there going to be tough games on the road. The bay area trip is always a tough trip.”
Jordan Bell – Sophomore, Forward
On the team's mindset right now…
“In our mind we're playing like we're last in the Pac-12, so we're not playing like we're number one. We're playing hungry, aggressive and we want to go out there and prove something every single night no matter who we're playing.”
On if there is a target on their back in the Pac-12….
“A little bit, yeah. I can tell that every time teams play us they seem to have their best games against us and players are stepping up more.”
On Dillon Brooks…
“I felt like he just stayed in the flow of the game the whole time. We ran our offense, and once he saw a seam he took it and either found me on the baseline or somebody else and we finished.”
Larry Krystkowiak – Head Coach, Utah
On the loss to Oregon…
“We had a couple of ill-advised shots and turnovers. The thing that we talk about, if you're going to beat Oregon, you can't give up easy baskets. We had a couple of ill-advised shots that turned into layups and dunks at the other end and we had empty possessions where we turned the ball over. I was proud of our guys for not giving in. We didn't have an answer for Dillon Brooks. That was a huge difference in the game. To have 30 points and nine assists, that's responsible for damn near 50 points. I just talked to our guys. We've been in a hotel room 18 nights out of 38 since we started league play. It hasn't exactly been easy to play seven out of 11 on the road. We've grown a little road weary. At the end of the day, we're still standing and we've got five out of seven at home. We just have to make a commitment to some of the details…If you don't take care of the little things, then the big things become a little bit polluted.”
On the defensive breakdowns…
“We certainly had some problems. The zone was good, I thought, and then we had some breakdowns that involved our smalls with how we were guarding a certain action that we had worked on the last couple of days. That gave up five points. Any time you're playing with a couple of fouls early, that's part of the game…It affected us for sure, and we lost a little bit of our punch offensively when some guys had to sit.”
On Dillon Brooks…
“It was a little bit of a replay of the first time at our place, although we were a little better defensively. You can't give Oregon easy ones because they're going to hit hard ones. When they hit hard ones off the easy ones you give up, you put yourself in a position where you can't beat them. We were pretty solid in a portion of the game. He stepped up and made huge plays. We were still too soft on him a couple of times and a little apprehensive for fouls. If we get a chance to play him again this year, we're going to have to get back to the drawing board and come up with a different plan as to how we're going to defend it because he's hurt us. And not just us. He's an all-Pac-12 player at this point and he's playing at a really high level.”
