TULSA POSTGAME QUOTES VS. HOUSTON
1/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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TULSA HEAD COACH Frank Haith
Opening statement
"Obviously, I thought it was a great win for us. I thought our guys played extremely hard. We talked about things we needed to do to win this game. One was rebounding. We did a great job there. I thought we guarded the three-point line. They still made eight three's, but I thought that was a key for us; to make sure we guarded the three-point line. So, all in all, I thought that was great win for us."
On shooting almost 50 percent despite shooting 0-for-10 from three
"I think we showed great growth. We weren't just falling into the trap and just shooting threes. We're not ever going to be a great three-point shooting team - we had a game this year where we made eight threes - but that's not our game. Our game is being in attack mode. We want to get 30 to 35 points in the paint. That's the way we play. But that only happens if you have great ball movement, and you're able to attack closeouts and play inside out. I thought we did a great job doing that. We had some really nice plays where they trapped us in the post and we had some nice finishes. [D'Andre Wright] didn't score tonight, other than a couple of free throws, but he made some really nice passes. I thought it was a great performance from us in terms of sharing the ball. You look at our last five or six games, our assist-to-turnover ratio has flipped to the point where we are getting way more assists than turnovers. It's all about us getting comfortable with our offense, but also buying into sharing the ball and looking for one another."
On the way the guards were attacking; shooting 36 free throws and shooting 72 percent from the line
"We haven't been shooting great [from the line], but we've been working hard at it. They're like pros this time of the year (during semester break) they have no class (to attend). The guys are in that gym and working, and it's paying off. That's something we have to get better at because we are an attack mode team and we are hopeful to get to the line more than our opponent. Tonight we were able to make over 70 percent of those."
On what makes Shaquille Harrison so special
"He's a tough matchup. He is so good off the dribble. Everyone plays him the same way, they play him for the drive and he still drives it. But I think we have great spacing. He's very determined, he has great toughness, and he's got great will. He is a treat to coach because he brings it everyday at practice. What you see in the games is the way he practices."
On TK Edogi giving the team a spark
"Yeah he had two blocks, a couple of rebounds, a nice finish. He played well at Central Florida. He's been practicing well. TK is a developing young player who's still learning the game. I'm really encouraged with how hard he's worked to get better. We need our bench to give us something and he is really working hard at it. I'm really excited about TK because he has a great attitude, and he wants to be good."
On limiting Houston's Jherrod Stiggers; league rebounding leader Devonta Pollard
"Yeah Shaq was guarding (Stiggers), and that definitely was a key for us to shut him down. A guy like that is going to score, he's a great scorer. We wanted to make it difficult for him and I thought we did a really good job with that. Earlier in the game their offense was moving really quick and crisp. We changed defenses a little bit, which really helped us. But all-in-all I thought we really kept an eye on him where he was on the court. I thought we did a great job on him.
"We did a great job [on Pollard], but he got in foul trouble. I thought he lost a little bit of his giddy up by getting into foul trouble. He's a really good player, I know him very well. It was hard for him to get into a rhythm."
On being one of three American teams to start 2-0 in conference play
"We're off to a good start. We have a week off before we play again. We play on the road against an outstanding Temple team on Saturday. They have already beaten Kansas, a top-five team, and they are undefeated in the conference too. I feel good with where we are at, but I tell the guys, `Proud peacock today, feather duster tomorrow.' So we understand that concept, we have to get ourselves ready."
TULSA JUNIOR GUARD Shaquille Harrison
On defending Houston's top scorer Jherrod Stiggers
"That's their leading scorer. We try to put a lot of emphasis on shutting him down and shutting the team down because a lot of their offense goes through him."
On his putback after a missed fast-break layup, and the subsequent inbounds steal to off-balance-layup sequence
"It was definitely a good moment in the game because it was a momentum change. It was back and forth until then. We made some plays down the stretch and we pulled the momentum towards us. We got it rolling."
