January 22, 1998
You go into the Oklahoma State game trying to end a losing streak against a team that beat you by 35 points at home (Jan. 3). How does that affect the team mentally?
"I looked at the tape of that game again this morning, which is something you don't want to do. The end result of the game, obviously, was a huge differential. But the game wasn't like that. It was an eight-point game with 13 minutes to go. Aaron Jack got called for an intentional foul, which I didn't think was an intentional foul, but they made two free throws, hit a three on the inbounds, got a steal and hit a three, so it went from eight to 16 in like 45 seconds. We struggled from that point on. I think you can look around the country and see a team get beat by so many points and then turn around and win the next one."
You have had a week off since the Iowa State game. How have practices gone this week?
"We've had a week of practice, which normally at this time of year I wouldn't like, but because of the way we were playing it gave us an opportunity to re-evaluate. It gives the kids an opportunity to perhaps re-structure themselves a little bit. Normally at this time of year, we're practicing only an hour and 15 minutes or and hour and a half. We've practiced two and a half hours every day this week. I don't know of any other way to do it. You have two choices when you are struggling. One choice is, we'll meet you in Stillwater in a week, go to Eskimo Joe's and then we'll see you at the game. Or you can go back to work. It was a split vote as to whether we should meet in Stillwater or go back to work. We decided to go back to work. I don't mean to make light of what has happened in terms of our wins and losses. Obviously, it isn't funny. But at the same point in time, I think you have to try to find a way to win. What does that mean? Lineup changes? Our best players are our best players. I don't think that's going to change in a week. Those players have got to find a way to get themselves into a position to win a basketball game. Period. That's what the coaching staff has to do and that's what they have to do."
How are you going to play Oklahoma State differently this time?
"They shot the ball so well against us here. We're going to have to adjust the zone if we are going to play zone. And we do have to play some zone."
How has the loss of Calvin Davis affected the team?
"When you lose a Calvin Davis, you have a problem. But he wasn't 100 percent in any of our five league games. He hurt himself in the Oklahoma State game. You could see it on the film. He reached back to get a bad pass and you could see from that point on that he wasn't even close to being himself. Even though we had hoped he could play each game, it's really unsettling when you don't know. The day before the Iowa State game he had a good practice. Then the day of the game, he could not go. That's an adjustment we have to make. Knowing he is not available probably will alleviate some of the uncertainty."
Jerald Brown has struggled this season. How has he looked this week in practice?
" I think Jerald has had a good week of practice. We tend to focus in on Jerald because he was a highly-recruited player. He had a good year last year. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on Jerald Brown. That pressure is pressure he knows is on him. You don't have any choice but to accept the pressure. He's trying to work himself into a situation where he is not worrying about what other people think. He gets way too concerned about the media and the fans and he puts too much pressure on himself. We are just trying to let him get through it and see what he's capable of doing. But he can't not play hard. I don't think he's done anything intentionally when it comes to effort. I don't think he doesn't not play hard. At times, he loses some focus which creates some problems for him. It's a unique world he's in with Big 12 basketball. It's a pressurized world and he's going to have to adjust to that."
Is Brown suffering a sophomore slump?
"He might have a sophomore, junior, senior slump in one year. I think it's all mental. It's all psychological. What you end up doing, as a player, is you start to put more pressure on yourself if you feel you are not playing as well as you can play. You need to just go play and find a different way to help the team. If you aren't shooting well, go rebound. If you are struggling with your ball handling, go play defense. I think the focus on Jerald is pretty much unfair. Jerald is not the reason we are losing basketball games. We are not putting together 40 minutes of basketball. That's the reason we're losing."
Oklahoma State's Doug Gottlieb created problems for you in the first game. What is your game plan against him?
"He's a pain. He's one of those thorns in your side. He talks too much. But what he does is get into you teams' psyche. He hasn't played well since they played us. He was something like 1-of- 7 with seven turnovers against Baylor. But he is a leader. If you ask our guys, they will tell you they have respect for him because he wants to win and does everything he can to help his basketball team win. He controls the tempo for them in most cases. I don't think we played him smart when they were here. We have to change the way we play him. But he's a thorn. He's the guy that gets everyone on their team going."
OSU coach Eddie Sutton has lost two straight road games trying to get his 600th career win. You have to go in and play them at home knowing they have the added motivation of getting coach Sutton his 600th win in Stillwater.
"That's great. We're going into an arena that's impossible to play in anyway and Eddie's trying to get 600. We look forward to going into Gallagher-Iba because it's a tremendous basketball environment. We want to go in there and play. I know our kids are excited about the game. Eddie has been a stalwart in this business. When a guy wins 600 games, you know he's done something right. You also know he's been in it for a long time. Just by the fact that's he's survived this business the way it's changed so many times is a credit to him. He's won everyplace he's been and his teams have always played hard and been well-schooled. But I hope he has to wait another week for his 600th, though."