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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: OKLAHOMA


March 17, 2016


Ryan Spangler

Buddy Hield

Isaiah Cousins

Lon Kruger


Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Sooners from Oklahoma, the student-athletes Ryan Spangler, Buddy Hield, and Isaiah Cousins. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Buddy, can you talk a little bit about the three-point shot in your life? When you were growing up, was three-point line something that was normal in Bahamas basketball? When do you remember sort of first shooting it and how it evolved in your life?
BUDDY HIELD: I just know, playing pick-up, games they were worth a lot more points than the two points, so everybody tried to shoot the three-pointers when we were young. Didn't have that much strength, so as you get older, you try to find your ways to perfect it.

Now it's different, we'd throw the ball upside of our heads just to get it in. So just a lot more points, so I was hungry to keep making that shot.

Q. Isaiah, where do you feel you're at going into this tournament physically, mentally, everywhere else?
ISAIAH COUSINS: I think -- as a team I think we have a lot of energy and I think we're physically ready. I think our strength coach got us ready from that point in, and I think we're just getting ready to play.

Q. The Bakersfield guys were in here and they were obviously pretty loose. They have nothing to lose as a 15 seed. How important is it for you guys to be loose as the team everyone expects to win tomorrow?
RYAN SPANGLER: It's very important. I think we just have to play the way we've played all year long. It's got us through this far. What we've got to do as a team is we have to come out and play hard and share the ball and play defense, and we'll be fine.

BUDDY HIELD: Just what Ryan said, we've got to play together and play loose. You know, this is a home-crowd game. So hopefully we get a lot of momentum coming into the game, and just go out there and play for each other and make shots.

Q. One of their guys said that Oklahoma is good, but they're not great. I was just wondering, you're a 2 seed so obviously you're respected. But maybe with some people, with you guys not playing as well lately, look at it as an opportunity. Any thoughts about that?
RYAN SPANGLER: No, no thoughts at all. Just got to play the way we played. We beat a lot of teams this year, and I think we've proven ourselves. Now it's another season for us to prove ourselves again.

BUDDY HIELD: Just go out there and we can't let them fall up on the hype. But just go out there and execute and show them how great of a team we are.

Q. Is this kind of a renewed season for you? I mean, you kind of went through the tough Big 12. Now it's the NCAAs. Is this kind of like a rebirth for you and some extra energy for you going into this game tomorrow?
BUDDY HIELD: For sure. Just knowing we've been through a tough conference and banging with all the best we can against Iowa State and playing teams twice, and having to play teams like Bakersfield that we haven't seen yet is kind of different. But it gives us a new start and we can start all over. We've just got to go out there and have fun and refuse to lose, that type of attitude.

Q. More on the question about the three-point shot. You've become a much more efficient three-point shooter through the years. How much have you found that that is a big momentum lift to the team? Used to be a dunk got everybody excited. Now the three-pointer seems to change the momentum of the game. How much have you seen over the course of this season the three-pointer change the game just with its momentum?
BUDDY HIELD: A lot. Just the point is, I think, when you make it consistent, after and after another one you've made, it just brings a lot of energy to the team, the fans. Just the opponents, it kind of brings the life out of them. So the three-point shot has an effect on a lot of things just in different ways, especially on the road. When you're home, it gives the crowd momentum, so it's just how it plays and how you get in the game.

Q. Buddy and Isaiah, have you seen more confidence out of Christian James as his role has kind of increased later in the season?
ISAIAH COUSINS: Yes, I've seen confidence in Christian. He's coming in the gym shooting and he's just playing extremely well in practice. His confidence level is really high after that last game.

BUDDY HIELD: Yeah, Christian's been real good. He's just a confident young player. He wants to get better each and every day, and he's learning from the guys like me and Isaiah and Coach Kruger. In the game he shows everybody what he's capable of doing. So hopefully when he gets in to play tomorrow he'll show everybody and keep on progressing from that.

Q. I'd like each of you to give your opinion on this. How prevalent is the theme of unfinished business for the three of you who are back again for another season after the disappointment in the Sweet Sixteen last year? What was said at the beginning of this season? What was your goal, your message? If you could talk about that theme a little bit.
RYAN SPANGLER: Yeah, I think us three have been together for quite a while now and we've played together for a while. I think we've gotten better every year and we've put in more work every year, and we still have goals ahead of us that we haven't gotten to yet. So I think going into this tournament, it's just kind of a new life and we want to finish on the right terms. So I think us three will keep leading the way we've been leading and try to get us to that championship.

