John Pelphrey press conference - Oklahoma
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –-The 9-1 Arkansas men’s basketball team plays host to 12-0 and fourth-ranked Oklahoma on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. The game is being televised on Razorback Sports Properties (RSP), which includes KFTA in Northwest Arkansas, KATV in Little Rock and KAIT in Jonesboro.
In addition,RSP home gamesair tape delayed on CSS, where available on local cable systems.Please check your local listings for times and channel assignments.
The video stream of the Arkansas-Oklahomagame will be available for RazorVision members. Members can watch the game by clicking on the video button at the top of the page, then select the video feed.
As usual, the Razorback SportsProperties audio broadcast of the game will also be available.
Head coach John Pelphrey met with the media on Monday to preview the game. Here is a partial transcript of that press conference.
“Playing Oklahoma presents a lot of challenges for our team. They are outstanding, well-coached and very talented. They have a lot of great components in winning games at home and on the road, and they can do some damage in March.
“We will have to play our best on both sides of the ball. We have to overachieve and play better than we have all year.
“We will have to all be on the same page and go as hard as we possibly can against Blake Griffin. He’s seen double teams and been crowded, so he knows to pull it back out and re-post. He can handle the ball, he’s a great passer, he plays hard, he’s physical and he’s a good basketball player. He is arguably the best player in the country and the No. 1 pick in the (NBA) draft, but their team is very, very talented. They have a good group of guys who are experienced, tough, and athletic, and they play well together.”
Tempo:
“We’re not going to slow it down. We want to go full throttle. I’m sure they aren’t going to cool their engines and we aren’t going to, either. I expect there to be a lot of athletic plays in this game.”
Michael Washington:
“He is not going to base his performance on what he did prior to now. I’m sure Oklahoma will be aware of what he did last year (16 points and 12 rebounds in Norman) and will have a game plan.”
Team progress:
“I’m happy with the progress we’ve made, but I want to get better. The interesting thing is, regardless of what has happened before, when you play a team with this kind of ranking, you probably play better and harder than you have all year. The only downside is you don’t want to get too high because that can make you play poorly.
“We’re excited about the opportunity. It’s not every day you get a Big 12 team on your home court, or the No. 4-ranked team on your court. Those things are on the list of what makes this an important game, but this is not the last game like this we will play. We need to get used to it. I anticipate us being ready and I hope we play well.”
Facing highly-ranked teams:
“For me (as a player), I remember thinking you have to bring it every single night no matter who you are playing, whether you want to measure yourself or if someone else wants to measure themselves against you.”
Jason Henry (having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee):
“He was making progress and really close to being able to do some things, but this is not a death blow for him. Hopefully we can clean it up and who knows, maybe he can be back in two to four weeks.”
Playing at home:
“The Razorbacks love playing at home. We have respect and admiration for our fans. Before us and after us, they make it special to be a Razorback, they help us play better and they make it difficult for anyone coming in here.”
