Postgame Notes

Nov. 28, 2007

Recap | Box Score | Notes |

Kansas 87, Florida Atlantic 49
Nov. 28, 2007
Postgame Quotes

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought we played pretty well. They (Florida Atlantic) are not the team that they will probably be later on in the season. In the first half, even though I though we played okay, we did not make shots and therefore they hung around. Some individuals that needed to play well, played better. I thought with Sasha (Kaun) who was a lot better and aggressive. I thought Darnell (Jackson) did some good things and Shady (Darrell Arthur) played well while in foul trouble, which is a positive. He played with two fouls for half of the first half and played pretty smart. I think we did pretty good. Brandon (Rush) was aggressive coming in and shot the ball early to get us some offense.

On Cole Aldrich’s play:
“I thought Cole did fine, but we just made so many mental mistakes. That will come with repetition. He needs to play more, but I thought he got the best rebound of the game which was in traffic late in the second half. He’s doing some good things.”

On the ovation the crowd gave to Florida Atlantic Head Coach and former KU player Rex Walters:
“I got goosebumps. It was not a highly contested game, so that was about as loud as our building got tonight. That was nice. I told him after the game that the people here really appreciate the way you played and the way you conducted yourself. I think he’ll do fine. He is so competitive and he was coaching them until the end.”

On going on the road to No. 22/24 USC:
“They are good. Anybody that beats Southern Illinois by 25 on a neutral floor and scores 70 (is good). And you say `only 70?’ but they (SIU) have only given up 70 points three times in their last 50 games. And a 25 point win against Southern Illinois, as our fans know from last year, is like a 40-45 point win against anybody else. O.J. (Mayo) is terrific. He will be the best player that we have played so far and that includes (Arizona’s Chase) Budinger. Taj Gibson is very good. Davon Jefferson is very good. They are a very talented team. They are sound defensively. I’m sure their place will be jumping and it will be a great test for us.”

Kansas Senior Darnell Jakson
On if he is more focused this season:
“Yeah I’m a lot more focused, especially after stuff I went through in the past. I’m just focusing really hard on going out there, just playing, and not worrying about anything. If I do something wrong, I just focus on the next play.”

On confidence in his shot:
“I feel a lot of confidence in my shot, my three point shot and my jumper. I work on it a lot everyday with Coach Manning, he works with the bigs on that. Coach Self, he always tells me to get it up, to put some arc on it. I used to shoot line drives a lot.”

On the significance of developing a three point shot:
“I’m not a three point shooter. I think I can help Shady (Darrell Arthur) out when we’re in the game together–or Sasha (Kaun). If I knock that shot down I can help those guys get room down there. I can make those guys move in the post. The guys that play us down there are always trying to trap them. They can throw it out to me and the defender will run out and we can throw the high-low and get the easy bucket.”

Kansas Junior Mario Chalmers
On number of open perimeter shots for KU:
“I think since Florida Atlantic is so small they wanted to keep the ball out of the paint and by them doing that, it left us wide open for threes. If you’ve got an open shot you’ve got to take it.”

On Coach Self’s impression of the game:
“I think he was a little bit happier tonight because our defense was pretty good. tonight. We did the things we worked on in practice so I think he was pretty happy.”

Kansas Senior Jeremy Case
On the difference between this year’s team and last year’s:
“I would say the difference between this team and last year’s is maturity. Our young guys like Mario (Chalmers), Sherron (Collins), Shady (Darrell Arthur), and Brandon (Rush); I feel like have we improved so much and understand the game better.”

Florida Atlantic Head Coach Rex Walters
On coming back to Kansas:
“It was very special. That introduction was very nice. It touched my heart. I have said all along that the people are what make this state and Kansas basketball so special. It means an awful lot to me for them to show that much respect and love. Then, unfortunately, we had to play a basketball game.”

On the game:
“We got better. I thought for 37 minutes, we competed. (Kansas) has at least seven future professional basketball players. Some will be lottery picks. Some will be first rounders. We won’t face that again in our conference or non-conference. We may face one or two, at the most, the rest of the year. I thought we got better. I was really disappointed with the last three minutes and the way we played. I thought we didn’t give the same effort, and that’s what really got me upset. Nobody is going to root harder than I am for Kansas. I hope they can get healthy. They have the makings. I remember when we went to the Final Four, Matt Dougherty asked Michael Jordan `what does it take to get to a Final Four and win a championship.’ It’s amazing that the things that stood out to me is that he said you have to get a little lucky, too. I hope that Kansas gets a little lucky, because it takes all of that. It takes great ability, it takes great toughness, and it takes great unselfishness, and sometimes you need to get a little lucky. Bill (Self) has done an unbelievable job in recruiting and getting kids that play the right way.”

On KU’s influence on his coaching style:
“Matt Dougherty and myself are about 6-foot-3. Coach (Roy) Williams is about 5-foot-9 on a good day. People can see my demonstrativeness a little more than maybe coach Williams. He is a lot smarter than I ever will be, but it does come out. We run a lot of the same stuff, a lot of the same motion concepts. Defensively, we have backed it up a little bit, but run a lot of the same verbal calls and a lot of the same language. We try to pattern an awful lot of what we do from my time at Kansas.”

Florida Atlantic Junior Guard Carderro Nwoji
His thoughts on the game:
“Kansas is pretty good, they will probably be a Final Four team. Our coach just wanted us to go out there and keep fighting. We let up for a couple of minutes, but for the most part we played them tough in the first half.”

On playing in Allen Fieldhouse:
“This is a great place to play. I think our team responded well to the atmosphere. They are just a good team with good players and a good coach.”

On playing a tough schedule:
“It is good for us because we have played some good teams. We have played Boston College, Rhode Island, Kansas and South Florida. This schedule will help us. We are trying to compete in February and March when it really counts.”

On coach Rex Walters:
“Coach Walters is a competitor. He has played for the best coaches around. He knows my position, the point guard position, in and out. He is never going to quit and will keep on pushing.”

On how coach Walters prepared the team for the game:
“He understood that they (Kansas) have a really good team. They probably have six or seven pros. His main concern was for us to come in here and not let the crowd get to us and just play basketball. He knows basketball. He just wanted for us to come in here and fight.”