HD Video: IU players react to win over Purdue
Cody Zeller (19 points, nine rebounds), Will Sheehey (career-high 22 points) and Christian Watford (14 points) met with the media following Indiana’s 83-55 win over Purdue on Saturday at Assembly Hall.
Watch and listen to the press conference in the embedded media player below:
Quotes after the jump.
Will Sheehey
On setting a career high in points and a school record for most made field goals in a game without a miss:
“Well I missed three free throws that were not very good. Besides that I felt good. My teammates found me. I thought I played pretty good defense. Like I said last game, if you play good defense your offense will come.”
On what it was like at halftime when they knew there was a chance Victor Oladipo wouldn’t play in the second half:
“I got excited because I got to play a little more. But no he’s fine.”
On if he believes in getting in the zone:
“Oh yeah no question but I think the guys who stay in the zone the longest are the best players. There’s definitely a zone. If you see a couple of shots go through the hoop you know your confidence gets up a little bit. The guys that are the best are that when you’re not shooting as well to get back into the zone.”
On if it’s distracting or motivational not knowing the extent of a teammate’s injury:
“Well that’s not the case here because I know what’s wrong with Victor. When you don’t know if someone’s going to be out for a while or not, like we said next man up. We’ve been doing that since we got here. Injuries happen every year if they’re minor or major so really just got to continue to have the next man up mindset.”
On if his mindset shifted at halftime knowing that he might be relied upon more:
“I just try to stay aggressive regardless of what the situation is. That’s just the way I am as a player. Some guys are different. The more minutes I get, the more opportunities I get and the more I’m going to try and stay aggressive and that’s how it should be for everyone.”
On the shooting games that he, Victor Oladipo and Jordan Hulls play that Oladipo mentioned in a radio interview on Friday:
“I win them all. We always plays and everyone thinks Jordan is the better shooter but realistically I win them all. We play different types of shooting games and what not, see who can make the most in a row and what not so that’s about it.”
On if it means anything to set a career high against Purdue:
“No. Not really. It’s always a team effort. Guys have different career highs on different nights but feel like the play better. Everyone thinks that since you had a career high in points that means it was your best game ever played and I don’t think that’s the case. Really it’s just a collective win and anytime you can beat your rival it’s nice.”
On closing out games:
“I just think we’re smarter with the ball and not taking shots that you wouldn’t take wouldn’t take within the flow of the game knowing that the clock is at a certain point. Also, really just knowing the situation on defense as well, switching certain things because a lot of times at the end of games you play defense differently than you do at the start just with schemes and what not. I think we have a better understanding because we have a veteran team but we also have some young guys. I think as a collective whole we are better at closing games than we were.”
On if he has to be ready to get the ball from Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell:
“Yeah. No question. If you get into his vision, he’ll find you. That’s the thing you’ve just got to continue moving without the ball and eventually the ball finds movement.”
Christian Watford
On drawing the assignment of defending A.J. Hammons:
“We tried to limit his touches and not let him get deep post-ups. My teammates did a great job of coming over and helping me if he did have me kind of buried in the post.”
On what it means to win four straight against Purdue after what happened his first two seasons at Indiana:
“It means a lot. The first two years it was tough but anytime you can come back and win against your rival, especially the way we’ve been doing it, it feels pretty good.”
On if starting fast helps his game:
“Oh yeah I think so. When I get a great start I end up playing better the entire game but my teammates did a great job of finding me and I got going early.”
Cody Zeller
On if he’s surprised at how physical the game got:
“Not necessarily I mean it’s the Big Ten. We are playing IU-Purdue it’s going to be physical so I wasn’t too surprised by it.”
On how pleased they were with their defensive effort:
“I mean that’s when we are at our best. That’s a big emphasis for us defense and getting out in transition and turning it into offense. That’s when we are at our best when we are playing defense and getting out and running.”
On if he likes the physical nature of the game:
“Somewhat. I mean I’m playing in the Big Ten. I kind of signed up for it so you just kind of come to expect.”
On the play of Jordan Hulls and Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and how they pass the ball where it needs to be:
“We’ve just kind of come to expect it. They’re definitely fun players to play with. They’re always finding us whether it’s me on a pick-and-roll or one of these guys on a pop so they can do a lot of good things and we’re going to have to have them continue to play well.”
On Christian Watford defending A.J. Hammons:
“It was great. He defends me sometimes in practice so he’s used to guarding big guys so I knew he could do it. It kept me out of foul trouble. He did a nice job of it. I think he should do that every game now.”
On playing defense on the perimeter:
“The same thing. Coach Crean always mixes up the defensive assignments in practice so sometimes I guard guards in practice. A lot of credit to him. It wasn’t anything that I haven’t seen before.”
Filed to: Christian Watford, Cody Zeller, Purdue Boilermakers, Will Sheehey