Dec. 14, 2008
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Oakland University Head Coach Greg Kampe
Opening Statement
"It was a good win for us. It was only our second home game and it's Dec. 14. We shot the ball well -- we're a shooting team and that's probably our best strength. So, it was good to see us make some shots and get confidence in our shooting. I thought, defensively, we were really good in the first half and we played some man-to-man, which we haven't done much of this year. It wasn't great, but I was pleased with it. We didn't rebound real well in the first half, we didn't get in good rebounding position because we overplayed and sent our big men to the corners. One of the problems with a man-to-man defense is that it jeopardizes rebounding. We think, for our personnel, it's the right thing to do, so I was pleased with our defense, but not our rebounding. Second half, they [Rochester College] only had two offensive rebounds, so I was pleased with that."
On zone defense in the first half
"It matches up and there is some philosophy to the match-ups behind it. It's a unique thing and one of the good things about it is that you don't see it very much, which helps us because other teams struggle with it early. It's a basically a 1-3-1 matchup."
On playing players that normally do not get to play
"I was really impressed with John Kast. I thought he played with confidence and made some nice plays. For a guy who hasn't played all year, I was very happy for John and impressed with him. He did what he was supposed to do. Ricky [Bieszki] is just Ricky. He's been with us for four years and he plays hard. He says he appreciates any minute he can get."
On progression of big men, particularly Keith Benson
"I wasn't really happy with him tonight. He didn't want the ball and he was so much taller and bigger than everyone. He had two shots at halftime. I was really disappointed with him. He was jogging down the floor, wasn't posting up and wasn't demanding the ball. Their defense is designed to stop [Erik] Kangas and JJ [Johnathon Jones] and he should have been able, at 6-11, to do more than he did. He got the ball a few more times in the second half because I put an emphasis on it. I don't think I should have to put the emphasis on, he should want the ball. I was disappointed with him. [Dan] Waterstradt, he is what he is. He's a hustler and a kid who always plays his tail off. He's got some limitations. He's a senior and has been a great leader for us. [Will] Hudson is up and down. One day he's great and the next he's not very good, but I guess that's part of being big and being a sophomore. Ilija still thinks he should still be shooting a three-pointer and as long as he believes that, he's probably not going to be playing for a while."
On how big men shooting from the outside helps the team, offensively
"It makes us crappy. We don't want that. We want our guys who are supposed to be shooting from the outside doing that and out guys who are 6-11 at the basket, scoring by using our size and rebounding. So, we don't want that and if they continue to go out there and do that, they'll be sitting next week."
On Kangas' injury to his ankle
"Yeah, that's not good. We're coming into a big stretch now. We have Green Bay on the road and they're very good. They beat UMass and UMass beat Kansas yesterday. Then, we have Michigan at the Palace, then we go to Eastern Michigan, then Michigan State at the Palace. So, we're going into a big four-game stretch and we need Erik Kangas. Without Derick Nelson, we can't afford to lose Erik Kangas."
On concern over inconsistencies with the big men with stretch coming up
"I'm not concerned because I understand what it is-they're freshmen and sophomores. If they were ready for the NBA, they would probably not being playing here. We're going to have them as juniors and seniors and we're going to have an advantage because they're aren't a lot of people who have 6-11, 7-0 juniors and seniors. So, we put up with the inconsistency because that's the way it is. Waterstradt is Waterstradt, so I'll put him aside. But those other three young guys, they're very talented with great size and great athleticism. We never had anything like that before and I think part of the reason that we get better everyday is because of them. We're going to coach them and make them better. Ilija is not going to get a rebounding triple-double in the middle of the floor. It's just not going to happen. If it does, he's not going to play. It's said that the greatest motivation in the world is the bench. So, that's what's going to happen."
On updates of Nelson's injury
"The x-ray was good and bad. There's a calcification on the crack. They said it would be at least two weeks and could be four. If it comes to four weeks, then it'll be in the middle of January and we're going to have a decision to make. This is a very good team and with him, it could be a special team. We want him back, but we won't being him back if it's going to take two or three more weeks to put him back into playing shape. And if it's the middle of February and all of a sudden he's Derick Nelson, then it's not worth it. It's going to be his decision. He has a child and he will graduate at the end of the semester and he wants to play professionally and he's got the ability to do that. If there's any idea that he wants to come back, we'll make that decision when the doctor gives the approval to do that."
On Matt Samuels not playing
"He got hurt in practice yesterday. He hurt is ankle and warmed up today, but didn't go. I suspect he'll be okay by Green Bay. I hope so, we need him. He would have gotten to play a lot tonight. I was going into this game and planning on giving him a chance to find out what he can do. It was a bad injury for us, because I really wanted to play him."
On what do Lansing-connected players Nelson, Jones and Kangas bring to the team
"They're great for us. We just signed another kid from Lansing, Drew Valentine. We got fortunate with Cortney Scott a few years ago and many years ago, we got Tom Maraowelli, so we've always had some good players from Lansing. It's just working for us. All three of those kids are 1,000 point scorers. JJ's only a few points away and Nelson and Kangas already have it. They've been the backbone of our team for the past three or four years. As we proceed through this long road, we've gotten better and better and have gotten more talent. We brought three players in that can really play and they've made other players want to come, so they've been the backbone of our recruiting for the past three or four years. We would be who we are today without them."
Rochester College Head Coach Garth Pleasant
Opening Statement
"I'm not used to media timeouts and I'm not used to press conferences. I've been doing this 36 years and this might be my first press conference. Personally, I'm grateful to Greg [Kampe] for giving us this game. It helps us, puts us on a stage and helps us find the answers we need. It is what it is, as our kids say. They are an outstanding team. I told our kids before the game and Greg probably won't want to hear this, but I said I think they'll make it to the NCAA tournament and win a game, maybe even two. I think that's a special team. I told our kids that, on any given night, they can be beat anybody in the state of Michigan and that includes Michigan and Michigan State. If we wanted to try and mess with them a bit, we started with a triangle-two and we played man-to-man on Kangas and Jones and the big kid [Waterstradt] hit two threes from the corner, so pick your poison. You roll the dice. We knew we had to work hard. Our plan was to shorten the clock and we told our kids that we read the rule book and it didn't say that we couldn't win. Last year, we played them pretty tough, so I thought we started out well and had some pretty good stops. We just didn't shoot well in the first half and those things happen."
On can your team take from a game like this
"We try and play a pretty tough schedule. Last year, we tried to play Detroit and Oakland, as well as a lot of Division II schools and we do that for three reasons. One, we do it because they pay us because we don't have a budget and we use it to buy kids shoes and such. Second, it's a recruiting tool for us. We don't have a home gym, so people will see that they come here and get to play a good schedule. Third, I think it makes you better. When you get around to the national tournament, you know that nobody there is better than who we've played over the course of the season. I think we've been fortunate enough to win for USCAA championships. It's not the NCAA, but it's still a national championship. Our kids are pretty excited when they win that. And games like this help us. You hope it doesn't destroy you when you get beat, but afterward, I told the guys that I was proud of them. I said, 'Do not worry about how tall and quick Oakland is or how well they shoot, because we can't do anything about that.' We gave all our effort. That's what I look for and I think that's a good test and we'll try to make it a learning experience. We respect them, but we're not going to be afraid. We're going to compete and I want to make sure we compete, regardless of who we play. We were 10-3 going into the game, but this is good for us."
On competing last year with Oakland
"We talked about before the game. Last year, our shots went down. I know they're bigger, stronger and quicker than us-they're Division I. But like I said, goofy things happen in this world and we went out with a game plan and we came to try and win a ball game."
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