TicketsPostgame Quotes
Cleveland State at Cincinnati
Dec. 21, 2017
BB&T Arena
Highland Heights, Ky.
Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin
Opening statement:
"It's no fun when you are going through it, but, you are much better off playing against a team that plays really well against you, so, first of all, you have to give Cleveland State a lot of credit. They made some really, really hard shots in the first half. They had a great game plan and that is exactly what we thought they would do because Coach (Dennis) Felton has been around. He has coached at the highest level and I have great respect for his ability to coach the game. I thought that he would spread us out, try and drive the ball (and) use the three-point shot; they had nothing to lose. And they did exactly that. They made some hard shots; their kids made some great passes and it took us a while to adjust it. I told the guys 'you have to stay with it'. Fortunately, we executed on offense extremely well, which was the key in the first half in staying in the game during their three-point barrage – 7-of-12 in the first half. Gary (Clark) and Jacob (Evans) just told me to stop scheduling green teams before Christmas – Marshall made 17 threes against us last year the game before Christmas. I think you get more out of it when you play a team that is really playing well on offense. They stretch you out; it forces you defensively to step up your game. I thought Jaron Cumberland – he had three steals and, I don't know the steal first half versus second half, but we ended up with 10. It was just a bigger challenge to defend this team the way they were shooting the ball; their freshman point guard was really impressive with his speed and his quickness. I thought he played a great game against us. You have to give them a lot of credit and our guys as well because we stepped up and did what we had to do on a night where our opponent played probably their best game. They don't shoot the ball normally like that. They are not a good three-point shooting team – statistically, they shoot 31 percent and, tonight, they shot almost 48 (percent). But, I thought they had a great game plan and their kids played great."
On the key to the game:
"I thought the key to the game was while they were playing well on offense, so did we. Because if we had struggled, we would have been in a world of hurt. We would have been down 10 quickly."
On Kyle Washington scoring his 1,000th career point tonight:
"I am happy for Kyle, but, I told him, I am more interested in his rebounds than his points. He's a great scorer. I told him when I recruited him, 'we need your offense, but you need me; you need to become a rebounder and defender for your professional career and those are areas you need to improve'. He was mature enough to take that and come to Cincinnati. He has won a lot of games for us because he has added a scoring punch to our lineup. He has taken us to another level. I don't know our record in the last two years while he has been playing, but it is pretty impressive."
On being 13 games in and where the team stands:
"Nobody is (a finished product). I think we have progressed. Getting Justin (Jenifer) and Cane (Broome) minutes and trying to get them to a comfort level. Jaron Cumberland learning how to be a starter; as a starter, you have to become a defender first and that is a challenge. People that don't play high-major basketball or are not coaching it for a living like I do, don't understand that. It is hard to defend for 30 minutes and make shots. It is a process you go through because you spend so much energy defending and running the floor… versus coming off the bench. I am watching him go through it. He is a better shooter than he shows at times, but he is still learning how to play those extended minutes, run the floor, play defense and then realize how good of shape he needs to be in to play those 30 minutes and shoot high percentage while playing defense and rebounding. It's not easy. You can see he is progressing. The biggest thing is he has no fear. That is a huge asset that he has. It is just a process that he is going through. Gary went through it. All these guys go through it. That is why it is hard to win with young players because they haven't been through it. I think you know what we are getting with Kyle, Gary and Jacob; it's getting Jarron used to be starter; Cane and Justin confidence as well as Tre (Trevon Scott) and Nas (Nysier Brooks). I still the big key for us is Trevor (Moore) and Keith (Williams); I am confident everywhere else. Jacob and Jaron can't play the whole game, so, in big, big games, those guys have to be able to give us 10 to 12 minutes as freshmen and be able to count on them to be sound out there defensively, take care of the basketball, knock down the shot when they are open. They both did solid. They both played nine (minutes) tonight. I think that is a huge key for us: to be able to play them in conference games and for them to give us 20 minutes between them, I think that is an area where they are not quite there yet. But, you know, that's the coaching part of it."
