Postgame Quotes
Jan. 14, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas 85, Oklahoma 55<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Jan. 14, 2008
Postgame Quotes
Kansas Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought we played very well. Unfortunately they were without Blake Griffin. I certainly hope it’s not a season-ending injury and that he can be back in a short amount of time because he’s a terrific prospect. He’s a great kid. We recruited him. You always hate to see anybody get injured. We caught a break from the beginning with him not being here, but I was really looking forward to our guys getting a chance to guard him because he is a special talent.”
On things KU did well:
“We were good tonight. We were quick and guys were flying around for the most part. I really thought the way they scored points were off our breakdowns. We really defended well. The breakdowns were the offensive rebounds or we made a couple of mistakes on the perimeter. For the most part, with short preparation, I thought our guys bounced back really well.”
On the play of KU’s guards:
“I thought they all played well. We scored easily. I thought Mario (Chalmers) wasn’t really in the flow because he didn’t get many opportunities in the first half, but he came out and was really aggressive to start the second half. Sherron (Collins) bounced back from a subpar performance in Lincoln.”
On Missouri:
“We’ll have to handle their pressure and their quick guards because they are pretty fast.”
Senior Forward Darnell Jackson
On the outcome of the game:
“I was kind of disappointed that (Blake) Griffin got hurt. I was looking forward to playing against him. I hope he gets well because he’s a great player. I’ve been watching him all year, he’s been doing great. We told ourselves we would go out there and play hard no matter what.”
On the opening dunk:
“Brandon (Rush), Mario (Chalmers) and Russell (Robinson) told me that the dunk is what set the tone for the game. I was just trying to make sure that I hustled the ball down and then next thing I know, I was looking for a dunk.”
On things to improve:
“I think we can improve on a lot. Every team can improve. I don’t think we’re perfect at all. We can go out there and rebound better, block out better, execute plays better, take our time and stay focused.”
Junior Guard Brandon Rush
On sinking nine threes the past two games:
“Extra shooting helps during shoot-around, I’m just putting in hard work.”
On winning by 30 and being undefeated:
“It wasn’t easy at all. We out-hustled and out-rebounded them. We played our type of game. We’re going to try to stay perfect. We just have to take it game-by-game right now. We have to focus on our next opponent, which is Missouri, and we’re going to go from there.”
Junior Guard Mario Chalmers
On executing the half-court offense:
“In the (NCAA) tournament, we are going to have grind-out games where we can’t run all the time, so we have been practicing on that and I think it’s paying off. We’re just executing the plays.”
On the large defeats of Nebraska and Oklahoma:
“It is pretty satisfying, but we can’t get too content with ourselves. We know we have a lot more games to play, we just have to stay focused.”
Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
On the status of freshman forward Blake Griffin:
“We still don’t know. We are going to get a MRI tomorrow and we will let you know when we find out. I don’t think anybody fell into him. He just came down wrong. I don’t really know what happened. Obviously if he is out at all, going forward, it is going to deplete our roster and our team. We would be losing our best player. I am hoping that is not the case.”
On what Oklahoma needed to do to give themselves a chance to win:
“We needed to be healthy. We needed to not have Tony Crocker in foul trouble. We knew it was going to be an extremely tough challenge. They (Kansas) are incredibly good. We have to handle pressure better than we did to start the game. They forced us into taking some tough and hurried shots. We talked before the game about not taking bad shots because bad shots turn into easy points for them. They do a great job of turning turnovers and bad shots into easy transition baskets.”
On OU’s bad start:
“We got behind and were behind all game long. We got off to a better start in the second half with a quick 5-0 run, but then we got into taking some bad shots. Kansas is tremendous. They are going to be tough for any team to beat.”
On comparing Kansas to Memphis:
“I think Kansas is better. They are the best team that we have played and we have played some really good teams. They are so balanced. They shoot better than Memphis. They are bigger. They are probably equally as good in transition. They pass the ball better. I don’t think it is close that they are the best team in the country.”
Oklahoma Center Longar Longar
On the game:
“It could have been much worse. It was just a big loss for us. We have to get back to practice and figure out what happened.”
On Kansas:
“They are a pretty good team. We are not as deep as they are. They have a deep bench and they can go with four or five big guys. And tonight when we lost Blake (Griffin), that did not help either. We continued to fight, but they made good plays, especially off of transition baskets.”
Oklahoma Forward Blake Griffin
On the injury:
“I went up for a rebound and I came down kind of funny. I kind of felt it pop, but I do not know. We will have an MRI tomorrow. I was just trying to go up for a rebound. I kind of got pushed and I came down wrong. I twisted it or something. Right now, all we know is that I have a sprained MCL, but we will know for sure tomorrow after the MRI.”
On the pain:
“At first, it hurt a lot. When I got back to the locker room it did not hurt that bad, but when I sat on the bench it got stiffer and stiffer, so it’s worse right now.”
