March 3, 2000
On his history with Kansas:
"It's funny, I know I lot of their former players really well. They're great guys. I know what it is like to play in (Allen Fieldhouse). It's a tough place to play. (Duke) won the game (in 1988) in Allen, but as Chris (Piper) reminded me, we lost the other one in Kemper, which was the one that really counted. I've had a lot of respect for Kansas, their program and the people there for a long time. Larry Brown recruited me. I visited Kansas when I was in high school. I worked their camp. Duke recruited a lot of the same players (as Kansas)."
On preparation for Phog Allen Fieldhouse fans and the emotion of senior night:
"I think that we have the Oklahoma game. That's the benchmark to prepare us. I think our shot selection has to be better at the beginning of the game. You can't not have senior night- you can't move the game back to Columbia so there's a lot of things that we can't control that I think are big things. In light of that I think we need to make sure we can control some of the things that we have influence over whether it's us being in an attacking mindset or taking good shots early in the game, not turning the ball over, not giving them early momentum plays. We didn't do a good job of that against Oklahoma. I didn't think we were as ready to play. We've grown a little bit in the last couple of weeks through some tough games, some tough losses and some good wins. I think that will help us.
On a win in Kansas as a momentum-builder for the tournament:
"Winning in Kansas would be our hope. You've seen that happen where the game can give you a boost. I hope that happens. It's hard to imagine it's our last regular season game. It's a Sunday game against our archrival on their court on national television. It's kind of one of those scripted games. I think we have to play perfect basketball to win. I don't think it makes or breaks our season, but hopefully it can help it.
On down-playing the emphasis of the tournament seedings and focusing on the specific game against Kansas:
"It's just a singular game. I don't know how much all that impacts who you play in the tournament. You don't need to look too far beyond who you're playing to find meaning for the game.
On Kareem Rush starting the game:
"I think Kareem has been our most consistent scorer. Having him in the game at the beginning of the game certainly gives him an opportunity to do that. It's tough to score from the bench. I think also our team is beginning to understand more the importance of shot selection early in the game. Particularly on the road, that'll be a big thing in Lawrence. We've been on the other end of that a few times. Kareem's earned that opportunity. I talked to Brian about it and he said "Well I was about to come to you coach (about Kareem starting) which says a lot about Brian Grawer too, and it says a lot about these guys as a group."
On Kareem's effectiveness in the game:
"He can shoot so you have to come out on him. He's got a quick release and he's got the ability to use the medium range game, where if he can't get all the way to the goal, whether it's pivoting around you or a quick little pull-up. He's just got a nice touch around ten to twelve feet and it's hard to guard guys like that. His toughness with the ball is important. He's got to bring it at people. He's still learning how to do that- it's part of his growth. He can't have six turnovers like he did down in Oklahoma because he's being weak with the ball. He's got to be tough and attacking. I think he's got the ability to do that for a finesse player because of his strength. He's got great strength for a freshman. You look at him, he's lost a little weight but he's gained strength. His body fat's down since the beginning of the year, and physically he's got a man's body.
On Kareem's natural smoothness in the game:
"He's really smart. He's a bright kid. You give him something to work on and he'll master it. The fluidity comes from not having any holes in his game offensively. It's like a waterfall-you stop him one way and he'll go the other way, because he can. And there's certain things he's more comfortable doing than others. He takes what the defense gives him, and that's a skill that allows him both to do that and his intelligence that allows him to read what that opportunity is. It creates the perception or the reality of that fluidity. It's definitely there. He makes it look easy.
On dealing with criticism about being NCAA tournament worthy: "I think we should be in the tournament based on the numbers. That's what Mike Kelly tells me, at least. He goes to the web-sites and gives me the information. So in that sense it hasn't been distracting. I haven't been trying to figure that out. People are going to spend a lot of hours trying to figure that out.
On coaching a bubble team for the first time: "It's a little different. Last year we were wondering where we were going to get sent. It would be fun to get sent a lot of places. So that is different. It's incredibly fun though, to think that this team has chance to do that. All of you that were there in November have seen the tremendous amount of growth that's occurred with these guys both on individual's player's games and the fact that we're talking about Kareem. I think he's the Big XII rookie of the year.
The expectations and mindset remaining constant over the season: "There was the mindset that we need to improve. Check your notes from December. We really kept it that way, which allowed us to get as far down that line as we could. There was just so much to do. There were three and a half hour practices for a long time, and we finally have gotten to a point where we're prepared where we've gotten a lot of stuff in and now we're preparing a little differently. There was so much teaching that had to occur. It was almost like you couldn't tell what this team was capable of from a growth standpoint. There was so much to do. But I think they've been amazingly committed to that development. To see it culminate in some of these things and to recognize that improvement is really exciting.