Stanford men's basketball talked to the media today about the Pac-12 Tournament and their upcoming game against Cal. Jerod Haase, Dorian Pickens, and Reid Travis addressed us. I asked them some questions about what challenges they feel Cal poses. Below are key quotes.
These quotes will also be included in my preview, which will go out as soon as I'm done getting quotes from Cal. I've been told that Cal will be available around 5:00 today via teleconference, during their mandatory media session in Vegas.
“I mean, they did a lot of things. You know, they’re obviously a good basketball team and our rival in the conference, so anytime they play against us, we play against them, the competition is definitely turned up a notch, they definitely like to apply a lot of pressure on us in the full court and in the half court as well and I think if we’re able to handle that well and handle that pressure well and keep attacking, then I think we’ll be alright.”-Dorian Pickens on what Cal has done well against them this year.
“Yeah, same deal. They put a lot of pressure on us when we went and played at their place and they did a good job of switching up defenses from man and zone and kinda keeping us on our heels in that sense, so for us it’s just being poised, taking care of the ball, and I think when we limit our turnovers we should be alright.” –Reid Travis on what Cal has done well against them this year.
“I wouldn’t say frustration, although it is unfortunate that we did have that tie for third place and we ended up getting the fifth seed, it’s something we could have controlled throughout the season, so it’s more so just we understanding we could have took care of business throughout the season with some games and stuff like that and for us, we relish an opportunity to go play another game so I wouldn’t say disappointment. Obviously the path is a little easier when you’re trying to win three games instead of four, but for us it’s still just another opportunity, so we’re looking forward to it.”-Reid Travis on any frustration having to get the 5th seed having been in a three-way tie for 3rd place.
“I would say the area he’s grown the most is just managing the team. I think it’s tough to come in as a freshman and basically given the keys to the offense to where we have three captains on the team, three older guys and you’re basically in charge of getting us in the right places, facilitating the ball and also scoring yourself, so I think early on it was tough for him just to manage all that and find his spots within the offense as well, but as you can see now he’s flourishing, he knows when to take it to the hole, when to make the right path, when to facilitate, and also just on the defensive end, he’s really stepping up and being a leader on that end, and so I’d say just his maturity of really taking over the team from the point guard spot, you can see as the months went on this season, that he’s grown into that spot and being a leader at that position.” –Reid Travis on the growth of Daejon Davis over the course of the season.
“So, I think a lot like Daejon, having him around, especially this year playing extreme minutes for us and be extremely useful and beneficial for us, he’s matured a lot. He’s matured a lot over the season and obviously like you said, a great defender, has extreme length, he’s athletic, he’s fast, has all the intangibles to be a great defender, we look for him to do that each and every game. And I think on the offensive end we just want him to play free. We want him to play free with a clear mind. When he’s out there having fun and just doing what he does, that’s when we see him playing his best. When he’s able to just let the game come to him, attack when he can and we’ll find the ball and opportunities for him to be able to score. So his growth has been tremendous over the season as well and I think only time will tell how much he’ll continue to improve.” –Dorian Pickens on the growth of KZ Okpala.
“Yeah, he has a high motor, so for us it’s just locating him. I feel like watching film there’s a lot of times we’re giving him offensive rebounds, which is what he likes to do. Quick finishes, dunks. So the more we can limit that and make every shot difficult, where he’s having to score over a defender or through somebody, I think we’ll be more successful. I think when we lose him or we’re in the zone where he’s getting offensive rebounds and put backs and stuff like that, that’s when he gets confident, that’s when he can get successful; so it’s just finding him, find a body on him, he’s a great player, so obviously it’s a tough matchup, but that’s the kinda things we gotta focus on.”-Reid Travis on how to not allow Marcus Lee to have the type of success he had against them in the first two games.
“Yeah, he’s had a great season as well, especially coming into his first year, a guy that likes to definitely be aggressive from the wing, get in the lane, and be able to finish and make plays for teammates and things like that. So, he’s definitely one of the guys that we’re going to try to key in on this game and look to stop as well as their bigs and some of the other guards if we’re going to get the job done.”-Dorian Pickens on Justice Sueing.
