Postgame Quotes vs. Tennessee Tech
Nov. 27, 2009
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 112, Tennessee Tech 75
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought other than a three minute stretch in the first half when we all went brain-dead and (Tennessee Tech) went on a 9-0 or 8-0 run, I thought we played pretty good. We missed some layups to start the game. The ball moved better tonight than it has all year. The easier we score the worse we guard. For all teams that score a lot of points that’s a problem that everybody deals with. I’d almost rather it would be a muddied up game and an ugly game and have them not score – and the score be 70-57 than a game like that today because in the NCAA tournament you don’t get games like that that matter. But we did a lot of good things. I talk about sharing and we’re doing that. Now we’ve got to get back to guarding.”
On Cole Aldrich playing better:
“I thought he looked more athletic too. I thought he looked like he had more bounce. Sherron (Collins) gave him a bad pass to start the game that would have been a dunk, but he moved his feet better, he went after the ball outside his area better, and he looked more like Cole. I thought we did a good job of passing the ball big-to-big. There were a lot of good things that happened – other than the fact that we guarded the ball miserably, and obviously didn’t rebound the basketball. But we’ll get better.”
On Tennessee Tech Head Coach Mike Sutton:
“Mike was the assistant for Tubby (Smith) at Tulsa when I was at Oral Roberts so of course I got to know him there. Then of course he went with Tubby to Kentucky for I believe four or five years and then he got the head job at Tennessee Tech after that. So he’s been around good ball and great coaches. He was hit with something (illness) that you just don’t ever anticipate getting hit with, and – I’ve read this and he’s also told me – he goes from 100 percent healthy to all he can do is blink his eyes for months. He’s fought back, he’s out on the road recruiting and doing a lot of good things. And the staff has obviously had to carry a lot of the load. He’s a good man and certainly they’re young. I certainly hope they have success this year because he is a great role model for all their players.”
On Kansas’ young players performances:
“I thought Xavier (Henry) played good tonight – he didn’t make shots for the first time. The Memphis game he really didn’t shoot the ball good from a percentage standpoint – (tonight) he was still 6-of-12, but he was 0-for-3 from three. He didn’t make shots but I thought he played good. I thought Elijah was ok and Thomas was ok and can certainly learn and get better. With Elijah (Johnson), the only thing I would be critical of him is that I think he’s just the best athlete around and he should be able to guard the ball. He and Tyshawn (Taylor) should be able to guard the ball a little better. So I think we can tighten that up with technique or whatnot because he really wants to be a player. I thought C.J. (Henry) played good. It was the first time we’ve given him a chance to run with the first guys and I thought he played good. Of course (Conner) Teahan was really good – instant offense for us.”
Junior Center Cole Aldrich:
On where he sees himself fitting into the rotation:
“It was nice. It was a relief. I really hadn’t been playing all that well, but I’m just kind of happy to finally get through a little funk. I know the rest of the guys have been playing great. Finally, it is a little weight off my back that I can finally know and play the way I used to play. It was just a little funk and everybody goes through funks. Finally, I broke through it.”
On guarding Markieff (Morris) in practice this season compared to last season:
“It’s tough this year. I can’t say it wasn’t tough at times last year. I would say if I would pick a person coming back, he (Markieff) was the most improved over the summer, him and his brother (Marcus Morris) just because they got over the attitude of just limiting themselves of working hard and now they really work hard all the time. I think that with those two working hard, it just makes the whole team better.”
On Head Coach Bill Self rotating players in and out of the game:
“I guess it would be a wake up call. We look at it as whoever is in the game, whether it’s Markieff and I, or Marcus and Thomas (Robinson), whoever is playing the best should be in the game. That’s all our team is, is unselfish like that. Whoever is playing the best should be playing because that gives us the best potential to win.”
Sophomore Guard Tyshawn Taylor:
On breaking out of his shooting slump:
“The past couple of games I just hadn’t been hitting. I had been getting good shots, I had been being aggressive, I had been playing hard on defense, and I knew my shots were going to fall eventually. Tonight was just the night. I was open, I shot it and let it go. It felt good every time, even the air ball felt good for a second, until I looked at it. It was just a good night for me.”
On looking at his statistics during his shooting slump:
“I didn’t look at my stats. I think if I would have looked at my stats, then I would have been too focused on trying to score and make things happen. My team has been playing so well and everybody (has) had their individual games so far, so I knew my time was going to come eventually and I hope it continues.”
On what the first thing he looks at when looking at a stat sheet:
“For myself, I look at my assist-to-turnover ratio. Tonight I was two (assists) for two (turnovers). I think being a point guard that is the first thing that has to be on your mind, so I look at that every time.”
Sophomore Forward Markieff Morris:
On playing with more confidence:
“It is more about as the season moves on, the more comfortable you feel and the flow of the game. With the guys on the team, we try to teach to take what you are given and sometimes you are going to be in the position to make plays and that is when you make plays.”
On the depth of the team:
“We have a couple of guys at every position. After the first semester, it will be better for us when we get Jeff (Withey) and Brady (Morningstar) back. It will make the rotation even deeper.”
On how crucial the early season games are for the team:
“Just getting everybody to play hard all the time and never take a point for granted. We’re playing less deeper teams than we will play as in Texas, so we try not to overlook a team. We tell the younger guys to play hard every possession so when we do play the good teams, we already have the feel for it.”
Tennessee Tech Head Coach Mike Sutton
On the first half:
“I think the game was about a nine point game when they started to pull away. We tried to play the game in four minute segments and that is all you can do against a team like this. They shot the ball very well, but our kids competed and that is all that you can ask of them. This is our seventh game since November 13th so I was a little worried about fatigue, but I felt we reached down and played hard. Bill (Self) always does a great job, but I feel they are probably a little ahead offensively than they normally are.”
On Tennessee Tech outrebounding Kansas:
“When you miss a lot of shots you get a lot of chances for offensive rebounds. So when we missed a lot we afford ourselves a lot of opportunities to get offensive rebounds. Good teams tend to speed you up a little bit and I felt they did that and as a result we missed some shots. I was pleased with our efforts on the boards, obviously when you can outrebound a team like Kansas, but they don’t get as many chances to get offensive rebounds because they shoot such a high percentage.”
On playing at Allen Fieldhouse:
“Everything here is very first class. Our kids may not understand it now, but one day they will fully understand how big of a deal it is to play in an environment like this and to play at a place like this with so much tradition in the game of college basketball.”
