Feb. 14, 2009
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Oakland vs. IPFW Postgame Quotes
Oakland University Head Coach Greg Kampe
Opening Statement
"Sitting there watching the game, I didn't think it was a very well-played game, for some reason. When you look at the statistics, from our standpoint, we shot 62 percent from the floor, 50 from the three, we did miss some free throws, we had a pretty good rebound margin. Our defensive stats were pretty good, and I think that it's very simplistic to look at that and ask 'why do you think it wasn't a well-played game.' We turned it over 17 times. I have a point guard that has the ball in his hands the whole game, and he normally just turns it over one or two times. For him to have eight is a tough night, even though he had 15 assists. I give IPFW credit for that. We scored 92 at their place, and I think they took it to heart coming in here. They changed their game plan defensively, and I think their pressure on the ball created some issues for us. I have to give them credit for changing the flow of the game. We average over 80 points a game at home, we haven't lost here. We're really good offensively at home. I think that they did a nice job of disrupting the flow, and getting into us. Eight turnovers is unbelievable. I think that Drew Maynard was outstanding in the first half and (Blake) Cushingberry was outstanding in the second half. We got our typical play out of our veterans. I went with Blake more than Drew in the second half just because of the defense. Blake, defensively, is just a little bit ahead of Drew in the scheme that we had, and what we were trying to accomplish. But Maynard played an outstanding first half."
On the size differential
"We have a size differential on most teams in our league. We're 6-11, 6-10, 6-9. With Ilija (Milutinovic), when he's healthy, we're seven foot. We have that over everyone in our league with the exception of maybe Oral Roberts. And so, (Benson) has seen that every night in league play. Look at his numbers, he's averaging 20 points a game in the last eight or nine games. Obviously our team has figured that out and we're getting him the ball."
On the team's immediate future, looking towards the league tournament and a potential NCAA tournament bid
"I think that the day before Derick Nelson got hurt, everyone at Oakland University thought this could be the greatest team that had ever played at Oakland, with the fact that you had a league MVP candidate in Nelson. When he got hurt, I think we all felt it was just a matter of holding the ship until he comes back. Then we found out he wasn't coming back. I think the mindset has been let's just get better, let's just get better. We don't have to wait till next year. We have a chance to be special next year, but Kangas and (Dan) Waterstradt aren't going to be here next year and they don't want to wait till next year. I think our young guys are, especially at home, really really good. If we can get those young guys to play on the road like they've played at home, then we've got a chance to do what we need to do. We've beaten everybody ahead of us in the league at home, and I think we know we can. When you have nine scholarship players dressed, and six of them are freshmen and sophomores, it's hard to think you can go do that. But our kids believe it. Whether we will or not, we'll find out, but we believe we can."
On whether the O'Rena is becoming a place other teams don't want to visit
"I hope so. That's I think 11 or 12 in a row here. We've got to take it one at a time. We have to go on the road next week, and then we have to come back and finish it off with two, but it is a goal that our seniors put together as I've told you many times. One of the goals was not to lose at the O'Rena, and we've got two left. Hopefully they believe in that, and we'll continue to play the way we have."
On the play of David Carson tonight
"He's a good offensive player. Once the game got spread out and we got that lead, I think defensively they spread the floor. It's easier to play offense when you're behind than when it's a tight game. He went out, made a couple shots, and got going. But we got stops on him down the stretch when they got it back to single-digits. I was very pleased with how we defended him. He got 18 points, but it took him 16 shots to do it. I was very pleased with the way we defended him, the entire game. They got by us off the dribble a few times too many, but we held them to 42 percent shooting. Anytime you can do something like that you're doing something right."
On the demands he puts on a point guard in his system
"We have over 50 sets, and I've had teams with over 75 sets. This team next year will be one of those teams. You can't do that unless you have a point guard. Johnathon has more assists than any player in the country, and part of that is because he has the ball all the time. I'm very demanding on him. He's got to be me out there, and he's got to take on my personality. I'm not going to settle, and I'm not going to let him settle, and he settled tonight. We ran a couple sets where the guys weren't in the right spots, and he allowed that to happen. That's his fault. I don't think it's Drew Maynard's fault. It's his fault. He ran the set while Maynard wasn't in the right spot. So I'm very demanding on him, and after three years he handles it very well. Each play has a purpose. We want to get Kangas this, we want to get this mismatch, we want to get these guys going, and so on. A perfect example was down the stretch, (Deilvez) Yearby got four fouls They took him out and and put David Carson on (Benson). Now we've got to run every play through Benson because Carson can't guard Benson. He's 6-4. JJ has to get us in that set, and when it breaks down, he has to know what that option is to still get the ball to Benson. JJ's great at that,but it's taken three years to do that. So there's a high demand because of our system, which is a set-play system. Obviously when you have eight turnovers your coach gets mad at you because he's not used to that. Last week he had 25 assists in two games and I think he had two turnovers. Those are amazing numbers, but he's an amazing player. You don't get to see this often, but tonight you got to see him on a night where he wasn't amazing, in my eyes. Maybe he was in yours but he wasn't in mine - but he is an amazing player."
