Kelvin Sampson Postgame Interview (3-2-24)

  • 6 months ago
Cougars and former Sooners' head coach Kelvin Sampson speaks to the media following Houston's victory over OU.
Transcript
00:00 Well, the main thing was get it to the rim.
00:04 We were not going to shoot anything outside of the box.
00:07 That would be, when we give the referee a chance to go to whistle,
00:11 I'm going to have three ways to win that game.
00:14 Whistle, make the shot, or not pass the rebound, but hit it.
00:19 So we had three opportunities in that play, and that's, we hammer.
00:25 I threatened his life if he pulled up and shot a jump shot.
00:31 We were going to get that ball to the rim.
00:34 When we beat Texas at Texas a little bit earlier,
00:40 we had a very similar scenario where we pulled up and shot a jump shot.
00:46 That's just not the right play.
00:50 You've got to give yourself more than one way to win the game.
00:56 But J-Juan here is the one that made the play.
01:02 Now, Maul could have made the layup, he missed it.
01:04 Juan got the offensive rebound tip, Maul painted it up and put it in.
01:09 I mean, I don't know if you could script it any better than that.
01:16 - I know you guys made some tough shots tonight, beat the clock.
01:20 You guys are number one in the country, came through with some big shots.
01:23 - I think a lot of it has to do with just winning DNA.
01:27 Our kids are, you know, we just, you know,
01:33 we had a lot of things go against us tonight.
01:37 We had three main guys out, didn't even play, didn't even dress.
01:44 Our starting center was MIA.
01:49 We basically had to play four guards all night and our four men.
01:53 So we were just plugging the holes in the boat up.
01:58 I don't think that--
02:00 You know, we have this little offense we'll go to where it's spaced
02:04 and we--our terminal, we'll zoom out of it, we'll boom out of it.
02:09 We'll try to get baseline and find a defender we can drive.
02:14 We did--executed that.
02:16 There was a portion there where LJ, I just gave him the ball
02:21 and kind of ran flat.
02:27 I remember doing that one night in Stillwater with Nolan Johnson.
02:31 We just flattened the floor out and let LJ go play.
02:33 And sometimes that's your best offense.
02:36 You know, this isn't a beauty contest where you're supposed to draw it up
02:42 and look like Princeton's offense.
02:45 The name of the game is make a basket.
02:48 It doesn't say how.
02:50 You know, we got a bunch of guys that can score.
02:54 We don't have a lot of great shooters.
02:56 We're not a great shooting team.
02:57 He's a great shooter.
03:01 Emmanuel Sharpe's a good shooter.
03:03 But LJ's an outstanding shooter.
03:05 Emmanuel's a good shooter.
03:07 Mall's serviceable.
03:10 Don's actually a good shooter when he'll pull the trigger to shoot it.
03:14 You know, of course he'd rather shot fake molecules than travel.
03:19 Of course that makes sense.
03:22 But, yeah, I mean, you know, we've found ways to win all year long on the road.
03:32 We didn't always play great, but, you know, we've figured out how to win the game.
03:37 Brian, did you have one?
03:38 Yeah.
03:39 Can you give us an update on JoJo's status?
03:41 Not yet.
03:42 I've got to talk to John, probably meet with him tomorrow in the training room.
03:46 All right, Chris, you got one?
03:48 Will he go off the bench?
03:51 You know, that offensive rebound with the block.
03:53 I mean, how long before he can do that?
03:55 Well, that was -- I don't know.
03:57 That I have to look at the film.
03:58 I can't react to that right now.
04:02 But he had a role, you know, we put him on the left side and told him to drive the baseline.
04:07 And we found somebody he could drive.
04:09 He got the ball to the rim.
04:12 You know, they're not a rim-protecting team.
04:14 Like, we just played Cincinnati.
04:17 You know, Cincinnati's got two 7-footers, 6'11", 6'10".
04:21 You know, it's hard for us to score at the rim on them,
04:23 even though we were very fortunate to beat them twice.
04:27 That's a hard matchup for us in Cincinnati.
04:31 But in space, we can get the ball to the rim.
04:34 And our kids did a good job either finishing or kicking it out
04:39 and then making the plus-one pass.
04:41 We did a good job of that tonight.
04:44 John, how's your hand?
04:47 What do you think allowed you guys to, with all the injuries, you know, fall in trouble to pull that one out?
04:54 The main thing I would just say is just having each other's back.
04:58 You know, we know when we travel, we know what we got.
05:03 And, you know, just having trust in our teammates
05:06 and knowing that they're going to give everything every given night
05:10 just gives us a lot of confidence, especially going to our bench too.
05:14 LJ, Maul, we know what they're going to give us every night,
05:16 but, you know, just having a bench that can come in and, you know, fill in a position,
05:21 it helps us out, but it all comes with confidence and just trusting your teammates
05:24 and knowing that they're going to go out there and do the right thing.
05:26 And how's your hand doing?
05:28 Great.
05:31 How many stitches you hit?
05:33 Seven.
05:34 It's seven stitches.
05:36 You didn't play last five minutes, first half.
05:39 But, you know, Javon's a big part of everything we do.
05:46 He can score on the low post.
05:48 He can pass.
05:50 He's a brilliant basketball player in terms of IQ.
05:54 But I want to congratulate or give a shout-out to Porter and his staff.
06:01 They did an awesome job preparing for us.
06:05 You know, we're a good defensive team.
06:07 Now, granted, a lot of our main guys are out, but we didn't have an answer for them tonight.
06:16 Second half, we did a couple things differently and it helped for a while.
06:22 And then we made a couple bone-hitting mistakes on Darther.
06:27 Is that how you pronounce his name?
