Postgame Quotes vs. Emporia State

Nov. 9, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Notes |

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

On the game as a whole:

“We did some good things. We had some really good possessions defensively where we rebounded the ball decent. We also had some really poor possessions defensively. Offensively, I thought the ball stuck more tonight than it did the other night. We did OK, but we’ve got to get better. We don’t guard as a team like we should, I don’t know if there is near enough pride in that regard with our team. There were some bright spots. I thought Tyshawn Taylor played well. Mario (Little) played decent in the second half after struggling in the first half. Thomas (Robinson) did some good things. Overall, it was just kind of a mediocre performance. Everybody just played OK, I don’t think anybody was exceptional.”

On Thomas Robinson:

“Thomas was nervous, I don’t know if that was his first start or not, so I imagine he was nervous. He did some good things. He got a couple of offensive put-backs. He can play; so big some possessions and so small other possessions, it’s unbelievable. Consistency will come with him with repetition and playing time. He did some good things. But Markieff’s (Morris) third foul in the first half, that is the kind of stuff we’ve got to eliminate. Tyshawn’s pass in the second half, stuff like that is just careless. We’ve got to eliminate those kinds of things.”

On the need for people to step up:

“I think Markieff and Marcus are going to play well. I think Thomas is going to be Thomas, which is good. I think Travis (Releford) has played well, no question. I want to see Mario play well and impact the game. The two guys we know can play and impact the game are Brady (Morningstar) and Tyrel (Reed) and they’re not impacting the game either with shooting or defense. We will get there, the pieces just don’t quite fit. I’m not sure all the pieces fit for any team this early in the season. We’re fine but there are big steps that need to be taken and we need to take them pretty soon because we start for real on Friday.”

On Longwood:

“I haven’t watched the tape of them yet. The tape we have is from last year. They haven’t played an exhibition game or anything like that so we don’t have tape from this year. It will be interesting, it will be a crapshoot. The first game is always the most nervous game because they could do something totally different from what they did last year. But we will be excited to play.”

Sophomore Guard Travis Releford

On playing again after his injury:

“It’s very exciting to get back out on the court after sitting out a year and preparing for this. It felt real good.”

On his pre-game nerves:

“Coming out of last week, I was real nervous but after the game got going I was able to get in a rhythm and start playing.”

On what Coach Self told him before the game:

“He said take open shots, don’t try to force anything and create for others, so that’s what I was trying to do.”

On the team’s three point shooting:

“Coach is on us about it but we’ll get better at it. We just need to get more shots up there as a team. In practice we’ve been shooting them all right but it just doesn’t show on the court.”

Sophomore Forward Thomas Robinson

On his comfort level:

“Starting the game out with a dunk was a big energy boost, but I’m feeling pretty comfortable out on the court.”

On his growth as a player:

“My knowledge of the game is way higher than it was when I was a freshman.”

On Travis Releford’s ability:

“I’d say he’s a better athlete than me, sometimes he can just change the game. I know he can’t wait until Friday to play and get the season started where the games count.”

Junior Center Markieff Morris

On the team’s performance under the basket:

“I think we rebounded real well tonight and they didn’t get too many second chance shots.”

On the team’s three point shooting:

“I think we’re getting enough good looks from three, I just think we’re just not hitting them right now. It’s just going to be something that we work on in practice.”

On the team’s different starting line-up vs. ESU:

“They were a small team so it made sense to play small. Coach wanted to see if bigger guys could guard at different positions so he threw guys like Mario (Little) and Marcus (Morris) at the three to see if they could guard out there.”

Emporia State Head Coach David Moe

On hanging with Kansas in the first half:
“I thought for having as many new guys as we have and as many key guys playing that either didn’t play last year or haven’t played in the past, the mistakes we made mentally, little mistakes and getting rattled – and playing in this building will do that to you – I thought the whole first half we were pretty competitive. We probably made some soft mistakes that got us on our heels and they got some easy baskets, but I was certainly impressed with how we competed and handled adversity. We have a long way to go to get better. I thought KU exposed us in some areas and pointed some things out that we need to go back and work on and hopefully make some improvements.”

On Emporia State’s rhythm in the second half:
“(Kansas) probably lost interest. When you get a lead like that, they may have lost some interest, but we started doing some things we talked about in the first half. I think you get used to the environment. Once you get down like that, you get a little determined to do the right things. I thought we were able to do some things we talked about going into the game that either KU’s effort or the crowd took us out of. We can’t simulate (KU’s) size, pressure, speed and athleticism in practice. I thought as the game went on, we started realizing what it takes to survive. That’s probably part of it.”

Junior Forward Christian Jackson:

On KU’s athleticism:

“That first half can definitely be a bit overwhelming playing in front of all those people. It was exciting, but at the same time it was tough. They (the Jayhawks) covered a lot of ground with their athleticism. Their bigs are strong and physical inside. Inside we’re small, but coaches tell us to go out there and compete. That’s all they ask of us is to go and compete. So that’s what we tried to so today, come out and give our best and compete.”

Senior Guard Matt Boswell:

On what his team can learn from this game:

“It’s nice for us to come out and get some experience like this, especially with the new team that we have. I thought we did play hard, especially in the first half. They are a lot bigger than us down low, but I thought we did compete and play hard. Hopefully we can come together as a team and take this as a learning experience.”