Golden Hurricane Notebook: Tulsa vs. Temple Post-Game Quotes

HEAD COACH FRANK HAITH

Opening statement

“Obviously it was a heck of a win for us. I thought our guys played with great determination. We were slow to get started, and I think it was because we were wound tight in the first half. We changed our defense and started to play better at the end of the half. In the second half I thought that we had great flow with our offense, and we were really good defensively. There were a lot of guys that made plays tonight, and it was just a real gutsy performance by our guys.”

On rebounding tonight

“There is no question that we were severely under sized tonight without Rashad Smith, and we are not very big anyway. For us to win the game today we felt like that was the most important thing (rebounding), and our ability to limit them to one shot and push back. Our guys were fighting like crazy, and we were very conscious in finding guys, locating guys and pushing back.”

On this team peaking at the right time

“I thought that we were in the right place and headed the right direction a couple weeks ago, and it was all about our mindset. Our preparation and focus is something that as a coach you can sense this team has. Does that always equate to winning every game? That’s not always the case but you just want to play well, and you want to play with confidence. We want guys to understand what we are looking for as coaches, and I think that this team has gotten to that point. A lot our success happened when we inserted Pat (Birt) into the lineup, and understanding his value and what he’s capable of. I think that having that third scorer has really helped our team.”

On three games in six days

“I am really impressed. It takes a toughness and a tremendous amount of grit and determination. Our staff did a great job too, because we had to prepare like crazy. We were on point in everything that we did. We took a great shot down in Central Florida and they played well, but I thought our guys were tough minded. After the UCF game we come back here to play the number one team in our league, and so you have to be excited about what these guys were able to do knowing we were down a starter. I am really pleased with what our guys were able to accomplish.”

On Smith coming back

“We hope so. It is really painful right now for him. He has a significant shoulder injury, and hopefully the plan is to have him back.”

On what a win like this does for Tulsa

“They (Temple) were in. All the brackets I saw had Temple in, and we beat a team that’s in so that has to help. We talked about this stretch and what it would do, and I know it was looking tough for us but as a competitor you had to embrace it. We only had a two-point loss in UConn when we started that stretch, and we had an overtime loss to these guys (Temple). I think we competed night in and night out.”

On the development of Pat Birt

“He is a good shooter. I think that we really want him to grow in other areas. Tonight he was 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He has become a well-rounded player. I think when you saw him early in the year all he did was shoot threes. His field goal numbers in conference play have jumped, because he is playing more so to what the defense gives him. He had a great pull up game tonight, and he had a couple drives to the basket. I think that he is a scorer, and we have really stressed that part to him. He doesn’t have to just shoot threes.”

On the defensive strategy

“It was just about our tenacity and just being there on the catch. We knew their personnel and what they wanted to do, and so we wanted to take away driving lanes. They were shooting contested shots, and they are capable of making contested shots. We were going to make sure that they had to make a bunch of contested shots.” 

TULSA SENIOR GUARD JAMES WOODARD

On what it was like at the end of this game

“I was very important for us to show our growth out there. We executed our defensive strengths and offensively we made several great passes that led to shots, and we made sure to keep it ‘one and done’ on all the rebounds.”

On the defensive performance after Temple took the lead

“They came out and they ran great offense and they were knocking down shots. We just had to stick together and clamp down defensively and close out their shooters because they have great players. That was our emphasis. We really clamped down on them and that was our goal.”

On his eight assists, and whether he put an emphasis on the extra pass

“No, I was just making the read. Pat did so much for us by setting screens and making it available for everyone on the floor. Marquel (Curtis) made some great plays for us, and he’ll make the offensive play on the breakdown even while we’re on defense. I felt that it was a great game for everyone, especially when we were sharing the ball.”

On whether this was looked at as a big game on the schedule

“We just came out even with the tough stretch ahead of us and we just took our time, one game at a time. Just mentally and physically trying to play hard every chance we get.”

