Bill Self Press Conference Quotes
Feb. 17, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Bill Self Press Conference Quotes
February 17, 2011
Press Conference Videos Coach Self Part 1 | Coach Self Part 2
Head Coach Bill Self
On what he learned about his team in Monday night’s loss to Kansas State:
“I think that winning covers a lot of ills. Certainly a lot of things came to light the other night. I learned that we don’t handle prosperity very well. We were not hungry. Our focus was not what it needs to be to win a big game on the road like that. We don’t have the margin for error when we play other good teams to not be totally in sync and focused like we were the other night. It wasn’t that we didn’t care, it wasn’t that we didn’t try, it wasn’t any of that stuff. I don’t think that we gave ourselves the best chance for whatever reasons. Once it started going bad we had very little leadership. We didn’t have very good guard play, and we didn’t play very smart. Those are facts and hopefully those are correctable facts.”
On Junior Marcus Morris’ leadership on the team:
“Is he a leader on our team? Absolutely. There’s no question about that. But leaders, if they put something out there, they better make sure everyone is there to back it up. I do think he is a leader, I do like his thoughts. His thoughts are generally very unselfish. You shouldn’t have to tell people who you are though, you need to let people determine that on their own.”
On whether the loss on Monday night can become a positive for his team:
“I think that a lot of times in this sport a negative can become a positive over time. I bet the Green Bay Packers had a rival game this year that they lost that was a huge deal, and woke some guys up because their backs were against the wall. Then they go and run the table. I really believe that can happen to anybody. When we lost three out of five in 2008 we were still pretty full of ourselves until after the Oklahoma State loss. Losing to Kansas State is not in any way, shape, or form a disgrace. They have a good basketball team and on that night they were very good, and they had one player (Jacob Pullen) who was better than anyone in the country that night. They played like a team that was preseason ranked where they were. They were terrific. They deserved to win and they controlled the game. That’s not what’s bad. I thought the way we lost will bring more things to light that we can address that will allow us to be better. So this could definitely be a good thing for us over time.”
On what his team needs to do to get better:
“I think we need them accepting who they are. I’m not talking about defining roles, just in general terms. The biggest problem with our team, in my opinion, isn’t that we don’t try, or don’t give effort, or have enough talent. We struggle with focus. We struggle with being able to maintain things. If we have distractions, no matter how minimum they are, if that was a factor on Monday, then what will it be like in the NCAA Tournament when there are a lot more distractions. So I think those are all great teaching points for us. We’re 24-2. The sky is not falling. Regardless of what some people may think. The reality is that things have to be addressed and I think that we have the perfect opportunity to address them.”
On the matchup with Colorado:
“I think they can score. We held them to 78 points out there and were really good offensively and only won by four. I think the whole thing with them is guarding, eliminating transition, and obviously doing a good job defending (Alec) Burks and (Cory) Higgins. They’ve got more players then that but those are the two that can really score. I think they’re probably two of the highest scoring guys on the same team in our league. We need to do a good job on those guys.”
On the status of freshman guard Josh Selby:
“He practiced yesterday. He’s probably 80 percent. There’s nothing that’s going to keep him from playing, I don’t think, unless he were to reinjure it or something. He’s fine. It’s February, everybody is nicked up right now.”
On the status of sophomore forward Thomas Robinson:
“He gets his sutures out tomorrow. That doesn’t mean he can practice immediately but we’ll see how the swelling is. I anticipate Thomas to be practicing pretty soon.”
Junior Guard Tyshawn Taylor
On his performance against Kansas State on Monday night:
“It was one of the roughest games for me since I’ve been here. I’ve played a lot of bad games in my career here, but I think that was one of the worst. On both ends of the court I wasn’t tuned in or focused on guarding my man. I wasn’t getting my teammates through the offense. I played really bad so I just need to come back and be better.”
On the keys for him to improve following the loss:
“I think it’s just focus. I’ve got to be more focused and more in tune to the game. I think I was really rattled on Monday, the crowd was into it. It was just one of those games that I felt like I didn’t know what to do. I know all of us played a part in us losing, but I think if I would have played a better game we would’ve had a better chance. I feel like I need to come back out here and work hard. I owe that to my team.”
On how the team can turn Monday’s loss into a positive:
“I hate to say that a loss makes us better, but I think it can. We watched tape yesterday and we saw so many dumb plays that we all made. We know we have to learn from that experience and just come out and be better. Defensively we have a lot of work to do just because it’s all focus. Once we all get focused in we could be a really good defensive team. I think it starts with me as a point guard though. I’m pressuring the ball most of the time, so it starts with me. If I can be more intense defensively, I think we’ll be good.”
On Saturday’s matchup with Colorado:
“Alec Burks and (Cory) Higgins are both guys that can score the ball really well. They scored it well the last time we played them at Colorado, so I know it’ll be a tough matchup. They run that motion and Coach (Bill Self) always says it’s the easiest defense to prepare for but the hardest to guard and he’s absolutely right. The motion is based on how the defense is guarding you. I just need to make sure I’m focused in on my man and helping my team with help defense. I know I can do it. I’m capable of being a great defender and I definitely will try to do that.”
Junior Forward Marcus Morris
On the twins (Marcus and Markieff Morris) being lumped together as one player:
“(Coach) has talked to us about that. We’ve been doing everything together our whole life, and we took that role by coming to college together. There’s not really much you can do about it except play basketball.”
On having the reputation as a “rough player”:
“People have opinions, people can have their opinions. Sometimes they like us and sometimes they don’t. It’s our fault, it is definitely our fault. I see how people can get that perception. We show a lot of emotions in the games but that’s just how we are as players. The only way we feel like we can come off the court is by getting fouls, so it’s frustrating at times and sometimes we show emotions. That’s just a sign of immaturity. We can’t do that kind of stuff because it hurts the team and we can’t act that way.”
On playing hard without picking up fouls:
“We just try to play detailed defense. We want to try and focus on scouting reports and obviously trying to not foul. It’s important to keep a good attitude at all times because everybody can see that attitude, especially the referees. You don’t want to get on their bad side because once you do, you aren’t going to get the majority of the calls.”
