Post Game Quotes
11/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2011
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
AP Photo Gallery 
|
Photo Gallery
Head Coach Frank Haith
Opening statement...
"In the first half we played very well offensively in terms of sharing the ball. I thought defensively we weren't quite where we needed to be. We had 21 deflections. But this team is very good at it, when we get deflections we convert those things pretty good. And we had two or three of those where we deflected the ball and they ended up getting them. So, I don't know if we were quite on our game at that point in time. We made some minor adjustments in how we guarded their style. Their style's a unique style. They got us on a couple of back cuts early. But I thought our guys adjusted well, and obviously these three guys [English, Ratliffe and P. Pressey] played very well for us."
On the team's impressive shooting percentage...
"We say it all the time, and Marcus worded it at the last press conference: `great shot, good shot.' And I think it's important that we continue to understand that. And we were almost too unselfish to start this ball game. We were passing up. And I had to tell Marcus, `You understand, I want you to shoot when you're open. When you're open, you need to shoot it.' But it's still a fine line. He and Kim, when they get a rhythm going, he's going to take a couple shots, because that's what guys do when they have a game like he was having. I think with Ricardo, when you put guys in the position where they know they're going to get the ball, I think it's a little different. He knows when he's going to get the ball, he knows when he's got to post because of whatever we're doing, from an execution standpoint. Now you're aware and you're ready to score."
On Kim English's shooting...
"In terms of him, he's absolutely right when he talks about when you're in the post, doing what we're doing offensively, you're catching the ball coming away from screens as opposed to running off screens. Although there will be some stuff we put in our offense for him, even as a forward, when he's going to come off screens. I think the way they played offense last year was all catch and shoot. Now there's more movement so your footwork is a little bit mechanical. In terms of mechanics, pointing your toe and doing your work early. He understands that."
On English responding well to structure...
"Guys want to be coached. These guys want to be coached. They're hungry for it. And when we talk about the structure, I think there was always a misunderstanding of what kind of structure we were going to have. At Miami, we didn't walk the ball up the court. We were an open court team. Obviously we've got players who are good at it. Now we had to readjust a little bit when Laurence went down, but these guys have been great at understanding what we want to try to get accomplished."
On Phil Pressey...
"Phil tonight didn't take a shot. We want him to be a threat offensively. He can still impact the game at a `ha-ha level' and not take a shot, that's what he proved tonight. He had 11 assists, and I think he had three steals. He has to be leading us on steals for the year. Obviously he's very, very important to our success offensively, what he did out there tonight without taking a shot. I think he's doing very well. We talk to him about not playing the scoreboard, not trying to embarrass your opponent, it's about being solid and being solid throughout the game. He's had some of those moments over the year, there's no doubt about it. I think he's gotten better and better each game."
____________________________________________________________________________________
On distributing the ball to the hot hand... "That's the key thing I try to do; find the hot guy. When you've got guys like Kim [English], Marcus [Denmon], Michael [Dixon] and my brother [Matt Pressey], you've got to get them the ball. I try my best to do so." On his no-look, over-the-head pass to Ricardo Ratliffe... "I saw a couple of guys running and I just threw it. I was taught never to save the ball at the opponent's basket so I threw it at our basket. Luckily Ricardo was running and we got the bucket."
Kim English, Guard
On the strength of his fundamentals this season...
"I worked with our coaches a lot this fall, especially, on my footwork. I'm changing to a four position, I'm backing into a lot of shots, so my footwork has to be on point because balance is so important in shooting jump shots."
On his outstanding game shooting the basketball...
"You never know. You never know when you're going to get into a full state. It was going for me in the first half but those are shots that Phil, Ricardo, Steve [Moore] and Marcus were finding me. They were shots we literally make 1,000 times a week after practice. I wasn't focused on those. I was upset [Binghamton forward] Ben Dickinson had ten points at halftime."
On similarities between this team and the 2008-2009 Tigers...
"Two really selfless teams, the only difference is that we all have spots we need to be at and Coach [Haith] gives us freedom out of that structure. My freshman year, we had 100 percent freedom. We were just really, really unselfish. Add that selflessness with the structure. I love it."
Ricardo Ratliffe, Forward
On leading the Big 12 in shooting percentage...
"It feels good. I'm shooting from in close - mostly hook shots and lay ups. Those are shots I'm supposed to make. I work on those all the time and my teammates are finding me at good angles at the basket to make it a lot easier."
