Postgame Quotes
Jan. 26, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas 84, Nebraska 49<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Jan. 26, 2008
Postgame Quotes
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the win:
“(Brandon Rush) does usually shoot it pretty well against (Nebraska). We didn’t get off to unbelievable start offensively, but we did defensively. We really defended (Aleks) Maric on the post and did a good job on everybody but (Steve) Harley. I thought we played well. Second half — very sloppy. A lot of substitutions and different lineups, but I though we were very sloppy in the second half, and I didn’t expect that. Other than the turnovers, I thought in the second half, we played well on both ends.”
On KU’s defense:
“We forced 16 (turnovers) in the game, which is a little misleading because we really didn’t pressure much in the last 10-15 minutes. The best thing for me that I see is steals, because we usually get points off of those. I don’t think we had many runouts. We had a couple where we didn’t score. All-in-all, pretty good defensive effort. We have to do a better job rebounding the ball on both ends, but I was pretty pleased.”
On Sherron Collins:
“I thought Sherron played pretty well. In a game like that, its hard to sub and get guys minutes. He kind of got the shaft on that, so to speak, because when you don’t start either half, you don’t play as many minutes, and then we emptied the bench later, which those guys deserve to play. I think he is pleased. I think he has his bounce back with the exception of getting his shot blocked by the smallest guy in the league. He’ll catch a lot of crap from his teammates from that play.”
Sophomore Forward Darrell Arthur
On matching up inside:
“They (Nebraska) played pretty small so it was hard to get out to their shooters. They made a lot of shots in the second half. We played pretty good defense in the first half.”
On Kansas’ defense:
“Coach (Self) wants us to get out on defense early. He wants us to jump on them and not let them get a comfort zone. I thought we did a good job of that in the first half, but in the second half they came out and pressed us real hard and created some turnovers.”
On defending Alexs Maric:
“The guards did a great job diving down on him and distracting him, trying to get the ball out of his hands. Sasha (Kaun) and Darnell (Jackson) did a good on him and not letting him score.”
On the Wednesday night matchup with KansasState:
“We have been taking one game at a time, but now that we have it coming up it’s going to be a fun game. They are pretty good right now and we have a good streak going so hopefully we can do a good job down there (Manhattan)”
Sophomore Guard Sherron Collins
On how healthy he is:
“I’m not fully explosive as I was when I was 100 percent, but I’m getting there and getting my speed back. I’m able to run the floor more comfortably. Everything is coming back.”
On if he’s able to dunk yet:
“In practice, but I haven’t tried it in a game yet. I had a chance today, but I didn’t really think about it.”
On the feeling of starting the second half up 29 points:
“I think you have to come out more energized. Coached challenged us in the locker room and told us to come out and play. When a team is down like that they are going to challenge harder than they are in the first half. So we needed to come out and match their intensity.”
Senior Forward Darnell Jackson
On shutting out Alexs Maric:
“We did a good job. If it wasn’t for the guards, I think Maric would have scored. They guards moved down and were so hard on him. Every time he tried to make a move down in the post they came in and got some steals to make it hard on him.”
On being excited for a blowout win:
“If (Brandon) Rush goes out there and makes a great play and everybody does their job, you get energy for that, plus you don’t want to lose. You don’t want to disappoint the coaching staff. You always have to be ready to play. If you don’t have energy, you are going to have a bad game.”
On KansasState:
“They are a great team, especially Michael (Beasley). I think Beasely is the key to that team. When he plays good everybody else plays good.”
Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler
On the game:
“They are just a much, much better basketball team than we are. We almost have to play a perfect basketball game to beat them and we didn’t do that. You have to give them credit. They make shots and they make it hard on you. It is what it is. We are sitting at 0-4. We wish we had at least one win but we don’t. This team has always worked hard and I expect them to continue that. The fact is that for us the season starts for us on Wednesday night. We are through with these guys (Kansas). I am not even convinced that a superior, perfect effort would have gotten a win for us today. I think with the other 10 teams in the league, if we play as well as we can play we will have a chance.”
On Aleks Maric:
“We have said all along Aleks has got to be the guy that we get on his back and ride. He didn’t score a point tonight, but the whole team didn’t play well. It makes playing offense very difficult when he struggles. He is our focal point and he didn’t score.”
On the first-half Kansas run:
“I was just thinking `how can we can score, how can we score?’ You have to score so many points against these guys to win and that is something we just aren’t very good at. You have to get into the 70’s in order to compete with them and we couldn’t even make it into the 50’s.”
Nebraska Forward Aleks Maric
On Kansas:
“They have so much size and so much athleticism. They are sound defensively and very athletic. They are a very talented team, they played hard, and that is how it is.”
On his performance:
“I could have been more aggressive or just tried some different things and put some more moves together.It always hurts to lose, but I let my team down today. Being a senior it is a big thing and I take full responsibility for that. But I do give Kansas credit for shutting me down.”
On what they can take from the game:
“We’ve got a stong group of guys. We have Missouri coming up on Wednesday. The past is the past, the present is the present and the future is a mystery so we will see what happens.”
On the game:
“You always want to play against good team and Kansas is obviously the second ranked team in the country. It is always exciting to play against teams like that.”
