I know most of you were there to see it in person, but here's my story from yesterday's game:
oaklandpostonline.com/2011/01/30/sports/homecoming-2011/As an added bonus, here's the bulk of the quotes from the post-game press conference:
Travis Bader"I'm just out there doing whatever coach Kampe wants me to do, so if that means stepping up and hitting those shots or back playing defense, then I will."
"It's great when you have a big home crowd behind you and a lot of people come to support you. I just wish we played at home more (this season) with the big (fan) base we have. It's great when you make a shot and hear the roar of the crowd to really get us going."
Keith Benson"The guards were really getting out there on the perimeter pressuring the ball in the second half and that's what really turned the game around. (Centenary) felt nervous and we were getting a lot of turnovers."
"They were a smaller team so coach told me we'd be going inside to me a lot. I tried to keep the ball up high and be strong. Will Hudson and I (made baskets) down low a lot."
"Before the season, some of us thought we had a chance to go undefeated because we only lost one game last year and we wanted to improve on that. We'll have to go undefeated to do that, so we think about it."
Coach Greg Kampe"I wasn't happy and then I got happy."
On the full-court press:
"We pressed at the beginning of the league season, but then we started getting injuries where we're limited to six, seven or eight healthy guys so we had to go away from it," Kampe said. "
On Centenary:
"Some times you get mad at your team, but some times you have to give credit where its due, and I think Centenary had a very good first half. They made shots, looked good, and move the ball."
On the second half:
"I thought the first eight minutes of the second half was (all) Oakland. It's been easy for us, and when it's easy you start getting into bad habits. So we needed that (close) game Thursday and we needed the first half today. We refocused at halftime and I thought we were really great after that."
On the first half:
"They were scoring against us, and getting good looks against us. We want pressure on the ball (handler) with our athleticism. We want to swarm the ball and I didn't see that. I saw complacency, and I'm not really good with complacency, so I was upset."
On the offense:
"I've never coached a team like this offensively, and I've coached some great offensive teams. This team is unbelievable. We go eight deep and we can score eight different ways. The issue with this team, if anyone (beats) us, it's because we turn it over and we think we're so good that we try to do too many great things."
On Benson's blocks:
"It brought energy and the crowd fed off that and it was over (quick). With a full house like that on our second-straight Saturday sellout, you want to do things for them to get them back here. We've created this monster and we want to feed the monster so this (support) can continue."
On Benson:
"He's the most dominant player to ever play at Oakland University. He changes a game more than any kid I've had in my 11 years (coaching) in this league. There's a lot of other reasons we win, but (Benson) is a pretty good foundation to start with."