Cincinnati Player Quotes
#24 Kyle Washington, F
On Cleveland State's effort tonight:
"They played hard and they were ready to play and we were ready to play, but they were just hitting shots and they were reading our defense well. So, we have to weather the storm and come together as a unit. I thought it was a good test for us because they were just sticking with us, sticking with us, and we finally started breaking through. So, I was proud of all my teammates and happy I was there for them."
On scoring his 1,000th career point as a collegiate player:
"I'm not going to take it as a nominal accomplishment. That's a huge accomplishment in basketball and you'd like to appreciate it and things like that, but you know I wasn't really necessarily thinking about it. A lot of people that were close to me weren't really talking about it. The people close to me were telling me to rebound and play defense. I play for my team so I think with me focusing on those aspects I was ready to really play well and then the points came."
On Gary Clark's steals and coast-to-coast dunk:
"As a team and as a fan base, you saw the reaction. Gary is a versatile player. He does a lot. From a personal level, I love to see that he had that Clayton jersey there under his Cincy jersey. He is a great player and I can't even begin to talk about how happy I am that he is my frontcourt mate and that we are doing this together. So anytime he has success, I take it as my success because he is a great player and a great person."
#11 Gary Clark, F
On the status of the team heading into conference play:
"I think we have a lot to still work on as a team to become better. Our defense isn't where it has been since I've been here at times. I think that's getting guys that aren't used to playing a lot of minutes like Jarron and Cane and Justin, who has never really played a lot of minutes in our defense. Doing that and being able to adjust to, like tonight, guys were penetrating and kicking and really getting everybody to be able to adapt to whatever is going on in the court and I think once we get to that level on the defensive part, everything will come kind of natural."
On the difference in his play tonight compared with Tuesday's contest with Arkansas-Pine Bluff:
"I read the defense better tonight. The other night I kind of was not expecting, when I turn. I wasn't used to guys playing me one on one, not getting trapped, and I kind of almost was startled at times when I turned and nobody was there so. Tonight, I was aware of where everyone was coming from as far as traps and running the floor hard and looking for guys to throw lobs tonight and it just kind of came, flew into it."
Cleveland State Head Coach Dennis Felton
Opening statement:
"We are learning how to compete at a team. I really enjoyed a lot of things about our approach tonight. We had a great chance to win this game until a little stretch where it got away from us. That stretch was primarily some steals. Some live ball turnovers where they reached in and stripped us of the ball for momentous easy run outs which they really needed because our half-court defense was stellar for the most part. I am happy with the progress and obviously not content with the final result, but the important thing is we build on this, don't take a step backwards. That we have an appreciation for the good things we did tonight and still also have an appreciation for the improvement that's left to make."
On taking away Cincinnati's half-court defense:
"We were able to be very disruptive and do a great job of taking away everything they like to do in the half court. It literally came down to live ball turnovers that led to transition buckets that are hard to defend and the offensive rebounding. Even with that, I am certainly not satisfied with our rebounding effort yet, but believe it or not, we made a huge step forward tonight. We were much more physical against arguably the most physical rebounding team in the country. I think they're the No. 2 offensive rebounding team in the country behind Michigan State and we went up and got some rebounds tonight that we hadn't been fierce enough to get."
On game planning against a physically bigger team:
"We had to find a way to not let them take total advantage of the size disparity inside. We worked very very hard to full front deny the post off no direct feeds backed up with what we call white line help side support to eliminate lob opportunities and then when it would get it there, we monstered the post which was big on bit track. That was a big part of it. Cincinnati's, matchup zone is considered to be a vaunted one. Everybody across the country has incredible respect for their matchup zone, almost to the point where it's fearsome. The game plan against that was a lot of purposeful cutting to lose people. People get lost as they're trying to get matched up to people. To invert their positions and get their big guys matched up on the perimeter and their little guys on the baseline. And then a very strong, purposeful drive game. Another area we really really improved tonight, arguably the best area we improved at was driving with force to make plays on our feet. To stay on our feet and use shot fakes at the end of our plays and we scored a lot of layups tonight by doing that. Also many good possessions where we stayed on our feet and had the patience to find open men. And we kept our dribble as we circled around to find open men against a defense it's very rare to shoot 50 percent against. I thought they might look at us and say we will play man against these guys, but they didn't. They played their matchup zone the entire time and it's a real accomplishment to shoot 50 percent and 48 percent from three against that defense."
