Nov. 11, 2011
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Men’s Basketball vs. New Orleans – November 11, 2011
Sophomore Forward Cameron Bairstow
On whether this game prepares the Lobos to face New Mexico State
“I think so. Even though we had two exhibition games, I think it was important to get a team here that counts toward your record. I think we did a good job tonight and hopefully we can have some confidence going into New Mexico State.”
On his confidence with the other forwards
“Obviously, I feel a lot more confident this year. It really does help having Drew and A.J. there kind of teaching me along the way and showing me the ropes and everything. That’s helped me out a lot. With Alex being injured, I’ve kind of had to step it up a bit, knowing there’s only three bigs. So hopefully we can continue to stay healthy.”
On staying level-heading going into Las Cruces to face NMSU
“Well, I think coach does a good job of that. He’ll keep us down to earth and everything. We know this wasn’t nearly the type of caliber team we’ll be playing Wednesday night.”
Senior Forward A.J. Hardeman
On how he felt physically
“I had five days off. I think my foot is actually good. I felt good today and good in practice.”
On how the Lobos made it look easy
“It wasn’t easy. We just went at it and followed our rules that we had to follow. We just played hard and kept our composure.”
On whether this game helped the Lobos going into the NMSU game
“As far as the matchup, they didn’t have too many bigs. It helped us get to the next game against the Aggies. They’re real scrappy too, just the team we played tonight. They had scrappy guards. I think it helped us a little bit.”
On playing with fellow senior forward Drew Gordon
“Drew is an animal. I love playing with him. We’ve got to box him out too, because he tries to take our rebounds.”
Coaches Quotes
Coach Alford
Opening Statement…
“Openers are always interesting and I am very pleased with how our guys performed to hold a team to twenty five percent shooting. That doesn’t happen to often and to win by the margin that we won and to put together two really good halves. We needed that. We have a very good basketball coming here Wednesday in State (New Mexico State) and we needed forty minutes of getting better and we got better tonight. From the practices that we have had we thought we were getting better and we got better tonight. We have a chance to get the day off tomorrow and get back to work on Sunday. I am really pleased with this forty minute effort. We got six guys in double figures and we have got good balance. We have good depth and are able to throw a lot of variances in how we play, sometimes four guards and sometimes two bigs. Our bigs are being very productive, I thought we did a very good job on the back board. It’s probably the best job we’ve done in the two exhibitions and the opener. We took care of the ball, Tony (Snell) had six assists. We did a lot of good things. We took good shots in a game that was lopsided at the half. I thought that for forty minutes we did a good job of taking good shots. That is something that we have been talking about and the guys did a good job today.”
On playing in transition…
“It got hard in the second half because there was so much transition and we want to be a team that plays in transition. We got a lot of transition points, I would guess that we got twenty-five or thirty. You get thirty of your points in transition and you’re not going to execute the way that I want them to at half court. But there are not as many half court possessions. When we had them (half court possessions) I thought we did some good things. We got to the free throw line and we made them in the exhibition games but this was not a good foul shooting night for us.”
On future game rotation…
“I don’t think we know with only two exhibitions and so many injuries. Aj (Hardeman) missed an exhibition game, Phillip (McDonald) missed an exhibition game, we sent Drew (Gordon) out of two practices here over the last two weeks and Domo (Dominique Dunning) had a sprained ankle. We have been banged up and I don’t know if that (rotation) will ever get set. Rotations change and lineups change due to production. What I’m excited about is, as a coach, I can determine that through production. A lot of years you don’t have enough depth and a guy doesn’t perform or he doesn’t want to guard, then you can’t use the bench as a motivator. Right now, I see the bench as a great motivator. If we can keep that we have a chance to be good.”
On Drew Gordon and not making a single foul…
“His focus has been defensively and if he wants to get to the next level and have the year that he wants to have he’s gonna be the focal point as we continue to move forward here. He’s gonna be in everyone’s scouting report. He has to do a good job and his teammates have to help him to stay out of foul trouble and do the things that he just does. He is a double double guy and that’s what we need out of him. We need him on the floor and to stay out of foul trouble.”
On Hugh Greenwood and Demetrius Walker….
“Demetrius has been out a whole year and when he was at Arizona state before he came here he didn’t get a lot of run. Hugh is from Australia and a whole different game now that he’s playing. He would be the first to tell you, playing in front of 14,000 and 14,500 and he hasn’t played in front of that in four years in Australia. Getting the opportunity to play in front of people and fans and the press conferences, sometimes you can’t put a price tag on the experience of that. Hugh is going to continue to get better. His opener he had six assists and one turnover. He did a good job defensively and our bench did well. Walk (Demetrius Walker) is a guy who can put up points in a hurry and he is showing that. He has twelve or fourteen points in sixteen or eighteen minutes. He is somebody that can come in off the bench and do a lot of good things. I thought that our bigs did well. Cam (Cameron Bairstow), Aj (Hardeman) and Drew (Gordon) took a team that was much smaller than us and we made them pay for it. A lot of times you can play a team that is smaller than you and not take advantage of it. I thought we did that tonight.”
On getting focused on New Mexico State after this game…
“I just got a report and personnel was already up on the board in the locker room and when I got in there six of them where huddled around and looking at it. This team is driven. They understand that we have had two exhibition games and we have had a home opener. Our whole league is opening up today and we understand that all it is is an opener. Next week gets progressively more difficult. This is the deepest team that State (New Mexico State) has had since I’ve been there and maybe the best talent team. I think Sunday they will be extremely focused getting ready for State.”
On what he liked most with this game….
“I’m always pleased most with the win because that is our business. I liked our balance, we had six guys in double figures. I liked our balance rebounding now, we didn’t have just one guy rebounding. In a game that was nearly thirty plus points, we handled the ball well.”