Jan. 26, 2012
Oregon State men's basketball head coach Craig Robinson sat down with the media on Thursday at his weekly press conference to preview Sunday's Civil War.
Opening statement...
"It's a big week. It's very exciting. Practice has been good so far, but I've come to expect that and don't expect it to not go well. Before Thursday (UCLA), I said Thursday was our most important game and now, Sunday is our most important game. This is not just a Civil War game for us, it's an away game and it's something we've had trouble with. We want to get that monkey off our back now."
On the week-long layoff in between games...
"I like it. The more rest you can get the better. It's been nice having some time off this week and getting to work on some actual practice things, not just game preparation. As you guys know, game preparation and practice preparation are two totally different things, so being able to work on some fundamental stuff, not only this week, but going forward, has been a lot of fun to work on.
On the timing of the long break helping the team rest...
"It is because sometimes you have this at the beginning right when you get started and you're a little antsier to play. But we needed to heal up a little bit. Guys were a little dinged up and, quite honestly, we are still getting better at working on some things so it was good to be able to work on a few things this week."
On if he watches more film with a long break than in a normal week...
"Not any more. I usually watch the last three or four games. Anything before that is probably outdated. Funny enough, I probably watch more of our film than I do the other team.
On preparing to play against a team with a lot of seniors...
"I can't make our guys any more experienced, but I can talk about how experienced and mentally tough they (Oregon) are and we have to be on our `P's' and `Q's' in order to beat a team like that on the road. They do a terrific job of executing. They don't get frazzled when they're down. They're a veteran team. They're a team full of juniors and seniors and we're more juniors, sophomores and freshmen. But that's neither here nor there. We have to play like a mature team. And at about this time during the year we're considered an older team. We have enough games under our belt ... to get more mature."
On if the team treats it as a true road game even though it's just down the road...
"We handle everything logistically like it's a road game. We'll go down the night before and do our usually pregame logistics, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually this is an important game for, not only us, but for Beaver Nation. We come at it a little differently from that standpoint."
On holding serve in the Civil War rivalry in "your sport"...
"I always feel like we need to get them (Oregon) in basketball and in the other sports I try and enjoy the event part of it, which is hard to do when you're in the midst of your own. You're just scratching and clawing for every single win. I have become and product of my environment. I am looking forward to the Civil War game, I know how important it is and I know how badly we want to win.
On senior Kevin McShane's feelings on the rivalry...
"Kevin talks to the team whenever he wants and we all understand his familial emotions toward the folks down the road. As much as we want to win it for ourselves and for Beaver Nation and for the team, we really want him to go out with a win down there."
On the team' confidence coming off of a sweep of the L.A. schools...
"For a minute there we sort of lost our swagger and I actually saw it come back Friday after we won on Thursday. Then again saw it on Saturday. We had a good practice on Monday and have had good practices this week. Having said that, we are also very focused because we know that this is a road game first a foremost. We need to pick up a road win and we need to play better on the road. We're quietly confident; I think I'll put it that way."
On the game against Oregon being a "statement" game...
"Our statement to the league is every night we play. Everybody sees everybody play in this league and I'm sure that people are watching us and thinking, `We have to play that team.' That hadn't been the case here before. Irrespective of the Civil War game, we want people to be worried about playing us because we're getting to be better. Now from our standpoint, this is an opportunity for us to move up in the standings. That's all we care about. We want to win the next game we're playing. We don't want to hear `you could be 5-3'; we want to be 5-3 so now we have to start winning some more games to make up for being 3-5."
On the team's defensive intensity last weekend...
"It was more of a focus `thing,' for lack of a better word. We had sort of lost our focus on defense because we had gotten so good on offense. When you score as effectively as we do, speaking as a former player and now as a coach, you tend to let your defense slide a little bit. And we were obviously scoring quite nicely and we let our defense slide. We needed to re-focus on that. Last week did a terrific job during practice and it showed up during the game. We're still focused on it this week and hopefully it will show up on Sunday."
On the court design playing a factor in the game...
"It was a non-factor for us last year ... When you've played this game long enough you should never step out of bounds and you should never step backcourt because spatially you know where every spot on that court is."
On the job Dana Altman has done with the Ducks...
