Postgame Quotes
Nov. 1, 2009
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 86, Pittsburg State 56
Nov. 1, 2009
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On Kansas’ overall performance:
“I thought that at times we looked pretty good, there is a lot for us to work on when we get back to the gym on Tuesday. Aishah, my question is who else is going to be able to rebound with her. She needs some help and we need someone else to be as aggressive as she was today. Give credit to her, I thought that she had great bounce off of the floor and great energy to the ball. I thought that we made some good decisions. We went through stretches in the first half where we just fouled, fouled, and fouled. We have got to clean up and put together more minutes that we are executing on the floor, on both ends.”
On the play of Angel Goodrich:
“I thought that she did a good job. She made good decisions, didn’t exceed her speed limit, she let the offense come to her even in transition, she didn’t go for the home run right away, and she made good decisions on the floor. Our kids have recognized that if you get open she will find you.”
On the effect of Angel Goodrich on the post players:
“She does a great job. Well if you think about how we play we have Danielle and Sade on the wing and are probably going to be guarded or denied at least. That leaves Angel lanes to go inside. The post players realize that if they run they will get the ball. Danielle said I need to run more, because Krysten gets the ball all of the time. She has made really good decisions and has a calmness about her.”
On having more balance this year:
“We are still a work in progress here. We played the returners against the rookies and that did not go so well for the rookies, but that was good. Those rookies have got to understand that when they get in they need to do the little things right. I love our practices, they are competitive and it is going to be competitive for minutes, but that is going to make us a better basketball team.”
Kansas Senior Guard Danielle McCray
On returning to the court for the first game:
“It’s fun playing in front of all of your fans and it feels good to play against someone different. We’ve been scrimmaging (against) each other for the last two or three weeks. It’s fun to see how we fit in against another team right now and see what we need to work on.”
On her performance:
“I think I did pretty well. I distributed the ball pretty well overall. There are some things I could get better at, but I had those first game jitters and it’s good to get those out of the way. Overall, my teammates did a good job of passing me the ball and I think the whole team did well.”
On the performance of teammate Angel Goodrich:
“Angel (Goodrich) is a great passer. She’s a good point guard and great for our team. She’s born with that ability to see the whole floor. She sees everything and that’s a good part of playing with her.”
Kansas Sophomore Forward Aishah Sutherland
On playing with Angel Goodrich:
“She is able to pass so well. She fakes and makes you think she’s passing to someone else. She can penetrate, too. She can penetrate while she passing, so she can do it all.”
On getting her first start:
“Last year I wasn’t as confident and I was messing up a lot last year. Now, I am more confident and practice is going well. I know what I need to do. I started this year as I ended last year.”
On her reaction when she found out she was starting:
“I found out a couple practices ago. I expected it because I was doing really well in practice.”
Kansas Redshirt Freshman Guard Angel Goodrich
On her performance today:
“I think I did okay. I expect a lot from myself, so I set my bar really high. I want to do whatever I can to help the team, so it was just an okay performance.”
On passing more often than shooting:
“I can shoot, but I like to get it to my teammates. If they’re not open and I drive, I may take a shot, but I like to pass.”
On her goals in practice for the next week:
“I’m going to work on defense and making better decisions.”
Pittsburg State Head Coach Lane Lord
On the game overall:
“Kansas is awfully good. Its backside rotation is just outstanding. We ran the dribble-drive offense and got into the paint, but when their post came to help they had that guard sliding in and they are so long we weren’t able to kick it out for a three. If we make a few free throws in the first half it’s a little closer game and maybe we’d feel a little bit better, but it’s a win-win coming in here. It’s a great fieldhouse with lots of tradition. We’re just tickled to death that we got a chance to play one of the best teams in the country and they proved it today.”
On the outlook for his team this season:
“We have size and we have some kids that can shoot it. We have some drivers. I’m excited for what we have. This is a great experience for us. On Tuesday we go to Nebraska and I think we’ll be even better. Hopefully by the third exhibition game we’re playing as a team. We did some one-on-one stuff today that we have to fix, but all-in-all I like our team.”
On Kansas’ defense:
“We knew watching film that Kansas is a great hedging team. It’s hard to pick and roll because we had to skip the ball when we got off the double. They’re just so long and our guards have their heads down and it’s hard for us to do that. Kansas, they know how to hedge, they know how to rotate on the backside. We drive it and kick it and they just did a great job against that.”
Pittsburg State Senior Guard Deprice Taylor
On the game overall:
“They are pretty good. A top 20 team. We wanted to come here and be able to compete. The environment was awesome and it was a great opportunity. We have to work on a lot of stuff and see a lot of different perspectives. We competed well. We never put our head down. I’m impressed with our group.”
On playing a top 20 team early in the season:
“It definitely helps us. These first three games are going to be good preparation for us going into conference and even the season opener. We open against Central Oklahoma and they are a top 10 team. It’s all good preparation.”
Pittsburg State Senior Center Nicole McCombs
On playing against Kansas’ bigs:
“They definitely challenged me. I felt like I gained respect from them and gave respect to them. I wanted to prepare myself for the season. We have Lauren (Brown) in the post who is a rookie and maybe not as experienced, but she helped me prepare for them. I appreciate the way they came out and competed. I don’t feel like they took it easy on us. They took it to me and I think I hung with them.”
On how she felt her team did:
“We had a bit of the jitters coming out in the first couple of possessions with turnovers. I think as we went on we saw pieces of the puzzle come together.”
