Bill Self Weekly Press Conference
Jan. 28, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Press Conference Videos Coach Self | Reed | Taylor | Morningstar
Press Conference Quotes
Kansas head coach Bill Self
On if the players can compartmentalize Lisa Robinson’s death and playing basketball:
“I think so. I hope so. One thing that we have to do is get back to some normalcy. Last night was a good start because I got after them pretty good last night. I think they said, ‘OK, things are back to normal.’ We need to have a routine that we follow. I think we are all creatures of habit, especially athletes and athletic teams, and we haven’t had any routine.”
On Kansas State’s offensive rebounding ability:
“They do a lot of things well, but the thing they probably do as well as anything is the percentage of rebounds that they get back (on their own missed shots), which I am sure they are leading the country in that. I think it’s well over 40 percent, so we need to keep that around 25 percent if at all possible. Hopefully our first shot defense will be good.”
On whether or not Thomas Robinson will play against Kansas State:
“He should. He got in today. He’s been in the office and we visited. We were sitting there talking about the next move, and he was asking me about how he could really thank people for being so nice with their thoughts and concerns. We talked about that a bit. The next thing he said was, ‘How do we beat these guys?’ because I was watching tape (of Kansas State).”
On Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed’s success at the University of Kansas after growing up in the state:
“I’ll be honest with you, they’ve turned out to be better than what we recruited them to be. You recruit guys and you say, ‘He could be a two-year starter. He could be a one-year starter. He could be a nice rotation guy over time.’ I didn’t anticipate Brady starting as a sophomore and Tyrel probably being the most consistent player this year. He’s made as many big shots as anybody here the last couple of years. They’ve been huge impacts. It just goes to show you that regardless of where you grow up, if you can play, they’ll find you.”
On Travis Releford’s status:
“Travis is still not 100 percent. He could have played against Colorado. At shoot-around that day he was moving about three-quarter speed. Yesterday he wasn’t full speed. Hopefully today (Friday) he will be and he can get some confidence going for his speed. I don’t want to tell him to go out there and guard Jacob (Pullen) if he can’t move. That’s not fair to him or to us, but he’ll try. He’s trying real hard, and hopefully he’ll be able to go tomorrow because we can use him.”
On Jacob Pullen’s career:
“He’s a lot like (former KU guard) Sherron (Collins). I don’t know if Jacob will go down as the winningest player ever at Kansas State, but you shouldn’t evaluate Jacob on his statistics. He should evaluate him just like you did with Sherron, on wins. He’s willed that program in many, many ways. He’s one of my favorite players in the league.”
On Wayne Simien having his jersey retired during halftime of the Kansas State game:
“Wayne is probably the best collegiate player I’ve ever coached, so he definitely deserves to be honored tomorrow (Saturday). How about having your name hung in the rafters and growing up 20 minutes down the road? This will be a truly special day for Wayne and very well deserved.”
Senior guard Brady Morningstar
On the rivalry versus Kansas State:
“It’s K-State, they’re one of our nemesis. We want to play against them and its always a pretty competitive game.”
On being tired from the last week’s events:
“It’s been a long week but it’s something we wanted to do (attend the funeral) and something we decided to do as a team. You’re going to be tired when you wake up in the morning, it’s just another day. We came back last night and had a good practice. We got our legs back. It was a good trip out there and I’m glad we did (go).”
On if coach was hard on the team during last night’s practice:
“Yes, but he did not go as far as yelling. We just got our legs back, worked up a sweat. It was good to get back to a little bit of normalcy after the last couple days. It was good to get (practice) taken care of.”
On how he felt about his scoring performance at Colorado on Jan. 25:
“It felt good. It had been awhile since I knocked down some threes so it felt good. When one (shot) goes in it makes it a lot easier to make some other ones.”
On if the Kansas State rivalry is different:
“It’s a little different. In the summertime we work a lot of camps with them. We’re familiar with them, we hang out with them in the summer. It’s always going to be a competitive game because it’s K-State and we always want to win, but at the same time we respect them a lot and they respect us.”
On what makes Kansas State a dangerous opponent:
“We definitely know they’re capable, that’s what dangerous about them. Even if they haven’t played up to everyone’s expectations this year so far, that doesn’t mean anything. They can still play with any team in the country I feel like.”
Senior guard Tyrel Reed
On if the team is tired after the past week’s events:
“We’ve been on Mountain time, Central time, Eastern time, we’ve been all over the place here recently. We got back last night and we were all tired, but we had practice and I thought the guys were focused and we had a good practice last night.”
On what the trip to Washington D.C. was like:
“We just all wanted to be there for Thomas (Robinson). It was nice, it was definitely a tough thing to see and really heartfelt and saddening, but it was the right thing for us to be there.”
On tomorrow’s game:
“It’s a big game. College GameDay is going to be there and a lot of fanfare. It’s going to be a great atmosphere to play in. K-State was picked to win the league to start out so they’re definitely a capable team and a good team, so we’re going to have to be focused and ready to play.”
On what he thinks of Wayne Simien:
“(He’s) An amazing player. I grew up watching him as a Kansas kid. He has accomplished great things here. Whenever he caught (the ball) on the block it was an automatic two points. He’s an even greater person. I think that shows around the community (in) the things that he does for kids and everyone. He is just a great guy and no one is more deserving.”
On what makes Kansas State a dangerous opponent:
“They’ve probably, in a lot of people’s eyes, underperformed so they definitely feel like their backs are against the wall. They want to come out, play well and make a statement so we’re going to have to be prepared for that and just look forward to a good game.”
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor
On Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen:
“He’s crafty. He’s not the fastest guard, but he’s real crafty. He just knows how to play. He’s a senior, he’s a smart player, he’s a veteran so he knows how to play. He knows how to get to the line. He knows how to get easy buckets to get himself going. I respect his game a lot. I think he’s a really good player.”
On the rivalry with Kansas State:
“I think it’s a good rivalry. The in-state rivalry is something big, but I haven’t lost to them yet so I don’t know how much of a rivalry it is.”
On how exhausting the past few days have been after flying to Colorado and to Washington, D.C.:
“I was really tired (when I got to Washington, D.C.). I didn’t sleep too much. We got into the hotel really late. When we got there, I couldn’t really sleep that much. We had to wake up early and then we were on a plane the whole time. We got back and practiced. It was a really long day. I was tired. It’s been rough. There’s been a lot going on.”
