Bill Self Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Dec. 9, 2010
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LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Bill Self Weekly Press Conference
December 9, 2010
On the team shooting 57 percent collectively:
“I think we take really good shots and to date, we have gotten a lot of easy baskets. For the most part we take good shots. Against Memphis, if you have 14 turnovers to 22 then the game is going to be a pretty wide margin but we just didn’t do a good job taking care of the ball. We can score a lot more easy baskets if we were better passers. We have to get it to where we are passing better.”
On the versatility of the starters:
“What helps is you have five guys that start that can stretch the defense which opens up so many other things. Spacing is so important in being able to spread and stretch the defense. I think that is one of the biggest advantages we have when you have to guard all five guys. When you don’t have to guard but two guys to only 14 feet then it makes it tough to get the ball in tight.”
On the growth of Tyshawn Taylor:
“He has grown up quite a bit. He frustrates me, in a good way because I see potential and things that he can do. It is kind of like a quarterback. The quarterback can be playing great but then takes two plays off and not focus, well that’s 12 points going the other direction. Tyshawn can look so good and then just take a couple plays off and forget the moment, and next thing you know it allows the other team to gain momentum or get back in the game. I just think that is experience. When you talk about the most valuable players on our team to date, he has to be the guy. He is the one guy on our perimeter that can do what nobody else can do. He pressures the ball better than anybody, he can break the defense down and get guys easy shots. I think he has really improved a lot, but I see a really high ceiling for this kid. When he feels good about himself that is when he plays so much better.”
On the role of Thomas Robinson as a punch compared to Sherron Collins:
“As a freshman, Kansas State coach Bob Huggins said in conference play that Sherron was the second-best player in our league behind Kevin Durant, not the second best player on our team. I don’t know if Thomas can be that (guy) where other coaches are saying he is the best player in the league, but I do think that Thomas can be a guy that people look at us and say when he gets in the game, there is certainly no step off. In some ways he can be hard to guard because he is better at some things than Markieff (Morris) or Marcus (Morris) are. I love what he did in New York City. He probably should have played more minutes but that is not a terrible minute level for him because he gets going so hard and (he’s) a little wild when he doesn’t have the ball–and you can’t play 30 minutes that way. That is why I think he was so effective playing less minutes the other day and he got a lot done. I thought he was without question the best player in the game.”
On the team’s free throws:
“We shot it awful. It is the same team shooting it that shot 32 of 37 and 33 of 36 in the exhibition games. We have better shooters than what we are shooting it and Marcus doesn’t miss in exhibition and now he doesn’t make one, shooting around 50 percent the last few games, and he gets fouled a lot. If you take away Tyrel Reed off our percentages, we are down around 55 percent as a team. I also think that if you are an opposing coach looking at us they are saying, `well gosh if they start making free throws they will be hard (to beat).’ Free throws have not been an offensive weapon for us, and they should be for how much we drive the ball and get fouled.”
On Colorado State:
“I think they are pretty good. I think they have a nice team and like a lot of teams out there, including us, they look really good some moments and not as good other moments. Colorado got them last night in overtime. The thing about it is with Colorado that I think they are pretty good, and this was in Boulder. That right there tells me that they are very capable and Tad’s (Colorado coach Tad Boyle) group can really score. I think it will be a good test for us. I am sure the crowd will be good and hopefully sold out. We need to play better, we have not played very well the last week or so to be honest with you.”
On expectations of having a week off after Colorado State before USC:
“My expectations are no different than for any other game. We just have to get better. We practice today and tomorrow, so we have two days to work on a lot of things. Next week is finals week so it is really not a great practice week, it is a maintain week. Then you get to Christmas break and that is when you can really get better. This is a big game for us to keep momentum moving in the right direction even though we still haven’t played like we are capable of.”
