STILLWATER (AP) — Travis Ford’s new basketball team hadn’t even been on the court for a full minute, and he was already yelling out for point guard Nick Sidorakis to “push it!”
Even in a brief scrimmage with nothing but the most basic offense installed, Oklahoma State’s new coach made it clear how he wants to play — fast, like the Ferrari he pulled up in.
Ford’s team made a grand entrance straight out of Hollywood with each player stepping out of a limousine onto an orange carpet before Ford pulled up in the bright orange sports car.
He wanted that kind of speed to carry over onto the basketball court, and he made it clear with his instructions right off the bat.
“They’re going to hear it a lot. This team, that’s not their mind-set. They’re not used to doing that,” Ford said. “If we were playing in five gears, we were probably playing in second tonight. We’ve got to get to five.”
Ford praised his team for spending the past two months getting in shape to run at his uptempo pace, but Friday night’s opening practice was only the first step along the way.
“We’ve still got to play with that pop. We weren’t playing with that sense of urgency, but it’s all new to these guys and they’ll get there,” Ford said. “Their attitudes have been great, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
A noisy crowd cheered on the Cowboys throughout the 6-minute halves and impressed Ford, a former player at Kentucky — where the opening night of practice is the biggest of events.
“To have a crowd like this come out for a brief appearance by the men and women’s basketball teams and do some awards and things like that, it does definitely bring it back,” Ford said. “You can tell the true enthusiasm for the game.”
Keiton Page, one of the state’s most prolific scorers in high school, made a splash in his first appearance before Oklahoma State fans by hitting three 3-pointers and showing no hesitance to pull the trigger.
“It’s funny. The first practice we had as a team, I couldn’t get him to shoot,” Ford said. “I’m like, ‘You’ve got to give your scholarship back if you’re not going to shoot. That’s what you do.’ We had to beg him to shoot. As you see, he’s not shy now.”
Ford inherits two former McDonald’s All-Americans in guards Byron Eaton and James Anderson, and both had their flashes during the brief scrimmage. Eaton had a 3-pointer and a steal that led to a fast-break layup, and Anderson also showed off his 3-point shooting ability.
But both will have to adjust to Ford’s fastball approach.
“In some instances, it feels like I’m not going fast enough but I thought I was pushing it my best. And then sometimes I was going kind of slow and I know I need to pick it up,” said Eaton, the starting point guard.
“But I think we all did pretty good and we’re all going to pick it up a lot more. Tonight was fun. Tomorrow the real thing starts.”
By that, Eaton means that Ford hasn’t even gotten started yet. He’s still got a package of presses to install, bringing the element of speed to the defense, too.
“This is just half of it. We’re going to be pushing the ball and then you’ve got to pick it up 94 feet,” Eaton said.
Ford said it’s too early to even think about goals or expectations, except that his first night in Gallagher-Iba Arena was everything he thought it would be.
“I’ve obviously heard a lot about it,” Ford said. “To experience it for the first time definitely gives you chill bumps. You can definitely feel the enthusiasm for basketball, the enthusiasm for this school from the fans. It’s everything I’ve heard. It’s loud in there.”