Cleveland State at Cincinnati
Dec. 21, 2017
BB&T Arena
Highland Heights, Ky.
Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin
Opening statement:
"It's no fun when you are going through it, but, you are much better off playing against a team that plays really well against you, so, first of all, you have to give Cleveland State a lot of credit. They made some really, really hard shots in the first half. They had a great game plan and that is exactly what we thought they would do because Coach (Dennis) Felton has been around. He has coached at the highest level and I have great respect for his ability to coach the game. I thought that he would spread us out, try and drive the ball (and) use the three-point shot; they had nothing to lose. And they did exactly that. They made some hard shots; their kids made some great passes and it took us a while to adjust it. I told the guys 'you have to stay with it'. Fortunately, we executed on offense extremely well, which was the key in the first half in staying in the game during their three-point barrage – 7-of-12 in the first half. Gary (Clark) and Jacob (Evans) just told me to stop scheduling green teams before Christmas – Marshall made 17 threes against us last year the game before Christmas. I think you get more out of it when you play a team that is really playing well on offense. They stretch you out; it forces you defensively to step up your game. I thought Jaron Cumberland – he had three steals and, I don't know the steal first half versus second half, but we ended up with 10. It was just a bigger challenge to defend this team the way they were shooting the ball; their freshman point guard was really impressive with his speed and his quickness. I thought he played a great game against us. You have to give them a lot of credit and our guys as well because we stepped up and did what we had to do on a night where our opponent played probably their best game. They don't shoot the ball normally like that. They are not a good three-point shooting team – statistically, they shoot 31 percent and, tonight, they shot almost 48 (percent). But, I thought they had a great game plan and their kids played great."
On the key to the game:
"I thought the key to the game was while they were playing well on offense, so did we. Because if we had struggled, we would have been in a world of hurt. We would have been down 10 quickly."
On Kyle Washington scoring his 1,000th career point tonight:
"I am happy for Kyle, but, I told him, I am more interested in his rebounds than his points. He's a great scorer. I told him when I recruited him, 'we need your offense, but you need me; you need to become a rebounder and defender for your professional career and those are areas you need to improve'. He was mature enough to take that and come to Cincinnati. He has won a lot of games for us because he has added a scoring punch to our lineup. He has taken us to another level. I don't know our record in the last two years while he has been playing, but it is pretty impressive."
On being 13 games in and where the team stands:
"Nobody is (a finished product). I think we have progressed. Getting Justin (Jenifer) and Cane (Broome) minutes and trying to get them to a comfort level. Jaron Cumberland learning how to be a starter; as a starter, you have to become a defender first and that is a challenge. People that don't play high-major basketball or are not coaching it for a living like I do, don't understand that. It is hard to defend for 30 minutes and make shots. It is a process you go through because you spend so much energy defending and running the floor… versus coming off the bench. I am watching him go through it. He is a better shooter than he shows at times, but he is still learning how to play those extended minutes, run the floor, play defense and then realize how good of shape he needs to be in to play those 30 minutes and shoot high percentage while playing defense and rebounding. It's not easy. You can see he is progressing. The biggest thing is he has no fear. That is a huge asset that he has. It is just a process that he is going through. Gary went through it. All these guys go through it. That is why it is hard to win with young players because they haven't been through it. I think you know what we are getting with Kyle, Gary and Jacob; it's getting Jarron used to be starter; Cane and Justin confidence as well as Tre (Trevon Scott) and Nas (Nysier Brooks). I still the big key for us is Trevor (Moore) and Keith (Williams); I am confident everywhere else. Jacob and Jaron can't play the whole game, so, in big, big games, those guys have to be able to give us 10 to 12 minutes as freshmen and be able to count on them to be sound out there defensively, take care of the basketball, knock down the shot when they are open. They both did solid. They both played nine (minutes) tonight. I think that is a huge key for us: to be able to play them in conference games and for them to give us 20 minutes between them, I think that is an area where they are not quite there yet. But, you know, that's the coaching part of it."
Cincinnati Player Quotes
#24 Kyle Washington, F
On Cleveland State's effort tonight:
"They played hard and they were ready to play and we were ready to play, but they were just hitting shots and they were reading our defense well. So, we have to weather the storm and come together as a unit. I thought it was a good test for us because they were just sticking with us, sticking with us, and we finally started breaking through. So, I was proud of all my teammates and happy I was there for them."
