March 3, 2012

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Oregon State 83, Colorado 69
March 3, 2012
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.

Head Coach Craig Robinson

Opening Comment...
"I couldn't be happier right at this moment. I could not be happier with that ball club. I've been saying all year-long how much fun it is to coach these guys. No matter what, even when we were on that multi-game skid, they came to work every day like professionals. I couldn't be more proud of that part. To come together and do this on a day like this last home game shows a lot about this team's character and their camaraderie. I was moved by it. I'll tell you this, it is not my style to start a senior just because he is a senior. I used to be a player and I always felt that if you earned your starting position, you earned your starting position. I was wrestling with starting Kevin, until Angus Brandt walked up to me and volunteered his spot for Kevin. That speaks volumes about this team. That says a lot about how we have developed this team and how they have evolved. You should know that I don't normally start seniors on senior night; don't normally do it. But I'm glad I did this time and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I've been a head coach for six years now -- four years here and two years at Brown -- and in high school in Chicago, but I don't count that as a college coach. I've never had a four-year senior. I've never had four years with a guy because I've moved around. It had felt like minutes after I had gotten into the job -- it had to have been two or three days after I had gotten the job - when Kevin and Bill McShane walked into my office to talk about Kevin and how he wanted to walk-on. I was one of these guys that was `yeah, yeah.' I was being nice and politely listening. After an hour-and-a-half of talking to them, I knew he was going to make the team. I told him `listen, I don't know what I have but you are welcome to come out for the team.' What you saw today was a team that played like Kevin McShane. This was a Kevin McShane day from start to finish. I think everybody dove for a ball today. I haven't seen that, and then wire-to-wire man-to-man. That had Kevin written all over it."

On what his words were when Angus volunteered his spot to Kevin...
"I had to play it cool. I wasn't going to let the guys dictate the starting lineup. That is a slippery slope to get on. I trust our guys; I really do. Angus would never put Kevin in a position where he would have been in over his head. Really, when you think about it, I think Kevin has started maybe ten or eleven games in his career here. I don't know. There was a while where he started like five in a row. It is like each season, whenever we would go into a slump, I'd start him and we'd bounce out of it. That was the first thing. I was really thankful of Angus for doing that. It is in Angus' nature. He doesn't care about anything but winning. He doesn't care how many minutes he plays, but he cares about Kevin and his teammates. That was a big deal to me. Kevin would never ask me to start him for senior day. You kind of have all this stuff going on behind the scenes, it's just amazing that these guys played so well with all the emotion behind it."

On whether he knew they would play man the whole way...
"No. You guys have seen my game plan; the game plan is sort of switching our defenses around and seeing what one is working for us on the night. That was the game plan from a defensive standpoint. The first couple of possessions I just liked the way our guys were running around, covering ground,\ and contesting shots even though it was close there. It just felt good and just like when we practice it. We just kind of rolled with it. We chart what is going on. It just seemed they weren't having an easy time getting their shots off, especially their threes so we just stuck with it."

On the stretch when Ahmad went off and how dangerous he can be...
"It was fantastic. Ahmad's performance was fantastic. Especially given that he didn't play in the first half, what did he only play five or six minutes in the first half at the most? That is what had my mind going. All I said to him in the locker room was `well, you've had plenty of rest so you should come out fresh, don't hold back.' That is all I said. I didn't say anything else. But for a guy to get cold like he did and heat up like he did was terrific. But I got to tell you I am not surprised. I know a lot of people think a small point guard should be a more of a setup guy, but not that guy. He has got a killer's instinct when it comes to big plays. I've seen it in high school. I saw it with his AAU team. I saw it with his sixth-grade AAU team before I even got into coaching in college. He has just got that ability. You guys probably didn't notice this, but I saw a real growth in his maturity, because when a guy gets that hot, you don't tell him when to shoot and when not to shoot and I didn't. But what I said to the team after we got a little bit of a lead, `you know, we have to make sure we grind these guys out' and there was a point where he came down and there was a play we were running and it broke down right on the first pass and he could have shot it with about 30 seconds or 29 on the shot clock. It probably looked a little bit less, but he passed it up. He got a screen from Angus and could have shot it again but didn't. He passed it and continued the play, got it back and banged the three deep into the shot clock. That's next level thinking for our team and for Ahmad."

On this being just the second winning season since Gary Payton was here...
"I hadn't even prepared to think like that. That is a long time. I think I said this during my first or second year, when you've had so much futility there is going to be a lot of `first since' and `first of', so we don't really put a lot of stock in that. I am happy for the program that we have a winning season. I am happier that these guys in the locker room are having a winning season because they have really put in the work. After a rough weekend, these guys get right back at it and they let me yell at them, they let me make them do stuff over and over again, and every now and then we have a dust up or we have some pouting or something like that. But they never come with an attitude of `ah forget this'; it doesn't happen. We may have had three bad practices all year. And they were usually on the road on a Friday where guys are tired and sore. I am more focused on the good feelings that the program has, that the fans have. It's been a long time for these fans so I am excited about that. But really, those guys in that locker room are the ones who ought to be applauded. It's just terrific."

