Dec. 27, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State men's basketball head coach Craig Robinson sat down with the media on Tuesday to talk about the Beavers' 10-2 non-conference record and opening Pac-12 Conference play this week at the Washington schools.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
On the strength of competition in the non-conference schedule...
"When we set up our schedule, we try to get the best teams that fit what we are trying to accomplish. Sometimes that means playing teams you know you can beat. But I really maintain that up until this season we haven't known who we could beat yet. So a big part of our scheduling comes down to learning how to win games. In spite of what anyone thinks, what the RPI thinks, what the strength of schedule numbers show, we still had to win those games, which we hadn't won in the past. I thought our guys did a great job with the schedule we had. Having said that, I also don't think our schedule does not prepare us for the league. I think we are very prepared to go into the league and play well and that's what you want to accomplish with your non-conference schedule. I think our guys have done that."
On the win over Texas being the marquee win for the Pac-12...
"We really don't spend a lot of time thinking about what everybody else is doing or listening to what everybody else is saying. When people say `well, you had an easy schedule' or `you beat Texas', we're really sort of trying to tune all of that kind of stuff out. Our main goal is to get better each day and be prepared for the next day. And the next day might be a practice; the next day might be a shoot-around; the next day might be a game; the next day might be an exam. That's what we are trying to get these guys focused on, because I believe, and our staff believes, if you have that kind of mindset about going about your work, you will be successful. That's what we are trying to do."
On believing the Beavers can compete for a Pac-12 title...
"There is no reason to think that we cannot if we stay healthy and we keep playing the way we are playing. Again, we haven't taken a real close look at the rest of the competition yet. We have really spent, as a staff, our time on who the next opponent is. Now that we play two games in one week, and they are teams that we have seen in the past, it's a little different. So we sort of look at Washington and Washington State at the same time. I have no reason to believe why we cannot be in every single game this season, but that's the same thing I said at the beginning of the season. Now that we have a body of work of 12 games, I continue to feel that way. If we can continue to play the way we've been playing, I'll be even more confident as we get going through the league."
On what he has seen from the team to make him confident...
"There has been a lot of stuff. I like the way we handle ourselves under duress, even though we've won a lot of games by a decent margin. In the past, what I've seen with our team is when guys take a swing at us sometimes we don't get up right away. Now we can take a swing, figuratively obviously, but we are doing more swinging this year than we have in the past. That's a confidence builder for a coach. We know what kind of shots we want to get when we are down. We know what kind of shots we want to get when we are up. We know how to play D. We know how to close people out. We are learning all of that this year, which it has taken us some time to learn that. So that gives me confidence. I think one of our Achilles heels in the past is that we would go more than minutes, it seemed like big droughts of not scoring points last year and the year before. We haven't had that this year. We are scoring a lot of points and that gives a coach a lot of confidence. But what gives me the most confidence is that those guys in the locker room are confident. That's what we haven't seen here before. These guys really feel like they are going to win every game they play; not in an over-confident manner, just in a sort of self-confident manner."
On Seattle being a tough place to play...
"It's going to be hard; it always is. We've had very little success up there, but if you want to be good in this league, you have to win some hard games on the road. So that's what the good teams do."
On how hard it is to gauge Washington with their up-and-down season...
"We always assume when they play against us, they are going to be good. Every single time we've played them, they've been good. I would imagine given the fact this is a home game, the first Pac-12 game, because a couple of games ago they did have a bad game, they are going to be on their P's and Q's. So we expect their best."
On Washington's football team playing a bowl game at the same time as the basketball game and if that will make a difference with their crowd...
"I think the people who didn't go to the bowl game will come to this game and just keep track of the (bowl) game. It would be nice if no one showed up for them. But I don't think that's going to happen. They have a very good student section. I can't imagine those guys are going to bail on them for a football game. I will remain optimistic but I don't think so."
On believing the team can still make the NCAA Tournament...
