TRANSCRIPT: TJ Otzelberger meets press following win over Bears
Here's everything the leader of the Cyclones' program said in two different media sessions following a 78-72 victory over Baylor in the conference quarterfinals.
Opening comments:
I'm really proud of our guys. Great team win. Awesome to see everybody get in the game and contribute. Got tremendous respect for the Baylor program, for their players, their coaches, and everything they accomplished. We know how well we had to play to get a win today. Proud of our guys. Felt like in the areas we talked about, points in the paint, rebounding, things that we really focussed on, our guys did a great job. And especially when we got down, keeping that poise in the second half. Apologize for my voice. Hopefully you have more questions for these guys.”
On Baylor’s Jalen Bridges’ hot start to the game:
He was tremendous. He was 9/9 at one point and finished 10/11. We switched more. We were more conscious with our effort, getting a stick hand up early, trying to make him play inside the three. He got going even early in the second half in transition off an offensive rebound. It comes down to being more intentional, sprinting off and finishing plays. He had a hot hand. We were fortunate in a last ten minutes or so we were able to do the job.”
On how much beating the Bears a third time gives the team confidence in March:
We are fortunate. We have so much respect for the program. They have great coaches, great players, they have a winning culture. And so for us, we knew how hard it was going to be. We're confident in our guys, the work they do every day. And you know, this time of the year you want to be playing your best. And you know, we're going to need to keep playing our best. Fortunate, thankful for our guys for how they worked each and every single day. A lot of humility knowing what it's going to take moving forward here and beyond this year how well we have to play.”
On the keys to winning games like this during the month of March:
“This time of the year, unity and togetherness, having a great locker room is very important. Want our guys to have fun, enjoy this . These are special times in their life. And we want to be in that moment. And really fortunate that all the guys on our team are stepping up and doing that. And that's why we have been putting them all in the game, you know, getting everybody in and be part of that excitement and have fun and be together. So you know, credit to our players for really embracing that.”
On how competing in the Big 12 has battle-hardened this team:
“It’s challenging because the league is so good. What we try to do is remind our guys throughout the season that you are playing in the best league in America. The other teams are really good. There's nights that you can play well and still lose. And it's how you handle adversity. Just like life. How you bounce back. Coming together in those tough times and, you know, we certainly had them. You know, we had challenges -- we had lost four in a row. You know, had some stretches where we've had those tough times. Our guys have been fortunate through the work togetherness to come out and come through those. But what a good league. And you know, you just got to be so mentally tough because everybody had their challenges this year, and everybody is going to have them, but it's out of respect for the coaches, players, teams are so good that you know it's part of it.”
On his thoughts about KU head coach Bill Self being in the hospital:
“Coach Self has always treated me well. Respect him and respect their program. Certainly, want to wish him the best. Texted him earlier today and letting him know we're keeping him in our thoughts and prayers. For all of us, it takes a lot out of everybody. There's a lot of time demands. And you hope that everybody is doing everything they can. And you wish everybody the best. But you also know it takes its toll. We'll continue to keep Coach in our thoughts and prayers and hope that he's able to be healthy and return soon.”
On what changed in the second half after they got that eight-point lead:
“We started to get some stops. It was 50 to 42, we got a timeout and I talked to our guys just about stringing together stops defensively. Not worrying about what’s happening on offense. Keeping our focus on defense. Certainly, switching some more things and getting Jalen Bridges to limit his attempts for the rest of the way. He was playing so well. I think he was 9-for-9 at one point. He was getting them in transition and on offensive rebounds. For us, it’s going to be get stops and we were able to do that.”
On still being able to beat Baylor after it shot so well from the field:
“When you’re switching more, we’re probably not as disruptive, in terms of bringing two to the basketball to force you to make a pass under duress. It felt like we needed to switch more, certainly with Bridges, take him off the shot, but try to keep their guards in front as well which is really challenging to do. It came down to us being great on the glass, limiting them to one shot. Our plan was to not give them threes, so obviously that was one area we had an epic fail, because they shot the heck out of it. It takes us down a different when we’ve got to limit them to one shot and block out. Fortunately, we were able to do that for that last 10 minutes or so…really lock in defensively.”
