Postgame Quotes
Nov. 12, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 113, Longwood 75
November 12, 2010
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On a fast start to the game:
“Our starters did a great job. We got out to 13-2 or something like that at the first time out. We made a couple of subs and our bench didn’t play well in that first stretch. We traded baskets and I think they got within six or eight (points) and then we finished the half great. Tyshawn (Taylor) dominated the first half. Markieff (Morris) was good. Marcus was pretty good. Tyrel (Reed) didn’t make shots. He got some good looks. We shared the ball and did some nice things. In the second half it became brother-in-law ball. ‘I’ll let you score if you promise not to touch me and let me score.’ We did score a lot of points and it was good to see the ball go in the hole.”
On the team going on a run to end the first half:
“We should be a team of spurts. During that stretch was our best defensive effort. It’s hard to be a team of spurts when you don’t get back-to-back-to-back stops. That’s what we are not doing now. I love our guys, but this is the softest team defensively. Not from the beginning of the game. We relax. This team doesn’t have the killer instinct that other teams have. Thomas (Robinson), Mario (Little), we haven’t got it yet that if the other team gets a good shot it’s bad defense whether it goes in or not. Certainly we have to have all those guys stepping up. One good thing about Jeff Withey is that he’ll make sure those other guys guard better because if they don’t I’ll have his butt in the game the whole time.”
On the team’s outside shooting:
“Tyrel (Reed) was still 1-for-6 in the first half, but they were good looks. He’s not a good shooter, he’s a great shooter. Brady (Morningstar) has to be more aggressive. We’ve been on Brady to get more aggressive. They both played well. Tyrel played really well. I didn’t play him much the second half. It was ok and it was nice that everyone got a chance to get in and make a basket because as competition gets tougher—which begins on Monday—we’re not going to have an opportunity to do that every night.”
On Valparaiso:
“They will play a lot of the same zone that Baylor plays and really extend out. Making shots will become a premium. Their big guys can all shoot threes. This is not coach speak; they are very good. They are picked second in their league behind Butler and everyone knows what a great league that is. They returned four starters and almost a fifth from their team last year. They’ve added some nice pieces and they went on a foreign trip. They share the ball well so we’re going to have to play much better defensively.”
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor
On his quick start tonight:
“I think it just came from the defensive pressure. I got a lot of easy shots and fast break points. Markieff (Morris) had a bunch of steals and I was there at the right place at the right time. The big guys did a good job on defense and I was just in the right place at the right time. They would look up and I was just out.”
On the good start to the season:
“It feels good. We have to work on some things defensively to get better. It’s good to start off like this.”
Junior center Markieff Morris
On the pressure down low:
“They were kind of long. Size-wise they were small. There big guy (Jeff Havenstein) picked up a couple of quick fouls so he wasn’t trying to fight down low, so it became easier.”
On your leadership role:
“I think we have multiple leaders on the team, from the seniors down to the big guys. It’s not just two guys like it was last year. It’s a group of guys this year.”
On improvements on his game:
“I missed some bunnies, so I think I need to dunk more. I missed some layups.”
On the fast breaks:
“It came along with the tempo of the game. Tyshawn (Taylor) plays at a real fast pace. There’s a lot of guys that close out and he goes right past them. His speed makes the game a lot faster.”
Junior Forward Marcus Morris
On Kansas’s defense:
“75 points is too much for a team to come into your house and score. We gave them more pressure on the perimeter which leads to quick shots. Then we have faster leak-outs. Ty (Tyshawn Taylor) got a couple dunks off of Markieff’s (Morris) steals. Markieff had some real good outlet passes. I think it’ll work all year. It was still disappointing to have a team get 75 points. You don’t want a team to come into your home and score 75 points, especially the first game in the year. 115 points looks good on paper, but 75 is kind of upsetting.”
On Kansas’s offense:
“I think that we have a lot of weapons offensively. There are a lot of guys that can get 20 points every game, and that’s without Josh (Selby). So it’s just going to vary from game to game, and the points are going to be spread around.”
Longwood Head Coach Mike Gillian
Opening Statements:
“One of the things for us in doing this is that there are certainly a lot of challenges to come out and play in these games. There are a lot of reasons why we play these games. To come to a historic venue is important. We’ve been around the country and done this a number of times. We certainly want to take the opportunity to challenge ourselves against a high-level of competition. We could have played a lot better; that goes without saying. We could have made some more shots too. As we move through the year, I think we will do that. You get into a situation like tonight where you really have to give those teams a lot of credit. Physically, they were much bigger and much better than us and that is difficult to overcome. As we go through the year, one of the things we will not do is turn the ball over that much and give away that many free points. That was disappointing but a lot of that was caused by the way they defended.”
On how this game prepares the team for the rest of the season:
“It certainly teaches us a lot about what we have to do. We come into these games not with the mindset of taking the air out of the ball, so to speak. We are going to play how we play. These guys have done that a number of times. It gives us the opportunity to measure ourselves against a high level of competition. Taking care of the ball is one of the things we are going to have to work on. We will play some teams that may not have the same physical capabilities (as Kansas) but will play similar. It goes a long way in helping us get better. It’s the first game, but it is also humbling. We have high character kids and there is a lot of learning that comes from this.”
Longwood Junior guard Martiz Washington
On what he saw from the Jayhawks:
“They are very long and very tough defensively. Coach said the physicality of that team is ranked number seven for a reason. They really spread the court out on offense.”
Longwood Senior center Antwan Carter
On how tough it was to guard KU:
“It is real tough because they just love to push the ball in transition, as soon as you score, make or miss, they are just going to push it up the court and you have to be ready to get back or it is going to be easy buckets for them.”
