Quotes
Feb. 12, 2005
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Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“The run in the second half was the best we have looked offensively for a short period of time (in a game). They (Colorado) got kind of tired and we started to run. Keith (Langford) was ultra-aggressive and Aaron (Miles) was ultra-aggressive. Wayne (Simien) played terrific. It was a good win. In the first half, I think all of our coaches would agree, that we played average at the very best, especially the way we ended the half. Then we came out in the second half and played better, but the score didn’t reflect it because they (Colorado) started to make some shots that they were missing in the first half. Then we blew the game open and played really well offensively. We did a good job guarding all of them (Colorado players), with the exception of the first half. In the second half we did a pretty good job on everybody. They shot a ton of threes, but only made 33 percent of them. We did some good things, but had some unforced errors. I am not going to complain about winning by 29 points against a league opponent.”
On the difference between the first half and second half:
“Keith (Langford) wasn’t in the game the first half. They really took him out of it. Their zone jammed up our offense. Their zone didn’t kill us because we still scored 40 points, but it wasn’t a pretty 40 points. I didn’t think Aaron (Miles) was aggressive or was driving gaps in the first half. J.R. (Giddens) was just okay in the first half. I thought our whole team was just okay, with the exception of Wayne (Simien) in the first half. In the second half, we got the ball whipping around and got it inside for some easy baskets. We have got to do a better job of getting the ball inside against a zone. The guys are open, but we are getting tentative to throw it. In the second half, we did a much better job overall.”
On the upcoming games:
“We have done well so far with our conference games. We are 10-0 and averaging about a 15-point margin of victory. We’ve got a lot of things going well for us, but our season is just starting. We still have Texas Tech, who can beat anybody, anywhere. We have Oklahoma and Missouri left on the road. Our three toughest road games will all be coming up and we still have tough home games. We still have a lot to play for and a lot of tough games ahead of us.”
Senior Guard Keith Langford
On his play:
“I was a little offensively frustrated. They (Colorado) played great zone in the beginning and I was forced to take outside jumpers early, which I don’t like to do. We really couldn’t get going and they were playing well. We were playing terrible. It was just bad flow, so at the end I just tried to get aggressive and try to get some of the other guys playing time. I felt more comfortable (being able to put them away) than we did in the first half. Our guys just have to learn from that. I looked up (at the scoreboard) and we were up by almost 30. That’s good and we have to take that mentality on the road.”
On Colorado’s play:
“Coach Patton did a real good job of chopping our runs down and calling timeouts when we had a little bit of a spurt. But we got to a point where we cranked it up a bit and they turned it over more than they wanted to. We didn’t let them run their set and we made them take guarded shots. Their offense wasn’t flowing right and we just wanted to keep grinding. We are willing to play ugly and a lot of teams don’t like to do that and they eventually break.”
On being 10-0 in conference play:
“I feel really good about it (being 10-0 in the Big 12). It is a testament to what we want to accomplish this season. We are 10-0 right now and the
good thing about it, is that we can control our own destiny. We don’t want any team to win games for us and we want to control what we do. Every game we play, we will take one game at a time.”
Senior Guard Aaron Miles
On the game:
“By running the ball, it put pressure on them (Colorado). With Keith and I attacking, it put pressure on the defense. It was all keyed on the defensive end for us. For the first 20 minutes, they (Colorado) got everything they wanted and they got good shots. In the second half, we picked up our intensity a little bit on the defensive end and that was the key.”
Junior Forward Christian Moody
On being able to hold leads:
“It seems like we have been struggling to keep leads, so it (today’s win) should give us confidence in our ability to do that. I think that you have to look at how our seniors stepped up. Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien) are really hitting shots and we did a better job on the defensive end in the second half.”
Colorado Head Coach Ricardo Patton
On Kansas’ second half run:
“When Kansas made a run, I thought some of our guys just didn’t respond. They dropped their heads and didn’t respond on the other end. That was my reason for playing some of the other guys in the last three minutes. I wanted to put a team on the floor that was going to compete. I did not think we competed when they (Kansas) made their run.”
On Colorado’s foul trouble:
“Early fouls played a lot into it (the loss) because we had to sit some guys as long as we did. In the first half, we were not able to play lineups that we like to play the majority of the time.”
On the game:
“I though that we had a chance. I coach every game that way. We came out and had 11 turnovers in the first half. I wish we would have taken care of the ball a little better. If we could have played our normal guys the majority of the minutes and done the things that we are used to doing, it would have gone better for us.”
On Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles:
“Wayne Simien is one of my all-time favorite players. I wish we did not have to play against himbecause he brings it every night. I think you have to start with the point guard, and Aaron Miles is terrific. He knows how to run the team. He scores when he needs to score and he creates when he needs to create. He is the ultimate point guard.”
Junior Forward Andy Osborn
On getting into foul trouble:
“I wasn’t able to play, that is what it came down to. I could not get away with some of the things that I have been getting away with in other games. It seemed like I was trying to battle physically and things kept getting called tonight.”
On the game:
“We let it (Kansas’ second half run) get to our heads. They were starting to hit shots and we backed down when we should have stepped up. We just did not play as hard as we did in the first half. We played 30 minutes hard and for ten minutes we got beat down pretty bad. At halftime, we were feeling that being seven points down was not insurmountable. We felt like we could hang with them up until halftime and then in the second half we needed to take a lead if we were going to have a chance late in the game. We let them make the run early and we were fighting just to get it down to seven rather that trying to tie it or get within one or two points.”
On playing at Kansas:
“You have to have a lead late in the game in this place. You can’t be trying to come from behind with five minutes left here. You are asking to get beat if that happens. The ultimate challenge in the Big 12 is playing here. If you can get a win here, you are stealing one. We came in with confidence thinking we would be able to steal one, but we came up short.”
On Kansas:
“They are a good ball team. What they need to be able to do is play 40 minutes. They let us hang around for a while, but they took it at us late in the game. If they go at it for 40 minutes, they are going to be tought to beat in the (NCAA) Tournament.”
On Wayne Simien:
“He is difficult to guard because he goes every play. He is relentless. Offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, shooting jump shots, really he is multi-faceted. You can’t really stop him in one single area. You have to try to neutralize him in all of them.”
On Chris Copeland:
“He (Copeland) has not really had a bad shooting night this year. This is the first time that he has not shot the ball well. For us, it was a different atmosphere. The rest of us needed to step up and make shots and we didn’t really do that.”