BUDDY HIELD: Yeah, just for the season, that loss against Michigan State has a bad taste in our mouth. Just working to get back to this point now. Now we're back at this point now, and we've to go out there and execute and play for each other and try to get back to what we had, and try to move on from that to the Final Four and possibly a National Championship game too.

ISAIAH COUSINS: After losing that game in the Sweet Sixteen, we were disappointed. We tried to learn from it. After that loss we just feel that this year could be a great year for us, especially coming into this tournament in Oklahoma City. We think we might have a chance to do it again and go on from there since last year we know how it feels to lose, so now that can motivate us to keep pushing and winning more games in March Madness.

Q. Ryan, what do you see when you look at Aly Ahmed, their 6'9, 250 pound center?
RYAN SPANGLER: Big, tough guy. He can rebound. He likes it in the post, but I think he can step out and shoot it too. So we just need to be physical with him and try to keep him away from the basket.

Q. Where have you seen Khadeem grow the most over the course of this year?
RYAN SPANGLER: I think just learning how to play the game. I think it's coming to him and slowing down for him. I think it's kind of showing on the defensive end, the way he's getting blocks and rebounds and just finishing around the rim. I think it's slowing down for him.

Q. The tournament has proven to be different than the regular season. Based on what you guys have gleaned from your previous experience, do you think that what you do as a team, the qualities that you have really give you a great chance?
RYAN SPANGLER: Yeah, I think so. I think the biggest thing is experience, and we have a lot of that. We love playing together. We know how to play together. All of us can score, so I think if somebody's having a bad night the rest can pick up for us.

I think on the defensive end, we're coming together and we're learning how to play every game together.

Q. What is it that you guys have done, because you've played a lot of basketball in the last three years, where have you gotten better? Where do you think you're more equipped to have success this year as opposed to last year in the tournament or the year before that? Where have you gotten better and why do you think you'll be better at it this year?
BUDDY HIELD: I just think because we're older and more experienced. We've been through so much together. We've watched a lot of film, so I feel like that can help us. Coming into games like this, even though it's my fourth year coming to the tournament like this, it's loser go home, so you've got to go out there and execute and play as hard as you can, because any team can come and upset you. No matter what team is playing, it's a possible upset every day, so you have to have no regrets when you go out there.

Q. Buddy, what stands out to you about the Road Runners defensively, where and how can they give you the most trouble? They actually describe themselves as scrappy and annoying. What do you see will be the most problematic for you guys with them other defense?
BUDDY HIELD: We just watched film on areas there they're scrappy. Guys that are small, but they get up into you and try to make it tough on you. But we've got to use the advantage of the rules and be strong with the ball and try to get through and draw fouls early and get to the rim.

Q. All of you guys, plus Jordan, have all made some tremendous strides during your time at OU, particularly offensively the way you're able to shoot the ball. Do you attribute that to individual desire to get better? Is that a collaborative that kind of builds on itself? Where do you see that coming from because that's pretty unique?
RYAN SPANGLER: It's a little of both. I think all of us want to get better as individuals, and I think we all put the time in every day. But on the other side, I think we kind of hold ourselves responsible for this team getting better, and so that's why we workout too. When you wake up in the morning and you know that your other teammates are going to be in the gym, you're trying to beat them there, and I think that's just a good environment to be in.

THE MODERATOR: Comments from coach.

COACH KRUGER: It's great to be here. Any time you can play in the NCAA Tournament, we keep talking to our guys about don't take that for granted ever. There are a lot of teams trying to get here, and for our guys to earn the opportunity to play, it's an honor and we look forward to it.

Bakersfield is a really good ballclub that's very, very well-coached. I've known Coach Barnes for a long time. His teams are always going to be very organized and play extremely hard and be very tough on the defensive end, move the ball and have good spacing on the offensive end, and this team is no different. They've got the big guy inside and very balanced scoring around him. So our guys have seen a lot of tape and they respect that, and we'll have to play well to win.

