Feb. 1, 2011
Listen to today's press conference
Head Coach Craig Robinson
On the consistency of Devon Collier...
"He's been in a lot of situations that are very similar to this, and I don't mean the games, I mean practice. He's very used to my style of coaching because it's very similar to what he had in high school, whereas I don't think Ahmad and Roberto have had the same style. It takes some getting used to when we point out more negatives than positives, but I think that that's what you have to do when you're building a program. You can't get too happy with the good things that are going on. You have to really focus on the challenges and fix those. The good things to talk about are the games you win.
"Devon is very good at getting to the rim, and if he misses the shot or somebody else misses the shot, getting the rebound and getting it back up before the other team can figure out what's going on. Which brings me to something else - I know it doesn't seem like it, but not having Rhys Murphy and Eric Moreland, we're really shorthanded. Those are two athletically gifted players. Eric was becoming our shot blocker, and it should be noted that we miss having them."
On what the Washington schools bring to the table...
"On Thursday you're playing the best team in the conference. They're supremely athletic; they shoot the ball well from the three-point line and are very physical. To top it all off, they're deep, so when one guy isn't playing well or gets tired, the person they bring in to replace him is just as good as the guy who was leaving the game, which is why they're ranked in the Top 25. That's what we're up against on Thursday.
"On Saturday we're up against the team that is a bit more experienced than we are. You've got a potential next-level player in Klay Thompson, you've got a junior college transfer who's averaging double-figures a game, you've got bench players who have proven in their last game against Washington that they can come in and get the job done. They're a very physical team, albeit not as deep as Washington, which brings us to the last thing: they beat Washington. That's what we're up against this weekend on both games.
"You always want to aspire to be like the top teams in your conference. We feel like we're heading in the right direction. As long as each year our recruiting keeps getting better, and we feel like we're doing that, eventually we can get there. From an execution standpoint, we'd like to be a lot better than we are this year. Certainly I'm right at the top of the list with that request. It has to be noted that there's a reason why you don't just come in and turn programs around. It's just hard to do and you have to build it from the ground up or it won't sustain, and that's what we're doing."
On last Sunday's game between Washington and Washington State...
"I watched that game; I didn't watch it like I would watch a tape, but I watched the whole game. I didn't replay things so the feeling that I got was that number one, it was a rivalry game, and number two, Isaiah Thomas didn't shoot the ball well. The biggest thing is that Washington State didn't back down at all; they just played tough, even through all the foul trouble they had. When the second and third team guys went in and had to make plays, they made plays."
On missed shots at the rim...
"They were missed lay-ups, pointblank shots. We counted 20-something when we were watching the tape. That's a lot. The wonderful thing about this team is that they all care and they all play hard. I never have to question how hard they play and whether they care. As a matter of fact, that's what makes it tougher, because they really do care and they want to be good. They play for each other, they play for the program and it's terrific to see. That puts a little bit more pressure on them, especially being on the road. If we don't get too wound up, I think we're a better team than what we've shown."
On finding belief they can win...
"What you do is you practice hard. You feel prepared, and then psychologically, you're capable of thinking, `okay, we can beat these guys,' rather than just saying `okay, we can beat these guys.' The preparation has to be there, otherwise it's not real. Our preparation has been good. Our practices have been good. Yesterday was good. Today is going to be a harder, and if today is good I'm going to feel comfortable about tomorrow, and then if tomorrow is good I'll feel comfortable about Thursday."
On individual players who are struggling...
"I thought that Jared (Cunningham) had a tough weekend, but funny enough that was Jared's first tough weekend going home. I've said this since I've gotten here that it is so hard for players to go back home and play well. Jared proved me wrong last year. He played well when he went home last year. But this year I thought he just pressed a little bit. But it's understandable because we weren't playing well as a team, and he was trying to really help us out. In the Cal game he made a bunch of foul shots, and that's always good when you're not shooting too well. On Saturday he got into foul trouble, and that's been an issue. We're trying to get him to understand that aggressive play is different from foul trouble."
