Mizzou vs. UMKC Post Game Quotes
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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MIZZOU HEAD COACH KIM ANDERSON
Opening Statement....
"Obviously we didn't play very well. I thought we had trouble attacking their zone. We had some open shots, and we didn't make them. They did a good job of causing us to foul. I didn't think it was necessarily always fouling the driver, but I just thought we were a step slow and I don't know why. You have to give them credit, I think they came out and set the tone for the game. We spent the whole night on our heels. It seemed like every time we got close in the second half, we couldn't make the right play. We either turned it over or missed an open shot. The good thing about college basketball is that you have one day to prepare and if you go feel sorry for yourself, you'll get beat again. We have one day to get ready to play Valparaiso and we'll do that tomorrow."
On whether or not he agrees that the team just doesn't have a feel for each other yet...
"Yeah I think so. I think they did a good job. I'm going to give them credit. I thought that we had shots, to be honest with you. That was obviously something we had seen in practice or in the two exhibition games. I thought we played tentatively against it, and we didn't have anybody other than `Teki' who we could get into the middle of the floor to make a play. We struggled on the baseline. It was more like a three-man game out front, just passing the ball around. We couldn't get the ball down to get a good shot. And we missed shots. We missed 18 three-point shots and they weren't all good shots, but a lot of them were and we just missed them. I think they did a good job of keeping us off-balance and I think that was probably the key to the game. I do think that a couple of times we had a chance to do something and then we would make a mistake."
On how disappointing it was to not have fixed mistakes since the last game...
"We talked about this in the exhibition games. We're still trying to find ourselves offensively. Tonight, we didn't do a good job even defensively at times. They shot 29 free throws and we only shot 16. That's the game right there. They did a great job of getting the ball in the basket. It's disappointing, but I believe in these guys. They're young and they haven't played together much. You could see this in the UMSL game. What we have to do is come out with more intensity. The way UMKC played put us back on our heels, and we missed some shots early on and missed some free throws. We just didn't play well, but I think all of that is correctable. We have one day to correct it."
MIZZOU PLAYER QUOTES
On the loss to UMKC...
"We just didn't come out and match their intensity. They came out playing very hard and we were just a step slow. The chemistry wasn't all the way there and we were missing shots, so it was a little bit different for us. It's disappointing, but it's still a learning process. We have a lot of young guys and a lot of new faces so we are just trying to pick things up and find the problem and try to fix it."
On UMKC's defense...
"I think we were just a little off our game. It wasn't necessarily the type of strategy they had to guard us, we were just not as ready to play as we should have been."
On UMKC's Martez Harrison...
"Harrison is a great player. He plays with great pace and controlled the floor for the most part. He dominated in the second half with the ball screens. We didn't guard him as well as we should have."
On UMKC's defense...
"I think at the beginning they kind of extended their zone so it was hard to get open shots and it was a little bit harder to get the ball inside. When we did get open looks, we didn't hit them."
On his first college basketball game...
"With any game, it's just a learning process. Regardless of if its your first game or your last game, we all have to understand and need to be accountable. We need to take it back to the first step."
UMKC HEAD COACH KAREEM RICHARDSON
Opening Statement...
"It was obviously a defensive battle, both teams defended very well. It's very exciting for our guys to come out and play like we did on the defensive end. I thought we struggled offensively, because it took us awhile, and we picked it up. I am really pleased with Martez. I feel he did a great job throwing down free throws. He shot fifteen out of sixteen of his free throws. We shot 80 percent as a team, which was great for us."
On how does tonight's result feel...
"First game in, Coach Anderson's team is a lot similar to ours in terms of new pieces. He is a new coach, so he is trying to get his thing squared away. I won't sit here and try to fool anybody, this is a big win for our program, but it can't be the biggest for us this year. We just have to keep building, and we look forward to our next challenge at Kansas State."
On anyone on Missouri's team that was important to stop...
"I thought all three of their guards are really good. Clark, Shamburger and Isabell, all those guys are tremendous scorers. We had to get back in transitions to stop those guys because they are fast on the court."
On how well UMKC handled Missouri's front court...
"On both ends of the floor, I thought Shayok gave us a great lift on the offensive glass, and Broderick Newbill defensively did a really good job. One guy we have been on about rebounding is Frank Williams. Tonight, I am really proud of the effort he gave. We scramble a lot, and we may not be the biggest or the most athletic, but we must do it by committing."
UMKC PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Martez Harrison
On how big of a confidence boost this game can be..
"It's really big, to piggy back off of what Coach said. With a lot of new guys, it's a big boost not only for me as a captain, but for us all."
On forcing Missouri into being a jump-shooting team...
"That's Coach's call. He's a great coach. He tells us to pressure the basketball, and to go out there and have a lot of fun and that's what we try to do."
On how important getting to the free throw line was tonight...
"It was really big, going back on last year, I didn't shoot that well from the line. That's one thing the coaches always preach to me before practice and after practice to stand out there at that free throw line, because it is very important as a leader on this team to knock them down."
