Kansas vs. Pittsburg State Quotes

Nov. 14, 2005

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Head Coach Bill Self

On the game:
“I thought we did some good things. Sometimes we don’t shoot the ball well and you have to grind some things out. We didn’t have any energy tonight compared to the other night: none. Our perimeter didn’t create any havoc and energy. It’s contagious. We played like a tired team, which we may be, and that might be my fault because we have been practicing really long the past four days. There were some good things, but the reason we didn’t score is that we aren’t patient enough to score. We would just hold the ball, but when we move and pass it we can score pretty well but tonight we looked very stale offensively. All in all, there were some positive things but there were many things that were just stale. Our perimeter, more so than our big guys, were stale tonight. They would gamble and miss and didn’t stay within our principles. We have to get a lot better but when you play a team like Pittsburg State who sets a lot of screens sometimes you get impatient. We could have scored more points had we shown anything, but we tried to hide some things because are trying to maybe steal a couple baskets against Idaho State or in Maui.”

On the starting lineup:
“We’ll probably switch some things up. Sasha had a great first game and C.J. had a very good game tonight. We just have to get everybody moving the same direction in all areas. Of course, I know what Christian can do and he’s been solid but we’re not getting the production out of him that we need. He needs to be more aggressive.”

On Darnell Jackson:
“Darnell’s been as good as anybody the past three to four weeks. It’s unfortunate that we are dealing with this issue but we are hoping that it will come to a permanent resolution here soon. The NCAA cleared him to play tonight but we haven’t heard anything official yet. We are hopeful that everything is okay but we’re prepared if it’s not. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”

On Jeff Hawkins:
“Hawkins ran down some long balls and did some good things but the biggest thing I saw is that we would foul and we looked slow. We would put our hands on them and we just fouled way too much. We would foul on plays that did not even matter. That is frustrating and it gives them easy points. They were going to struggle against our defense but we would foul them and allow them to score. Eighteen of their 47 points came from the free throw line. Had they made their free throws, 50 percent of their points could have come from the free throw line.”

On Mario Chalmers:
“I thought Mario did some good things but he gambled and missed too much. We have to respect our opponents no matter who it is. But you can point out everybody that has made a good play or two but as a whole we have to get a lot sounder, faster, and bring more energy to compete against the teams that are going to be on our schedule here early in the season.”

On the upcoming week:
“It’s going to be a busy week and guys are going to have to be hungry and focused. We only practice two more times, Wednesday and Thursday, before we play our next four games. We’ll play Friday, travel Saturday, practice for an hour on Sunday and then play three games. We have to get ready for Idaho State and that will be a great way to kick off our trip to Maui.”

Player Quotes
Sophomore Center C.J. Giles

On his performance:
“I think something like 14 points and 11 rebounds would be very possible. I’m going to do as much as I can. If it’s not scoring, I’m going to get rebounds and do whatever it takes for us to win.”

On the pace of the game:
“Last year we didn’t do a lot of running. This year I like it better because we are going to run a lot more. In high school I ran just to keep up with my teammates, that’s the kind of game I like.”

On his offensive play:
“It takes a lot of confidence to be offensive-minded. I’m learning from Darnelll (Jackson) because he has a lot of confidence and energy in practice. It takes a lot of poise to calm down and it takes confidence to become offensive-minded.”

Senior Guard Jeff Hawkins
On the first game of the regular season:
“I think we need to play like we did in the first game. That first night, everyone was anxious, ready, and had unbelievable energy.”

On the freshmen players’ defense:
“I don’t think a lot of them are comfortable. Micah and Brandon need to learn how to deny and bring unbelievable energy to the defensive end. They are really good offensive players and if they get after it on defense it will push them even farther. I think a lot of the freshmen are struggling with that right now. I just don’t think they are used to playing defense the way that we play. But they will catch on quickly.”

Head Coach Gene Iba<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

On Kansas’ defense:

“It was a little tougher in the second half, but I thought it was pretty tough in the first half. They are very athletic, very energetic and big, and those are three pretty hard combinations to go against. They caused 24 turnovers, which is bad, but we forced 17 on the other side of the ball.”

On Pittsburg State:

“I think we probably will be better. There were some things that were obvious weaknesses. I thought our rebounding was obviously a weak point. Not so much that we didn’t get that many, but that we didn’t always go (to the ball). I thought we got a pretty good effort out of 11 guys out on the floor. I think from time to time we let down mentally, but I don’t think the physical part was a factor.”

On his team’s defense:

“At times it was okay. I thought we tried to stay inside of a game plan a little bit. For the most part I thought we did okay. What I didn’t like about our defense was the defensive rebounding. It wasn’t just the big guys, it was that we didn’t have five guys going to the glass.”

On Kansas:

“I’ve told several people that it will take some time because they are young, but if this group were to stay around for the length of time that you are supposed to stay around, it will be as good of a team as there has ever been, at least in my recollection. They are a very talented team. They are obviously not where they want to be, but they are very good.”

Senior Guard Eddie Jackson

On the game:

“We didn’t execute tonight. We have to do better at holding the ball and making strong passes, but I felt like we did alright.”

On Kansas:

“They shot a lot of free throws in the first half. That let them pull away a little bit. They were a lot bigger than we were and we did the best we could. We don’t see teams like that very often. They are younger than we are, and I feel like as time goes on they will be very competitive in the Big 12.”

On his game:

“I just wasn’t on my game tonight, I feel like I can score against anybody and I just didn’t do it tonight.”

Junior Forward Edward Morris

On Kansas:

“It was tough. As you can see they are physically stronger than us. I had to use my speed on some of them, but once they get you inside, it was pretty much over. I feel like in the future they will be pretty good, especially inside.”

On Pittsburg State:

“This is a squad with four returning players. The rest of us are new and we are just trying to find each other out.”