On participating in the WBCA PinkZone effort
"We've had a long history of participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer effort. Next Tuesday we're going to grill at the Mongolian Barbeque, and we've done that every year for years, and have made a couple thousand dollars doing that. This was a chance this year for us to get involved, when (legendary former North Carolina State women's head coach) Kay Yow passed away, to also get involved in helping that effort too. I was pleased with the turnout, for Valentine's Day night we had a very nice turnout and people supported. Our fans, obviously I'm very proud to see so many in pink. This is a great cause. When you can take your status in the community and reach out and help people, I think it's important that you do it."
On the team's overall offensive performance
"I think Cushingberry was the key. He had double-digit rebounds, he's just really starting to get it. And with he and Maynard playing the way they did tonight, combined. They scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds combined. When you get that out of freshmen you have to be happy. We are a very talented offensive team that's growing every time we play, because of our youth. Who would have thought we'd have an easy victory and (Erik) Kangas would be non-descript tonight. Really, he made a couple shots but they did everything they could to take him out of the game. They did a good job, and we didn't force-feed it to him, and that went back to JJ. How many times did we get layups on slips? The slips are there, and we practice them, but JJ has to read that they're jumping to Kangas and our big guys have to be smart enough to slip, and they did. I can think of Will Hudson getting one down the middle, Benson got one down the shoot, and you know, that's all the players reading. It's kind of like a football offense. Your quarterback has to read the drops, and go through the progressions, and Johnathon is very good at it."
On the team's mindset going into the tournament
"We still have a chance at the two seed. Oral Roberts has a tough game tonight, they have to go on the road to Southern Utah, and still have to play North Dakota State. I'm not even thinking about that yet. If you would have told me the day they told me that Derick Nelson was done for the year that my team had a chance to win 20 games, I would have said we'll take that, and that's where we're at. We've got to get ready for our last road trip of the year and we've got to find a way to win two games next week."
Junior guard Johnathon Jones
On his job today and what coach Kampe was telling him during the game
"Just to do what I normally do, which was get my teammates involved and run the show, get the plays going. When he was yelling at me he was telling me to get the plays set up like I normally do, and I wasn't doing, and that was my fault. A point guard has to get everyone involved and get them where they need to be and I wasn't doing that."
On his mindset looking at IPFW's aggressive defensive schemes
"Once I got through the initial pressure, and got into the paint, it just opened everything up for me. We had (Erik) Kangas on the wing, Cushingberry on the wing, and (Benson) down low, and it just opened up our game and allowed us to play a better game."
On the team's immediate future, looking towards the league tournament and a potential NCAA tournament bid
"It's definitely in our grasp. We keep playing well, and getting better every day. If we continue to play better going into the tournament, we can do it."
Sophomore center Keith Benson
On going up against a smaller team in IPFW
"I just try and play my same game, no matter who is guarding me, and be aggressive. It's not really a change in the challenge. We were trying to get the ball inside more and take advantage of the mismatch."
On the team's immediate future, looking towards the league tournament and a potential NCAA tournament bid
"I think we can make a run in the tournament this year. We should do well in The Summit League tournament and hopefully get a couple games in the NCAA tournament."
IPFW Head Coach Dane Fife
Opening Statement
"Give Oakland a lot of credit. I thought we did a really nice job closing out the half and did a nice job in the second, taking the lead. Then, it seemed like at the five minute mark they went on a run and that was our doom. I thought we neutralized Erik Kangas and did a decent job on Johnathon Jones. But it was pick your poison tonight, with the way Drew Maynard and Blake Cushingberry played and Keith Benson got a lot of points late. We did a nice job stopping Jones and Kangas, but we let their role players really stick it to us tonight."
On where the IPFW program is now and where it is headed
"I think we've improved every year, no question. It's a lot more than just basketball at IPFW because for so long, the school was never taken seriously and I don't think they took themselves seriously. So, it's a lot more than just basketball but from a basketball standpoint, we have definitely improved each year. We have 10 new faces this year, so we're still trying to find out our way. I think the last three games we've played a lot better than we have all year. The problem is, we run into an Oakland team that is red hot. I'm proud of the way our guys worked, but it's a situation where Oakland just has to play bad. They haven't lost at home all year and they just have to play bad. We can't come in and play great and then Oakland plays great and expect to win. We've got to force them into doing some things they don't do. And we did that for the most part, with the exception on three to four minutes in the game."
On matchup of Keith Benson
"He is long and he can jump. Benson is not necessarily a superstar, yet, but he does a nice job of complementing Jones and Kangas. It was a pick your poison tonight and I felt he was not as much of a priority as Jones and Kangas and he hurt us."
On foul trouble with Deilvez Yearby
"He just has to be smarter. He was out of position, not executing the game plan like he was supposed to and he relaxed and got taken advantage of. I hope that's a good learning experience for him but as it stood that cost us. Deilvez was in a groove and they were having a tough time guarding him. He may be shorter than Benson, but Benson has to come down and guard him on the other end, which for most guys, is tough to do."
On David Carson's homecoming back to Oakland University
"Dave gives us a solid presence on the inside and he is a great person. Tonight, he didn't have one of his best games. It's human nature to really want to beat your former team and I thought he pushed and pressed a little bit and rushed some shots. But, we don't win basketball games without Dave Carson on the floor. I thought John Peckinpaugh came in and did a really nice job when Dave wasn't getting things done, but Dave is key and has to be the guy down the stretch for us."