On the momentum being carried into the Pac-12 tournament...
"The momentum thing is important. It is interesting. If we had lost I would be saying `ah it won't have any effect.' Now that we have won `oh yeah it's going to have some effect,' you know how that goes. But deep down in my heart I would have to say that I would rather go into Wednesday's game having won this game any kind of way. Having won it in the fashion that we won it today was more than I could ask for going into the tournament. Now we have to win our next four games."

On the teams attitude towards making a run to the NCAA Tournament...
"The league is set up so anybody has a shot. Anybody has a shot. I think we have just as good a shot as anybody if we play like we did these last two games and we play like we did in the non-conference. If we do that we are a hard team to play against. I'll be the first to admit that. I don't want to sound like faint, phony type praise. I like this team. I like the fact that every game I get to coach I feel like I have a chance of winning. This is the first year that we can do that in the four years I've been here."

On the emotions he had during Kevin's senior moment at the beginning of the game...
"Not only did I cry, I cried even before I got to Kevin. The pregame speech was hard for me because I had to tell him that Angus gave up his spot so he could start. It really hit me when Kevin's dad hugged me. He hugged me so hard that is why I think I was crying. But Kevin really represents what you strive for in this job, a student-athlete that cares about his school work. He cares about his basketball. He cares about his teammates. He cares about his family. So I was completely an emotional-wreck today. For those guys to come out the way they did, given how much of a mess I was, I was a mess, I could hardly say anything to them. What it shows is that they all care. Our staff cares, we all care about each other that is what I attributed it to."

Sophomore guard Ahmad Starks

On his explosive in the second half...
"The coaches in the locker room before the second half just kept telling me to be ready. That is just what I tried to do by staying loose and warming-up well."

On whether the 14 consecutive points was a personal best...
"That was probably been the best I've had all year. That's the most shots I have hit in a row."

On asking for the ball when he was one fire...
"I was not really asking for the ball. We had a lot of good ball-screen situations and assists. They got me the ball and I was ready to knock them down."

On how to play Washington State in the Pac-12 Tournament...
"We need to contain them. I really feel comfortable this time around so we just have to pull it out."

On the defensive intensity the last two games...
"The stress that we put on in practice sets the tone for everything. We had a great week this week practice-wise, and we knew that if we could do well there that we could transfer it over to our actual game play."

Senior forward Kevin McShane

On momentum heading into the Pac-12 Tournament...
"This definitely gave us a lot of momentum. We are trying to take it one day at a time. Beating Utah the way we did felt good and it gave us momentum. Beating Colorado, who beat us at their place, proved that they were a tough team to beat. These wins have helped us build up our confidence for the Pac-12 Tournament."

On his last game at Gill and going out with a win...
"It feels amazing. We have had some ups and downs during this season, but going out this way with my last two games here in Gill was great. The team came together and we were able to pull off two big wins. It was not just good for me. Our entire team came together and stepped up and got into the game. Overall, it was a really great win."

On differences between this game and last time against Colorado...
"The entire game we were in man-to-man defense. We had a few mistakes here and there but there was not that lapse that we had in Colorado of six to eight minutes of them making threes, lay-ins and dunks. We just played more solid man-to-man defense this game, which made the biggest difference."

On emotions of being last game in Gill...
"There were no tears, but this game has been a long time coming. From working with the coaches and them helping me and me helping them, to the players, or my brothers as I consider them. It hasn't quite hit me yet. While the clock was ticking down in the last few seconds, I was walking off the court and thinking this is the last time I am going to be doing this. I don't really know how to describe it, but it is definitely a special feeling."

Sophomore guard Roberto Nelson

On this game being the team's best performance of the season...
"I think so. We all came together knowing that it was Kevin's last game in Gill, and before the game in the lay-up lines, everyone was hyped. Everyone contributed in the beginning and did a great job at getting each other the ball and getting open. To get these last two games is going to give us a lot of confidence going into the (Pac-12) tournament."

On wearing McShane's jersey for warm-ups...
"Kevin and I have been through a lot and he's my man. I was thinking about it at the house wondering what I could do, and I thought about making a shirt or something. But then I remembered there was his other jersey in the cabinet so I snuck it out hoping that the managers didn't see. Kevin saw me in the training room before the game and he thought it was cool. That is the definition of our team. We all support each other and we are just a big family, so I wanted to support my guy."

On number of blocks in this game and effect it has on everyone's game...
"It gives us a lot of confidence. To be able to rely on guys like Eric (Moreland) and all of our big guys helps us out as guards. It contributes to our confidence in man-to-man defense, too."

On Ahmad getting hot and the team hitting shots...
"It was big. I did get a little frustrated with myself when I missed that three because I was wide open. I remember Ahmad telling me that I just needed to shake it off and that he would get me another one. He got me the next three, I was open and I held my follow-through like coach told me to and luckily it went in. But when our whole team is playing as good as we did today, we are hard to stop. There are not a lot of teams out there that are able to contain us when we are firing with all cylinders. We did a good job of setting each other up, setting screens, taking good shots and everything in the game just seemed to fall tonight."