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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: MILWAUKEE

March 18, 2010

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

DENNIS KRAUSE: Joining us now Oklahoma State student-athletes James Anderson, Obi Muonelo, and Keiton Page. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Obi, during your last couple of years, you guys have played some big men like Blake Griffin, Cole Aldrich, Craig Brackins, and beaten them all at least once. Considering your guys' height, I'm not quite sure how that happened. You're going to play against a team with some really big men. You played some good, big men over the last three years like Cole Aldrich, Blake Griffin, Craig Brackins and beaten them all at least once. Considering lack of height, I'm not sure how you guys pulled that off. How do you continue to do that against bigger guys?
OBI MUONELO: We have great coaches and great game plans when we play big men like that. Whenever we get somebody bigger, we always have a way to either trap the post, what we call reading the post, or having a great way to put pressure on the ball and rotating to the post whenever we get a chance to.
We've been doing it for so long we got used to playing defense hard and aggressive when we play somebody big. That's the key to winning the game.
DENNIS KRAUSE: We have Matt Pilgrim also up here, a student-athlete from Oklahoma State.

Q. Matt, can you talk about the match-up tomorrow with Derrick Favors, what do you expect from him and challenges you guys are going to face?
MATT PILGRIM: The media, did their own scouting report, for the most part, telling me all about him. But, man, we've got to plan for him, and we're just going to go out there and play hard against him.

Q. What did the media say about him?
MATT PILGRIM: You all know what it is, going straight to the league. It's kind of a motivational thing, to tell you the truth. But just going to go out there and play our hardest, that's all we can do.

Q. Any of you guys, you played a lot of teams with one good big man. Georgia Tech's two best players are two big men. It may be a different challenge for you guys in that regard.
JAMES ANDERSON: That means we have to do all the small things more and just play smarter and just understand what they're trying to do on offense, and that's jamming the ball on the inside and just have to play smarter and play together as a team on defense.

Q. Keiton, for you and James, Keiton, talk about your Big 12, that explosive game you had against Oklahoma, about the 3s, how important that can be in this game. And James, for you, not up to your usual standards the Big 12, about coming back in this tournament. Keiton, first you.
KEITON PAGE: That was a good game for us. We know we can be dangerous when we're hitting 3s, and we've talked about all season relieving pressure off James, and getting our other guys involved and relieving pressure off James. And when that happens that can get open looks for James as well. And we just feed off him and try to get a spark going early in the game and try to get a little lead and see if we can keep it going and keep the intensity up. And that's what we did in the Oklahoma game, and that's what we're going to keep trying to do as we keep playing.
JAMES ANDERSON: I don't think I had a good Big 12 tournament all-around game. I know Keiton did and Obi did in the first game. I don't think I really had to the first game. But the second game, I think I didn't come out and was aggressive like I normally do, and just kind of came late in the Kansas State game, but that's all behind us now. We're just trying to look forward and prepare for the game tomorrow and just come out and play like we normally do together as a team and hit them first before they hit us.

Q. James and Obi, you guys are in this position last year in the NCAA tournament. Could you talk about how that helps you this year and obviously second round last year, is there a different goal this year?
OBI MUONELO: Being in the tournament last year is a big boost for us, especially I think four or five guys -- five guys that were in it last year. So we're definitely experienced coming back.
But I don't want to say -- of course we have high expectations. Even last year we had high expectations in the second round. But we just focused on this first game, worrying about Georgia Tech right now. After that we'll worry about the next team.
JAMES ANDERSON: Like Obi said, just trying to take each game one by one. I know last year that was our first time making it last year, and we was kind of surprised. Not surprised, but we were kind of glad we made it. We got passed the first round and we actually thought we had a chance going into the second round of beating that team. We almost did. And just gave us a big boost.
And we know what it takes now to get past the first and the second round, and just playing for 40 minutes and bringing your A game.

Q. Your impressions of Georgia Tech, a team that almost beat Duke in the ACC tournament championship game.
MATT PILGRIM: I think they're a hardworking team. From what I've seen they played hard. They have a lot of pieces to the team. And I think they're going to bring a challenge.
JAMES ANDERSON: I think they push the ball good in transition, and their guards do a pretty good job of getting their big men touches, and they're just a good overall talented team.
And I think that also being a young team, they pretty much know the ropes and know the game, and they're just going to come out and try to attack us first with their talent. And we've just got to bring our A game and play together as a team from the jump.
OBI MUONELO: I think they're a very well coached team. They're a young team, but they're very well coached. I think they're scrappy, I think they're aggressive to the glass. And I just think -- I really think they can be dangerous because they're so hungry being that young. You always want to do very well, especially your first time being in the tournament. I mean, for some of those guys.
I think they're a hungry, well-coached young team.
KEITON PAGE: Yeah. I agree with all of them. I think they're a great team. But mostly I think they're a complete team. Their guards kind of get overshadowed by the two big men, Favors and Lawal. But after watching film and focusing in on them, their guard play is really well as well. I think they're just a complete team.