Q. Lon, where have you guys made the biggest strides compared to, say, last year to this year that's going to allow you to have more success? You made a Sweet Sixteen run last year, so you obviously did well. But where do you think you made the biggest strides that allowed you to go even further this time?
COACH KRUGER: Individually our guys have gotten better. You're older, more experienced, bigger, stronger. All of that factors in.

I think losing last year in the Sweet Sixteen stung appropriately, and I think the guys benefited from that in terms of working a little bit harder in the spring, summer and fall preparation to be better.

So I think this is a year older, bigger, stronger, more experienced. All shoot a little better, all rebound a little bit better, they're more experienced together. So I think it's across the board a little bit better.

Q. Is there a team or teams that you've played this season that is similar to this one defensively?
COACH KRUGER: Well, they're very good defensively. A lot of teams in the conference are very good defensively, so you can go down the line quite deep there because everyone in the Big 12 is good. But they're very sound. They're very solid defensively. They get into the ball aggressively, they support each other well, they played good five-on-five defensive scheme that's tough. It's tough.

Q. Buddy's ascension from pretty good prospect to good player to Big 12 Player of the Year, to National Player of the Year, that development, how much is that attributed solely just to his improvement on the three-point shot? He was not very good as a freshman, now he's one of the best in the nation.
COACH KRUGER: That's only a part of it. Certainly he's improved that a lot. If you improve a lot, it maybe gives you an extra advantage to drive the ball, get that first step if they have to honor the three-pointer. So improving that three-pointer, I think makes the defense treat him totally differently. They close out a little bit more aggressively. He's improved a lot also on putting the ball on the floor, taking the paint and getting to the rim and finishing at the rim. But he's improved across the board.

But still, in this game, if he can shoot it like he can shoot it, that makes everything else better.

Q. Lon, what is your comfort level right now with the team? You guys had such a fantastic start, and you've played great at times and you've had your valleys. Where are you and the team right now?
COACH KRUGER: We've had really good stretches of play in the last half dozen ball games. We've had a couple stretches that weren't good. Obviously you focus and concern yourselves with trying to improve those stretches that weren't good. But I think right now we're probably playing defensively as well as we have all year.

We aren't shooting it consistently from three as well as we did in the first half of the year. Different guys have gone through ups and downs with confidence in shooting the three. But, again, they were shooting at such a high rate there through the first 20 ball games that any dropoff seems disappointing by comparison.

But right now we've got Buddy shooting with confidence. We've got Jordan made three the last ball game, shooting it with confidence. Isaiah from the perimeter. Christian James comes in, shooting it well. So I think we've got guys that feel good about the way they're shooting it right now and that's a big key for our play.

Q. Lon, you've coached for a very long time. I'm just wondering if there are things about this team that are different from all the others? From the way they are together, to the way they maybe work outside of practice, just anything that is completely unique to them?
COACH KRUGER: This group, without question, has more hours invested on their own outside of practice. No doubt about that, led by those three seniors. Those guys, if you ranked the top three guys in 35 years of doing this of time invested on their own, those three would probably be one, two, three. And in no particular order because they've got to compete with each other to get to the gym first. So that clearly is special for this group.

A group that relies on the three more than any team we've ever had, percentage-wise, shoot more threes than any team, and a team that's been together a lot. Four starters in 100 games now on the road in terms of starts. All that's different. It's a good group. It's a special group. It's a fun group every day. They love to play. They love being in the gym.

In our last three years, anyhow, in the off-season we've never scheduled an individual workout. I mean, they're just there all the time, so we've never once said, okay, be here at 1 o'clock to get in our two hours this week, because those guys are just there all the time.

Q. You mentioned that Bakersfield kind of plays around their center. Can you tell us a little bit about him? What do you see when you watch him on film?
COACH KRUGER: A big guy that's got a good feel for the game inside. He uses his body well. He's a good scorer around the rim. He can step out, it looks like, 15, 17 feet and make face-up jumpers. He's a guy that will pass out double teams. Just appears to be a really solid, good, low-post guy that can step out a little bit and keep you honest.

Again, like you say, he's got four other double-figure scorers around him, so they've got a lot of weapons.

