Postgame Quotes
Nov. 11, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
KANSAS 100, TOWSON 54
Nov. 11, 2011
Postgame Quotes
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On game vs. Towson:
“I thought we did some really good things; I thought we pressured the first ten minutes. We fouled too much is the only thing we really didn’t do and obviously, we didn’t secure their first miss and they got too many put-backs. The first ten minutes, we scored like 32 points, and we looked good. The ball was moving, we got easy baskets, had energy, and then like most of the teams we’ve had here, it’s hard to sustain that over 40 minutes and you get a little lull. We didn’t finish the (first) half great. Only go in up 24, we should have been up 30 or 35.”
“In the second half, we did some good things. We took care of the basketball better. We weren’t as careless and I think in large part, we had our experienced guards out there. We bailed them out, shot too many threes and Thomas (Robinson) didn’t play tonight like he’s capable of playing. He got numbers, but those numbers aren’t real. He played his man after he caught it. I thought defensively, a good player would foul him out fast. He has to improve and do some things, but he does put up numbers and that’s why it’s so important to stay out there. Jeff (Withey) wasn’t a presence at all. Those two (Withey and Robinson) only combined for one rebound in the first half in 22 minutes when their three big guys combined for nine. We have to do a much better job. Travis (Releford) isn’t on the glass at all. That’s something we can certainly emphasize better and do a better job with.”
“In the first half, how about our bench? They went 8-for-8 from the field, our bench, Naadir (Tharpe), Connor (Teahan), Justin (Wesley) and Kevin (Young). We’re doing some good things and I like the direction we’re moving, but we’re going to find out now where we’re at. We’re going to go play some men.”
On Kevin Young and Justin Wesley:
“Kevin was active. He had 13 (points) and seven (rebounds) in 14 minutes. Justin only got one rebound in 16 minutes. I know sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way and this and that, but that’s ridiculous, we have to play much bigger than that. It was great to see Kevin. Kevin has really labored. The light hadn’t come on yet. Maybe tonight was a night the light came on. I’m real happy he got some confidence, I hope moving forward. He looked like a player out there tonight.”
On Kentucky game on Tuesday:
“I think the biggest thing is transition defense has to be great. We have to handle pressure; they’re going to press. We have to attack pressure and score behind their pressure. We have to rebound the ball. We have to go after it like men. We’ll spend our entire next three days emphasizing that. I think we’ll play better as far as the intangible things. There were some times tonight, Naadir didn’t get a loose ball and it cost us three points; Jeff didn’t get a loose ball and cost us points. We have to be quicker to the ball and react quicker, because we can put a pretty athletic team out there. We can probably go more athletic with this team than any team we’ve had, maybe even that 2008 team in a lot of spots. Just because you’re athletic doesn’t mean you’re getting much done, but I think we should be better defensively than what we are.”
Kansas junior Travis Releford
On his performance:
“I felt really good out there. Early on, we got out there on the defensive end, and it created transition buckets.”
On if he felt his shot was on:
“Yeah, after getting a few layups, I had a little confidence in my shot, so I took them.”
On if the team can keep up the fast-paced game it played tonight all season:
“If we get after it on the defensive end, it creates a lot of transitions. If we do better at rebounding, it will also create transition (buckets) because our guards on the wing are quick and athletic. We’ll just run the floor and get after it.”
Kansas junior Thomas Robinson
On if speed will be more of a defining factor for the team this year:
“We definitely get out and run more, but it has to start on the defensive end first. It will also come from second-chance rebounds. The rest of the bigs and I take blame for them out-rebounding us tonight. It has to start on the defensive end first.”
On if head coach Bill Self approves of him taking the ball up the court on fast breaks:
“It’s something that I worked on in the off-season, seeing the floor better. I’m capable of doing it, so (Self) will let me do it until I start getting crazy with it.”
On having Elijah Johnson and Tyshawn Taylor back on the floor:
“(They brought) speed. They had a lot to do with why we looked so fast and more athletic tonight.”
Kansas junior Kevin Young
On the difference between his play in the first two games and tonight:
“It’s (the) season. It starts now, so we have to give it 110 percent. We have to go out as hard as we can every game.”
Towson head coach Pat Skerry
Opening statement:
“Obviously the first game for us with a young team coming here–if it’s possible to be underrated at 13th in the country, I think Kansas is. (Kansas head coach Bill) Self had them ready to play tonight. They were terrific on both ends of the floor and they deserve a ton of credit. Coming in here to the Mecca of college basketball, we hope this provides a tremendous learning experience for our young team down the road.”
On Kansas junior Thomas Robinson:
“I recruited him back when I was at Providence College. He’s a beast and he’s locked in. He’s obviously a tremendous kid. I wouldn’t have liked to see him play so well against us, but I wish him luck on the rest of the year. He’s tremendous.”
On what his team can learn from this game:
“Obviously how hard we have to compete. We practice pretty hard. The biggest thing that jumps off, which has been a problem for us a young team–especially the perimeters–we have to take care of the basketball. We turned the ball over way too many times. (We had some) careless stuff and rushed shots. We gave up 31 points off of turnovers. It’s hard to evaluate our half court defense. There is no defense for run outs. That’s the disappointing thing. I was happy with the backboards, obviously, which will be a staple for us and (show) that we are going to compete. To win at this level or higher, you have to take care of the basketball.”
On if his team’s inexperience showed tonight:
“I think it did at times. I was really happy with (senior Robert Nwankwo). He didn’t play last year and he had a double-double tonight. We’re expecting him to be a consistent double-double guy all year. He’s gotten himself in great shape. No disrespect to anyone else we play, but I don’t know if we’re going to see a front court (like Kansas). I’m happy with Rob and expecting him to build on it. Erique Gumbs got into some foul trouble, so we need some more productivity. For us to be successful, we have to have double-doubles consistently up front from those guys every night.”
Towson senior Robert Nwankwo
On the key to outrebounding Kansas:
“Just trying to match their intensity, basically. Every time the ball went up, (we) just had to find a player and box him out.”
On Kansas’ defense:
“They really have a good defense. It was very hard considering that our team is inexperienced. They caused some turnovers. We just have to work hard. We are going to face tougher defense through the next couple of games, and hopefully we can run through this.”