On Saturday's starting lineup switch...
"The tough thing about switching lineups is that I don't think who starts is as important as who's playing well. What it told me is that I can switch the starting lineup around and it won't affect who's playing well. I didn't get out of the lineup what I wanted to, but I haven't all year. What I need to do is find a lineup that works well at the start of the game so we don't get off to a slow start."
On Ahmad Starks and his game against Stanford...
"Ahmad's had an up and down kind of year, but that's what a freshman does, especially when they're learning how to play at this higher level. What we have been looking for him to do, which is what he did on Saturday, is to play hard and to be exhausted when he comes out. You could see that on his face. I think a light bulb went on for him a week prior, and I'm hoping that he can keep that up because that would take a lot of pressure off us. He can not only handle the ball and keep us out of trouble and run the offense for us, but he can make shots too."
On being tough on the team in practice...
"I'm always hard. I'm always demanding. I think that we need to understand how important every single game is. I don't want this to sound like a complaint, because it's part of a good thing happening, but our seniors still feel like not losing by x-amount of points is a success. That's what I think. In their minds, they want to say, `No, we want to win the game,' but I think deep down, it's okay as long as we don't get blown out. We have to get past that. Being hard, having them worrying about me being upset, might even be better than worrying about the other team. That gives them something else to focus on as a team. They can focus on me."
On early Pac-10 success and knowing they can win...
"They know they can win them. There's a transition period when you're turning a program around because when you first get here, there's a group of guys who are at a certain level, and each year the recruiting is ratcheting down. Now we're ratcheting back up, so we're at the point where we sort of are meeting and have to start going back up. It's a tough thing; these guys were part of winning, but it's tough to see when the younger guys might be passing you up or playing better than you are. I think these guys have done a great job of dealing with that, I think they've been very understanding. It's still tough; you still have to actually play the games, play well, and win the game."
On the light bulb going off for everyone at once...
"When you have such a young group of guys, the light bulb's going to go on and it might go off and it might come off again. You're asking when it's going to stay on, and it's different for different players. We're hoping that it can happen before the end of the season. I think Devon Collier has been one of our most consistent players; the light bulb came on for him earlier. In our offense, the forwards and centers don't have to learn as much as the guards have to learn in that first year. The speed of the game is a tad bit different for the forwards than it is for the guards. For the guards it's a little bit tougher, so they usually are, in my opinion, the slowest to come around. It really took Jared until this year, Roberto (Nelson) is struggling, Ahmad was struggling. It takes a while. It took a while for Calvin (Haynes). It took Calvin pretty much a year-and-a-half before he started playing well."
On playing the back of the 1-3-1...
"We are younger back there than we've been. In the years past we had Rickey (Claitt) and Josh (Tarver) back there who were seasoned players. Now we have Jared, a second year player, and Ahmad, a first year player. Ahmad's still learning the position. I thought he did a great job against Stanford his time in there because he was up against 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9 back there, and he's all of 5-foot-7, 5-foot-8. We don't run it as much for that reason, because it does expose that back guy, and we're just a lot let experienced there this year."
On lack of assists and offense last weekend...
"Again, caring a little bit too much and trying to do it yourself as opposed to executing the way we should. We are a team that has a lot of assists normally on our baskets. We haven't been lately because we've been missing the shots, not that we haven't been passing the ball. That should be noted. The other thing is that when we turn other teams over, we have to cash in on those turnovers. We didn't do that this weekend, so that puts you a little behind the eight-ball, when you're struggling. We're addressing all of these things at practice and it's good to be home so that we can have the benefit of working on that stuff, being at home, a familiar place, all that working for us for this weekend. "
On a sense of urgency...
"I can feel it. The sense of urgency is there, because these guys feel like they can still be in it if they have won a couple of games here and there, or if they can win a couple of games here and there. There is a sense of urgency, and I can feel it in the team and in the atmosphere. I'm just hoping that we keep it at urgency and it doesn't turn into desperation, because when you play out of desperation, I think you make more mistakes."
