Postgame Quotes

Dec. 15, 2007

Recap | Box Score | Notes |

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas 88, Ohio 51<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

December 15, 2007

Postgame Quotes

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

On the game:

“The guys played pretty well. We had some athletic plays. It is a great building. I think this place will be jumping for the Big 12 Tournament.”

“This was the first game of a very important three-game stretch. Georgia Tech is very good. They have their best player eligible for the second semester – Ra’Sean Dickey, who is a big load inside. Miami (Ohio), our fans won’t know this, but everybody tells me they are really, really good. We need to keep getting better and hopefully we can finish up pre-Christmas on a good note.”

On Mario Chalmers:

“He is playing great. He is playing the best since he has been here and he is doing everything. I got on him at the start of the game. He didn’t guard the way the scouting report said he was supposed to guard. That kind of stuff just drives me nuts. I took him out and he went over there and said `I’ll show you coach’ and sure enough, he did. He is remarkable that way. It wouldn’t be a game if I didn’t get on Mario at the start of the game.”

On Russell Robinson:

“Russell was terrific. He didn’t score a point in the first half until the very end, but he still controlled the game. We are so much better when he pressures the ball.”

On being unselfish:

“Especially, when you run a lot of ball screen stuff where you can get shots off the drive. So for the most part we shared it pretty well.”

Junior guard Brandon Rush

On the game:

“I think we’ve come together pretty well. We’ve got everybody back and everybody is healthy. We are starting to play good basketball right now. We are sharing the ball and getting the ball down low to our big men. It felt good to come out here and get a win against a good team. It was good to be home for the first time in about a year.”

On his performance:

“I had a lot of open shots. My point guard did a good job of getting me the ball, that’s why Russell (Robinson) had 11 assists.”

On the keys to the game:

“Coming into the game coach told us that they bang down low and they rebound the ball pretty well. We out-rebounded them by 19. We played our type of game and we got the ball down into the post to Shady (Darrell Arthur) and Darnell (Jackson).”

On making his first start of the season:

“I was motivated because this was my first start and it felt good to get out there. We set the tempo early and I made some open shots and tried to help the team out.

Senior guard Russell Robinson

On playing in the SprintCenter:

“It was great. The first thing we said when the game was over was that we can’t wait to get back there. I loved it. We got to see the College Basketball Experience last night which was amazing. We can’t wait to get back here for the Big 12 (Championships). I was completely impressed with the place.”

On jumping out to an early lead:

“It is very important because it gets everyone going and gets the other team thinking. We don’t want any team to think they can play with us. We try to knock that out right from the get-go and be able to play our game.”

On the game plan:

“We wanted to get Brandon and Shady going. We got them the ball and got them some good looks and set the tempo early.”

Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur

On Ohio:

“They (Ohio) were banging a lot down low, but I thought we did a good job clogging up the middle because they were kind of small. We just made them shoot over us and kept them off of the glass.”

On playing down low:

“Coach told us that they have two good post men. We just tried to go out there and box them out as best we can. They were small so we had the advantage and we had to go and get it. We had to match their intensity and guard the ball. We put them out of their comfort zone. We played pretty good defense and took their guards out of the game. We took their big men out and oversized them down low.”

Ohio Head Coach Tim O’Shea

On Kansas:

“They shot the ball tremendously well. They pretty much overmatched us at every position. In most games we play, we can score inside readily. Against a team like Kansas, where the size differential is so great, they took that away from us. We really had to shoot lights out today to make it any semblance of a close game. I think the fact that we beat Maryland; Kansas came in today very focused to play us. If we had stumbled in here and had not been perceived as a potential threat, it probably would have been a little different.”

“I’ve watched a lot of tape, and I thought they were at the top of their game. What we really needed them to do was to be cold from the outside and we had to stay in the zone. On the other end, we had to be hot from the outside. We had some decent looks from the corner but we just didn’t make any shots. They were superior to us in every way. We had to play our `A’ game, and they had to play a `D’ or a `C’ for us to have a shot.”

“Multiple guys on that team are going to have careers in the NBA. I’ve watched a lot of basketball this year, and there are three or four teams that could win the National Championship. I think its Kansas, Memphis, UCLA, and North Carolina. From a talent standpoint if we are talking about future NBA players. I think Kansas may have the most. We knew what we were up against when we came in here. When I scheduled the game last year, I was hoping most of those guys would have turned pro, and of course, they all stayed.”

Ohio Senior Guard Bubba Walther

On the game:

“We watched a lot of film from (Kansas’ game against) DePaul last week. Yeah, they are No. 3, but I have watched a lot of games this year and I feel they are the best team I have seen on film and now having played them. They are just more talented than us. We tried to hang with them, but our strength is inside, and their strength is all the way around. They just took away our strength. Their transition points killed us.”

On rebounding:

“There was one possession in the first half when (KU) had four rebounds. When we beat Maryland the other day, we got every loose ball, every rebound. To go along with their talent and their size, if they were going to outrebound us, they were going to blow us out, and they did.”

On being taken out of their game:

“It wasn’t that we weren’t able to get into what we wanted to. Frustration set in, but it wasn’t because we couldn’t get into what we wanted. We didn’t hit a lot of shots. That’s to their credit for their ball pressure. In the MAC (Mid-America Conference), if we get those shots, we probably hit them because we are not having athletes like that running at us. That was the most frustrating thing.”

On Kansas:

“Top to bottom, I don’t think at any position we can say we are better than them. It showed today, and now we have to bounce back.”