Kansas-Boston College Postgame Quotes
Dec. 23, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas 84, Boston College 66
Boston College Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Al Skinner
On the game:
“In the front court, it’s so important for us to rebound the basketball, so there is no question that injuries created some problems for us. The biggest thing is that they had 23 points in the first half off of turnovers and that is the difference in the ball game. We didn’t handle the ball as well as we should have and you can’t do that. There is no way you are going to win any games by giving up that many points and handling the ball as poorly as we did.”
On the quality of Kansas’ players:
“We’ve seen those before, it’s not the first time we’ve played against players of this caliber. We just didn’t handle the ball well and if we don’t we are going to have more nights like this. In the league that we play in there is all kinds of players like this, this isn’t new for us. I’m disappointed because I thought we would handle it better.”
On turnovers:
“If we learned nothing else it’s that we have to handle the ball better. Normally, we are a pretty good ball handling team. I thought there were times when we were careless. If you are going to win games on the road you can’t play this way.”
On Kansas’ 24-4 run:
“We didn’t handle the ball like we should and we let it get away from us. We didn’t execute like we needed to on offense. They had a lot of transition baskets and it made them feel very comfortable and got into a tremendous flow.”
Senior Forward Jared Dudley
Comments on being shorthanded:
“Injuries are a part of the game, this a real talented team and this was a real hostile environment. That is what college basketball is all about, their fans and this town.”
Struggles in the first half:
“Without Akida (McLain) it hurt us on the glass, turnovers killed us in the first half. Kansas always plays aggressive defensively, we could not get any calls, but that is how it goes on the road. They were the aggressor today, the better team came out.”
On the Kansas defense:
“They just keep coming at you, the refs let us play a little bit. We got out hustled, Sean Williams can’t block every shot. Then they went zone, and I haven’t seen Kansas play zone in several years.”
On the atmosphere:
“It is one of the best atmospheres, a college town, a lot of Jayhawks. I can see why a lot of people come here.”
Junior Forward Sean Williams
On losing two post players injury:
“I did miss my other big men out there, they have four big men that they are rotating in.”
Where do you go from here:
“We just have to learn from it, try and watch the game three or four times. See what we half to work on.”
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Bill Self
On the final eight minutes of the first half:
“We played zone and what it did was it kept us from fouling as much as anything. We made them earn their points and they went cold. We rebounded the ball very well in the first half. We got out and scored in transition, that was part of the scouting report. If we could just secure the rebound we would have numbers behind them, because they send four to the glass a lot. We were able to get a lot of easy baskets. That was probably the difference — we got easy baskets.”
On the tempo of the game:
“I thought we didn’t do a great job of dictating pace, but I thought we did a pretty good job. I thought our pressure was good early and they didn’t get a lot of good looks. But, we wanted the game to be faster and the officials called it so tight. Neither team got any rhythm, especially in the second half. We would have liked the game to be a little faster. We didn’t do a very good job in the last 10 minutes. (We were) trying to put the game away and be aggressive and still use the clock. There’s a fine line there. The guys did some good things, and I’m really proud of them. We practiced pretty well the last two weeks and I’m proud of how they competed. It was a good reflection of how we played today.”
On Brandon Rush’s game:
“I thought in the first half he was very aggressive. I thought he played well. I don’t know if it was his best game, but I thought he played well.”
On Mario Chalmers’ game:
“I thought it was Mario’s best game (of the season). I thought Mario was great. He got the ball where we needed to get it.”
Sophomore Guard Brandon Rush
On the zone defense:
“We have been practicing the zone (defense) the whole (holiday) break and I think we ran it pretty well today. We committed too many fouls early and coach (Self) was trying to save us, so he put in the zone and it turned out pretty good.”
Junior Guard Russell Robinson
On Sean Williams:
“(Williams) was by far the best shot blocker that we have played against this year — the best I have ever seen. He comes from no where and gets you. We did a great job of getting into his body and even after he changed a couple shots, we were getting easy baskets. He wasn’t much of a factor when we got out to a big lead.”
On holding the big lead in the second half:
“We don’t have that killer instinct yet, but I think that is something that is going to come. We had them down big, and no disrespect to Boston College, but this should have been a game that everyone was able to play in. We just need to keep working hard in practice, and I think that killer instinct will come.”
On KU’s recent practices:
“Practice makes perfect, and you play how you practice. We have been focusing in at practice and it has carried over to the games. We have been performing better, and we played a great game today.”
