Quotes
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2010
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Colorado vs. Missouri
Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Mo
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Head Coach Mike Anderson Post-Game Quotes
Opening Statement:
"Once I got the stat sheet, I had to kind of back up on what I said to my guys in the locker room, because they really played well. We got better tonight against a Colorado team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I thought we were a tremendously efficient team tonight, and no matter who came in the game, I thought they really brought energy and the defensive mindset that contributes to the offensive end. I thought we started inside-out, and that's why you saw a better percentage of our three-point shots, because those shots are coming due to the action of attacking the basket and kicking it out to guys who step in and knock shots down. [Marcus] Denmon continues to play well. I think he scored 22 at their place, and scored 21 tonight. The thing I like about it is he's doing a lot of different things and not just settling for jumpshots-he's getting to the free-throw line and getting in the lane. JT Tiller-since the Colorado game at Colorado you've really seen his impact on our basketball team. When you talk about a guy flirting with a triple-double-and he should have had that, you can blame that on me, I didn't know he had 9 assists when I took him out-but he plays to win. I think that's the thing about our basketball team, you can go on and on. Miguel Paul gave us some great minutes, then Justin Safford goes down and Steve Moore gets an opportunity to step up and do some good things for us. We're getting contributions from a lot of guys, and that's a good thing, especially at this time of year."
On Justin Safford's status:
"I'm sure they'll probably get him to the hospital for an MRI tonight, so we'll find out. He just came down on it wrong."
On how the Tigers are playing:
"We're playing good basketball. I like how we're playing and putting games together. I thought we had a good second half. That's the hardest thing to do, when you get a big lead, your guys need to stay at that level of competition, and they did that. We stretched our lead to almost 30 points. I thought they were intense, they were making plays, making stops. We're getting a lot more guys to contribute, and that's a good thing. I think the leaders of our basketball team are starting to emerge."
On the K-State game Saturday:
"It's going to be a big game. No question about it. We were fortunate to pull out a win here. They're one of the hotter teams playing right now in the country-they're playing really, really well. You've got [Jacob] Pullen and you've got to deal with [Denis] Clemente, they've got a lot of guys playing really well. They're very physical and they attack the glass, which is not one of our strong points, but it's something we're going to have to get better at if we want to stand a chance."
Missouri Player Post-Game Quotes
On how easy the win over Colorado was for the Tigers...
"No game in the Big 12 is easy. You just have to come and play every night. We just wanted to protect our home territory. I can't tell you how it looked from the bystander standpoint. I just know we went out there and we played very hard and everything fell our way tonight. But we can't take anything away from Colorado."
On his awareness of nearing a triple-double...
"Not really, I wasn't aware. I just looked and saw I had nine assists. I'm kind of mad Coach (Anderson) took me out. But whatever it takes to help the team win, that's what we've got to do."
On whether he believes the Tigers are where they need to be at this point in the season...
"Yeah, I believe so. We're getting better every time we step on the court, whether that be in practice or in the games. I think we're right where we need to be."
On whether Missouri may have overlooked tonight's game vs. Colorado....
"I feel that it may have been possible for some people. We focus. We try to come out and we know every game is important. We just want to come out and get better. We didn't want to look past Colorado knowing we've got Kansas State coming up on Saturday. We had to play this game first and that's what we did."
On how the team will practice tomorrow...
"We're going to do the same thing we always do. Get back and practice tomorrow. Go hard and work on getting better. We want to come out and take care of business this weekend."
On his higher intensity level more recently...
"Honestly, I just started playing harder. It's getting down to the end of the season of my senior year, so I'm going to start leaving it all out there."
Head Coach Mike Anderson Post-Game Quotes
Opening Statement:
"Once I got the stat sheet, I had to kind of back up on what I said to my guys in the locker room, because they really played well. We got better tonight against a Colorado team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I thought we were a tremendously efficient team tonight, and no matter who came in the game, I thought they really brought energy and the defensive mindset that contributes to the offensive end. I thought we started inside-out, and that's why you saw a better percentage of our three-point shots, because those shots are coming due to the action of attacking the basket and kicking it out to guys who step in and knock shots down. [Marcus] Denmon continues to play well. I think he scored 22 at their place, and scored 21 tonight. The thing I like about it is he's doing a lot of different things and not just settling for jumpshots-he's getting to the free-throw line and getting in the lane. JT Tiller-since the Colorado game at Colorado you've really seen his impact on our basketball team. When you talk about a guy flirting with a triple-double-and he should have had that, you can blame that on me, I didn't know he had 9 assists when I took him out-but he plays to win. I think that's the thing about our basketball team, you can go on and on. Miguel Paul gave us some great minutes, then Justin Safford goes down and Steve Moore gets an opportunity to step up and do some good things for us. We're getting contributions from a lot of guys, and that's a good thing, especially at this time of year."
On Justin Safford's status:
"I'm sure they'll probably get him to the hospital for an MRI tonight, so we'll find out. He just came down on it wrong."
On how the Tigers are playing:
"We're playing good basketball. I like how we're playing and putting games together. I thought we had a good second half. That's the hardest thing to do, when you get a big lead, your guys need to stay at that level of competition, and they did that. We stretched our lead to almost 30 points. I thought they were intense, they were making plays, making stops. We're getting a lot more guys to contribute, and that's a good thing. I think the leaders of our basketball team are starting to emerge."
On the K-State game Saturday:
"It's going to be a big game. No question about it. We were fortunate to pull out a win here. They're one of the hotter teams playing right now in the country-they're playing really, really well. You've got [Jacob] Pullen and you've got to deal with [Denis] Clemente, they've got a lot of guys playing really well. They're very physical and they attack the glass, which is not one of our strong points, but it's something we're going to have to get better at if we want to stand a chance."
Colorado Head Coach, Jeff Bzdelik
On effort this game... "The effort, we didn't play very well defensively. Let's give Missouri a lot of credit for their play and their effort and the way they come at you. We missed a couple lay-ups and then it was 13-2 and they just kind of kept it going. Defensively, we weren't very good. Missouri was just a half step to a full step ahead at every position tonight."
On future games against this style of play...
"You've got to make lay-ups and you can't turn the ball over. We turned it over several times and it was unforced, the ball just turned over, you've got to be smarter, you can't run and hide from the ball, and you have to be ball strong, all the things that we've been working on the last few days we didn't do. Their slapping at the ball and we let the ball get away from us. It really just comes down to toughness. The toughness to be ball strong, to go meet passes, to break to open areas, toughness defensively to get to the people in front of you, toughness sprint back harder, toughness to block people off. I mean all these things add up throughout the course of the game."
On post game message...
"I'm very disappointed in our effort defensively, and I addressed that."
On difference between home and away play...
"I mean it just comes down to all those things I just talked about, you've got to make lay-ups, you've got to finish lay-ups, make shots, you can't turn the ball over and be better defensively and better on the boards. All those things add up."
On Keegan Hornbuckle...
"Keegan's a heck of a talent. He's just not in very good shape because he hasn't been able to do a lot with that shoulder. He needs to push through fatigue, and he needs to get stronger."
On positive outcomes of the game...
"I thought at times we moved the ball a little bit better than the last game."
On making a stand before the Big 12 Tournament...
"Before we can win we have to play better basketball, and that has to happen on Saturday."
