Postgame Quotes
Dec. 11, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 76, Colorado State 55
December 11, 2010 – Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game as a whole:
“We were awful. Let that be your headlines. We didn’t play very good. We, as a team, have gotten worse over the last two weeks. We’ve got to get a lot better and we need to start doing it through practice. That wasn’t very good today at all. I’m not talking about just play, I’m talking about being mentally alert and paying attention too. That wasn’t very good.”
On why he feels the team has gotten worse:
“Maybe guys were playing at such a high level early on and they relaxed, I don’t know. That’s our job to get it figured out. There’s just no energy compared to where it was earlier. We’ve got 18,000 people here to watch us play and we came out flat. I still like our guys, but to me, it’s a situation where individually we’re not playing as well.”
On Marcus Morris’ injury:
“He just turned his ankle. It was a pretty good sprain; it was great he came back. It doesn’t hurt bad enough to miss practice. That’s one good thing about him coming back, we know he can practice. He’ll be out there.”
On the week off:
“It won’t be fun for (the players). I’ll have more fun than they will. But finals are the most important week of the semester, by far. That takes precedent and priority over everything else. We will certainly work around the academic schedule. But I do think we’ve got to get better this week. We won’t go more than a couple of hours a day, but we’ve got to get better. We’re getting ready to play a team on Saturday that might be the best defensive team we’ve played all year. (USC) will be fired up to play. They get a kid eligible as well, so we need to have a good week of practice.”
Senior Guard Tyrel Reed
On if it was tough to get into a rhythm offensively tonight:
“Somewhat, but we also created that ourselves. We knew (Colorado State) would play a man-to-man defense, we didn’t do as good of a job on offense as we should have. We also didn’t knock down shots either, so that did not help our cause. For a stretch in the first half we got out and pressured them, we made steals, so that helped us pull away a little bit. I think everything for us starts defensively.”
On if there is anything in the second half that helped them pull away:
“I think we were solid on defense for a stretch in the second half, that helped us extend the lead. We still need to have more energy and zest out on the floor.”
On if having a week off is something that they welcome:
“It’s a nice week off, just because of finals and everything with school. It will be good for us, we will be able to get in the gym and practice, and we have some things that we will need to tweak.”
On how adding Josh Selby next week will change the dynamic of the team:
“It will be good, I’m excited for Josh to come join us – I think everybody on campus is excited for him. I think he has handled this situation very well. It’s not going to be like he’s coming out of the blue and joining our team, he has been practicing with us for a while. “
Junior Forward Markieff Morris
On what he was thinking when Marcus Morris went down in the first half with an injury:
“I went over just to make sure he was feeling alright, just to see if he was going to be able to come back in the game. Coach Self came and told me later in the half that he would be alright, and he could come back and play.”
On Colorado State’s Center Andy Ogide:
“He played with a lot of energy. I watched some film on him, so that helped me out. He missed a couple of easy shots, but I think he played well.”
Colorado State Head Coach Tim Miles
On the recap of the game:
“I thought Kansas did a good job with their length and athleticism by getting out and pressuring. When we did drive I thought that their help was pretty good. I thought their defense was just fine. We finally just got down when they punched us after our first two baskets. I thought we started hanging our heads. Finally we got guys out there that got in a rhythm and got some stops. We need to get the rebounding under control. We’re small anyway and that’s something that we have to deal with. They bothered us inside. Our two inside kids were 1-5 and 4-13. We are usually better then that.”
On the rebounding:
“I would have liked to have kept it to five at half time. We started the second half by getting to the line. It looked like thing would have been all right, but we just couldn’t get them under control on the glass.”
On the effects of the two back-to-back Big 12 games:
“It has got to be good for us. Our league is good now; if you look we’ve got UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State and BYU. It just prepares us for our league. We had our chances on Wednesday to win at CU, and we had our chances to be more competitive tonight. It was just disappointing.”
On Dorian Green:
“I thought it was a special time when the crowd erupted and everybody was so gracious to him. He’s a special kid and a really good basketball player. We’re fortunate to have him. I thought it was a pretty good moment, and when he hit that three to start the game I thought he was a really good guy.”
Colorado State Sophomore Guard Dorian Green:
On his emotions:
“It’s frustrating, we didn’t play too well in the second half, but it was good to be back. It was a good experience to play a team like that.”
On whether or not he talked with Kansas players:
“Not really, once you get between the lines it’s all focus and trying to compete and win, so nothing too much.”
On whether or not he saw family and friends in the crowd:
“A little bit I did, but nothing too much. I was just focusing and trying to win. I knew most of them were coming, but I just told them to stick around after the game so we could catch up.”
On whether he will be back:
“You never know, that’s two years away so we will see where our scheduling goes. We are in the Mountain West Missouri Valley Challenge so we might get to come play Wichita State. In two years if we get the chance to do that I will be ready.”
On playing KU:
“It doesn’t matter who you are playing, you have to bring it, and we feel like the Mountain West is one of the best conferences in the nation, so this is like a league game. I think in the first half we proved that we could play, and in the second half they just (played more physical) than us and started hitting shots that they weren’t hitting in the first half. We also had a poor offensive night for the first time this year. All those things tied together.”
On how he felt going into halftime:
“In the first half we proved that we could play with anybody. We felt good and confident like we always do.”
On how much time he got to spend with his family:
“Not too much, when we travel we call it a business trip. We are going in and practicing and relaxing, and that was a big focus. Maybe tonight I will get to go out to dinner with some friends and family, but not anything before the game.”
