Postgame Quotes: Wisconsin vs. UW-Oshkosh
November 2, 2018
Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.
UW-Oshkosh Interim Head Coach Matt Lewis
Opening statement…
"I thought our guys just battled their tails off. Our SID on the way in here said that this might have been the closest a WIAC team ever came to beating Wisconsin. We were never in singled digits and weren't really threatening to win but we had it down to where it was a competitive game. We just talked to our guys about constantly competing every single possession and I thought they absolutely did that and that's a credit to the character of our guys."
On the surprise of Wisconsin pushing the tempo…
"I don't know that they necessarily want to get out and run like that but if you're given an opportunity everybody is going to run. We fed them a little bit and that's our thing. We want to get back and build a wall and we want to play a half court game defensively. We can't feed them those opportunities that they got."
On how they game planned for Wisconsin's size…
"They have 6'10", 6'11" they might be a little thicker than us. You guys obviously all saw the tweet of them without their shirts over the summer. The strength program does a tremendous job here. You stack us up next to them and stand us in line you might, at some positions, have a tough time picking out who's playing at Wisconsin and who's playing at Oshkosh. We weren't giving up size at every single position. Can you simulate an
Ethan Happ? No, we don't have a guy that can simulate that. The size and strength of Iverson, that's something you can't prepare for. You talk scheme wise of what you want to do and you watch film…"
On thanking Wisconsin for the game…
"Coach Gard, there is no reason that he has to continue doing this game. So we thank him and his staff, the athletic department here at Wisconsin for putting this on. They came to our community and raised a ton of money for the city of Oshkosh. There are people there, like everywhere, who are definitely affected by cancer and the battle with it. I want to thank you guys that are in this room and everyone who helps shed a light on this game. This is an incredible experience for our guys, something that we don't get on a daily basis…we greatly appreciate you, coach Gard and the University of Wisconsin. This is a game everyone in the WIAC really appreciates…"
Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard
Opening statement…
"It's good to get back to playing. I know our guys love to see outside competition and it was good for us to see another team preparing for their season. A lot of good things happened through this and obviously we will continue to learn the things we need to get better at. I thought we did some good things in the first half and first part of the second half. As we went a little deeper in the bench, guys coming off cold, you could see that we had some adjustments to make and we'll give them that. By and large, some good things and we're looking forward to the start of the regular season."
On Brad Davison, D'Mitrik Trice and Kobe King coming off injury...
"Trice is fine. He just rolled his ankle a little bit and he was fine. It was a point in time when I was getting him out anyway, so it just made that decision quicker for me. I thought they stayed within themselves for the most part. It was one thing we talked about before the game, especially the guys that were coming back that had missed a whole year, even Trevor (Anderson) in that regard because of sitting out. Don't try to get a year back in one shot, let the game come to you. I thought for the most part, Kobe got more comfortable as the game went on. Brad obviously played the whole year and then went to surgery. D'Mitrik has been back for a little longer. Kobe, of the three, is still knocking some rust off. I thought as the game went on he got more fluid. You could see that some of those things were starting to come back."
On the team's fast-break success...
"Is it 'Blazing Badgers,' or what? I couldn't even find it on the box score. This group with more ball handlers on the floor, we can do that. We have a big guy that can handle the ball too. Ethan Happ can handle the ball in transition. He makes pretty good decisions, for the most part, in transition. We worked on that a little bit, on giving him that license to do that. If you can get easy baskets, great. Typically, they are harder to come by. When we can get them, we'll take them. But, I think finishing out defense is the most important thing before we worry about going to the other end. They were opportunistic and we were able to take advantage of an open floor."
On Khalil Iverson...
"I think he understands his role and he understands what he is good at. Everybody kind of gravitates towards their strengths and you try to minimize weaknesses as much as you can...He was really active on the glass and took advantage of transition opportunities. Much like he got a couple tonight, he is becoming more and more comfortable. You go through his freshman and sophomore year, you try to find him on the floor for a long period of time and you can't find it. Last year was a chance for him to learn and grow. I think you just find a player that is much more confident in who he is and how he can help this team."
