Kansas Versus Pittsburg State Postgame Quotes
Nov. 1, 2007
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas 94, Pittsburg State 59
November 1, 2007
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought there were some positives. We shot the ball well. We took care of the basketball even though in the first half we had a lot of fumbled balls that we ended up getting back that could be turnovers another night. We actually took decent care of the basketball. Our defense was not great, but not horrible. We obviously fouled too much. On the negative side, we didn’t rebound the ball like we should. We should control that more easily and we missed our free throws. The second group had a stretch in the first half where they gave the other team some easy opportunities and we lost some momentum. I thought everybody played fine. It wasn’t a high energy and intensity game, although I think we played hard, but we can play with more enthusiasm, more umph than what we did tonight. All in all, it wasn’t bad for the first night.”
On Darrell Arthur:
“We were disappointed at half time because he had zero attempts, but he had been fouled three times. We were disappointed because we have to play through him. In the second half, to start the half I told our guys that is what we are going to do, play through him. He scored so easy when he scored. He had three misses, but a couple of those he should have made. He short armed a jump hook and then he had a three go in and out on him. His line would have looked impressive if he had made his free throws. We are going to be a balanced team, but we certainly have to play through him more.”
On Cole Aldrich:
“The guy I was most pleased with tonight was Cole. Cole has been battling against Sasha (Kaun), Darnell (Jackson) and Shady (Arthur) everyday. You see today when he doesn’t have to play against them, he looks better. He was active and looked more athletic, and he made a great blocked shot that he drew a foul on. I thought he looked pretty good. There are some good things, but we have a long way to go before we play next Friday.”
On figuring out a rotation:
“I think it’s important for us to figure out what our rotation is going to be. We are not going to play everybody. We need to play four bigs and five perimeter guys. Some guys have kind of emerged, but that’s not etched in stone. In a real game we wouldn’t try so many combinations.”
Kansas Player Quotes
Sophomore Guard Sherron Collins
On beginning his second season:
“I felt more comfortable out there. I knew what I was doing and I knew what was expected. I probably lacked the jitter-bugs.”
On KU’s three-guard offense:
“He wants us to `just go’ – run every chance. Now, we have to be scrappier with three guards. Sometimes there are going to be match-up problems, but we have to be scrappy going to the boards.” “I think it was pretty solid. Overall, I think we lacked rebounding as a team. I think we have to do better at that. We need to practice more blocking out and just getting to balls.”
On Kansas’ defense:
“We can’t waste any days. Every day, we have to get better, even during these games. I think we took a step forward defensively. We just need to listen to the coaches when they say `get up the floor, deny, strong help.’ I think we did a pretty good job tonight. (Pitt State) was a good team, but we are going to play better teams. By that time, we need to pay attention to details.”
Freshman Guard Tyrell Reed
On his defense:
“My defense was not good at all tonight. They scored way too many on me. That is one thing I need to get better at. That is one thing that I know with a little experience guarding all of our guards, it will get better in the future.”
On his role:
“We have such great guards, I am just going to do what Coach Self tells me. I am not looking to play a whole lot. However much coach wants me to play is what I’ll play. Hopefully when I get out there I can be a good distributor and knock down open shots – just do the intangibles.”
On being a coach’s son:
“It has been a lot of help, just growing up around basketball. It is talked about at your house, at practice – everywhere I have gone, I have been around it. My dad has been the biggest influence on my life in basketball, and I thank him for all the opportunities he has given me. Being a coach’s son, I guess you have some insights to the game. It is a lifestyle.”
Pittsburg State Quotes
Head Coach Gene Iba
On the game:
“I thought we played pretty hard and that is something you have to look for at the beginning of the season. Obviously we made an awful lot of mistakes, but they are an extremely talented basketball team. There is no question we had problems with their pressure defense. When you look at them they have three guards that may have led the Big 12 last year in steals. We had trouble with their penetration and pitch on offense as well. Their guards are very talented and they are throwing it into three or four very talented inside guys that are a little bit bigger than we are.”
On what impress him most about KU:
“When I look at KU’s team I look at their three guards as a unit. They remind me of a backfield in football and I am not sure who is the best of them. They are very good and they have some good guys that come off the bench as well. I thought their big guys played exceptionally well in that they stayed in the area they were supposed to be in and their guards got them the ball. What our kids need to understand when you try to rebound against this kind of talent that you can’t just go up and try to get the rebound, but you have to also prevent them from getting it by blocking out. If we don’t block out, we may get our hands on the ball, but they will take it away from us because they are bigger and stronger.”