Q. I know you guys were really young when the tragedy happened to the basketball team, but does it resonate in any way with you guys? Anybody want to answer?
OBI MUONELO: You're talking about the playing challenge? One of the guys on the plane who passed was basketball teammate of my brother, Nate Fleming. He played point guard on one of my brother's high school team. It hit home at my house, and it was really big at my house when I was little. So, yeah, it did.

Q. Obi and James, your strength is guard play and theirs is down the middle. Is this a bad match-up for each team?
OBI MUONELO: In basketball, anybody can be the aggressor in any game. So our guards, we have a strong guard-oriented team but they have great post men. So I can see our guards having a big role in the game. I can see their big men having a big role in the game. It's going to be in the end who makes the most stops, doesn't turn the ball over, and who plays the best defense overall, who is going to win the game.

Q. Matt, can you talk about the match-up inside with guys like Lawal and Favors, do you look forward to the challenge?
MATT PILGRIM: No, I'm going to shy away from it [smiling]. I look forward to it. I know they're big, they're strong, but we're strong, too. We've got Marshall and me Obi ain't no little guy either. We lift weights, too.
But it should be fun. Like I said it's going to be a challenge. It's just who is going to win. It's going to be a battle.

Q. James, when you guys have played NCAA tournament competition like in Big 12 play and beaten them, you've shot really well, like 50 percent. When you lost to those teams you shot around 40 percent. Is that shots just going in, some days you make them, some days you don't, or is it all the work that goes into those shots?
JAMES ANDERSON: I mean, of course you're not going to make every shot. Some games you're just on, and some games you just hit a couple shots here and there. And just turned out that the games that we win, that now we all played good but we played together as a team and we do all the little stuff. I don't think it's just me when we win that I shoot a high percentage. But I'm pretty sure that it played a pretty good part. But for the most part, when we win we play together as a team. That's when I hit a couple of shots, start opening up shots for my teammates, and then it starts opening up other drives and stuff for me.

Q. James, Lawal said you guys played together in the McDonald's All-American game. Do you remember much about him, and if so, what?
JAMES ANDERSON: I remember a little, not much. But I think he was -- I want to say he was on the other team. I don't know for sure. But he was a pretty cool guy and a friendly guy. But I don't remember too much. I had too many tough days at school since then, so...
DENNIS KRAUSE: Thank you.
Questions for Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford.

Q. You've been through this your first year at Oklahoma State, getting to the second round. What do you take from that team to taking the next step with Cowboys to the NCAA?
COACH FORD: That's kind of been a popular question the last couple of days. How much does it help you from making it last year? I don't really put a lot of stock into that that, that it gives you any advantage, other than I think a day like today, where James and Keiton and Obi have been through this before. There's so many obligations that go into this, and they're prepared for it; the news conferences, the media and different things you've got to do.
If you've never been, I guess that can be distracting at times, maybe. But these kids, they forget very, very quickly.
So in that aspect it may help a little bit. But I don't put a whole lot of stock just because you made it last year it's going to help you this year or anything like that. It can't hurt. It can't hurt.
But we have approached it as a brand-new experience for everybody. We've tried to keep them prepared and focused on why we're here and don't let outside distractions come into play, even though there are obligations we've got to be a part of. Just to try to stay as focused on what we need to do and keep a normal routine as much as possible.
We haven't talked that much about last year whatsoever.