On having Josh Selby before break:
“We will need the practice time. You have to practice full speed over an extended period of time before you can really fit in and help, especially if you have never been out there before. It is going to be different for him. The fact is that he has missed about 15 practices; it is not something you just jump in and don’t skip a beat. I think if we handled this right, players, coaches, everybody, we could see some vast improvement over Christmas break.”
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor
On the team shooting 58 percent for the season:
“We’re making shots. I feel like every time Tyrel (Reed) shoots it’s going in. If he keeps shooting at a high level like that and Marcus (Morris) steps out and keeps making big shots, we just have to keep shooting. It’s hard to guard us. When Markieff (Morris) and Marcus can step out (and shoot from the perimeter) and you have Tyrel, Brady (Morningstar), and myself on occasion, it’s hard (to guard us). I think when Josh (Selby) comes back it’s going to be even better because he can stretch (the defense), too.”
On what he wants to improve on:
“I think sometimes I make careless mistakes and turnovers. I think I have to be more tuned in for 40 minutes. I take plays off defensively and I have to be better at that aspect.”
On playing at the Sprint Center:
“The Sprint Center has been good to me so far, so I like it. I’m happy about playing in the Sprint Center. It’s cool. I like being away anyway. We have to get used to playing away. We have a road game coming up at Cal that will be our first road game. We have to get ready for playing away from Allen Fieldhouse. I think we’re kind of spoiled, honestly. I was comparing playing here to playing at Madison Square Garden and it’s completely different. I think it’s better that we play away more so that we can get ready for the away games.”
On Kansas being a part of the Champions Classic:
“I think that’s fun. That’s a good lineup of teams. To put it on a neutral court, you see who is the better team because the homecourt is kind of an advantage. That’s the type of stuff we live for. We like to see stuff like that.”
On how having Josh Selby on the court will affect the team:
“I honestly can’t really say right now. We’re just going to have to wait and see. I think Josh can help us a lot because he’s a good player. He can shoot he can create shots for others. I think he will be great for us. I think it’ll be however Coach (Self) wants to play him.”
On how he would handle being put in a position like Selby is:
“I think it would be tough for me personally. I think Josh has been doing a good job so far. He’s different than me. He’s been waiting for this. He’s got the confidence and we all have confidence in him too. So I think he’s ready.”
On if the hype about Selby is warranted:
“I guess it’s not really for me to say. He hasn’t played the college game (yet). It’s tough because people are expecting too much of him too soon.”
Junior forward Marcus Morris
On the team’s defense so far this season:
“Coach (Self) says the better you do on defense, the easier offense comes. I think it’s definitely the case where if you defend better, the less you have to worry about on the offensive side. “
On what he believes the post players need to work on the most defensively:
“Making it harder for our guy to catch the ball and force them to catch it out further from the paint. If they catch the ball in the paint, it is easier for them to score. There are not too many guys in the (Big 12) Conference, or even America, that can make decent post moves every time they catch the ball.”
On his free throw shooting:
“Before the exhibition season, I wasn’t working on free throws. Then we started working on them (in practice) and I started missing in games. That’s probably not the reason, but it could be.”
On if the media adds to the pressure of free throw shooting:
“It could be, but it’s probably not. It’s just knowing that pressure is on you every time you get to the line, that the team’s not shooting them (free throws) well, so you want to try to make them every time (you are at the line). We’ll get better as the season goes along.”
Sophomore forward Thomas Robinson
On Kansas playing in the Champions Classic the next three seasons:
“You can’t do anything but be happy with that. It’s games like that – against teams like Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State – that are classic games.”
On Coach Self saying that the team hasn’t played to its potential defensively yet:
“I agree with him; we could do better sometimes. We’re not as consistent as we could be. We’re playing 27 or 30 minutes of good defense a game and then the other part of the game we’re brain dead.”
On Coach Self saying that Robinson’s minutes against Memphis were ideal for him:
“I agree with him, but I also feel that I can be productive playing more minutes in a half.”
