Missouri Player and Coaches Quotes
2/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Missouri Senior Jason Conley
On his mindset going into the game:
"I wasn't thinking about the five game losing streak. I was excited, which was good. When you play so hard and put your all into something and come out on top it feels great. That's what I did and that's how we played tonight."
On Coach Snyder's half-time talk:
"He just told us that you have to fight. When we were playing in the first half there were some spurts. We started the game off alright, but we didn't fight in the first half. When I say fight, I'm not meaning throwing our fists, but getting physical. When a shot goes up you have to put a body on somebody."
On being down to Oklahoma:
"I wasn't thinking that at all. I looked up and saw eight minutes left on the clock and I said 'You know what, we still have a game here.' This team is capable of doing a lot of different things, so with that much time left I felt fine."
On breaking down the zone defense:
"This whole season every time we have seen zones, we think too much. Every time we catch the ball, we've been thinking too much. At times we try to pass it. There's too many passes. At times we'll look up and see that there's only two [seconds] left on the clock and we have to throw up something. Now, I think we're trying to be aggressive hitting the gaps and Thomas [Gardner] has been hitting some big shots for us."
Missouri Sophomore Thomas Gardner
On the win: "It feels good, especially against a team like Oklahoma. They came in here to compete and we were able to get it done."
On forcing Oklahoma turnovers:
"It felt good. I felt like I'd let my team down if I didn't get those stops. I'm probably the best on-ball defender on the team so it's my duty to step up and make sure I get the stop."
On team energy:
"It depends on how you take it. Our energy can really become contagious and be a helping hand for us, but on the other hand when we don't have it it affects our play. Tonight we started to get plays going and you can see your teammates give it out to you, you have to give out or you're not doing your job. Tonight nobody really wanted to be the weakest link, so we came out and were able to play off of our energy."
Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder
Opening Statement:
"I really challenged our kids at halftime I was disappointed that they didn't have the fight that you need to win but they showed a lot of character. If we're going to play one half it's better for us to play the second half than the first. I thought that tonight we really had a heck of a second half. We were physical, we rebounded the ball, we did all the dirty work , when you're playing that way sometimes you end up making more shots. Thomas obviously had a few big shots in the second half that got us over the hump. I thought that we played with a lot of grit today.
On playing against zone defense:
"Sometimes the game is really simple. I think that there are other things that our team hasn't done this year. Obviously there have been games when you get open look after open look and if you can't make it. We're running a lot of plays against the zone, our kids frankly we don't have great feel and the plays help us see where to go with the ball. Oklahoma adjusted but the guys did a good job kicking the ball back at them. Horton had 10 assists and two turnovers, Conley had seven assists. I'm still on Linas I want to see Linas lead or team in assists. He usually the guy in the zone that we're going to when you play the right way the shots go in and today we had guys, were you felt like saying `shoot it' because we had guys open. That's what you run into a little bit when you're trying to get guys to make sure they're taking good ones that affects their confidence. I'd rather have it that way than us jacking quick ones that obviously hasn't been working for us.
On Jason Horton:
"I think it was his best game by a long shot. The real reason was because it was a win and that's how Jason needs to evaluate his play. When his team wins he played well and does whatever he has to make that happen. That started with stripping the ball. I thought he did a good job defensively too; he had a couple of breakdowns when he was guarding their bench and let the guy drive to the bucket. For the most part he was really focused from here. He's been more vocal in practice he's getting more comfortable and the guys are getting used to hearing his voice which makes him a more effective leader."
On Kevin Young and Kalen Grimes:
"I couldn't have been upset with them after the Texas A&M. I thought they both got into individual battle, they both wanted to show Joe Jones who was boss we can't play that way. Tonight those guys defended their tales off. Oklahoma is known for being a physical team. No one was more physical than Kevin Young tonight."
On the last minutes:
"We're going to make it as interesting, as we can. The good thing about that is we made a play off a miss. That's the message we've been trying to send to our guys in all respects. If you make a mistake go make a play."
