Kansas Postgame Quotes vs. Iowa State

Feb. 12, 2011

Recap | Box Score | Notes |

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the team guarding Iowa State from the three-point line:
“The thing about it is we could not have defended the three any worse. Iowa State was 14-for-32 from the three and they were 11-for-35 from the two. We did a good job as far as inside the arch. They were as aggressive as possible shooting the three and they made a ton of them. We were able to keep them outside 20 (feet) the whole game for the most part.”

On the team’s performance:
“I think that we played well. We moved the ball around offensively and everybody shared it. We did not make three’s today, but we certainly shot the ball well inside the arch.”

On Iowa State not guarding Tyshawn Taylor from the outside:
“Ty (Tyshawn) is a good player that has played better than his numbers (say) without question. (I) do not really look at his shooting percentages to tell us if he is playing well or not. I look at if we win or not. He needed to see the ball go in the hole and I told him to be aggressive. For him to get off six threes even though he was wide open was a good sign. That will make people guard him when you shoot 2-of-6 or 2-of-5 and he is certainly capable of doing that.”

On his previous quote about a hockey assistant:
“You played for a coach and I am not sure how many times you heard him say it, but I heard him say it a lot in one year. The pass to start the play is just as important as the pass to finish the play and that is where the twins (Marcus and Markieff) are so good. They can feed the post, double it, and force rotation. If the first pass does not get the shot, the next pass will. The ball is moving and I think when the ball is moving we are hard to guard and certainly there are times when it sticks, but the guys are sharing the ball.”

On the game against Kansas State Monday:
“Kansas State is a place that is always tough and they are going to want to put a little something back on us for that game here. They are good team. If we are ranked No. 1, it will add to the interest of the game and we have to be ready to play. We know we will get a great effort from them and it will be a great rivalry game for us. Kansas State has a big game tonight, but in order for us to have any desire to win the league we cannot let any games slip by.”

Junior Forward Marcus Morris
On the possibility of being ranked No. 1 next week:
“I want to be ranked number one. I want to have that chip on our shoulder every time we go out. I want to get everybody’s best shot because I think we can take it. T-Rob (Thomas Robinson) did go out, but we have other guys that can step up and I want that chip on our shoulders.”

On that chip on your shoulders dating back to last year’s ending:
“Definitely. We’re a different team though. If we’re number one I don’t think we’re going to be feeling ourselves. I think it means we need to play harder. I feel like we’re ready. I feel like we’re guarding better. I feel like we’re practicing harder. I just think we’re ready.”

Junior Guard Tyshawn Taylor
On how dangerous this team is:
“I think we have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys that can score and make shots. I think we’re an unselfish team. Everybody’s getting touches and we’re taking good shots. We’re a hard team to guard.”

On getting his shots to fall in today’s game:
“My shots were falling tonight. I did the same thing that I’ve done the last couple games, just try and be aggressive and attack and take what the defense gives me. I missed a couple bunnies the other day against Missouri. I missed a couple against Nebraska. They were easy ones that I usually make and tonight they were able to drop for me.”

On whether he thinks this team is ready to be No. 1:
“I think last year we took it for granted. We came out and thought we were going to win every game. I think being with guys who went through that and know how that team was last year and know how it feels to lose and it being over that fast. I feel like we won’t let that happen. We don’t want to feel that again. When it comes down to it this year, we aren’t going home sad.”

Sophomore Center Jeff Withey
On getting back on the court and playing a big role in today’s game:
“It felt great. All the guys were encouraging me and telling me that I was going to get some minutes and I just prepared overnight. It’s unfortunate what happened to Thomas (Robinson), but I prepared and it felt good today.”

On getting some minutes in Big 12 play:
“It’s big. It’s a big confidence booster, especially going into Kansas State. Having a game where I played pretty well will only help my confidence. I think I’ll be able to go into Kansas State and be more productive and help the team a lot more.”

Iowa State Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On Jamie Vanderbeken:
“He’s sore. Right now it looks like a high-ankle sprain. He was pretty swollen and he got hurt pretty good. It’s a tough blow obviously, for us as thin as we are, to have one of our key guys go down early in the game makes it tough. He was one of the few we had battling out there early. He has seven quick points and a couple of rebounds. He was out there fighting. The big thing for us, we needed to come out early in this game and take care of the basketball. We had a lot of turnovers early that led to fastbreak baskets for them and got their confidence going. They’re clicking on all cylinders right now, (Kansas) is a very good team and a confident team. We had to come out and slow the tempo, you can’t do that when you’re turning the ball over. That was the key to the game right there. We got our offense going, we scored I think on six straight possessions at one point, we just couldn’t get a stop on the other end. But to answer the question, Jamie was one of the guys out there fighting and he comes to the bench. I saw Jake Anderson out there trying to block out (Jeff) Withey at the free throw line, and he’s about half of his size. So we’re just a little undermanned right now.”

On Kansas:
“This Kansas team is great. Especially the way they’re playing right now. The Morris brothers are hitting shots. Mario Little off the bench is coming in and making shots. (Travis) Releford is hitting shots. (Tyrel) Reed and (Brady) Morningstar are out there shooting the heck out of the ball. Tyshawn Taylor is out there running the show for them and doing a great job just getting the ball to the right people. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical, they shoot the heck out of it, other than that they are not that great.”

On Preparing to Play Kansas:
“Like I said, the big thing we had to do was take care of three things: take care of the basketball, get back in transition, and match their physical play. I thought early, we went out and turned the ball over. You just can’t do that against this team. They make you pay more than any other team when you turn the ball over. When that happens, they start running downhill, you start running uphill, and you panic a little bit. You just have to try to withstand those runs. That’s easier said than done. The energy in this building is like none other. It’s one of the best venues in all of sports. They do a great job of making it very difficult on you right from the start.”

Iowa State Junior Guard Scott Christopherson
On tying the school record for most consecutive three pointers with 27 in a row:
“No, I didn’t know that. I think it’s something that maybe when I’m done playing, I’ll look back and say ‘that was cool’. Right now we just got beat by 25 or 30 points, so who really cares at this point.”

On the team’s defensive performance:
“The Morris brothers (Marcus and Markieff Morris) are really good. They were knocking down shots. We’re letting way too many teams be functional right now. We let them be comfortable and shoot high percentages. We have to do a better job in the first five or six minutes of the game. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that every team has a guy that has a great shooting night against us.”

On what the team’s focus was defending Kansas:
“We wanted to try to make them beat us from the outside and not let the Morris brothers get established down low, like they did the first game against us.”

On what changed from the last time ISU faced Kansas:
“We started moving the ball more. We started using me, Jake (Anderson), Diante (Garrett) and Bubu (Palo) to penetrate and get the defense behind. We were able to get some open threes and driving lanes. I’m not sure if we necessarily need to run that offense the whole game, but coming out in games, the first five or six minutes are stagnant, in my opinion. It’s not a ‘scheme’ thing, guys have to get comfortable quicker and start moving the ball. It’s not any one guy, either, it’s collective. We need to do a better job of playing in more of a rhythm. It can’t take us getting down by 15 points to find our offense.”