Postgame Quotes
Feb. 7, 2011
Postgame Quotes
February 7, 2011
Kansas 103, Missouri 86
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought Missouri played really well the first half. I thought they outplayed us and we were fortunate to be up four just because Mario (Little) and Travis (Releford) made some shots and Travis made a good play at the end of the half. We didn’t play very well in the first half, we didn’t really guard them of course they are very quick. I thought the second half we played really well. I thought it was a very good team playing in the second half.”
On having a deep bench:
“You look at the difference in the game and it was the sixth, seventh and eighth man going 14-of-17 from the field. I don’t think there are a lot of teams that have that luxury. Of course Mario (Little) is going to give himself a chance to score because he is going to clip it off as soon as he touches it usually. Tonight he was feeling it and of course he bailed us out.”
On Mario Little being efficient:
“Tonight he was efficient. There are times where he is very efficient and there are days where he is very offensive in how aggressive he can be or how he wants to score. The last two games we have been fairly effective in playing him and Marcus (Morris) or Markieff (Morris) and Thomas (Robinson) together and they’ve done a pretty good job.”
On what he likes about his team:
“I like that they are balanced and share the ball. This team is not a great passing team individually but because we have Marcus and Markieff (Morris) are so advanced skill-set wise, we give the appearance of being a team that can really pass it. We can play through our bigs in half court offense and not have people really think that we are playing through our bigs because they are so good when they catch the ball in certain situations. I really like our unselfishness and guys are really starting to find their roles. Look at what Brady has done the last two weeks. He can make a shot or he can be a ball mover and he’s given other guys a chance to make plays.”
Senior Forward Mario Little
On his play:
“I just made shots early. I came in and shot before the game, so I felt good. The first one went down and I just felt comfortable.”
On whether he has added pressure offensively with Josh Selby out:
“No, I just try to play my game and just bring something to the table every night. They were just falling for me so I just kept pulling.”
On the success of the offense:
“Every time we run our offense, we feel like we are going to get a good look. (Head) Coach (Bill Self) designs good plays. I think we have one of the best coaching staffs in the country. If we run our offense, I think we are going to get a good shot every time.”
On Missouri’s offense:
“They have quick guards. Matt and Phil Pressey, (Michael) Dixon (Jr.), and (Marcus) Denmon are hard to stay in front of, but they have good guards and bigs that can stretch it a little bit.”
Junior Forward Marcus Morris
On the bench play:
“When you have guys that come off the bench and do what these guys did tonight, that makes us one of the deepest teams in the country. Brady (Morningstar) is playing the best basketball I have ever seen him play since I have been here. When your team is playing like that, it is going to be hard for teams to stop us.”
On making separation in the second-half:
“I felt like in the first-half I was very ineffective. Coach (Self0) told me at half-time to play like an All-American, like people expect you to play, so I just went out there and tried to play hard. These guys backed me up and they continued what they did in the first-half and brought it the second-half. When your bench is playing like that, with our depth, it is hard for teams to keep us from scoring.”
On defense:
“They hung 86 points; that’s horrible for us. For someone to come in your house and score 86 points is not a good job. We have to keep getting better on defense because our offense is getting better.”
Sophomore Forward Travis Releford
On whether he had something to prove:
“Not really, I talked to (Coach) Danny (Manning) going into the second half, and he just told me to be patient. I made that shot going into half-time and I came into the second-half with a lot of confidence.”
On his ankle:
“I’m still not 100 percent; that’s why I’m not playing as much. I make the most of the time I get when I get in. It is very frustrating coming off the beginning of the year when I was playing so well, then I went down with the injury, but I am just trying to do whatever I can to help my team get better.”
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson:
On the recap of the game:
“I thought they (Kansas) played well in the second half. They went on one of those spurts where they made a lot of threes and just got the game expanded to their benefit. I was happy with our guys’ effort. We came in and stuck to the game plan. That gave us an opportunity to stay in the ball game. We just needed more than 20 to 25 minutes. I think foul trouble was a big factor in this game. You look up in the second half and you see (Ricardo) Ratliffe, who went 5-5, is on the bench. It was a big part of this game. I don’t know if there was a lot of defense played, but a lot of scoring took place.”
On the defense:
“I thought we could have played a little better defensively. I thought we had opportunities. I thought in the first half we did a good job attacking. I thought the forwards played well. In the second half I thought we settled. Kansas is a team that can score, and we’re a team that can score, but I thought they really hit some tough shots. A lot of those threes knocked you back.”
On Travis Releford and Mario Little:
“I thought they both played well. They were a big difference in the game.”
On Kansas’ Success:
“When you play at home, you’re going to have some success. They have won quit a few here. At the same time, they play very similar to us; they like to get up and down the floor. He lets his players play and I think the size factor was a big advantage for them in the game.”
On defending Marcus and Markieff Morris:
“I thought in the first half, we did a good job. In the second, they (the Morris twins) took the fight to them. They were going inside.”
On the position to win the game:
“We had our chances. I thought we played well in the first half, but the game is 40 minutes not 20 minutes and that’s the learning curve for us right now. That’s a very, very good basketball team. They’re playing well.”
Missouri Junior Forward Laurence Bower
On Kansas:
“You have to give credit to Kansas; they are a really good team. I did not think that we played the best defense that we knew we could have played. We gave up 103 points and that is very unlike us.”
On Ricardo Ratliffe being in foul trouble:
“It did not just hurt me it hurt the team because Ricardo (Ratliffe) is a big part of what we do as a team. When he got that third foul it broke our faith, but he still played well through it and gave it his all. All three of us (Ratliffe & Pressey) fouled out; it was just one of those nights. I thought that we played our hardest and gave it all that we had.”
On being in foul trouble:
“I know that I have a motto which is ‘not giving up anything easy.’ I might be in foul trouble and might play a little tentative, but when he is going up to shoot I am going to go up there and get it. Whenever a guy is in foul trouble you do have to play a little tentative because you know that your team needs you out there and two points are not worth getting your fourth foul.”
On getting better playing on the road:
“I think that we are close. This is probably the most hostile environment in the nation coming into Allen Fieldhouse. We knew coming in here it was going to be a hard task, but we played hard and I thought we had a good chance to win the game. I think that we are getting better. Defensively we did not do the thing that we are capable of tonight, but offensively we executed.”
On the team mentality after halftime:
“We always say that we want to be in the game the first half and the last ten minutes is the time for us to go on our run. When we went into half time we thought that we were going to win this game. I thought that everybody out there contributed, but we just fell short.”
Missouri Freshman Guard Phil Pressey
On playing better overall:
“We scored the ball well and had 86 points. The way that we lost the game was on defense and rebounding. We scored enough points to win the game, but I thought on the defensive end, we did a poor job and we need to get better at it.”
On Mario Little:
“I had been watching film on Mario Little for a couple of days and the shot that he was making kind of surprised me. I know that he can shoot and is a Division 1 basketball player, but it kind of surprised us in the game plan. He played well. Seven-for-nine is a good game for anybody in the conference.”
Missouri Junior Forward Ricardo Ratliffe
On being in foul trouble:
“I was just hoping that everybody was going to pull together without me in the game. We did play through the game all the way to the buzzer and I am proud of the guys. I wanted to be in there with them, but unfortunately I could not.”
On the team getting better:
“I think that we did better this game. We played the number two team in the nation and we had them for a while. They just made a longer run then we did and we did not make a response at the right time. We just have to put it all together and play together as a team.”
