Feb. 15, 2004
Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder
On the game...
"Obviously that was a solid effort by our guys. I thought that Jason Conley's play off of the bench was terrific; Kevin Young also gave us energy off of the bench. There was a lot of talk in our huddles about defending and rebounding, it is something we have talked about, and I feel our guy's have taken ownership of that. It is more of a focus for us, and it showed tonight. We really attacked the offensive glass in the first half."
On Thomas Gardner...
"The thing that is most important to us is his energy and toughness. He is a warrior out there, like a Kevin Young. We need to play with emotion, and when things don't go your way it is harder to be emotional. That has been evident this year ... in the close games that we lost. Thomas has a live body and a live heart."
On Jason Conley...
"He really is good in transition and on the open floor. The play that stands out was the pass to Thomas for the dunk on the fast break. That pass was cross-court that hit him in the hands. His defense has been what I have been on him about, and he has played better."
On A.J.'s scoring...
"We want to go to A. J. all the time. He got twenty shots tonight and that is a lot of shots. I would like to see him get to the free throw line more."
On a clean slate...
"We have had a lot of rebirths this year. We just have to keep improving, and for us we need to focus on the things we can control and not the things that we cannot control."
On Iowa State...
"Well the biggest thing is that they beat us the last time that we played them. We were ahead late in the game, and I thought that their zone bothered us last time. We have seen a lot more zone since then, and hopefully we can attack it better."
On his increased playing time:
"I can do more things if I have time to do it. It feels really good now. In the past I was saying that I could do it, now I'm actually doing it. I'm getting very confident with what I'm doing now."
On the progression of the team:
"This feels so good now, not only on a personal level, but we've won two games in a row and I can't remember the last time we've done that this season. I always tell myself that when times get tough don't ever give up. When you don't give up, things like this happen. There were a lot of tears, but when you love this game as much as we do and when things aren't going your way, there's going to be tears, but that's what makes this time feel so good."
On play of Jason Conley and Thomas Gardner
"Jason [Conley] stepped into the role of running the point position pretty well for us tonight. He played aggressively and that's how you need to play. Thomas played with a lot of emotion, he got some big dunks and he made his open shots and played defensively."
On today's scoring effort:
"We've had games when I've been on or Rickey's been on or Jason's been on. We hadn't really had a game where we were able to put it together collectively, and today we proved that when we play defensively and rebound we can get it going on the offensive end."
On how he feels about being a young player:
"I feel like I'm a freshman in school, but on the court I'm just a ball player. I go out and I play with confidence and I feel confident that my teammates and coaches are confident in me as well."
On taking on a leadership role:
"I've always been able to be a vocal leader on the court and to go out and play my best. The older guys listen to me, but while I'm trying to teach I'm also learning from all the guys at the same time. It's a natural thing for me, I've always been able to give advice and take it."