Q. You mentioned your seniors, how hard they put in the work on their own. You've coached a bunch of players, lot of really, really good players. Is this something you knew when you recruited them or is it something they developed as they stayed at Oklahoma in terms of the work on their own that they put in?
COACH KRUGER: We didn't know to the degree that they've done it. We knew they loved to play. We knew the character of their makeup is good. When we were at Mt. Vernon to recruit Isaiah, we'd have to meet him at 6:00 in the morning in the gym because that's where he was in high school. So we knew he had it going in.

Buddy's passion for the game has been well-documented. He's had a passion from early on. And Ryan, of course, is just a blue-collar guy that works his tail off. So I don't know. They certainly didn't acquire it after they got to Oklahoma. They had that going in. Pleased about that for sure.

Q. Coach, you've talked about before maybe not working it inside to Khadeem and Ryan as much as you should have. Is that something you're going to try to do tomorrow to open up your offense beyond jump shooting?
COACH KRUGER: In reference to wondering, if we would have thrown it in more, would we be in a different spot right now, I don't know that we'll ever know the answer to that. But, yeah, we've always come out of ball games saying we'd like more balance. We'd like to throw it inside more. Again, I think our nature is to throw it where you feel like you're going to get good results. We've gotten pretty good results from the perimeter, and we'd like to balance that a little bit more. We'll always try to throw it in there a little bit early in ball games and see how it works out.

Q. A lot of Bakersfield players have come through Texas, either high school or junior college. Do you have any background with any of them, recruiting them or watching them in high school or JC?
COACH KRUGER: We watched some during the recruiting process. Not that we got too far into the process in terms of recruiting or having them on campus for a visit, we didn't get to that point. But we're aware of some of them we saw on the roster initially.

Q. You mentioned Christian James, a guy who feels good about his shot right now. What do you see his role being here in this tournament? How much did his performance in the Big 12 help him?
COACH KRUGER: His performance against West Virginia, from a confidence standpoint, probably helped him as much as anything else. He had been coming on during the season and then he rolled an ankle mid-way there, and that set him back three or four ball games. Now he's coming back again. He's just a good player. He's got good instincts. Shoots the ball well. Makes good plays off the dribble. Versatile in his role in terms of playing a little bit more on the perimeter, a little bit more inside. He can bounce around different spots. So he'll be a key for us going forward.

Q. We've all seen what Buddy has done this year. He's been a walking highlight at times. What are some of the little nuances or improvements that you've noticed that we may not be aware of from last year to this year with him?
COACH KRUGER: I don't know if there's anything that jumps out. He's just stronger with the ball in a crowd. He's stronger with the ball finishing at the rim. Getting to the free-throw line a little bit more than he did a year ago, and I think that's a result of his confidence in handling the ball and attacking the lane. I think that's probably the area -- obviously he's improved his shooting. That's obvious to everyone. He's always been a pretty good offensive rebounder, good instincts to the ball. But I don't know if there's anything outside that.

Q. What pieces of advice are you giving players like Khadeem who was coming off the bench last year in the tournament to now being a starter, as well as Christian James and Dante who are coming off the bench and playing important roles for the first time in the tournament?
COACH KRUGER: Most importantly, just do what you've done to get here. It's not like all of a sudden you have to do something differently. If you rebound the ball, continue to rebound it. If you shoot it, shoot it. You can't become a shooter all of a sudden if you've passed it all year or a three-point shooter if you haven't shot three-pointers. So just as a team, as well as individually, you always talk about hey, trust each other. Take care of your individual roles, respect each other's roles. Stand up there and step up there for each other, but do it as a group and do what you've done to get here.

Q. How much of a comfort level is it knowing that you're essentially playing at home in the first couple rounds here?
COACH KRUGER: We like being close. We like it for our players, for our fans. Yet our message to the guys that's well and good, but we still have to lineup and play and execute and make shots and cover, and don't think that takes care of itself because you're home. Sometimes during conference season you have to guard against that, where we're home so it's okay. Well, you're home, but you still have to beat a really good team that's coming in here.

That's the way we look at these two ball games, if we play a second one. Certainly in the first one, we've got to beat a really good team. If we get by that one, we have to beat another really good team. So it's not like being home takes care of everything.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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