On scoring his 1,000th career point as a collegiate player:
"I'm not going to take it as a nominal accomplishment. That's a huge accomplishment in basketball and you'd like to appreciate it and things like that, but you know I wasn't really necessarily thinking about it. A lot of people that were close to me weren't really talking about it. The people close to me were telling me to rebound and play defense. I play for my team so I think with me focusing on those aspects I was ready to really play well and then the points came."
On Gary Clark's steals and coast-to-coast dunk:
"As a team and as a fan base, you saw the reaction. Gary is a versatile player. He does a lot. From a personal level, I love to see that he had that Clayton jersey there under his Cincy jersey. He is a great player and I can't even begin to talk about how happy I am that he is my frontcourt mate and that we are doing this together. So anytime he has success, I take it as my success because he is a great player and a great person."
#11 Gary Clark, F
On the status of the team heading into conference play:
"I think we have a lot to still work on as a team to become better. Our defense isn't where it has been since I've been here at times. I think that's getting guys that aren't used to playing a lot of minutes like Jarron and Cane and Justin, who has never really played a lot of minutes in our defense. Doing that and being able to adjust to, like tonight, guys were penetrating and kicking and really getting everybody to be able to adapt to whatever is going on in the court and I think once we get to that level on the defensive part, everything will come kind of natural."
On the difference in his play tonight compared with Tuesday's contest with Arkansas-Pine Bluff:
"I read the defense better tonight. The other night I kind of was not expecting, when I turn. I wasn't used to guys playing me one on one, not getting trapped, and I kind of almost was startled at times when I turned and nobody was there so. Tonight, I was aware of where everyone was coming from as far as traps and running the floor hard and looking for guys to throw lobs tonight and it just kind of came, flew into it."
Cleveland State Head Coach Dennis Felton
Opening statement:
"We are learning how to compete at a team. I really enjoyed a lot of things about our approach tonight. We had a great chance to win this game until a little stretch where it got away from us. That stretch was primarily some steals. Some live ball turnovers where they reached in and stripped us of the ball for momentous easy run outs which they really needed because our half-court defense was stellar for the most part. I am happy with the progress and obviously not content with the final result, but the important thing is we build on this, don't take a step backwards. That we have an appreciation for the good things we did tonight and still also have an appreciation for the improvement that's left to make."
On taking away Cincinnati's half-court defense:
"We were able to be very disruptive and do a great job of taking away everything they like to do in the half court. It literally came down to live ball turnovers that led to transition buckets that are hard to defend and the offensive rebounding. Even with that, I am certainly not satisfied with our rebounding effort yet, but believe it or not, we made a huge step forward tonight. We were much more physical against arguably the most physical rebounding team in the country. I think they're the No. 2 offensive rebounding team in the country behind Michigan State and we went up and got some rebounds tonight that we hadn't been fierce enough to get."
On game planning against a physically bigger team:
"We had to find a way to not let them take total advantage of the size disparity inside. We worked very very hard to full front deny the post off no direct feeds backed up with what we call white line help side support to eliminate lob opportunities and then when it would get it there, we monstered the post which was big on bit track. That was a big part of it. Cincinnati's, matchup zone is considered to be a vaunted one. Everybody across the country has incredible respect for their matchup zone, almost to the point where it's fearsome. The game plan against that was a lot of purposeful cutting to lose people. People get lost as they're trying to get matched up to people. To invert their positions and get their big guys matched up on the perimeter and their little guys on the baseline. And then a very strong, purposeful drive game. Another area we really really improved tonight, arguably the best area we improved at was driving with force to make plays on our feet. To stay on our feet and use shot fakes at the end of our plays and we scored a lot of layups tonight by doing that. Also many good possessions where we stayed on our feet and had the patience to find open men. And we kept our dribble as we circled around to find open men against a defense it's very rare to shoot 50 percent against. I thought they might look at us and say we will play man against these guys, but they didn't. They played their matchup zone the entire time and it's a real accomplishment to shoot 50 percent and 48 percent from three against that defense."