USC at Oregon - Quotes
01/23/15 | Men's Basketball
Dana Altman - Head Coach
On the closeness of the game…
“We had to find a way to win, just have to find ways to win ballgames. I thought we had a good first half, I thought our ball movement was really good. Defensively our activity was really good, guys were bouncing around. Second half our defensive activity dropped and we gave up a lot of easy baskets in the first 10 minutes. We are a work in progress, we have a tremendous amount of work to do both offensively and defensively, but more so on the defensive end. But we found a way to win and that's the important part.”
On how the game went as a whole…
“There were stretches where we played awfully well but obviously there were stretches where we gave up easy baskets. We have some really good defensive possessions but we have some on the other end of the spectrum that are really holding us back; giving up easy baskets and giving the other team energy. We gave up a lot of easy baskets and that's the third game in a row that we have done that.”
On what's standing between them and playing a full 40 minutes…
“A lot of hard work. We aren't even close to 40 minutes, we'd like to get to 20 and work our way up from there. We have four freshmen who are playing a lot of minutes and have no idea what it's like to play a full 40 minutes, we have three guys who have only been here one (year), and we have two junior college players who have a long way to go. We are a work in progress as I've said from day one, and 40 minutes right now is a dream. We are worried about getting to 20 and inching it up. Its not like a light switch - on and off - and say we are going to be a good defensive team, it just takes time to develop.”
Jalil Abdul-Bassit – Guard, Senior
On the win…
“We're trying to communicate more and lock down on defense. Definitely a big win. We're coming off a loss. We just need to keep bouncing back and get better everyday.”
On looking forward…
“We have a lot of room for improvement. We could've beat this team by a lot more. We're going to get to practice tomorrow and work on our defensive communication.”
On the final minutes of the game…
“We all started to dial in a little more. Joe told everyone to group together and talk more on defense. It all came down to communication.”
On the starting lineup…
“Coach goes off of who's playing well at the time and who's giving him defense.”
Dillon Brooks – Forward, Freshman
On holding off USC…
“We went to the media timeout and coach told us to lock in for the last five minutes. We got stops and started getting easy baskets and we won the game.”
On positive observations…
“There were strides in the Washington game in the first half and there were strides in this game, too. It's not all going to come together in one night, but over time we're going to click together.”
On the team's depth…
“The guys that are coming off the bench keep the same intensity as the guys in our starting lineup.”
On the offensive strategy…
“Coach wanted us to drive more and attack the hoop to put pressure on them to foul us.”
On looking forward to UCLA…
“We really need these two games to be back up in the Pac-12 standings so that we can solidify ourselves as a great team.”
Andy Enfield - USC Head Coach
On tying the game in the second half at 61-61…
“We played very hard to get back into the game, I was very proud of our defensive effort. We had great energy, and we really played hard. That's all you can ask for as a coach; a tie game with five minutes left on the road. But then you try to win the game by executing down the stretch, and missed four or five layups, had a couple unforced turnovers, and they scored. Even though our defense was pretty good in the last five minutes, we just couldn't put the ball in the basket, and that was the difference in the game.”
On varying defenses…
“We played all man in the second half, that's what we're going to go to if we are down. We have to guard our man, we have to have great help, and we have to rebound the ball.”
On Katin Reinhardt's performance…
“He played hard, and that's what we want from him. He played hard defensively, made a couple three's and had some nice passes. I don't think he shot a great percentage from the field, but we just want our players to play hard and play the best they can. And Katin gave great effort tonight, I was very proud of him and we need more of that.”
