Postgame Quotes
Nov. 30, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Kansas 77, Florida Atlantic 54
Postgame Quotes
November 30, 2011
Kansas head coach Bill Self
On Maui effect on team:
“I don’t know if it was the Hawaii deal or not. I know that everybody (in the Maui Invitational) who’s played since Hawaii has struggled with the exception of UCLA. I think they beat Pepperdine pretty good, but everybody else has lost. That team tonight was really fast. The stats say we dominated, but they still got the ball where they wanted to get it. Our defense was not any good. Our guard play, to put it nicely, was horrific. You can’t play worse. Considering those things, I’m pretty pleased leaving here with a 23-point win. There wasn’t a lot of energy in the building and we didn’t do anything to energize anybody. We came out flat, which I knew we would. We talked about it. Guys played cool tonight. Our two guards are way too cool to be good players right now.”
On approach to addressing the team after the game:
“I don’t think you should coach or address your team based on if you won or lost. I think you should coach or address your team based on how you played. We could lose tonight and play well and I’m ok. We win and play crappy, I’m not ok. We lose and play crappy, I’m not ok. That’s just how I’ve always been. Coach (Larry) Brown taught me that as much as anybody. You shouldn’t coach whether you won or lost. Of course you have to win, but you don’t want your players to feel it’s all about winning. It’s all about playing well and getting better.”
“Certainly, we did some good things offensively in the first half. I thought we moved the ball and shot 42 percent for the half, but we got great shots. We got it in tight. Thomas (Robinson) had to bounce it every time. We just regressed doing some things that you can’t do. It was awful, and we still had a comfortable lead but came out flat the second half. I ran them in-and-out of there, like I don’t usually do, in the second half. We have to get better. It’s amazing to me that we lose to Kentucky because of our offense. It wasn’t our defense. Our offense gave them easy baskets. We danced with the ball tonight and got cute, then all of the sudden, our offense is their best offense for a stretch. With two good guards, how could that ever be?”
On upcoming schedule:
“It’s very tough. South Florida just beat Florida Atlantic the other night. Then Long Beach State can beat anybody, which is very evident because they already won at Pittsburg. Then you have a pretty good team coming in the following Saturday. We can’t worry about them. We’re not ready to play Ohio State yet. What we have to do is get better each and every day. We have actually had good practice sessions. Tonight we didn’t have it, and the guys know it. The thing that disappointed me tonight were some individuals. What a great teaching lesson. When things aren’t going well, how do you change it? How do you man-up and make somebody else better? How do you do something rather than just mope around and feel sorry for yourself, which is what one of our players did tonight. To me, that is a sign of immaturity, selfishness and those sorts of things. If we can correct that and realize it’s about us instead of me, then we’ll get good real fast because I do like our team. I think we have nice pieces, but we can’t play carelessly like we played. Our two guards for the season, counting the Towson game, which we had 30 assists and five turnovers, have 41 assists and 37 turnovers. Everybody else is talking that their guards are 4-to-1 or 3-to-1 (assist to turnover ratio), and we’re 1-to-1. How can you expect to beat good teams moving forward unless we can take care of the basketball better?”
Junior forward Thomas Robinson
On if it is a goal to achieve a double-double every game:
“No, not really. I don’t go into the game thinking I have to get a double-double. I’m not being cocky or arrogant, but I feel like I can get that pretty easily as long as I’m on the floor.”
On getting swarmed by FAU’s defense tonight:
“I made it tough on myself. I knew they were going to swarm me, but I kept putting the ball on the floor. Once I do that, it goes from two guys to four guys swatting at me. I definitely made it tougher on myself, but it happens.”
On the turnovers:
“We have a lack of focus sometimes. We aren’t a good (enough) team to the point where we can play a whole 40 minutes. That’s something that should come over time as long as we keep our focus.”