Q. Looking at Georgia Tech's big men, you could say it's not the ideal match-up for you guys. But somehow being smaller, you've beaten Craig Brackins three times and Blake Griffin and Cole Aldrich couple times over the seasons.
COACH FORD: For the most part, when we play especially BCS schools, whether it Big 12 or SEC or ACC schools, we're going to be the smaller team. The last two years, no question about that. We're not the biggest team in the world.
But our guys have figured out how to compete. Like you said, we've played against some big teams. Kansas was big and Texas was big, and Baylor's big. You go down the line, there's some big teams in the Big 12.
And our guys, at times they've figured it out and at times we haven't. But we understand going into these situations that we've got to be overachievers, that we're going to have to make up for some lack of height and some different things at some point. And we understand that.
We just hope maybe on the other side, because we do play a little bit of an unconventional lineup, maybe it can affect the other team a little bit. But we understand it. And I always said you're always going to have limitations. As long as you understand those limitations and you try to scheme as much as you can and try to overcome it and try to do as much as you can to camouflage it, then it shouldn't be that big of a deal, hopefully.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about Fred's play this year and how much concern you have about going into a tournament with a freshman point guard?
COACH FORD: You know, Fred was put in a difficult situation, but a great situation for him in the fact that he was kind of -- he was backing up Ray Penn a little bit. They were playing a little bit of equal time. Ray Penn was playing a lot of minutes but then they played together a lot. But when Fred was -- when we finally said, "Ray, we're going to sit you out the rest of the year. Fred, now you're the point guard," I saw a great progression of him game by game, every time we went out.
And the success we've had especially of late and the reason we've made the run and being able to get into the NCAA tournament and win some of the big games we've won, I attribute it a lot to Fred Gulley and what he's brought the our basketball team.
He may not have the prettiest stats in the world and things like that, but what he brings to our team, he keeps our team together. He brings great defense. He understands who the best players on our team are.
He is a winner. He's won state championships. He's a two-time Mr. Basketball out of Arkansas. His team was undefeated last year. They made it to the state finals the year before that. He's a winner. He understands what it takes to win. And Fred understands he's got great players -- James Anderson, the best player in America -- around him. And he understands Keiton Page, if he gets him an open shot, sometimes can make it, and Obi Muonelo and down the line. And he's progressed at understanding his role is the biggest progression he's made, in understanding what he can do as an individual player to help us succeed.
So he's meant a lot. He's been a difference-maker for us.

Q. James obviously gets so much attention, but is this one of those games because of the match-up that Matt could be the key for you guys? And seems like he's looking forward to this match-up with Georgia Tech and kind of taking it personally. Have you gotten that sense?
COACH FORD: No, not really. He might just because we've told him how great those guys are. He's probably tired of hearing it. But Matt's a very humble guy. Extremely humble.
I'm sure he wants to play well. But I don't think he looks at it as he's better or anything like that. He's probably just tired of us telling him how great Favors and Lawal and all these guys are.
And I told him, give respect where respect is due. These guys are very, very good. So that's probably the case. But, yeah, he's important. They're all important. We're a team that we don't play a lot of guys. So it's important that everybody -- I've said this all year long -- we do, we have a great player in James Anderson, I think is the best player in the country.
And we've got some really good players other than that, some really good players that play around James. But the key for us all year long is make sure everybody else plays well. James has been fairly consistent, and whether -- it's not all about -- you can't go back and say if James scores 30 we win or he scores ten we lose. That's not been the case all year long. It's not all indicative on just what James does, because if James scores 15, that probably means he's gotten a lot of attention and he's passed it off to somebody else, which can help us win games as well.
It's important that Matt plays well. It's important that Keiton and Obi and these other guys step up, as we say, bring their A game. It's very important.

Q. When you talk about the guys Georgia Tech has inside, can you guard -- Matt's not going to back down, but can you guard them once they catch it inside and go man-to-man, or is this a game where the guards really have to pressure them and keep the ball out of their hands inside?
COACH FORD: Well, I'm not going to give away our game plan. But, no, they're a load in there, there's no question. We've watched I think maybe every game they've played this year. Those big guys are just very talented, very, very strong. They do as well of a job -- as good of a job as I've seen a team or big guys post with both feet in the paint or at least one foot in the paint that I've seen in a long time.
They're hard to get off the block. They're hard to move these guys. So, yeah, they're going to need help as much as they can get, absolutely. We're talking about, this is a team effort. This is not just about Matt trying to stop one guy or Marshall trying to stop a guy. That won't work against these big, strong physical players. But it's a team effort. Absolutely a team effort.

Q. I think you answered my question already, but I was wondering how much tape you watch of Tech.
COACH FORD: That's something we always do. We're big into that. And what else do we have to do at this point time of year. We watch a lot of film.

Q. Literally every game?
COACH FORD: Not every game. But a lot. Probably 15, last 10 to 15 games. We don't go back too far. Watch a lot of tape, break it down every which way we can. See what happens.

