Missouri Player Quotes
1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
On being ready to play:
"In the first half and the beginning of the second half we came out and we were ready to play. We were focused and Coach [Snyder] had talked to us before the game so all that stuff was fresh in our mind when we went out there and it's the same thing at half-time. You come out there after half-time and the coaches have talked to you again so everything is fresh on your mind. Throughout the game I think we let some of that stuff slide past and it ended up hurting us."
On playing in Lawrence, Kansas:
"It was tough, especially for me last year as a freshman. I've heard about that and everything, the atmosphere, but until you play in it you never really know. The fans down there are great and it's a real home court advantage for Kansas. We expect to go down there on Monday and have a hostile crowd. We just have to try and block that out and focus on the game."
On taking extra practice after the game:
"I feel like tonight I let my team down a little bit. I had open shots and open looks, they did a good job finding me and I just wasn't able to knock the shots down. In order for me to be able to knock those shots down I have to get extra shots up in practice and everyday. I just feel like it's my duty to give back to the team what they give to me everyday by giving me the ball to shoot. In order for me to keep that confidence I have to work on my shot."
Missouri sophomore Linas Kleiza
On his mentality for the rest of the season:
"We don't have anything to lose. We don't have anything to protect. We just have to go out there and have confidence in ourselves and just play hard, just play ball. I don't know what else to tell you, we just have to keep our heads in. Nobody expects us to win so we don't have any pressure on our backs."
On the team having confidence:
"I have confidence. I have confidence in my guys and I hope they have confidence in me. We're so young and we're going through adversity and stuff like that that nobody has experienced before. Don't forget, we don't have five seniors out on the floor. We've got a lot of freshman. Our point guard is a freshman and I'm a sophomore. People forget that. People think I'm a senior. I think we still have confidence in a lot though. We don't have anything else to do. What are we going to do, quit right now? I don't think so."
