Post Game Quotes

Jan. 15, 2005

Recap | Box Score | Notes

Colorado vs. Kansas<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Coors Events Center, Jan. 15, 2005, POSTGAME QUOTES

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

GENERAL: “Every game is a learning experience, they (Colorado) played some zone and Nebraska will play some zone next week, so it was good to get some experience against the zone. Overall I think that our players are glad to be going home, it seems like it has been forever since we have played there.

“I don’t like coaching close games, so I think that the players do it to mess with me a little. Copeland played good and Roby is going to be a terrific player, they deserve credit for making it a close game as well.”

ON KANSAS FANS: “This place holds 13 thousand people, and it must have been six thousand Kansas fans in the sold out arena, and that is just terrific to see that kind of commitment and dedication from our fans most of them had to travel a pretty good distance just to see us play.

ON Christian Moody F: “I didn’t want to play Christian (Moody) with his ankle and all, but when the others weren’t effective, I had to put him in.

ON Keith Langford G: “He labored all day, and we weren’t getting rebounds and the altitude effected us, but when it got to one point Langford really came through for us and made some big shots.

ON COLORADO OFFENSE: “I give them a lot of credit for their offensive rebounds if they only get 12 instead of 22 it’s not a close game, they had 13 at the half and I didn’t feel anyone outside of Wayne (Simien) was trying to battle for rebounds down there.

ON RICHARD ROBY G: “I didn’t think that we did a good job on containing him, I think that he just missed some of his shots. He is going to be a really terrific player and today he proved he can play with anyone and create his shot against anyone.

Kansas Players

Wayne Simien F

GENERAL: “No we don’t like close games, we just didn’t do a good job closing out the first half, or putting them away to start the second half.”

“Road wins are crucial especially with us trying to win the Big XII Conference and wins on the road are really important because they are more difficult than the home games.”

ON Keith Langford G: “Keith (Langford) is clutch, if you want clutch Keith is your guy. He not only creates opportunities for himself, he creates opportunities for others in clutch situations.”

ON Sasha Kaun C: “Sasha (Kaun) was a monster early on, coach has been pressing him to play to his size and those two monster dunks early on in the game really got us fired up.”

ON REBOUNDS: “It wasn’t our best rebounding performance as a team, but it felt good to do well and get 17 rebounds for myself. At half time coach was pretty upset with us for not rebounding in the first half, he was probably more disappointed than he was upset with us.”

ON COMING BACK FROM INJURY: “I feel pretty good, I didn’t think that I missed a beat over those past couple of weeks. I tried to do what I could in practice and on the bench to keep myself from getting rusty. My wind felt all right and I know that they say the altitude is a myth, but I don’t believe them I know it hurt me today. Colorado is and always has been one of my favorite places to play. One of the reason is that it allows all the western Kansas fans to come see us play, when you looked at the crowd today it seemed half and half, but when the game got close you could really hear Colorado’s home court advantage.”

Colorado Head Coach Ricardo Patton

GENERAL – “It was a really good effort by our guys; unfortunately we couldn’t come out with the win. Hopefully it is something we can build on…learning to play unselfish basketball and cutting down mistakes. They are not the No. 2 team in the country for no reason. We need to keep playing hard and get better. I think they learned today `yes but whether we can sustain that will only come out within the next few weeks.”

ON 30 THREE-POINT ATTEMPTS – “Between (Chris) Copeland and (Richard) Roby, they had 15 of the 30 attempts and they have proven that they can do that. When the ball isn’t falling, guys need to understand they need to find something else to do to contribute.

ON KANSAS PULLING AWAY AT THE END – “We had some missed opportunities with free throws. When you are coming back you can’t do that because mistakes cost you basketball games.”

ON LOW SCORING GAME – “I am not really concerned with the final number of points as much as playing a complete game for 40 minutes. We do not have a caliber of team that will score a lot of points.”

ON SELLOUT CROWD – “The guys were pretty wired when they came out and they really wanted to win. There was one time before the game when Kansas fans had a cheer and it sounded like it circled the arena. They are a tradition-rich program and a bordering state.”

Colorado Players

F Chris Copeland

GENERAL – “Our effort was good this game and that is something to build on right there. Shots weren’t falling and that means we need to get shots up in practice and get better. Their guys just make plays. They have good players and they make good plays. “

ON GUARDING Wayne Simien – “With the loss, my defense was not good enough. He had 23 so obviously not good enough.”

G Richard Roby

GENERAL – “We got up for this game. We had to play hard on the defensive end and to give us a chance. We definitely didn’t shoot the ball well from the field but a good team will find other ways to win. When we made the run we started knocking down shots, limiting their second chance points and getting out and running.”

ON PLAYING KANSAS – It was definitely exciting to play Kansas here. I felt I was too excited in the first half and in the second half I slowed down a little bit. I was getting excited and rushing my shot and I had to slow myself down. They are a top-notch program and that is how they do it.”