Postgame Quotes

Dec. 6, 2008

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Postgame Quotes

Kansas 86, Jackson State 62

Dec. 6, 2008

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

On the team’s overall performance:

“They [Jackson State] got off to a great start. They were up 10-7. Then we played great for the next six or eight minutes. Then we finished the half very poorly, in large part because of silly fouls by Cole [Aldrich]. It just took us totally out of the game, so we had no post presence. Markieff and Marcus [Morris] each had two fouls, so it was not very good. The second half, we came out and made some shots. We still didn’t guard them well, but we played a little bit better.”

On Jackson State getting to the line more often:

“I asked the officials about that a few times, and they obviously thought that we fouled more than they did. We do foul too much. The bottom line is that they played a lot of zone the first half and we didn’t attack the zone. We didn’t have an inside presence, so they kept the ball out of the paint. We made some silly fouls. Cole’s two fouls were just off the charts silly for a 6’11” guy. Hopefully, we can correct some things and certainly play a little bit smarter. Still, we made some shots in the second half. There were some positive things that happened. We had a lot of assists. We had too many wasted possessions and we had some guys play with not as much intensity defensively today.”

On individual performances:

“Just to be very candid, this is probably the youngest Tyshawn [Taylor] has looked, in my opinion. He’s played really well for us, there’s no doubt about that, but today he labored a little bit. His stat line was far more impressive than what he played. Defensively, he wasn’t a factor. He’s been a great defender for us so far, so he can learn from that. He’s a very talented kid and we need him to go make plays. He did some good things in transition and got the ball to other guys. But he created some plays that were easy baskets for us, and we came away empty. Cole wasn’t a factor today. Cole wasn’t into it. He looked off today. The twins and Quintrell [Thomas] gave us some good minutes. It wasn’t a totally negative deal. I don’t want to sound like I’m walking out of here really upset, because we beat them worse than anyone has beaten them. There’s nobody beating this team that badly, and they’re playing top 20 teams. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Kansas Player Quotes

Junior guard Sherron Collins

On the zone defense they played against:

“The zone was really tough; I don’t want to take anything away from it. It was a nice zone. They did a good job of getting out and pressuring, but we didn’t make shots. We just have to make shots early in the game.”

On Coach Self’s mood after the game:

“Coach was not mad, he just told us we need to get a sense of urgency and listen to him more. He said that we have to trust his methods, because he knows how to do it. Our focus is not there yet.”

On the team’s toughness:

“We are not tough yet. Last year’s team had toughness issues at the beginning of the season as well. We just have to go out and be tougher.”

Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor

On whether the team’s performance was disappointing:

“It was, but its not because we know that we missed a lot of shots early. Speaking for myself, I was just kind of out of it. I don’t think that we played really well. Not to take anything away from them, but I feel like that if they catch us on a better day that the outcome would be more favorable.”

On the afternoon game messing with his routine:

“It kind of did mess with my routine. We woke up early, it was a lot different. But that shouldn’t have changed how we played.”

Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed

On his rebounding:

“The coaches stress everyday that the perimeter guards need to get a lot more rebounds. My four rebounds are really not that many. I have to do better at rotation rebounding and helping the big men out. Rebounding is a big part of what our team needs to get better at.”

Jackson State Head Coach Trevester Anderson

On the game:

“I like this team. We’ve played several teams of this caliber. We’ve played Illinois, Texas A&M and Arizona State. This is the best shooting team we’ve played. We thought our zone defense would help us some, but they shot the ball extremely well. We gave them a little scare in the first half. We played pretty well the first half, I thought. They wore us down. We’ve been on the road since the season began, so naturally we’re tired right now, but give Kansas credit. They’re a good team. I’ve been voting for them to be (ranked) a little higher. I think they’re really a No. 15 or No. 16 team in the top 25 right now. I think they’re a good team. They shoot the ball well and they rebound well. They play hard.”

On the team’s 1-8 record:

“I hope it pays off for us, especially when we get into conference play. Right now you do these things because you want to play the top teams to help your team develop as we go along. I feel like we’ve developed a lot since the first time we played LSU. We’re a better team right now. I think we’re a better team than we were three days ago when we played at Arizona State. That’s what you have to do: continue to improve and I think our guys have improved quite a bit.”

On the first half of play:

“These kids won’t back down. They’re kind of resilient group. I thought KU had some really big shots. They had a nice run there, but I thought our guys just hung in there and played well. Our bench is not playing very well for us right now. When we started going to our bench, it hurt us a little bit. With our first five or six guys, we can play in leagues like this; like the Big 12 and the Pac 10 that we just played a couple days ago. But once you start going deeper into your bench, that’s what gets you in trouble. We’ve got to build up a stronger bench, but give KU credit. They’re good guys and Coach Self does a good job coaching them.”

On playing a zone defense:

“I thought the two-three zone gave them some problems. We watched them on film earlier in the year. I think it was Washington and Syracuse that gave them some problems with the two-three zone. We’re not long like Syracuse and Washington, but they adjusted to the zone pretty well tonight. They shot the ball well. They pushed the ball and got some quick baskets before we could get into the zone. They got some threes in transition and that really helped them out.”

Jackson State Player Quotes

Junior Forward Grant Maxey

His thoughts on the game:

“We played with a lot of heart and determination. We knew that Kansas was a Top-25 team so we wanted to play well. We have been playing big-name teams throughout non-conference season and we wanted to prove that we could play with anyone in the country.”

On playing nine-straight games on the road:

“We are tired but we aren’t drained yet. We are used to this. I have been doing this for three years. We are tired but we know how to rest our feet when we can.”

On Kansas pulling away in the second half:

“We know that all teams are going to go on runs, but we just have to minimize the number of runs they get in a game. We just ran out of gas and Kansas kept going all-out. “

On playing in Allen Fieldhouse:

“When the fans get into the game Kansas gets an extra boost. We tried to keep the fans out of it and keep it a close game. The fans are really good here and they are the sixth man.”

On his performance:

“I wanted to come out strong and be aggressive. I tried to let the game come to me. I felt that if I could hit some shots then I would make things easier for my teammates.”