On whether the team is peaking

“We are just taking it one game at a time. After every game we go back and watch the film and work on everything we need to improve in practice. We just continue to growth and take it one game at a time.”

On whether the game three weeks ago at Temple entered their minds at all

“It was just the next game on the schedule and that was just the next team in our way. We just came out and competed.”

TULSA JUNIOR GUARD PAT BIRT

On scoring 23 points after a slow start

“It was the way to offense was executing. We just played the same plays we always run in practice.”

On what changes were made to adjust defensively

“I mean we all knew we were playing as well defensively as we should be. We knew that we just needed to talk and louder and that we a big thing for us going back in. We just had to pick it up on that part. We just have to work together on our defense.”

On what goes through his mind when he gets into a rhythm and is making shots

“Like I said before, we just got through our normal systems from practice and we executed them which gave me openings to make the shots. They know that I can shoot so they pass it to me. We just like to play our game, Tulsa Basketball.”

TEMPLE HEAD COACH FRAN DUNPHY

On his team’s performance during the first half

“I thought it was 25-13, maybe, and then we just got stuck. They switched their defense a little bit and we could run our offense good enough without Josh Brown in the game. We threw a couple of passes that I would rather that we don’t throw but we survived until the end of the first half. Then, we actually had a chance to take a lead at the early part of the second half. I thought nobody was at the rim and then they really tightened their defense up and I thought they made some terrific shots as well. We got stuck with a forward on a guard and that guard happened to be Woodard and he made a couple of big threes for them. They are a good basketball team. We were very fortunate to win the game at our place. It’s going to be tough as you get on the road here. You play a game on Sunday, you play a game tonight, then we have to be ready to go and we weren’t as ready as we needed to. A lot of that is because Tulsa is good.”

On Tulsa and the NCAA tournament

“I think they are very good and very worthy. They are one of a number of teams that can go to Orlando and win the whole thing.”

On Pat Birt’s impact on their defense

“Birt is a really good player. The defense is tough enough but when he is knocking shots out it makes Tulsa very difficult to defend. They played him and they had four guards a lot tonight Obviously, with Smith being out and it helped them I thought.”

On the turnovers and lost possessions

“I can remember three very critical ones at the start of the second half. We turned over eight times in the second half. That is not our amo. That is not what we do and it leads to easy run outs for this team. We tried to press a little bit and that’s not our style either and they burned us on that.

On their next three games

“We need to win as many games as we can. Our sights now will be set on UCF and we will see what we can do on Saturday, Memphis at home, and at Tulane to finish the season. That is three terrific opportunities to play in a great league and if we can finish strong then we will take our chances.

On Tulsa’s change of defense

“I thought they denied a lot of our point-to-wing stuff. And we just didn’t react to it well enough. They switched out of zone and went a little bit of man-to-man … until I see the film, I won’t know exactly the approach that they had. We just didn’t handle it very well. I thought we were at the basket four-to-five times and we just didn’t finish at the rim, which we needed to stem the tide a little bit and we couldn’t get a basket to go.”

TEMPLE SOPHOMORE FORWARD OBI ENECHIONYIA

On where the game slipped away

“The early part of the second half. We were down by two going into halftime. That’s one of our problems. We don’t come out as hard as we should in the second half and I think that’s where we lost it.”

On whether they were waiting for the late charge that was typical of the team this year

“I definitely believed we would make it, but we didn’t come through at the end.”

On their focus to finish strong and carry momentum

“We need to forget about this game, watch the film, learn from our mistakes and come out on Saturday ready to play. We have three more important games. We’re still at the top of the conference and we need to stay there. These last two games are important.”

On Tulsa tonight

“They hit a lot of good shots, a lot of 3s that we should have contested a little bit more. But they had some good players and shot it well and forced us into eight turnovers in the second half, which is uncharacteristic for us. They played hard and they are coached well. They have a good team.”

On what Tulsa players made the greatest

“Probably Birt. He shot it really well.”