On if he worked on his free throws in the offseason:
“Not any more than I did during my first two years. Coach (Self) just told me it’s a confidence thing. He said, `just be a man and step up there and knock down your free throws.’ The fact that I’m on the floor more gives me more confidence. Now, when I miss a free throw, I’m mad. The past two years it didn’t really matter if I missed a free throw.”
Junior guard Travis Releford
On if he thought he needed to step up when Tyshawn and Elijah weren’t on the floor:
“In the timeout, Coach (Self) was just saying to stay aggressive. My teammates were encouraging me by telling me I needed to drive, because of all the pressure they were putting on us out on the wings.”
On when Coach Self says to be more aggressive:
“When I pass up open shots that I should have taken.”
Junior center Jeff Withey
On if it took a little time to get back into a rhythm after Maui:
“We’ve had plenty of time off since Maui. Today, we definitely came out pretty slow in the first half and even in the second half. We need to change that because it happens too often. Everybody needs to pick it up as soon as the ball is tipped. I think it’s going to be the difference between our team being great or not great. We can be a really good team.”
On the size advantage:
“We were able to get a lot of easy buckets just by being close to the basket tonight. The way our offense is run, that’s what is supposed to happen: catch the ball close and score easy.”
On if he realizes he brings the ball down:
“A lot of times it’s just a reflex. That’s another thing we need to cut down on. Coach (Manning) helps us out a lot with that by telling us not to put the ball on the ground and just go up quick.”
Florida Atlantic head coach Mike Jarvis
On the game overall:
“I would have loved to have had a closer game. We had a couple of chances to get it into single digits and that would have been a lot more fun. It’s a great experience coming up here and playing in this incredible facility in front of these incredible fans. Our guys played hard and at times we didn’t play very smart. We missed too many layups and free throws and didn’t rebound, but I think this will help us. We will grow from it.”
On what contributed to his team’s poor shooting night:
“Their length probably. You look at times and you think you have a lane and then suddenly one of those 7-foot reaches comes over and all of the sudden you disappear. The difference is in the reach. If you have athletes with reach you have a very difficult time. That was the difference.”
On the play of Florida Atlantic’s Pablo Bertone:
“Pablo is a competitor. He’s a strong sophomore. Thank God he was here tonight because he got most of our rebounds. He’s having a good year. He’s strong. To be honest with you he’s probably better playing against bigger guys because he’s not very good at times defending the dribble. I would almost rather have him on a bigger guy. I worry less about him when he’s guarding a bigger guy than when he’s covering someone that is on the ground.”
On Kansas’ sloppy play in the second half:
“We were sloppy, too, so it didn’t help us because we were part of the sloppiness. Maybe we played hard at times and caused some of it, but I don’t know if their concentration was where it needed to be because they were pretty much in control. They might have relaxed a little bit.”
FAU Guard Pablo Bertone
On guarding KU center Jeff Withey:
“I think I can guard him because of my physical effort. As long as I could keep him off the glass and out of the paint it is a benefit for us.”
On playing in Allen Fieldhouse:
“The atmosphere is crazy because of the fans. They are definitely one of the top three (fan bases) in the nation and we all know that. The Kansas program is unbelievable and they have an incredible team. They are going to get far in the conference this year. It was a great experience.”
On giving up their early lead:
“We still haven’t played a full 40 minutes consistently so far this year and Kansas was a little bit bigger than us, so we felt like we were at a little bit of a size disadvantage. They came back, but we kept playing hard and it was a good game overall because we had the effort, which is the most important thing.”
FAU Guard Dennis Mavin
On his team’s struggles from the field:
“We did not get off to a good start and a couple shots did not go in. As the flow of the game progressed, we got better shooting as well as driving to the basket.”
On the Allen Fieldhouse atmosphere:
“It is a crazy experience and one that I will never forget. I think it is easier to play in an atmosphere like this instead of against a team in our conference. It just makes me more excited.”
On going up for rebounds against Thomas Robinson:
“Going into the game we knew he was going to be the key guy, so our coach was just telling us to focus in on him because everyone knows all about his accolades. He is a tough player to play against.”
