Postgame Quotes
Nov. 7, 2010
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 80, Washburn 46
November 7, 2010
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
Opening Statement
“I thought defensively, in one week, we showed a lot of progress. The kids embraced the message from last Sunday, I just didn’t think we were as active, and didn’t use our speed and athleticism and length like I hoped we would, but I felt like message heard, message accepted. I’m just proud of the kids for how hard they played on the defensive end, starting the second half with three consecutive stops, and that matters when you are trying to win the battle coming out of the locker room. I thought we shared the ball, everybody that got in contributed, (and) just the growth from a week ago. When you have the same growth from this Sunday to next Sunday we will be really excited.”
On the physicality of the game
“They sent a message right away that they were going to attack us because they really haven’t. In the past, their post play was more mid-lane and try to pass out of it, where today they went right at us inside. She went left shoulder and scored it, it’s been a great move for her, because she got it over Carolyn and Krysten. I wish we would have hugged her shoulder a little bit more and made her go another direction, but I thought they tried to punch us in the mouth right away and come at us. I thought we responded, and we gave a little more ball pressure.”
On offensive ball movement
“The ball didn’t stick on one side of the floor today like it did last week. We got it on one side and kept it on one side. I felt like we moved the ball and showed a bit more patience.”
On getting inside
“We went back to a couple games last year where we started with eight or nine pull up jump shots and then we would go inside. We’ll say let’s go inside, whether that’s a drive or a throw-in inside, let’s go right away and send a message. Then we’re going to make you rotate and kick it out and collapse the defense and then go inside-outside.”
On Keena Mays’ performance
“I thought she did a good job, I thought she was aggressive and I thought her change of pace and speed offensively was really good. She is as good as anyone in the gym one-on-one, and like a young kid, sometimes she leaves her feet and can’t figure out what she is supposed to do. And that’s typical, but she does the right thing more than she gets stuck with that. Her percentage of good decisions was higher than it was last week.”
Junior Center Krysten Boogaard
On being able to play this week
“I’ve been practicing all week and I never really stopped practicing so I always felt into the game.”
On working on ball rotation during practice
“We really focused on the extra passes and making the defense shift from side to side instead of just focusing on getting the ball to one side of the floor. I think we worked on that a lot this week and I think it definitely showed in this game.”
On how strong the post will be this season
“I think that we need to focus on getting better, especially for the next game, and making sure that we’re not making those little mistakes that we have been making.”
Freshman Guard Keena Mays
On being comfortable in the game
“I was very comfortable getting reps in practice. Angel (Goodrich) and I go against each other all of the time in practice, so I knew what I had to do when I went into the game.”
On stepping up defensively
“I knew I had to play defense to stay on the court and help my team out. I just had to step up for my teammates.”
On getting significant minutes as freshmen
“It’s very good. Our team is young so we have no choice but to play. Anybody can step up at any given time.”
Junior Forward Aishah Sutherland
On Washburn’s physical play
“They were bumping us. They were getting the offensive rebounds. I just needed to box out and I did. They got a few offensive rebounds on me but I’m not a weak player, I’m going to go out there and bump them back or go around them. But they came out aggressive and we gave it right back.”
On defense and ball security
“I wasn’t trying to turn it over myself, just reverse the ball and take some shots if I’m open and just play.”
On Keena Mays’ performance
“We didn’t have very many guards last year so this is great that we have someone to come in and be just as good as Angel (Goodrich). Keena is a fast player – she can come out of nowhere and steal a ball – and she doesn’t turn the ball over so she’s doing pretty good for a freshman.”
Washburn Head Coach Ron McHenry
Opening statement
“The first half was decent, second half was horrendous. The credit is due to Kansas coming out in the second half and getting after us defensively. Every time we slopped a pass across the top or didn’t make a strong move, they would steal it. That leads to transition baskets and those are hard to stop. If we weren’t doing that, we were fouling them and putting them at the free throw line. First half was respectable, second half was not very good. They’re a long, athletic group. I thought we did a decent job on (Carolyn) Davis, but their fours (Aishah) Sutherland and (Tania) Jackson hit a couple of perimeter jumpers. In the second half, their guards came after us. They had a nice balanced attack. Defensively in the second half, that’s as good as we are going to see this year. That’s a really athletic group that will guard you and transition and in the perimeter.”
On replacing last season’s starting lineup
“It’s going to be a process this year. We were in no position to really compete hard against Kansas today. You always want to as a competitor, but I knew what we had and where we were at. If you coach long enough you kind of know what you’ve got and what you don’t. I think we have it but we’re just not there yet. We have to get that process moving and today is part of that process. It shows us what we are really weak at. It shows where we’ve got to improve. I’m disappointed we didn’t compete in the second half. I still think we can be good, but I’m not sure we can be great; that’s up to us. I’m not throwing in the towel by any means. Kansas has a nice group and they really came after us. I think our group can be a nice group, we’ve just got a way to go and the process is slower with so many new kids. I knew that coming in and I knew we probably weren’t in the position to go compete with them today. But you have to start somewhere. You’ve got to just put it out there and build from there.”
