Post Game Quotes
Nov. 14, 2004
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Kansas Quotes
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought Washburn played great. They played how we thought they would play. They gave a great effort tonight and shared the ball very well. We had a chance to crack the game open a couple of times but couldn’t. We let them get going early, they made some shots and had some confidence. Then they thought they could play with us and it was anybody’s ballgame. We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on. We haven’t spent a lot of time on certain situations. I thought there were some positive things tonight, primarily Christian Moody and the four freshmen. They were by far our best performers tonight. If our five returning players play like those guys (Moody and freshmen) did tonight, then we’re going to get a lot better pretty fast. I felt that Christian and Russell (Robinson) really changed the game in the second half. I thought they were our best players tonight. For the most part, it was a pretty stale performance tonight. I didn’t think we were into it nearly as much as we were last week. Hopefully, this will be a motivating factor and a wake-up call for everybody. It’s going to be up to Christian and our freshmen to see how far this team goes, but our veterans have to play and make smart decisions too. This will be good for them in the long run.”
On the physical play:
“It was a physical game. Obviously our big freshmen were exposed with the way they isolated the post. There were a lot of physical plays and bodies on the floor. That happened because Washburn came here and played hard. If we hadn’t scrapped for the first 30 minutes, we would have been behind. They beat us to too many loose balls, we missed dunks and free throws. It just wasn’t our night, but the guys played well enough to win. We still have a long way to go and we have to get better.”
On the season-opener against Vermont:
“(Vermont’s Taylor) Coppenrath is a legitimate first round draft pick as he was the second leading scorer in America. He knows how to play, he understands the game and has great feel. (T.J.) Sorrentine is one of the best point guards we will compete against this year. One of those two players has been their conference’s player of the year for the past three years. They are a good team. They have been to the tournament the last two years. They will come here ready play.”
Junior Forward Christian Moody
On Washburn:
“We knew they were tough. They played a great first game against Purdue. They were very scrappy and gave us a great game. They wanted it more than us tonight. I definitely am giving a compliment to Washburn. They came out with a lot of intensity. Our intensity wasn’t there like in the first game.”
On his performance:
“I was happy that my shots went down. I need to work on my free throws. We all still have a lot of things to work on before out first game Friday.”
Senior Guard Aaron Miles
On Coach Self’s reaction to the game:
“He was disappointed in some of our efforts. For the most part he said he didn’t care about the score, he just cares about how we play.”
On Washburn’s defense:
“They played very aggressive. We had open shots, but we missed them. They crowded Wayne (Simien) and made it tough on him. Wayne is going to see that all season long, because he is a big presence down there. It’s always good to play against teams that play hard and scrap.”
Freshman Guard Russell Robinson
On Washburn:
“It was kind of an off night for us. Washburn competed with us very well. We just couldn’t get it going tonight. We eventually got it together and won the game. They were very scrappy and got after it defensively. We won the game, but they were a tough team. They came out with a lot of intensity and it held up for the entire game.”
On playing defense:
“It’s what I have to do when we have guys like Keith (Langford), Wayne and J.R. (Giddens) on the same team. On offense I am probably the fifth option, so I just try to get my defense going to change the tempo of the game.”
Washburn Quotes
Head Coach Bob Chipman
On the game:
“We had some good bounces tonight. I liked our fight and guys are working hard and battling. We executed our game plan well and made a couple of adjustments defensively that looked really good. We played them man-to-man most of the night, but at the end of the game we went with a zone trap defense. I cannot find much fault with our effort. That was about as good as we can play, but we did catch a few breaks. I know that they (Kansas) missed a lot of dunks out there and they missed a bunch of free throws. Without those, the game would have been a different story. Their missed shots kept us in the game for a while.”
On the tempo of the game:
“Anytime there was a loose ball, we had guys flying around trying to get them. I love it when our guys hustle for loose balls. On a couple of the plays there were three or four guys diving for the ball. That is one neat thing about KU and it is probably why they might win it all is the fact that they will go after the loose balls. They have some of the best players in the country that are diving after loose balls against Washburn. That shows you what Kansas is all about. We might be tired for a week after the game tonight. Our home opener is tomorrow night so I hope we are not too tired.”
On playing in front of a large crowd:
“I think playing in front of a lot of fans at Purdue helped us out. We were ready for it, but still it is always tough. We tried to keep them from getting too many big runs. I thought I was going to have to use all of my timeouts in the first half, but I ended up having some left. Our guys did a good job of making them miss somehow. I have to give them credit for that.”
Sophomore Forward Joe Manthe
On the game:
“It felt good playing in Allen Fieldhouse and it was very exciting. We did well and played as a team. I thought we did a good job considering they (Kansas) are a Division I team and we are Division II.”
Junior Guard Kris Milburn
On the game:
“We were not intimidated at all, it was exciting. I think they underestimated us and we kept our head up and kept playing.”
On Washburn’s effort:
“You have to do whatever it takes to help the team out. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get loose balls. I take pride in defense, I do not worry too much about offense.”
