Feb. 16, 2013
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Coach Alford Quotes vs. Boise State
Opening Statement…
“Huge win for us. Just really proud of our guys. It was a gutty performance. We’re tired. We’re beat up. I knew it was going to be a very, very difficult game for us. The defensive performance: that was their lowest output of the year and this is a very good offensive team–probably the best statistical offensive team in the league. So for us to do this defensively meant a great deal to the success of this game.
And I’m just proud of the guys. It’s just been a long stretch between our bye weeks and we’re just glad it come at this point because we have got to get healthy. Our bigs are tired. So it comes at a really good time. We’ll take a couple days off and get back to practice Tuesday. But we had to have this one. And they a lot of good things and tough things to get this one.”
On the Lobos’ three-point defense, especially that of Cameron Bairstow…
“I got to give our bigs a lot of credit. We had Cam on [Boise State’s Jeff Elorriaga] a lot and Cam’s a post guy. Cam’s a power forward, if not center. So he does a good job. We’ve always talked about Cam: he’s got great feet and he can keep people in front of him. And I thought Chad did a really good job as well. So we had to mix up our coverage because we just didn’t want them to make us go to where we couldn’t go big-big.”
On the play of Tony Snell…
“We had to play him a lot of minutes. Tony played 39 minutes. So he got a lot of minutes, which I know is not easy for him. I don’t think he scored much in the second half, but he did a good job rebounding the basketball. He had six rebounds, had four assists. He did a lot of good things for us. I know he wore down in the second half, but he was big.”
On the Lobos’ defense vs. Boise State guard Derrick Marks…
“He’s a good talent. We held him to 19 [points]. I think more than Marks, we did a really job on their bigs. [Boise State center Kenny] Buckner gets four [points] and [forward Ryan] Watkins doesn’t score. So I thought the job, that we made them make difficult shots. They didn’t get a lot of paint scorers. And I thought that was really big. Only one guy in double figures. This has been a team that has an awful lot of balance and a lot of guys score. So to only have one in double figure, I though that was a really good defensive effort by our guys.”
On whether or not the coaching staff was scoreboard watching…
“I probably watched the golf today, to be honest with you. I watched the golf in LA more than I did basketball games. I watched the Hoosiers a little bit. I watched the Colorado State game a little bit–not much because that was over our pregame. So we had pregame meal while they were playing.”
Player Quotes
On how your confidence has grown since you’ve started playing for the lobos…
“Coach Alford and Coach Neal have taught me that I’m not the tallest man on the court so I have to use my speed. In high school I tried to post up but when I got here I had to use my speed to my advantage.”
On how tough the game was…
“This game was tough because Colorado State was tied with us and we are a game ahead of them. Getting mentally prepared and physically prepared for this game was good. The game plan on [Derrick] Marks and [Anthony] Drmic was good and if we got those down we would have a good win.”
On winning this game because of defense…
“It feels good because Coach Alford preaches defense every four-minute time out and during practice. He is a defensive guy. That is all he talks about in the huddle until Coach Neal comes and talks about offense.”
On the versatility of team…
“Cameron [Bairstow] brings the big man out which gives Alex [Kirk] another one-on-one or rebounding chance with a big if they have a mismatch. It just opens it up a lot for us to put it on the floor and drive and score. He helps us in the long run.”
On what the team has to do to win another MW Championship…
“We need to take it one game at a time and not look forward. Coach Alford was talking to us before the game about some guy that he met that was talking about Colorado State and he told him that we need to get through Boise State first. We need to stay focused.”
On having the most wins in the conference…
“It doesn’t mean anything yet until we settle and the season is finally over. I will be happy when we get into the NCAA Tournament.”
On the pressure to score because of the absence of Demetrius Walker…
“With him being out and [Hugh] Greenwood in foul trouble Coach Alford and Neal were in my head saying that I had to step up as a senior and hit some shots. Hugh wasn’t really into it because of foul trouble and D-Walk’s knee was bothering him. I said a little prayer for God to help me tonight.”
On shooting the three…
“It was all confidence. Coach Neal has been telling me about confidence and to just keep shooting and waiting for it to go in. I just kept shooting and it finally went in.”
On how much scoreboard watching he is doing…
“Not much, we leave that to the coaches. Usually Kendall updates us on his ESPN app but we usually just listen to the coaches and they keep up focused.”
On having the week off…
“We needed it. The bigs are beat up pretty bad, Hugh’s ankle is still purple and we need to get Demetrius back. We need everybody to be healthy and this week will help with that a lot.”
On guarding Boise State guard Jeff Elorriaga…
“It was very different from what I am use to. I was fine if I was in front of him but at the end they started setting up plays where he would get some shots off. I thought I was doing a decent job at it. He was able to get some shots off because I was chasing around ball screens off the shot which I wasn’t really use to.”
On the difference of Boise State…
“They are a very active team and that really hurt us in game one. This game we made the adjustment to the weak side to helping off of him (Watkins). I think that caused some problems in game one when he was able to roll to the rim for a lot of easy layups. I think this adjustment really helped. Otherwise I think Alex and I did a good job of running them and getting to the ball.”
On how he has grown as a player…
“In a number of ways, I am more comfortable out there. I have been able to get use to playing in The Pit to some degree. The experience of playing in conference against guys like these and Colorado State it helps. We have a big game next week.”
On the team being beat up…
“A number of guys are beat up but I am personally fine. D-Walk has his knee, Hugh has his ankle and Alex’s hand which really affect them. Having a couple days off will really help them recover and come back refreshed.”
On scoreboard watching…
“We are separated from Colorado State with UNLV losing tonight. A win there would be huge but it is up to us to continue playing well down the stretch. This league is one of the best in the nation and teams are going to lose games. It is up to us to win these games and see what happens.”
On winning the MW Championship again…
“We need to come ready to play every game. At Fresno we weren’t completely in the game at the beginning. It is tough being ready to play every night but it is something we need to do. As a team we need to continue to improve and we have done a good job of that during the season. Last year we peaking during tournament time and this year we need to do the same.”
On shooting 50 percent….
“If you see the team struggling offensively you want to do something to help them out. To continue to get good shots is a priority in the game. If they double team, kick it out and get a good shot and if they don’t make a move. It really depends on how the defense is doing. When your team is struggling you need to step up a little bit more.”