Hoop Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2000
Head Coach Jim O’Brien
%^$On Coach Alford’s comments of his team’s youth
%^$”They have enough experience on their team to be a good team. I really do not look at them and think that they are too young. You go through the roster and many of the players like Jacob Jaacks, Rob Griffin and Dean Oliver, who are upperclassmen really lead this team well.”%^$
%^$Changes under Iowa Coach Alford
%^$”The only big difference that I see is that they do not have many big, physical low-post players except for Jaacks. They are down in that number, but it could also be because of their coaching change.”%^$
%^$On Iowa’s Jacob Jaacks
%^$”Jacob Jaacks is a very physical player who can worry any opponent. We are going to have to be very careful with Ken Johnson. I do not want him to get any cheap fouls and be in foul trouble. However, Kenny has done very well and that comes with experience. He knows when to be physical and when to lay off.”%^$
%^$On Ohio State’s approach of the Iowa game
%^$”We are going into this game with the same approach as we always have. We will be aggressive defensively, while also hitting our shots. We will have to be prepared for the fact that they will be coming in here wanting to prove something. They won against Kansas effectively, but have lost their last two Big Ten games. They are going to want to win and we will try very hard to get one against us.%^$
%^$”We are going along in the same fashion as last year. We really are improving in each game, which has been our goal. We’ve tried to stay consistent throughout. It is very much like last season with us heading into the same direction.”%^$
%^$On Ohio State’s wins this season
%^$”I have not been upset that there have not been many blowouts. It upsets me when two years ago everybody was just happy with a win and now everyone is more worried about the margin of victory. I have told this team over and over again to never take winning for granted, because it is so hard to do. In a way, blowouts are an easy game for anyone, but the tight ones help you in the long run, especially when going into the postseason. Those games are always tight and these games now will help us.”%^$
%^$Michael Redd
%^$”The Iowa game last year ended on a crazy shot. The game was close, they played us tough.”%^$
%^$”Iowa is tough again this year. They beat good UCONN and Kansas teams. They play tough on the road. We have to jump on them like we jumped on Michigan. They are a younger team than last year but we expect them to come at us because we are Ohio State.”%^$
%^$”It is very important to have experience at this point in the season. The top teams in the league have experienced guys. The lower teams have younger guys getting a lot of playing time.”%^$
%^$”This team is not tired. We are loose. Coach has cut practice down because we play two or three games a week so we can’t be tired from practice.”%^$
%^$George Reese
%^$”The sign of a good team is when you have players that can step up when your key guys aren’t shooting well. Brent, Kenny and Brian have all done a great job stepping up to make sure this team wins.”%^$
%^$”Iowa is a typical Big Ten team. They like to mix it up and they are physical under the basket. We have to be ready for them they have beaten some good teams this year.”