“With both the first two games, there’s different aspects that we played well and struggled with. We’re going to have to handle their pressure if they do pressure us. They pressured us in the full court some, in the half court, and I didn’t think we did a good job up at their place, so we’ll have to handle that pressure and get shots. We do need to attack but also do it with poise and it kinda goes back to the same thing about not turning the ball over and then on the defensive end we have to play with a great deal of intelligence as well, so we need to know their personnel, how we’re going to defend them, make sure we understand the game plan, what we’re going to do on the defensive end, and then execute to the best of our ability.”-Jerod Haase on what his wants to see differently from his guys the third time around against Cal.
“Well it’s a huge challenge, they do a great job rebounding the basketball and their interior play is really really good, so we need to be really good in our one-on-one matchups, but also be able to provide assistance in both when they have the basketball trying to score it and also on rebounds. We need to get our guards in there and rebounding at a high level, so it’s gonna be a committee kind of a thing that we need to throw bodies at them and hopefully play with a little bit more energy and passion and also get the guards involved in defending them and rebounding.” –Jerod Haase on winning the battle in the paint against Cal.
“Unless of course there’s another opportunity that’s gonna paint an even bigger, better picture. It’s an opportunity to play another game and with our team that’s an exciting thing right now and it’s an opportunity to build a resume even more to see if we can make a little run here. So, would we rather have had a bye? Probably. But again, it’s an opportunity to go play with this team that we continue to develop.”-Jerod Haase on getting the 5th seed as opposed to an opening round bye.
“Well he can do a little bit of everything. He’s a very capable 3-point shooter, he can put the ball on the ground, and so he’s a matchup issue for whoever you put on him, so he’s had a tremendous freshman year; really, he’s been a steady force for them and so we’re going to have to pay special attention to him and at times maybe throw some different looks or throw some different defenses at him.” –Jerod Haase on Justice Sueing.
“Yeah, we’re to the point now with the season if there’s a concern of our guys being ready and motivated, then our season will be over pretty quick and so that’s their job. I mean it’s our guys’ job and it’s the captains’ job to make sure we’re ready to go. It’s the coach’s, it’s my job to give them a great game plan and coach them really hard during the game, but I’m optimistic and hopeful the guys are gonna be in a great spot mentally and we’ll do everything we can between now and then to get to that point, but all indications at this point lead to the fact that they’re still really excited to play.” –Jerod Haase on any challenge in getting his guys ready to play a team that has played them well but wouldn’t be much of a resume boosting win.
These quotes will also be included in my preview, which will go out as soon as I'm done getting quotes from Cal. I've been told that Cal will be available around 5:00 today via teleconference, during their mandatory media session in Vegas.
“I mean, they did a lot of things. You know, they’re obviously a good basketball team and our rival in the conference, so anytime they play against us, we play against them, the competition is definitely turned up a notch, they definitely like to apply a lot of pressure on us in the full court and in the half court as well and I think if we’re able to handle that well and handle that pressure well and keep attacking, then I think we’ll be alright.”-Dorian Pickens on what Cal has done well against them this year.
“Yeah, same deal. They put a lot of pressure on us when we went and played at their place and they did a good job of switching up defenses from man and zone and kinda keeping us on our heels in that sense, so for us it’s just being poised, taking care of the ball, and I think when we limit our turnovers we should be alright.” –Reid Travis on what Cal has done well against them this year.
“I wouldn’t say frustration, although it is unfortunate that we did have that tie for third place and we ended up getting the fifth seed, it’s something we could have controlled throughout the season, so it’s more so just we understanding we could have took care of business throughout the season with some games and stuff like that and for us, we relish an opportunity to go play another game so I wouldn’t say disappointment. Obviously the path is a little easier when you’re trying to win three games instead of four, but for us it’s still just another opportunity, so we’re looking forward to it.”-Reid Travis on any frustration having to get the 5th seed having been in a three-way tie for 3rd place.
“I would say the area he’s grown the most is just managing the team. I think it’s tough to come in as a freshman and basically given the keys to the offense to where we have three captains on the team, three older guys and you’re basically in charge of getting us in the right places, facilitating the ball and also scoring yourself, so I think early on it was tough for him just to manage all that and find his spots within the offense as well, but as you can see now he’s flourishing, he knows when to take it to the hole, when to make the right path, when to facilitate, and also just on the defensive end, he’s really stepping up and being a leader on that end, and so I’d say just his maturity of really taking over the team from the point guard spot, you can see as the months went on this season, that he’s grown into that spot and being a leader at that position.” –Reid Travis on the growth of Daejon Davis over the course of the season.
