Column: A candid Joe Burton at Tuesday's press conference
Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 00:02
 "Photo: Vinay Bikkina | THE DAILY BAROMETER")
Vinay Bikkina | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Senior orward Joe Burton has always had a productive career at Oregon State. The senior showed he has a sense of humor, as well, during Tuesday’s press conference.
Oregon State men’s basketball player Joe Burton is apparently staying loose as he prepares for his final set of games at Gill Coliseum. During Tuesday’s press conference, the senior forward had members of the media spending more time laughing then they were asking questions. For your entertainment, we’ve compiled the best of Burton’s answers:
On what he’ll miss about playing here:
“Postgame meals.”
(To be fair, he then said he was joking and said he’d miss the fans).
On his favorite postgame meal:
“I would have to say Pizza Hut. They get my order messed up, but that’s fine.”
On what he’ll miss about Ahmad Starks:
“Well I can only miss a little bit since he’s so short.”
On how the Washington student section treats him:
“The ‘Dawg Pack’ was really vicious [in 2010]; they were actually the ‘Dawg Pack.’ Now it’s just like poodles, I guess.”
And then later: “I’m pretty good friends with every student section around. It’s always a good thing to have them in your back pocket so they don’t say anything embarrassing about you. So all the people out there — freshmen — you should do that. Start now.”
On the freshmen getting more playing time:
“I like to see the freshmen get in there, get a couple cracks at it. I like to see Lathen — [chuckles] Lathen Wallace, that’s how old I am — Langston get in there, because you never know what he’s going to do. He’s like the Energizer Bunny. He needs to get on like Ritalin or something; some calm-down pill. … Then Jarmal — it’s Jarmal for everybody out there, not Jamal. I like seeing the young guys out there, and then Olaf, AKA Roeland, I like to see him play. It’s funny to see them screw up. They want to go out there and do well, but sometimes they screw up and that kind of messes with them.”
On if he’s tried teaching any of his teammates how to pass like he does:
“I try to teach Olaf [Schaftenaar], because I think he would be the closest one to have the soft hands. Angus [Brandt] is coming along, too. Angus is getting a little crafty around the basket. Eric [Moreland] tries but… let’s just move on.”
On if he’ll try an off-the-backboard pass:
“I did that in high school one time, to myself. But that was when I was young. I was 18, I’m 22 now. If somebody would catch it. Ahmad wants one off the backboard, I say, ‘Well, we need a high-flyer, not a rim-grazer.’ Eric always gets on me, ‘You never throw me the lob!’ I was like, ‘You never catch it.’”
Grady Garrett, sports reporter
is a member of the 
