Postgame Quotes
Jan. 2, 2011
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 83, Miami (Ohio) 56
January 2, 2011
Head Coach Bill Self
On the Morris twins receiving a message by not being in the starting lineup:
“They played well, but I thought Jeff (Withey) played well, too. Our whole team played pretty well the first half; we were pretty in-tune defensively in the second half. We traded baskets, which was ridiculous. We did a lot of good things but I would say the biggest negative, obviously, was taking care of the basketball – we had so many unforced errors. If we can just get a shot, or at least five more possessions, that’s at least five more points you’re going to score. All-in-all, that first half was the best first half we have played all year. We ran well, and even when we didn’t score, we did the right thing – I was pretty excited.”
On the team’s rebounding:
“We had a beat-down on the glass, which is the best that we have rebounded the ball. I think a big key to that is that we had guys running towards the ball; we just seemed like a much more aggressive team today. I thought Markieff (Morris) especially was a beast on the glass.”
On if he felt the team made a good improvement since they last played:
“I did – of course; I hope that we can keep our consistency. We got up by 33, and then we did some brain dead things. Elijah (Johnson) trying to throw the ball off of the backboard, it was just really silly. We’ve spent a lot of time together the last few days, and when I say ‘a lot,’ that is an understatement. I think the guys were excited to play against somebody other than themselves.”
On Kansas’ new athletic director Sheahon Zenger:
“We’re going to have a new boss, aren’t we? I do not know him personally, but I have spent a lot of time on the phone with him in the last couple of months – I’m very impressed. Everyone is going to be overly impressed when they hear him speak, he’s a solid guy. (Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich)loves him, and he won’t steer us wrong. He said Zenger is almost too good to be true, with the way he can motivate and lead, and just be a normal guy, too. I’m really excited about Sheahon and his family coming in, and they will do a great job – maybe he will get a chance to address the crowd on Wednesday for our home game. This is a big move for the University of Kansas, and we are all excited about it.”
Freshman guard Josh Selby
On his performance Sunday night:
“My teammates just said keep playing your game and it will come to you. So that’s what I did; I took their advice and it worked out for me.”
On which game so far has been his best performance:
“I’m not sure which game is the best because I don’t really focus on that. As long as we got the win, that’s good with me.”
On his dunk in the first half:
“There were a lot of amazing dunks today but I was just happy I got my legs back. I just wanted to break the rim down.”
On celebrating with teammate Tyshawn Taylor after hitting a clutch three:
“I was cold last game so after I hit my three I was happy and I just saluted Tyshawn (Taylor). That’s what we do; when he dunks he salutes me and when I hit a three he salutes me because he gave me the pass.”
Junior forward Marcus Morris
On starting the second half but not the first:
“He (Coach Self) said he liked the way we (Marcus and Markieff) came off the bench with a lot of intensity and he just thought the best players should start the second half so he started me and ‘Kieff.”
On his team’s performance vs. Miami (Ohio):
“I think that we defended real well in the first half and turned the corner a bit and became a better team. We just have to keep going forward because conference play is right around the corner. We just have to keep practicing hard and keep getting better day in and day out.”
On conference play coming up:
“Those games mean a lot, not to say that these games don’t, but those are conference games and we want to win the conference every year. Not to mention those teams are good, and not to take anything away from Miami (Ohio) but any given day you can be beat by anybody so you can never have a let down on the defensive end or the offensive end.”
Junior forward Markieff Morris
On his play:
“In the beginning I felt like I brought a lot of energy off of the bench. I got a lot of second chance shots, and my teammates found me, and I made shots.”
On the team’s performance:
“We had a good shooting night, and we guarded real well.”
On the team’s play tonight versus last game:
“We were a lot better. (In the) First half I think we were great; I think we guarded a lot, we had eight turnovers, but that comes with us just playing fast, and a little out of control, but on the defensive end I think we guarded real well.”
On the amount of dunks:
“We were having a lot of fun out there, and we were getting a lot of dunks.”
On this week’s practice:
“Toughest practice I have ever had since I have been here. I think we deserved it, we didn’t play (well vs. UT-Arlington). I think if we don’t play like we did tonight every game, then we deserve to practice like that. We were getting after everything, a lot of defensive drills one after another; we were just getting after it for a long time.”
On not getting the start:
“I didn’t start last year, so it was his (Coach Self’s) decision not to start me. I just encouraged the guys that started, and (tried to) bring energy off of the bench.”
Head Coach Charlie Coles
On the recap of the game:
“First of all, Kansas is good. Second thing is, I was very disappointed with our effort in the first half. I didn’t think we gave much of an effort. I don’t think Kansas really got going until about nine minutes to go in the first half. It seemed like after that we backed off. I thought we would have played better. We have to give respect to Kansas, because they’re pretty good. I thought we backed off and didn’t play as hard as we did on Thursday of last week. I just don’t think we were very competitive the first half. I told the guys at halftime that I was very upset, probably the most I’ve been upset all year. There are about three different stats that coaches look at. The one stat that indicates, ‘What did you put into the game?’ is rebounds. The rebounding was 46 (Kansas) to 17 (Miami). Then we had 10 turnovers in the first half. In the second half I think we did play better.”
On the comparison between the top three ranked teams in the nation (Duke, Ohio State and Kansas):
“I’ll say this; with Kyrie Irving (Duke) out of there it would be hard for me to pick a number one. When he was playing for them I thought they were a clear number one. I would say it’s all even now. Ohio State is sneaky good. You won’t see the same thing when you watch Duke and Kansas that you see when you watch Ohio State. I don’t know if anybody is better than Kansas. I don’t know if they are the best, but I don’t know anybody that is better than them. They have a nice ball club.”
On comparing Kansas’s current team to Kansas’ 2008 team:
“I was here the year they won the National Championship, and this team is pretty close. They are pretty close to that right now.”
Redshirt senior forward Antonio Ballard
On the three point shooting:
“As a team, I don’t think so (we didn’t shoot well). I feel like we shot more than we normally do. I feel like we should have tried to get it inside a little bit more, to get some fouls called.”
On the comparison of the top three ranked teams in the nation (Duke, Ohio State and Kansas):
“I didn’t play at Duke. I was out for that game, but I did play against Ohio State. I think that KU is better than them, to me personally. Just from watching Duke and playing against Duke, in my opinion I feel that KU is on top right now.”
On the timeouts called:
“I feel like the timeouts are called to get on us, and try to correct us before it gets too out of hand. Sometimes timeouts are needed for us to take a break and try and recuperate.”
Sophomore guard Orlando Williams
On KU’s first big run:
“I think it was just their physical contact in the inside. The Morris brothers (Marcus and Markieff) had us beat. They we were just more athletic and more physical. Our big men just didn’t compete tonight. They didn’t show up.”
On the comparison of the top ranked teams of Duke and Kansas:
“I think that individually KU has them beat, but coaching-wise Mike Krzyzewski’s got years under his belt and is a good leader. I think that’s when Duke has an advantage. I’m not saying that KU’s coach is a bad coach, because he is a really good coach. But individually-wise I think KU has them (Duke) beat.”