Q. Do you see some vulnerabilities? I know the in-bound play for them has been rough. They've given up some turnovers against the press, does that match up well for you?
COACH FORD: I've heard about the -- we've seen them turn it over. The games they turned it over, most of the games they've won. So what I have seen on Georgia Tech is they have really -- they're a young team, but they've really gotten better as the years have gone along. They're playing their best basketball right now; obviously, making it to the finals and the way they played Duke in the finals of the ACC tournament. They're playing great basketball. And you can kind of -- you can see that progression as they went through the tournament and things like that.
But their big men obviously get a lot of attention, notoriety, deservingly so. But their guards are very, very talented and can hurt you in a lot of different ways as well, whether it's from the 3-point line or driving it, pulling up over you, because they are big, physical guards.
So I've been very impressed with their talent. I've been very impressed with their big men and with their guards, and they seem to be an unselfish group. But I've been impressed watching them, very impressed.

Q. You mentioned a few minutes ago about Matt's humility, but for us who were never around your program. He seems to have a little bit of a personality. I'm wondering what it's like to be around him every day.
COACH FORD: Oh, he probably said more up here than he said last week. No. He's got a neat, little wit about him. He's a fairly quiet person, though, he really is. If you get him to talk, he usually says something pretty interesting.

Q. People say it all the time, against quality competition you guys shoot it well, you usually win. You don't shoot it so well, you don't. What's the key to that? Is it just some nights shots are dropping or is there some sort of work that goes into running that offense, things you guys need to do to shoot it well?
COACH FORD: Well, it's all about ball movement, spacing, make sure we're executing as much as possible. And I don't fully agree with that assessment. I agree that if we're making shots, we're pretty good. We've won games, too, when we haven't made shots. So I don't think winning is just -- we're totally dependent on it. It makes any team better when they're shooting the ball well. Yes, we are a team that shoots more 3s than some teams.
But it's a product of spacing and passing and executing the way we work on our offense every day and do they go out and do that on that particular night.
But one thing we've always done with our team, and that is we don't want to just rely on that. If you're going to rely on making shots, that's a dangerous thing to do.
You've got to be able to be great at the constants, the things you can control on game night, night in/night out. That's defense, how hard you're working and rebounding. And we've tried to instill that in our team as much as possible.
And the shooting is something -- you know, we came out of non-conference play 12-2, won the Vegas tournament. Went to Stanford. Won some good games. And we're the worst 3-point shooting team in the league going into conference play. Percentage-wise, made-wise, and a lot of different categories, we were the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big 12 heading into the Big 12. Go back, look at the stats. We were at the bottom. We hadn't hit the Big 12 yet. And guys were around me every day could remember me saying we're 12-2. We come out, we win our first game against Texas Tech about 30 at home. First Big 12 game we're 13-2 at that time. I said we're just -- I'm glad we're 13-2, but we're not playing very well at all. I wasn't very happy with my basketball team for the fact we just weren't shooting the ball very well at all.
But we were still 13-2 and won some really good basketball games. So I don't think it's totally dependent on just us making 3s. Does it help our team? No question. Absolutely. But we've got to prepare ourselves that if we're not making shots to figure out how to succeed without just making shots on 3s all the time.

Q. I know it was six years ago. The last time these two schools met, though, was a semifinal in the Final Four. Tech winning by two. One of the storied games in OSU basketball. Have you looked at that tape? Any comment on that game?
COACH FORD: Absolutely, positively not, no. That was the first question that was asked of me. I think as soon as we knew it, that that's who we were playing, we had our selection party and met with the media. I think that was the first question that was asked of me. This is the rematch. A lot of things have changed probably in both programs since then.
So, no, it's never been brought up by me to the team or been talked about at all. No, not at all.

Q. You talked about being able to do -- making sure you do the constants. As a coach, how much of a luxury is it to have somebody like James Anderson who is so consistent and obviously so good?
COACH FORD: It makes my job a whole lot easier. Not just the type of player he is, but the type of person he is. If all my players were the type of person he is and as responsible and accountable, as nice, coming ready to practice every day as James was makes it a lot easier.
As I've said, he's the most coachable young man I've ever coached, and that's a broad term and I can get into what that means. In my two years of James, I've never had to call him into my office one single time for something he's done wrong or been late to or anything like that. I've never had to tell him something twice.
Anytime you see James, he's extremely humble and very polite, in a good mood. He's a "no, sir/yes, sir." You tell him to do anything, he does it. Yes, it makes my job easy coaching a young man with his talent level, but also the type of young man he is. It makes everybody around him better. Makes me a better person. It makes his teammates better players and better people. There's not many James Andersons that come around every day, there's really not. He's a special, special player and a very special person as well.

