Postgame Quotes
Jan. 15, 2011
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 63, Nebraska 60
January 15, 2011
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game overall:
“They (Nebraska) played great. They totally controlled the game the first 25 minutes, but of course we contributed to that. I think we had 15 turnovers in the first 25 minutes and played very poorly. They killed us on the glass. Their bigs dominated our bigs, but more importantly their bigs dominated our guards. Our guards didn’t get anything cleaning up the possessions. We played poorly, but we still tried hard. The second half couldn’t have started more miserably. Five straight turnovers and we didn’t get a shot until 16:40 and then for whatever reason, we started playing. We played really well the last 15 minutes. To outscore that team by 14 points or so the last 15 minutes, in a game in which I thought they played great, is pretty good. We still made some bonehead plays and some bad fouls down the stretch, but we really competed hard.”
On the play of Thomas Robinson:
“He’s great. Thomas is so much better in short stints when he’s playing less minutes and just playing four really hard minutes. He was great. He was great on both ends. I told our team I thought Marcus (Morris) played well the second half and of course Tyrel (Reed) was terrific, but Thomas really won the game. He gave us the energy that really got the crowd into the game. We’re fortunate to win today, but that’s this league. Our Big 12–and fans may say we played poorly and we did play poorly–but our Big 12 is a lot like the NFL in that anybody can beat anybody any day. There are no games you circle and say `this is for sure a win’–especially when you’re well coached and tough. Doc (Sadler) has those guys playing.”
On the playing Baylor Monday night:
“It’s tough. This would have been a hard one not to win because on paper you have to hold serve at home. We just have to take them one at a time. We have a quick turnaround to play a team that we probably have to play a little different than what we have played. We just have to get some consistent guard play. If we can get some consistent guard play I think we can look pretty good. Right now we’re struggling in that area. We just need to get some guys playing like they are capable of playing.”
Sophomore center Thomas Robinson
On his dunk:
“I was thinking I have to catch this and I need to finish strong. I wanted to boost the energy of the gym with my dunk.”
On the team being outrebounded by Nebraska:
“It was frustrating and made me mad that we got beat on the glass. I have to give credit to Nebraska’s guards because they are incredible at crashing the glass and that helped them a lot.”
On Coach Self challenging him on the boards:
“It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, Coach (Self) is always going to challenge me to crash the boards and get rebounds.”
On playing more minutes against Nebraska:
“It felt really good to be back on the court playing. The last two games I was in foul trouble and it felt really good to get back out there with my team and contribute to our win.”
Kansas junior forward Marcus Morris
On how they won the game:
“We just wanted to win more – at the final timeout, we knew that we had to win. We put everything on the line, and we gave them everything we had. I think we just wanted it a little bit more.”
On Nebraska’s defense:
“They are a great defensive team, they rotate really well, their guards reach in very well, and they do a good job of taking away your strengths. They did everything well early in the game. They have the number one defensive percentage in the country for a reason.”
On the call when he fouled Nebraska’s Eshaunte Jones for a four-point play:
“Anything the ref’s call is their call, and there’s nothing I can do about it. (Jones) kicked his legs out and I ran into his legs. I wasn’t used to guarding him on the wing very much. It was kind of a dumb play by me, and it was a good flop by him.”
On what he felt when their lead shrunk to two:
“I felt like they were never going to go away, since they were going on those good runs. They have a good team, and every time we would hit a shot, they would come right back.”
Senior guard Tyrel Reed
On Brady Morningstar’s contributions:
“Brady is one of those guys where, no matter if he scores or not, he will always give the same effort. He is always going to do the same things for us no matter what. He will play solid defense and steal extra possessions. That great play where he saved it out-of-bounds, threw it to Markieff (Morris), who threw it to me is a great example of his contributions. Just the little things that he has always been known for are what make him so great.”
On what he thought of Morningstar’s blocked shot:
“I didn’t get to see how high he jumped, but I’ve never seen him get a good blocked shot like that, he had great timing. It was really cool to see him do that. That was a huge play for us.”
Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler
On a recap of the game:
“I thought that was a good basketball game. I thought we did a better job tonight than we did Tuesday night (against Missouri) on keeping the ball out of the lane. We gave up some plays in the second half. We gave up some plays on the offensive transition. Not just the big dunks, but also the big three. We gave up some points off of second opportunities. Against a team like Kansas, if you get a stop you better not give them another shot at it. It’s a 50/50 deal. If they missed the first shot then they will probably make the second one. By no means are we even close to being happy. It stinks to get beat. We came in here with the idea that we were going to win this basketball game, and we didn’t do it. The thing I like about our team is that they’re not going to take a second seat to anybody. They’re going to play hard, but you have got to win the basketball game. We didn’t and it’s disappointing.”
On the foul trouble:
“Toney (McCray) gets his fourth and he gets it after hitting back-to-back threes. That’s the mismatch that we got. We were slower on some double teams, and they have the advantage. We did a pretty good job in the first half and an ok job in the second, but we made some mistakes and they made us pay.”
On the positives:
“We double the post well. We competed and played hard. Eventually that stuff doesn’t matter; you have to win the game. Doing those things gave us a chance to win the game, but we are here to win. We aren’t here to get beat by Kansas by three. We’re here to win. I thought our transition defense was good at times.”
Junior center Andre Almeida:
On KU’s inside game:
“We just stuck to our game plan. We needed to get the ball inside on offense. We needed to play hard and be tough on defense. The twins are pretty good.”
On the outcome of the game:
“We came here to get a win, and didn’t. We’re not happy with it. It was a good game and we were close, but almost isn’t good enough.”
On what this game does for the team:
“We feel like we are pretty good. We just have to get better.”
On playing two top 25 teams in one week:
“They’re both pretty good, but we feel like we’re pretty good, too. We need to get a win on the road in the Big 12.”
Junior guard Caleb Walker:
On Nebraska’s last offensive possession:
“We were just moving around trying to get open. We were trying to get anybody open for a good shot. I just got to the ball and took the last shot. Lance (Jeter) caught the ball in a bad spot, and picked up his dribble. I tried to come over and help him out, and tried to get a good shot.”
On the two big games this week:
“We had two big road games this week, and we showed we can play with them. We have to have confidence and keep playing.”
On Nebraska’s mindset after the tough loss:
“I’m not satisfied with the loss, and I don’t think anybody else is. We gave ourselves a chance in the last five minutes of the game and just didn’t finish. So now we’re going to have to come back tomorrow and do what we have to do.”