On Gabe Kalscheur’s performance:
“Gabe’s confidence right now is sky high and his teammates are looking for him. He’d be the first one to say that ‘hey, they’re looking for me on offensive rebounds and when they drive the ball’. When you work how he works, you should feel like those opportunities should go well for you and they did. I’m really excited for him, how he’s playing. Everything he’s done for our program and meant to our program, to be playing at the high level he is right now is really awesome.”
On reeling off consecutive wins over Baylor after a long stretch of bad basketball beforehand:
“We focused more on ‘let’s get back to having fun’. Probably went a few weeks you didn’t see a whole lot of smiles. Probably went a few weeks when guys were feeling down on themselves. They want to play well and want to play well for their teammates, for Iowa State, for our fans, for everybody that’s come before us. When that’s not happening, it affects you. It affected us mentally and put us in a spot where we had accomplished some things and now they’re starting to question and doubt themselves. So we said, ‘you know what, let’s take all the pressure off on the practice court, have fun, everybody’s going into the game, let’s play for one another, be the best locker room in terms of connectedness. We’ve extended our rotation more, played more guys and given guys more opportunities. When I’m looking over on the bench, there’s a lot of guys on the edge of their chair excited about their opportunity. That’s really helping us.”
On if the missed free throw and put-back from Jaren Holmes encapsulated the team’s effort:
“It would have been great if Jaren would have made the two free throws, but if he was going to choose not to make the front-end, then probably a better scenario because of the energy standpoint was to do that. It was a huge play. That gave us the cushion and separation. Just a heads-up hustle play. Those are the plays that we try to pride ourselves on and really fortunate that Jaren was so heads-up and locked on there.”
On being the team that’s the loosest in a game like this:
“It takes the pressure off, right? You’re playing, having fun, this is a game all these guys fell in love with at some point in time. Having a lot of gratitude for the opportunity to be a Cyclone and playing such meaningful minutes this time of year. Really keeping our focus on how great the league is and understanding everybody had challenges. You shouldn’t feel bad about the adversity and get lost in the moment, having fun. They’ve done it. You can see the smiles. They can’t fake it. They’re playing for each other and are in a really good mental space. I’m really proud of them.”
On the excitement of winning in front of the Cyclone fans in attendance:
“It’s great. For our fans coming down to Hilton South, it’s an awesome opportunity. They have so much pride in our program, and we want to play our best all the time when you get to this point in the season. Fans make choices to come down here and we had a lot of pride coming out. Regardless of if we were going to play, we talked about the environment and what we were going to need to do. I’m proud of our guys for stepping up.”
On Tamin Lipsey’s game:
“He was tremendous. Certainly, having a double-double, getting all the rebounds, energy plays, the steals he had in the first half…he was turning them over and making play after play. It felt like he was like it was a football game where he was blitzing the passer and yet still getting the interception. Exceptional by him. He’s an elite competitor and winner. Really cool to see. As a freshman, he’s been through it. Giving him the ball in this league for 30-plus minutes a game is a tall task and he really stepped up.”
On Lipsey being a true freshman and playing loose in a big game like this:
“When you think about his character and what a great teammate he is, he wants to make plays for his teammates. He wants to get Gabe shots, Jaren shots. He wants to get our bigs shot attempts at the goal. At the end of it, because he does think like a point guard and is a pass-first guy that cares so much about everybody else, things come back around to him. It’s contagious on our team when you have that spirt, that energy that he has, everybody else does as well.”
On Lipsey’s ability to have so much success against defenses sagging off him so much:
“It says a lot. We talked about it a lot coming in and then out of the timeouts as you saw how far off they were, just get your rhythm, knock it down, don’t let it get to you, just keep playing. He just plays. He just has fun. He’s out there. At times, it allowed him to attack the paint and make some shots, which was helpful. We always had a built-in pressure release, so he could navigate offensively and help us run effective offense.”
