Kansas Postgame Quotes
Dec. 28, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 63, Detroit 43
December 28, 2006
Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“I thought our defense for the whole game was pretty good. We did a poor job on (Brandon) Cotton on the last possession in the first half, and the first ten minutes of the second half. After Brandon (Rush) started guarding him, we did a great job on him. Brandon was as key of a player as anybody at that point of the game. He totally took him (Cotton) out the last seven or eight minutes of the game. Our defense was good. We took care of the ball. I thought in the first half with eight minutes left, we played pretty well. We just didn’t make any shots. We missed all of our free throws and we didn’t finish the half good offensively at all. They had long possessions and we didn’t make the most of our short possessions. That totally takes away the momentum.”
“Mario (Chalmers) was terrific. I thought Brandon (Rush) showed a lot of courage in the second half. He was as sick as a dog. I thought Russell (Robinson) made some good plays and Sherron (Collins) was good off the bench. I am not leaving here disappointed, but I am leaving here thinking why can’t we crack people when we get an opportunity.”
On the run to finish the game:
“With the exception of a few possessions late in the game, I thought our execution was excellent. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively. Sasha (Kaun) makes a difference out there, he totally took (Ryvon) Covile out of the game. We still have a lot of things to improve on. I am not leaving here tonight knowing it was a great performance.”
Kansas Player Quotes
Sophomore Guard Mario Chalmers
On the layoff from Christmas break:
“I don’t think we were sluggish. We came out well, but we just had a stretch late in the first half when we weren’t making our shots. People seemed to lose their confidence during that stretch, but we came out in the second half and stepped it up.”
On the tempo:
“I don’t think it was about not having tempo. We just weren’t hitting our shots and getting the easy baskets that we usually get. I think it was just hard in that regard.”
Sophomore Guard Brandon Rush
On his game:
“It wasn’t the flu that affected me. I don’t think I came out motivated today. I started out real slow, but I picked it up in the second half.”
On the game:
“I think it is good to play teams with losing records sometimes to movitate our minds to come into every game with the mindset that it is a big game. I don’t think we did that tonight, but it the second half we picked it up and blew the game open. They limited their transition a lot and our speed game didn’t work very well tonight.”
Sophomore Forward Julian Wright
On the drought:
“We were getting the ball where we wanted to, but we weren’t converting our lay-ups. We were missing shots that we practice every day and usually make. In the second half we talked about getting stops so we could put ourselves in spots where we are used to making shots. Things started to open up and we started making shots. We wanted to execute down the stretch and that is what we did.”
On the team’s rebounding struggles:
“Coach was pretty upset at halftime. He told us that we weren’t crashing the glass. We have a lot of confidence in our offense and hitting shots, but when our shots aren’t falling we need to put ourselves in positions to hit the glass and get rebounds.”
Detroit Coach Quotes
Head Coach Perry Watson
On the game:
“I’m proud of the fight that my guys showed against a team that is as talented and as well coached as Kansas is. I thought that we were able to hang in because we defended and were playing hard. I think that (Mario) Chalmers was the difference. He made big shot after big shot and really played great defense.”
On keeping the game close:
“We wanted to keep battling no matter what the score was. I was pleased with how we were defending and rebounding. When they called (Ryvon) Covile for his fourth foul we became really small up front. At that point they (Kansas) really drove the ball inside and really hurt us.”
On playing Kansas:
“They are one of the best defensive teams in the country. I’m proud of our effort and how we handled the defensive pressure.”
Detroit players were not made available after the game.