“So, I think a lot like Daejon, having him around, especially this year playing extreme minutes for us and be extremely useful and beneficial for us, he’s matured a lot. He’s matured a lot over the season and obviously like you said, a great defender, has extreme length, he’s athletic, he’s fast, has all the intangibles to be a great defender, we look for him to do that each and every game. And I think on the offensive end we just want him to play free. We want him to play free with a clear mind. When he’s out there having fun and just doing what he does, that’s when we see him playing his best. When he’s able to just let the game come to him, attack when he can and we’ll find the ball and opportunities for him to be able to score. So his growth has been tremendous over the season as well and I think only time will tell how much he’ll continue to improve.” –Dorian Pickens on the growth of KZ Okpala.
“Yeah, he has a high motor, so for us it’s just locating him. I feel like watching film there’s a lot of times we’re giving him offensive rebounds, which is what he likes to do. Quick finishes, dunks. So the more we can limit that and make every shot difficult, where he’s having to score over a defender or through somebody, I think we’ll be more successful. I think when we lose him or we’re in the zone where he’s getting offensive rebounds and put backs and stuff like that, that’s when he gets confident, that’s when he can get successful; so it’s just finding him, find a body on him, he’s a great player, so obviously it’s a tough matchup, but that’s the kinda things we gotta focus on.”-Reid Travis on how to not allow Marcus Lee to have the type of success he had against them in the first two games.
“Yeah, he’s had a great season as well, especially coming into his first year, a guy that likes to definitely be aggressive from the wing, get in the lane, and be able to finish and make plays for teammates and things like that. So, he’s definitely one of the guys that we’re going to try to key in on this game and look to stop as well as their bigs and some of the other guards if we’re going to get the job done.”-Dorian Pickens on Justice Sueing.
“With both the first two games, there’s different aspects that we played well and struggled with. We’re going to have to handle their pressure if they do pressure us. They pressured us in the full court some, in the half court, and I didn’t think we did a good job up at their place, so we’ll have to handle that pressure and get shots. We do need to attack but also do it with poise and it kinda goes back to the same thing about not turning the ball over and then on the defensive end we have to play with a great deal of intelligence as well, so we need to know their personnel, how we’re going to defend them, make sure we understand the game plan, what we’re going to do on the defensive end, and then execute to the best of our ability.”-Jerod Haase on what his wants to see differently from his guys the third time around against Cal.
“Well it’s a huge challenge, they do a great job rebounding the basketball and their interior play is really really good, so we need to be really good in our one-on-one matchups, but also be able to provide assistance in both when they have the basketball trying to score it and also on rebounds. We need to get our guards in there and rebounding at a high level, so it’s gonna be a committee kind of a thing that we need to throw bodies at them and hopefully play with a little bit more energy and passion and also get the guards involved in defending them and rebounding.” –Jerod Haase on winning the battle in the paint against Cal.
“Unless of course there’s another opportunity that’s gonna paint an even bigger, better picture. It’s an opportunity to play another game and with our team that’s an exciting thing right now and it’s an opportunity to build a resume even more to see if we can make a little run here. So, would we rather have had a bye? Probably. But again, it’s an opportunity to go play with this team that we continue to develop.”-Jerod Haase on getting the 5th seed as opposed to an opening round bye.
“Well he can do a little bit of everything. He’s a very capable 3-point shooter, he can put the ball on the ground, and so he’s a matchup issue for whoever you put on him, so he’s had a tremendous freshman year; really, he’s been a steady force for them and so we’re going to have to pay special attention to him and at times maybe throw some different looks or throw some different defenses at him.” –Jerod Haase on Justice Sueing.
“Yeah, we’re to the point now with the season if there’s a concern of our guys being ready and motivated, then our season will be over pretty quick and so that’s their job. I mean it’s our guys’ job and it’s the captains’ job to make sure we’re ready to go. It’s the coach’s, it’s my job to give them a great game plan and coach them really hard during the game, but I’m optimistic and hopeful the guys are gonna be in a great spot mentally and we’ll do everything we can between now and then to get to that point, but all indications at this point lead to the fact that they’re still really excited to play.” –Jerod Haase on any challenge in getting his guys ready to play a team that has played them well but wouldn’t be much of a resume boosting win.
