OU vs. WVU 11 a.m.
Seems like we go through this type of press conference once a week or once every two weeks. Short memories, only way you're gonna win.
Porter Moser
Well, wrap up KU?
God - thought we did so many things well in that game. They started their comeback and there was a handful of things. They had an offensive rebound. I think we were up eight or so. We need to get the rebound. We didn't. Shot went up, we migrated in instead of going out to in. If we would have went out to in, the ball landed there (indistinguishable)...Gradey Dick shot another shot. They missed. Then they set up. It was really loud in there. But we didn't get our matchups and then Jalen Wilson got free for a three. That was a key play. That was two rebounds.
“Obviously, you know, the easy thing is what you're getting on social media and everybody hitting me up. There's areas where you could throw blame. Not at us. But that's not healthy. That's not healthy. What's healthy is in life that you want to teach is let's start with what we could have done better. All right. I know there was free throw after free throw, foul after foul after foul. But let's start with what we could have done better. That sequence right there. We get a stop, we’re still up eight. We had one when Tanner took the three that would have put us up four. We were in a mode we were supposed to get back in transition. We had one went underneath the basket for an offensive rebound. That's a complete mental mistake. We were getting back on the air time the shot to set our defense and he missed the shot. They go down and we were late getting down. Had the and-one. When KJ Adams got the thing, the same thing. We went on a rebound baseline side. We weren't going offensive rebound, baseline side. It just takes longer. So we had a couple of mental mistakes down the stretch and in transition. I thought we did so many things to put us in a position to win. And that's what we got to build on and just understand.”
“I heard the broadcast with Baylor West Virginia. And Scott Drew kept on saying to his team: they’re 0-3. Same boat as us. They could have been 3-0. And it’s just mentioned mistakes down the stretch. Some things we could do better. So yeah, it was a gut punch. I mean, one of the hardest, historically places to go against the No. 2 team in the country. And we've got to find a way to win. I mean, we put ourselves in a position to win. And we've got to find ways to help us win. Obviously I wasn't happy about a lot of things the way they went down. 39 free throws on the road. I mean, that's very, very tough. So I got a lot of thoughts on that I'm not happy with, that I can talk for days about. But I want to coach the next game. What's healthy and what I want to teach the guys is let's start with what we could have done better.”
I ask about Grant playing w/ emotion and balancing it?
“One hundred percent. I think all of our guards — Los, Grant specifically, and Bijan — have adjusted to the Big 12. The first two games playing Texas and Iowa State, whose defenses are so (aggressive), I don’t want to say it shocked them but they’ve really bounced back. The next two games, no difference (against) Texas Tech and Kansas defense. They were much stronger with the ball and anticipated and worked hard, all those things I said they needed to do after the two. I thought they bounced back and played really well the last two games. That’s going to continue on.
“I think it was unfortunately a learning curve for a lot of people, those first two games. But I think they’ve been much stronger with the ball, much more confident, just knowing what to expect. That’s been a really good sign with those guys.”
WVU?
“Physicality and drawing fouls. They’re one of the really good teams at drawing fouls. Really physical. Coach Huggins, all of his teams they always play so hard and physical. This is no different. They’re older. They hit the transfer portal with age and toughness. And then rebounding, you’re going to have to block out. You’re not going to play volleyball. You’ve got to put a body on guys and then you’ve got to go get it. Because they just pursue it, pursue it, pursue it on the glass.
But seriously, this Big 12 gauntlet is stupid ridiculous?
“It’s just crazy. Baylor was No. 1 — I’m watching the Baylor-West Virginia game and I’m thinking about this: rewind to a month ago or whatever it was, Baylor was No. 1 in the country at one point in the year. West Virginia was like in the top 15. And they’re both 0-3 in the conference at that time. It’s nuts. It’s every night. It’s every single night. It’s the most physical league.” (Continued with Chapman). It’s the best league and there is. There’s absolutely zero breathing room. I remember I’ve been asked this — we lose to Iowa State, a heartbreaker. And the next day we’re like — you don’t want to look ahead two games but your next two games are at Texas Tech, at Kansas. Two of the hardest places. Texas Tech had one loss in 30 games there. Kansas, that’s even worse the record. And we were right there with both. But you’ve got to come back. You’ve got to turn the page. You can’t stay gut-punched. And our guys have been resilient and they believe they play with the best teams in the country. We’ve got to get that inch to push over and make those plays.
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