Q. You said going to the tournament doesn't necessarily help you the next year. But going there and winning the way you guys did, especially in a close game last year, does that feeling -- is that sort of contagious, that feeling, guys just sort of catch on to it?
COACH FORD: Yeah. And it's funny you bring that up, because you're right. And I was probably wrong when I said we haven't talked about last year. But we have talked about exactly what you said, how much fun it was last year. How exciting it was. And so we have talked about that. We have talked to our team about, you know, James or Keiton tell these guys how exciting it is to make the tournament. And talking about how you have to stay focused with everything that goes on with the tournament.
This is not just a game. This is an event. This is not a game. This is not heading over to Texas Tech and playing a ball game. This is an event. There's a lot that goes into this. Going different places, we've been to practice already at another place and go shoot around here. They had to meet the media here and I've been to a meeting over there. There's a lot that goes on with this.
And we tried to keep them focused, but we've talked to them. I think the thing we've talked to them the most about is the excitement and the fun that it was to be a part of the tournament last year. And that was at a different level.
And last year we're talking about a group of guys who had never been, who had heard for three years that they weren't going to make it and they were underachievers and Terrell and all these guys, and for them to walk in, it was all icing on the cake.
Last year we put everything we had into try to win that first game. But I think they were just happy to be there and if we won or lost, everybody was going to be pretty happy anyway.
But we have talked about how exciting it was to be a part of that Tennessee game and we were right there with Pittsburgh. And we thought we had a great shot. So we have talked about that a little bit. Good point.

Q. How much effect can a coach have on making a team be overachievers, or is that up to the players?
COACH FORD: I think a coach can have a lot to do with it, because the coach is the person who is going to tolerate whatever he's going to tolerate. I give in to my players on certain things, on their abilities. I'm going to work with my players' abilities. I'm not a coach who says this is the offense we're going to run.
I coach my players based on what they can do and try to put them in position to be successful. That's what I try to do. I've always try to do that. My offense changes pretty much every year because I try to base the system based on what they can do and try to put them in position to be successful.
Now, outside of that I don't waver a whole lot on my expectations on how to act, how to work, attitudes and things like that. I think that you can set a standard that way. And when you're not the most talented team like we're not, we're not the deepest team, we're not the biggest team, you can go down the line, then you have to be overachievers. How do you do that? Starts with the habits from day one, hard practice, what do you do to make up for rebounding, all these things. So those things don't waver.
I think the coach, it's how much you tolerate and how much you give into players when they're not working hard, do you punish them when they get into trouble, which I will do, even if it costs us. And it has a couple times this year. But I always believe it's going to benefit that young man down the road and possibly could help your team. But it's not about always about winning and losing, it's about preparing these guys to leave Oklahoma State. All this stuff we're going through right now, it's great, fun, something to always remember. But we reminded them the other day, this is a privilege. You have earned the right to be here, absolutely. But this is a privilege.
But our main job as a coach, I tell my coaches, our job is to prepare them to leave Oklahoma State. And part of that is to be overachievers and things like that. I don't think we have a whole lot to do with it.

Q. You said when you got there, your seniors were gone there, they were told they were underachievers. Did you find that and have to do something about it?
COACH FORD: I found that they thought they were. I mentioned this before last year. We're midway through the conference season. We were kind of just treading along and we hit a pretty bad spell. And I looked at the players and you could tell it didn't bother them a whole lot.
And it's kind of like, yeah, this is what we're supposed to do. This is kind of what we always do. And that's where we quickly told them it's unacceptable. It's not about winning and losing, how we were losing was unacceptable. And that was not going to be tolerated.
So I think what I saw -- they hadn't experienced the success that they thought, because you look at Byron Eaton was part of one of the best number one recruiting class in the country coming into Oklahoma State. Now a bunch of those kids were gone, but there were high expectations for Byron Eaton. And I still talk to Byron probably every other day and just unbelievable young man. Love him to death and just love him to death.
But people don't -- and he took a lot of criticism. As much as I've ever taken a program over for, as much criticism on him. Everywhere I went, oh Byron Eaton this and Byron Eaton that. And he knew it. He knew it. He felt it. There's no question. We talked about it.
And I even said last year, I was excited for Byron and Terrell. That's what I was excited for, period. I knew there would be other opportunities and I had been to NCAA tournaments before as a coach and as a player, but, man, there was nothing better than sitting with those two guys on Selection Sunday when they looked at me and said, what's this all about? What do we do here?
Just listen and they'll tell you where we're going and who we're playing and what seed we are. They had no idea. And that put it in perspective very, very quickly, here's two seniors at Oklahoma State with such great basketball tradition, they'd never experienced the NCAA tournament before.
DENNIS KRAUSE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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