Tulsa 73, Bradley 68 -- Postgame Quotes
3/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 31, 2008
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TULSA HEAD COACH Doug Wojcik QUOTES:
Opening statement:
"At this stage of the game, a win is a win is a win. We'll take the win. I've never been in this position before. You have to turn around, make adjustments and go to Peoria for the game. It's exciting. Give Bradley credited. They played well. They exploited the ball screens and pulled Jerome away from the basket. We knew that was going to happen. They did a great job, yet we found a way to win with 17 turnovers and shooting 26 pct from 3 and 59 pct from the free throw line. It wasn't our smartest outing of the last three months, but there's a lot of confidence in those kids and they found a way to win. We'll take No. 24 and look to play better on Wednesday night."
About the Crowd:
"Crowd was outstanding. It was a lot of fun. We knew it was going to be that way. We've been monitoring ticket sales and seeing that it was 7,300. For the folks that have been here for all four games, they've seen very, very good basketball for the last two weeks. I'm very excited about it and hope to bring home a championship for them on Wednesday."
On Jerome Jordan:
"We need him to take over. If he's not a low post presence against them, the way they have their open, spread offense, defensively, if they're going to have him on the perimeter chasing ball screens, he has to make a difference on the other end of the floor in the post and he really did. They played a lot of zone. We were a little bit out of sorts. The fouls on Calvin and Ray Reese sort of took us out of sorts. Sam played a great game and did a great job, but offensively we need Calvin in the game. I thought Jerome was the difference in the second half and Ben's effort was very consistent to what he's been and what he's become. Between Sam's efforts off the bench and Rod Earls' off the bench - the baseline out of bounds 3 was a very big play in the game."
On the Short Turnaround:
"We'll watch the game tonight. My thing is let's throw stuff at the board, make decisions and go with it. Our kids do have some confidence. It's a situation where they played really small and you really miss Bishop. What are you going to do? We're going to try to overcome that. Hopefully we'll shoot it better. We had so many offensive rebounds and putback opportunities, we just didn't convert them."
On Defending Bradley's Threes:
"We did do a good job from the 3-point line. Jeremy Crouch did a nice job of driving us and getting some baskets close to the bucket. We just have to continue that. It's a totally different story with them at home. They're a good home team. They're a good team. I think they do a great job."
On Dribble drive adjustments:
"We went into the game with a soft trap and then had them stay with it a little longer. Toward the end, when I had the four guards in there with one big, they weren't used to play the role guy off the ball screen. That's where they got a couple of layups on us. We'll have to make adjustments. I didn't realize that they'd go with that smaller lineup that they did. That makes us adjust a little bit because we weren't really converting and taking advantage of it on the other end of the floor."
On Jordan's covering guards on the perimeter:
"It is hard, but he has shown (he can do it). The sky's the limit and we're going to keep pushing him that way. I just feel like it's fair to him that I can expect it from him. It is hard, but he's quite an athlete."
Calling a Timeout and going to Zone Late:
"We were trying to slow Ruffin down. Give them a lot of credit. Jeremy Crouch and Daniel Ruffin are two seniors that have unbelievable experience. They've been in the Sweet 16, they've been in the tournament, they are very good players and they showed that tonight with one getting 16 and one getting 15."
The Momentum of this Post-season Run:
"It's really done us wonders. I've said this all week as a coach. It's a blessing for my program at the University of Tulsa right now. I had no idea that this would be such a great way to capture the past. Especially with Bradley here, it allows me to have a little bit of a page for the history. It was a chance for our fans to see the growth of a Jerome Jordan, a Ben Uzoh and the whole team from the Conference USA run. I really can't put it into words and describe what this is going to do for our program long-term. It's a chance for everyone to get to know me a little bit better, a chance to get to know our players better, a chance to get to see quality opponents. It's a blessing in disguise. It's better than the NIT."
On Ray Reese's Three First-half Fouls:
"It wasn't a good feeling. Right now, I wish I could play Glenn a little bit more. I'm going to have to throughout the week. But I really trust Ray and Ben. I gambled and I lost. It was a funky game for us, with the fouls, the free throws, the missed second shots. But we were resilient and won. That's what matters."
On Your Press Offense:
"I didn't draw up the pass that Ray threw from the sidelines. I hope it's out of their system and hopefully we have a little more pizzaz and smarts to our game. I hope Brett plays a little smarter. It was great for him to hit those early shots, but we need him to play smarter and control the game."
BRADLEY HEAD COACH JIM LES QUOTES:
Coach will you give an overview of the game and what you thought about Tulsa? "I thought we didn't play as good as well as could have and they were the aggressor and that's why they came out on top."
Disparity in Rebounds?
"I was looking at the disparity in another column actually, but sure that probably had something to do with it."
Talk about that stretch early in the second half?
"I think they made some shots and also got some second chance points that got them going. When they did miss, we did not come up with the first rebound."
The format of the Tournament?
"I was a great opportunity for us to make some adjustments and a second chance to play better and continue the series and come back here on Friday."
The Atmosphere?
"I think it was great and I have a lot of respect for the Tulsa program and their fans, going back to my playing days, its nice to be back and they didn't disappoint, I thought it was a great atmosphere."
Discuss the atmosphere at Bradley?
"We have great fans and we have had great support all year and we had two home games to start this series and they have been great and a lot of our fans are coming off spring break, so we are excited to have them back and we need their energy and enthusiasm on Wednesday night."
How much of a factor was Jerome Jordan?
"He is good player and I thought in particular he came up with some offensive rebounds, with his size and when we started to make a run that kind of stopped us and that was both in the first half and in the second half."
