Postgame Quotes
Jan. 25, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 84, Missouri 65
January 25, 2010
Kansas head coach Bill Self
On the game overall:
“We played well. We had some not very bright possessions offensively. We got whatever we wanted when we exercised any patience at all, but the game was a fast game. We knew it would be. We played great in the first half and we were terrific on the glass. Our big guys dominated. In the second half we played to get through it. We played poorly in the second half. We got it to 28 and had a chance to crack it open, and I mean really crack it open. The game was never in doubt, but I wasn’t pleased with how we played in the second half. We did some good things and anytime you beat Missouri by 19 that’s a good thing.”
On the play of Cole Aldrich:
“Cole (Aldrich) was great. Cole and Tyrel (Reed) were our two best players today. We had some guys shooting the ball that shouldn’t have been shooting the ball in that situation. The ball should have been going to Cole and giving him a chance to score. In the second half we did a poor job of that. We played well in the first half and didn’t play awful in the second half, but we’re better than that. We have to figure out a way to put 40 minutes together instead of just 20.”
On KU’s 23 turnovers versus Missouri’s five:
“We’re not going to be able to turn them over much. That’s a quick team. They are quicker than us on the perimeter and when it did extend, we had a hard time guarding the ball. Of the 23 turnovers we had, a lot of them were unforced or just silly because they only got nine steals. You turn the ball over 23 times that means they are taking it out of bounds 14 of those times. If the number of turnovers was 15, we score 95 points. We certainly have to be better and learn from it. Hopefully, going to Manhattan on Saturday, we’ll handle pressure a little better because they are certainly going to get after us.”
Junior Guard Tyrel Reed
On if their mindset going into the game was to be fast-paced:
“Definitely, they are an aggressive team – so in order for us to be successful, we have to be aggressive right back. I thought we did a good job of that in the first half, but the second half, we played to the score a little bit, and didn’t compete as hard.”
On if Kansas was forcing a lot of shots for Missouri tonight:
“I thought we did a better job of defending the three tonight. I thought that was a big deal for us, we have not defended it really well this year. Cole (Aldrich) was a great presence in the lane tonight; we have that confidence that if you get beat, you have a big guy back there to clean stuff up.”
On if turnovers were the only negative from tonight:
“Definitely, we turned the ball over way too much tonight. We just can’t be as careless with the ball and need to value our possessions.”
On if he would rather spread out the rivalry games instead of playing them back-to-back:
“It does not matter to us. Missouri is a big rival for us. K-State is the same, since they’re in our state. We have momentum, and we might as well face them right away.”
Junior Center Cole Aldrich
On if Kansas’ mentality is to go inside first:
“I think it is every team’s mentality. If you have a few good post presences, it is easy from the inside out. If we don’t have it, we are unselfish, and we will pass it out to a guard.”
On the team out-rebounding Missouri:
“I think that was a big key for us. In the second half, we did not rebound quite as well as I’d hope. It’s just one of those things where the second half was different.”
On if it was hard waiting for this game all day:
“I would not say it was hard. We have played a lot of eight o’clock games. We go through the same thing, we have the same schedule every game, and we were just excited.”
On if the Missouri and K-State rivalries are similar:
“I think they are. Both teams are hard-nosed, tough teams – they both are very scrappy, and will give you their all. They’re both fun”
Sophomore Forward Marcus Morris
On if it is tough to maintain the momentum leading up to the K-State game:
“Getting a win tonight was very important; we can not bypass any games. We are going to try and get better in practice and try to play a very good Kansas State team.”
On what he expects in the K-State game on Saturday:
“Tough game – hard game, it will be a dog fight.”
On what the key was to breaking Missouri’s full-court press:
“Being aggressive. I thought the first half we were super aggressive – but the second half we kind of took our foot off the gas. They got a lot of steals in the back court. I felt we played well in the first half, but fell back in the second.”
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson
On the first eight minutes of the game:
“We were right there. I thought for the first eight or nine minutes we were playing good basketball. We were executing and attacking. Our defense was pretty good. We were battling, but even at that point in time, I thought they were attacking the glass. It just seemed like all of a sudden the game opened up. It was an eight- or a nine-point game. We had some chances to cut into the lead, but we didn’t. That is our inability to execute and be efficient offensively. I thought we settled for jump shots a lot of the time, but gives Kansas credit for taking the fight to us. They really dominated the glass and that was really surprising to me.”
On Kansas’ 23 turnovers:
“I thought for the most part that we played pretty good defense. Our defense has a lot to do with why we’ve won the games that we have won so far this season. Yet, the finishing aspect of defense is rebounding and we didn’t do a good job of that. We created some turnovers, but at the same time, you have to put the ball in the hole.”
On if he is worried going forward about Missouri’s shooting:
“Not really, because we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but when you look at shooting, a lot of it has to do with the shots that you take. I think we need to get more efficient in the shots we take.”
On what he learned about his team tonight:
“I learned that we are young, real young. How we played tonight is how young teams play and how they react to adversity sometimes. When you are down 15, young guys are trying to make a 15-point play. With that being said it is still a learning process for some of these guys.”
Missouri junior forward Justin Safford
On the play of Cole Aldrich:
“His presence kind of altered guys’ shots and guys were hesitant to go into the lane.”
On what his team could have done better:
“We shot 20 percent and obviously if you shoot that way you are going to lose. I think that the first ten minutes we had the game going the way that we wanted, then the gave us one punch, we kind of folded, and guys went separate ways instead of coming together.”
On the attitude coming out after halftime:
“We know that games are 40 minutes not 20 minutes. We were down 20 and we knew we had to just chip away, but I don’t think that we could ever get over that hump.”
On losing to Kansas:
“This game is something that you look forward to. It is kind of disappointing that we went out that way.”
On losing big:
“It is just another loss and you can’t dwell on it. We just need to get up tomorrow, get back to work, and get ready for Oklahoma State on Saturday.”