06:28 Darther, kid.
06:29 He's really -- and they didn't miss.
06:31 I mean, they really, really shot it well tonight.
06:34 Tonight was one of those nights that on the road, that's how you get beat.
06:40 As the other team gets hot, they make a boatload of shots, and that's what they did tonight.
06:45 They had a good plan.
06:47 You know, we played -- how many conference games did we play now?
06:56 So, you know, we played 16 Big 12 games.
07:00 And offensively, I think the two teams that's played the best against us was Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and Oklahoma.
07:09 I mean, they were really good tonight.
07:11 The kids played well, but Porter and his staff did a great job putting them in the right positions, too.
07:16 We have time for a couple more.
07:18 Kelman, you know, you had -- you came on the court, the OU fans responded to you.
07:22 I'm curious how you and Kellen and Qantas thought about that.
07:26 How did they feel?
07:28 Yeah, I'm just glad I was with Hollis and Qantas and Kellen.
07:36 How do you not like Hollis and Qantas and Kellen, right?
07:38 They're just -- they're like -- Kellen's my son, but Hollis and Qantas are -- you know, they've been my sons, too, for a long time.
07:46 Just like these guys would be my sons.
07:48 Our programs have always been really close-knit.
07:53 Aaron McGee was at practice last night, and he was there again this morning.
07:58 Ebi Ara, he was at Zendre.
08:00 I love Yo-Yo.
08:01 He was there last night, and I saw him again this morning.
08:05 Kevin Buckout.
08:09 You know, Matt Gibson, remember Matt Gibson?
08:14 So, yeah, this is -- you know, the memories are about -- you know, at some point, that's all you'll have, at some point.
08:23 You know, you guys aren't there yet.
08:25 I'm getting close.
08:27 But, you know, the memories that I'll take from here are just amazing.
08:32 The friends, you know, that's the thing.
08:35 It's not just the basketball people.
08:37 It's the people outside basketball.
08:39 You know, those are people that I appreciate, and we've stayed in touch over the years, and, you know, I've followed through.
08:47 You know, there are families, ups and downs of family life that people go through.
08:53 You know, we kind of commensurate with each other about stuff like that.
08:56 But Oklahoma will always be home in a lot of ways.
09:03 Kellan O'Lorne, proud graduates of the University of Oklahoma.
09:08 Karen's best friends are still from Edgemoor, our old street over there at the trails.
09:20 So, you know, I see Mike Houck back there.
09:25 Mike's gotten a little bit older.
09:26 I remember when he was just a young buck, dating that pretty lady he's got with him.
09:31 I think she was his intern.
09:34 We used to go to the house after games and have a couple drinks and a couple slices of pizza.
09:40 Remember that, Mike?
09:41 You know, stuff like that, you know.
09:45 It's good to see Joe.
09:48 But I'm still here.
09:49 You know, I got a great text today from Patty Gasso.
09:51 She wanted me--I didn't know she was playing today.
09:53 She said, "Call Mike.
09:56 He's got tickets for you.
09:58 We play at 11 and what is it, 3?"
10:00 145.
10:01 145.
10:02 She said, "Come to one of those games."
10:03 I texted her back and said, "I'm going to lay low today, Patty, but I appreciate it."
10:08 But I think she was in Houston.
10:12 They were playing softball.
10:14 When was it?
10:15 Last--yeah.
10:17 And she texted me.
10:19 I hear from Sherry Cole.
10:21 I hear from Sherry and Bob.
10:24 I think Bob texts me about every other game after the Baylor game in Waco.
10:29 Got a text from Bullet Bob.
10:32 So, yeah, a lot of dear friends, a lot of dear friends here.
10:39 It's not very often you get to coach with three Hall of Famers now,
10:42 Sherry Cole, Patty Gasso, and Bob Stoops.
10:44 That's pretty neat.
10:46 We've got time for one more if anybody's got it.
10:47 Just one.
10:48 You mentioned the team and fighting through the adversity, the guys out, the foul trouble.
10:51 Is that an example of a program, you know, a culture that's not like--you look at it like that?
10:57 Yeah, you know, we're just kind of--you know, the year after we went to the Final Four,
11:04 we lost Marcus Sasser and Jermon Mark, you know, within 24 hours.
11:10 And they were our two starting guards.
11:13 Marcus went on to become the first-round draft choice last year, but, you know,
11:19 we just had to figure it out, and that team wound up going to the Elite Eight and lost to Villanova.
11:24 Same thing.
11:25 You know, what's the plan?
11:27 Nobody's going to feel sorry for you.
11:29 Nobody's going to cut you any slack if you lose a game, no matter who's there and who's not.
11:33 So let's figure out how to win the game.
11:37 You know, the biggest thing tonight was scoring.
11:40 We had to score because we had a hard time guarding them.
11:43 You know, we're playing our two-guard at the fourth spot.
11:46 We're playing our two fives, spent most of the night on the bench.
11:51 The Hartman kid played great.
11:55 Soares, the shooter, what's his name?
12:03 Huh?
12:04 No, Soares, the one I just asked.
12:06 Yeah, yeah, him.
12:09 Did he miss a shot?
12:10 What was he doing in the three-point line?
12:13 Five for seven.
12:14 Five for seven.
12:15 What did he miss to?
12:16 I don't remember him missing.
12:19 But I just thought they played great.
12:20 They did.
12:21 I mean, their offense was outstanding.
12:23 We couldn't guard them, and they couldn't guard us either.
12:26 And we just--it's almost like whoever had the ball last was probably going to win.
12:30 Just fortunately, it was us.
12:32 Coach, LJ, you won.
12:34 Thank you.