On Tulsa's inaccuracy from behind the three-point line
"We didn't shoot it so well today. There are going to be nights like that, so we have to rely on our defense and I felt like we had a good defensive performance tonight. Everybody can't hit 10 three's every game. Some teams out there in the nation can, but we're not that type of team. So, we're going to have to rely on our defense a little bit more."
On the team's quick ball movement
"Once we get in the flow on offense it's hard for teams to guard it, because we're so fluent with (ball movement). It gets a lot of people open. It's a great offense."
TULSA JUNIOR GUARD Rashad Smith
On the team's last two wins; both in league play
"I think that the more we practice, work on our craft, keep buying into what the coaches are telling us, and keep believing in it, it's going to show on the court. I think we need to just go hard in practice and keep doing what we do."
On his positive offensive output versus Houston and his offensive outlook moving forward
"It felt good tonight, but it just depends on how the game is going to go. Some games it just may not be there. I'll just dish to my teammates. If my shot's not falling one night, I'll just get more rebounds. I'm not going to just be jacking up shots if I'm not hitting them. I'll just play the game the way the cards are dealt."
HOUSTON HEAD COACH KELVIN SAMPSON
Opening statement
"Our team is what it is. We don't have a great margin of error, obviously. A kid like Devonta Pollard, if he's going to show up and play 16 minutes and get two points and two rebounds we're probably not going to have much of a chance to beat a lot of teams. We just have to keep working at the things that we can improve on. That's what I'm focused on this year with this team. We would have liked to win one of these two games at Memphis or at Tulsa. But we've got Central Florida on Tuesday night and we'll go back tomorrow and we'll break down the tape tonight and see areas we can improve in. I thought we did some good things today. Our biggest problem was that defensively, we couldn't keep them off the foul line. They went to the foul line too much. They hurt us on the boards. Some of that is just playing a little smarter. First half, our turnovers were just ridiculous, (and) second half they were a lot better. We just have to put some things together and we have to make some shots. We're a three-point shooting team so, 8-28 is 28 percent? That's probably not going to win you a lot of games either."
On whether it is nice to be back in college basketball
"Yeah, yeah. I really enjoyed coaching in the NBA, too. I don't feel like I was away from basketball at all. Working with Greg Popovich or Scott Skiles or Kevin McHale. I loved every day of that. I learned a lot. But I'm really looking forward to building this program, I really am. I'm excited about the University of Houston. This program can be really good. This year is what it is, I'm not really worried about anything with this group except getting them to be as good as they can be. The future is really good. We've got some good kids sitting out and we've signed a couple of good kids. Houston is an area that gives you an opportunity to recruit good players and the University of Houston is a school that can get good quickly and we expect to."
On what he likes about the Tulsa team
"I like their guards. I think Frank has a good plan for his team where they try to score quickly in transition. I thought that was something we were pretty good at today, we kept them out of transition other than our turnovers. Their guards attack and they get to the free throw line. That's their strength. The one kid today, Rashad Smith, hurt us in the zone. Tulsa is solid, they have a solid team. Their big guys play big, bigger than they are actually, and they've got good guards."
On his staff
"I go to work everyday and I get to work with my son and I get to work with Hollis Price and I get to answer calls from Ebi and Quantas and Aaron and Austin Johnson. I'm calling guys that want to coach and they say "come on coach, give me a chance! Can't you let me coach?" Well, something has to open up first. It's a thrill for me. Hollis is going to be really good. Kellen will too. They're both good young guys, really helping these kids. And this is where they help. We've got a commercial flight back to Houston tonight and we'll have a long layover in the airport and those guys will spread out and grab guys and talk to them. You know they've been there. When you're building a program you're going to have games like this, times like this. This is what makes you're programs good, you have to go through this stuff. But that's also why I came back to college is where we're headed. Houston basketball is going to be good. Not very good tonight, maybe not so good last game, but we're going to be okay."
