Oregon vs. North Dakota Postgame Quotes
12/01/13 | Men's Basketball
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
Opening Statement…
“A lot of good things, but the turnovers took away from the performance and they were really bad turnovers. We rebounded the ball well, we shot free throws well and I thought our ball movement was pretty good. There were a lot of positives, but I'm really disappointed in twenty turnovers because they were just very bad turnovers.”
On the first half…
“We went to our press a little early just to try and get the energy going and I thought it helped a little bit. I did think our energy was better to start the game and we had a nice lead at half. We had some bad turnovers in the first half, but we really outdid ourselves in the second half.”
On Richard Amardi…
“I was really happy for Richard [Amardi]. I thought he did a lot of nice things today in his twenty minutes. He had some blocked shots and plugged up the middle a little bit so I though he did some good things.”
“With his athleticism, three games in three days doesn't bother him. As long as he can wake up and get to shoot-around on time, he'll be fine.”
OREGON PLAYER QUOTES
#3, Guard, Joseph Young
On the difference in preparation for today's game versus yesterday's game…
“There was a lot more communication. In warm-ups, the energy has been dead in the other games. This game, everyone was really excited and we were ready to come out and play hard. Everybody was very focused.”
On how he feels about his role on the team and how it is developing…
“One thing is being more of a leader. Making sure everyone is focused to come out and play. The main focus is that we need to come out better on defense by communicating. I will try to go out there and communicate, so will Mike [Moser], and we have to do it as one whole.”
#0, Forward, Mike Moser
On the opportunity to become closer together as a team playing three back-to-back games…
“You definitely grow more in games as a team than you could simulating them in practice. It's been tough on the body after these two games and the third one is going to be even tougher, but it's only making us better, and definitely making our team chemistry better.”
On if he is starting to figure out his role on the team as a transfer to the University of Oregon…
“Definitely. You can already see how things are starting to shape. You see where you can score, who you can get the ball to in certain spots, and when it is your turn to step up. Those are probably the biggest things. It is a growing process and we are just getting going.”
On how Mike and Joseph Young's chemistry is developing together…
“I think it has been good. We had a chance to develop it a little bit over the summer as well, so we are not entirely new, but it has been coming along good. Joe is really easy to play with. A kid that can score in any situation makes it pretty easy to play with.”
NORTH DAKOTA QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Jones
Opening statement…
“In scenarios like this when you are the underdog against an extremely talented team, we wanted that first eight minutes of the game to be closer. We talked to our guys about quality possessions and not turning it over. We turned it over five times early in the game. They got transition baskets and put-backs, and that's where they really hurt us throughout the course of the game. Compared to yesterday, I'm really proud of my guys. We bounced back and played the way we are capable of.”
On whether or not he was surprised by UO's speed in transition…
“We saw it on film - how good they are and how unselfish they are. Obviously, until you are against it live, you really don't know how fast it is. We stressed it to our guys. You couldn't turn it over and you couldn't quick-shoot. You can't have bad shots because they [Oregon] will bury them. They have great spurt-ability. They've shown that in every game I've seen on film. They'll have some lulls and the next thing you know they'll get that knockout punch.”
On his team's second-half improvements…
“We made some shots early and got out of the gates better. We strung some stops together - that was big. We kept attacking the basket. They [Oregon] turned the ball over 20 turnovers, so 20 turnovers to our 10 gave us 10 more possessions.”
On learning from their two losses to ranked foes…
“They've learned how hard you have to play to compete. They're capable of competing and hanging around. In the past, we usually get beat by 30. Now, both of those games [against ranked opponents] have been very respectable in my opinion.”
