Post Game Quotes
Dec. 11, 2004
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Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“We made shots, but I didn’t think that we played that well defensively at all. We didn’t rebound the ball. To me, it was probably the worst game we played all year. In other games we didn’t make shots and the game was close, but we were still playing better. We didn’t have the alertness tonight that a good team should have. Keith (Langford) played really well and J.R. (Giddens) got us off to a good start, but it was a poor performance by us. We should have had more pride playing on the defensive end and rebounding. We will certainly have a lot of things to work on before we play again. I got angry at them at halftime because we didn’t play very well in the first half, we were just able to hit some shots. We came out in the second half and gave them three offensive boards. We just weren’t alert. There were a lot of good things that happened tonight, I am not trying to be negative.”
On the bench:
“I was hoping to get a little more from our bench tonight. We tried to educate those guys to not lose focus and get bored with the game. This was an opportunity for them to earn minutes. I didn’t think that the guys who were in at the end of the game performed as well as I would have liked them too. The freshmen have not stepped up like I had hoped they would. I wish those guys would play with the energy and passion that they should. We have simplified things so that they can remember what to do. Right now, we go through phases where we don’t play with the right intensity and effort. We will get better, but those guys had the chance to stake their claim tonight and they didn’t take advantage of it.”
On Alex Galindo:
“Alex is a good offensive player, but he has got to get better defensively for us. He has not had a chance to play much, but he has a knack for getting the ball in the basket. He is going to get some shots when he gets in the game. I was happy for him to get out there and make some shots.”
Sophomore Guard J.R. Giddens
On the game:
“My teammates were getting me the ball and I was making shots. I think it was good for some of our other players to play tonight because if they step up now, it means they can step up at the end of the season when it really counts. It was a team effort tonight, everybody hit shots. We played good defense also. Whether we are playing one of the highest rated teams in the nation or not, you still have to make baskets.”
Freshman Forward Alex Galindo
On his performance:
“I felt pretty good about my effort. I think I got my confidence back. I had a great week of practice and hopefully now I will get more playing time. I was kind of down on the way I was playing, but now I can see myself helping the team more. When I get in the game, I know I have to rebound, screen for others and hit shots. Making shots is not my first priority when I get in the game. Shooting is what I do best and it made me a lot more comfortable after I made a few.”
On making his first three-point basket:
“It was very exciting. I was 0-7 before I made that shot. The first one went in and it felt good, so I just kept shooting. I really feel good that I made most of the shots I took tonight. I had lost a little bit of confidence in my shot, but tonight I got it back.”
Senior Guard Keith Langford
On the game:
“I think it was good to get some floor time out of guys who really haven’t had a chance to play as much. The first half was fun for me. The shots I took went in. When guys were open I still tried to find them. I would have been fine even if I wouldn’t have played in the second half. We expected it to be a fast pace game. We had a feeling that if we played that way, we would be pretty successful.”
On the team’s improvement:
“We have continued to improve all season. I think that the improvement is coming from practices. Coach Self does a good job of trying to make the practices a lot harder than the games. We did seem kind of stagnant at times, but we will continue to get better. We have a tough opponent in South Carolina, but we will be ready for them. I am looking forward to the week of practice.”
Louisiana Lafayette Quotes
Louisiana Lafayette Head Coach Robert Lee
On the game:
“Kansas is an extremely good basketball team. They took us out of everything we wanted to do. We didn’t do a good enough job of closing out on their shooters and then once they got a lead going we started to rush things and got away from our game plan. They (Kansas) basically dominated the basketball game. I thought we had good practices. We tried to execute our plan which was to run our motion offense, take the shot-clock down to fifteen seconds, and then run a set from there to try to limit their possessions. Shooting is a question mark with our team. We don’t have enough guys that can just jump up and make shots.”
On Keith Langford:
“Langford had 19 points at half-time; we just didn’t do a good enough job of guarding him. We let him go around us and he was getting wide open shots. Even when we were in a zone, we let him penetrate. We just didn’t compete well enough on the deffensive end to have a chance against a team like this.”
On Second-Half Defense:
“We had trouble all around. We couldn’t contain the dribbler and we couldn’t keep them off the glass. When you can’t do those things all you can do is reach around and foul. We’re just not very good defensively right now.”
On Playing Kansas:
“Unfortunately it was a situation where a team had dropped us and we needed two games. The only teams who were looking for games at that time were teams who could really play. We had some second thoughts about coming here. Playing a team like Kansas is difficut to handle. As a coaching staff we have to make sure that mentally it doesn’t break our team down. Hopefully, we learned something tonight and now we have to go back and practice some things and get better.”
