Brad Underwood On UCA Game: ‘Phil Was Incredible’

Following the Cowboys’ 102-90 win over Central Arkansas, head coach Brad Underwood had some interesting things to say about the way OSU played (sloppily) on Monday. He also praised Phil Forte for his 31-point performance on the offensive end.

What he saw from his team offensively

“…I thought we did some things better. We’re still, against teams that are sitting in the paint, we’re over-dribbling. We’re not moving the ball quick enough. We’re not cutting hard enough and that’s what you have to do against a match-up zone. And that’s what you have to do against teams that are going to sit there and gimmick you a little bit.

“We’re getting better on the offensive end. It sounds crazy when you look at the numbers and we scored 102.”

On Phil Forte’s performance

“I should mention that I thought Phil was incredible tonight on both sides of the court. He was the one guy I thought was very, very dialed in. There’s not enough adjectives to describe Phil in my book and I think I’ve said this before that his value to our team will outlast his days in a uniform here. He’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever been around.”

Underwood on the early foul trouble and if rule changes were to blame

“I think that’s part of it. I think it’s lack of communication… We don’t understand that fouling is a defensive mistake. I keep harping on with our players, ‘Quiet teams lose.’ You can’t be quiet and play on the defensive end. You have to be able to communicate.”

On playing a smaller rotation

“We did something tonight we haven’t practiced. Late in the game we had a small lineup. We started switching everything. That’s the loudest we’ve talked yet. I’ve got no problem doing it, to be honest. I think we have to run offense to do that … I’ve put guys 6’4″ — that’s the biggest guys I’ve had on the court before and we can be really hard to guard because we can drive a little bit and we can shoot. We just have to have a commitment to the other end.”

Underwood on Solomon staying in longer than six minutes

“It’d be nice. It would be nice. A lot of what he’s running into isn’t his fault. Mitch is one of the smartest players we know and because we’re breaking down on the perimeter. He’s making the right rotation…I got to tell our guards to guard better. (It) would help so they didn’t get beat off the dribble.”