"That's still a goal of ours. Once you get your program that should be your goal every year. Then there are shorter term goals like we want to win all of our home games. We want to win as many home games that we can so you build that home court advantage. And if you can sneak a few on the road, that's another goal you can have. But all of these were goals we talked about at the beginning of the year. I don't think we are going to change any of them. We just want to continue concentrating on what's next. We want to have a good practice today and a good practice tomorrow so that we can play a good game on Thursday."
On the energy level building with the beginning of conference play...
"The difference is definitely palpable. You can tell that coming in 10-2 is a big difference coming in 4-7. I can not only feel it within our team, I can feel it in the community. Our fans are really excited about this. And we like when our fans are excited because they come to the games and they support us and it helps us win even more games. It's like a chicken and egg thing. The excitement and the momentum all are helpful and we want to keep that going. So in order for us to keep that going, we have to keep playing well."
On how important it is to start well in the Pac-12 to keep the confidence...
"It's important, and I'm not hedging any bets or anything, but I think I like being 10-2 because it takes you a long time to be 10-10 now. I look at it like a trader. We are playing with the houses money now. Having said that, we want to keep winning and we want to get better as a team. So we want to beat teams in our league and we want to beat all of the teams in our league, but we really want to play well against the good teams. You look at our schedule and we play at Washington and at Washington State, Cal and Stanford and Arizona coming up. I mean we are going to get our chance. I don't think there's any added pressure if you were 4-7, but it sure is nice having the momentum and the confidence going into the conference being 10-2."
On getting back to practice after a couple of days off for the holidays...
"Prior to this year, every single Christmas practice everywhere that I've coached and I have played has been a hard practice to get everybody's mind back in it. This was a good one. This was by far the best we've had. It was nice that the guys came back prepared. They came back prepared to practice. That's a sign of maturity. That's also a sign of being in a good mood about your record. It's also a sign about playing well. So all of those things kind of contribute to it, but you still can have a bad practice on Christmas night when guys are coming back from home. So it was nice to see them come back and get right to work. It was like another practice on another day and we hadn't given them a few days off."
On whether Washington has any chemistry issues...
"I haven't seen that. I can't tell chemistry that well on other teams, let alone just on film. I would have to watch them practice really. The way I can tell our chemistry is good is at practice every day and I see these guys every single day. Those guys have a lot of really good players and really good playing and winning can sometimes overcome chemistry issues if that's what you're seeing there. They have enough guys who have been wildly successful to fight through whatever they are fighting through. So that makes them dangerous in my eyes. I can't comment on their chemistry, but I can comment on the talent I see on film."
On what kind of talent he sees on Washington's team...
"I see two flat-out pros in (Tony) Wroten and (Terrence) Ross. I see a guy who was expected to be a pro before his knee problems in (Abdul) Gaddy. And then I see Aziz N'Diaye who is probably going to be on somebody's roster in the pros. So I see a dangerous team that we have to prepare and play our best in order to win this game at their place."
On playing the top teams in the Pac-12 in the first five games...
"What I like about it is that you get a chance to really see where you stand early on and can make some corrections if need be as you go on. And I've always been one of those guys who ate his vegetables before he got to the part of the meal that he likes. So this is right up my alley. So I like to play the good guys right away and see how you stack up and then be able to sort of manage practices and preparation going forward."
On whether he has taken a look at Washington State...
"Just briefly. I think their guard play is really good. (Reggie) Moore and (Faisal) Aden are going to be a handful. Their big kid, Brock Motum, is playing really well right now. That's going to be another challenge. What's going to be another challenge for us is we are playing them in Spokane and we have never played there before so I think they will have an added advantage from that standpoint. And we only have a day to prepare for that game on Friday. I haven't watched a lot of film because I have spent the entire time on Washington. But that's what we would do anyway. We go one game at a time. (Assistant coach) Nate Pomeday, who is doing the scout for Washington State, knows them inside and out so I'll rely on him on Friday."
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