"He's a great coach. He's got gobs of experience and a track record that shows he's a really good coach. Having the season that he's having with so many defections has been really impressive. We have our hands full both from a coaching standpoint and from a playing standpoint."
On what makes Oregon so tough...
"I think that they do a really good job executing their game plan. Secondly, they don't get rattled. That's a product of being a mature, veteran team. Games have this ebb and flow to them and you cannot panic when you go down and they've been down a couple of times this year and fought their way back to win games. And then thirdly, they have good players. This is about players. I don't care what anybody says, you take the coaches out of it, the players have to play the game.
"When you have a group of older guys, you don't worry about the intangible things like lack of focus, forgetting assignments, things of that nature. These guys are going to be zeroed in.
"They have size, they have speed and they can play in the half court. They're a very sound team."
On what he saw on tape from the Oregon's comeback against UCLA...
"It's hard to play down there and it's hard to keep a lead down there. I wasn't surprised. That is a good team and we're going to have to play our best basketball to beat them on their court."
On coming into the game with a chip on your shoulder...
"I think we've had a chip on our shoulder all season because of last season. It's not just this game, it's every game. We have a chip on our shoulder from three weeks ago. I think that our mental attitude is right. We just have to execute now. As I've said many times with these guys, they believe they can be in every single game they play. It comes down to execution."
On heightened pressure from the fans heading into the game...
"This game gets more coverage. It's more important to the fans. I have commented many times, when I got hired, at the press conference a lady came up to me and said, `I don't care how many games you lose just beat the Ducks.' That's stuck with me and with the team. There's more pressure from Beaver Nation to win this game."
On Jared Cunningham being a leading candidate for Pac-12 Player of the Year...
"I don't want to whammy his chances by talking about him being Player of the Year, but he's done a lot of things for us this year. And what's really been impressive is that he's grown his game each year and he's only a junior. When he came to Oregon State he was not an All-Pac-10 candidate, let alone player. He has worked on his craft and what we like to say on our staff is `your best player helps you win games that you can't normally win.' He helped us with Texas and we had never beaten UCLA and he helped us with that game. He is holding up his end of the bargain. Now we have to do more as a team so he doesn't have to carry us all the time."
On what more he can expect from Cunningham...
"He can be more vocal as a leader. Jared is just a quiet kid. He's very humble. We need more of a vocal leader, but I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable by doing something that he's not comfortable doing. That would be the only thing. He's worked on his outside shot and we've come to rely on that now. I think he's done a really good job with his pull-ups so he doesn't get as many charges. Even his defense, which was always his calling card, has gotten better. He's a hard guy to contend with. If I were a coach on another team I would be worried about that guy constantly, offensively and defensively."
On his ability to get to the line...
"He's got a knack (to get to the line). We feel that that is a stat that's really important for us. We have to get to the line. It counts as another form of offense. He understands that and embraces it. If he can't get to the basket he's going to draw contact."
On changing Jared to be a more vocal leader...
"You might not. All we do is counsel Jared that every time he opens his mouth and says something it is 100 percent right. Just do it more often. That's how you do it and that's how he gets more comfortable. These are still young men. They're not adults yet who are confident. I know 40-year old guys who are very quiet and don't say anything. He'll get there. He's talking more at practice."
On looking past the Oregon game...
"This year we have a motto #ODAAT, which means One Day At A Time, so we don't even think about what's going on next week. I'll tell you on Monday what we're going to do about that. That's kind of a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that it doesn't matter. You have to play the games. You do what you do. We won't change up anything. It feels like things are working for us the way we're doing them this year so win or lose we probably won't make too many drastic changes to our process."
On Jared finishing on drives to the basket...
"I contend that while you guys might think he may be a Player of the Year candidate, he doesn't get treated like a Player of the Year candidate yet where every time he gets touched he gets to the line. I think people have to put their hands on him to slow him down. So we just said we can't worry about what the calls will be so you just have to go up there as if you're playing at the park and there are no fouls. You have to make them anyway. He's gotten more cognizant of `I have to make something happen no matter how hard I get hit, because I might not get a call.'
On Jared having to be more vocal since he plays so many minutes...
"He's really embraced being a more vocal leader. (But) I don't want him to talk more and produce less. I'd rather have him produce and be quiet and have somebody else do the talking. He's a very insightful kid and player so he knows exactly what we need."
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