Nov. 20, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Columbia, Mo. -
Mizzou Head Coach Quin Snyder Quotes
Opening statement:
"I think in the last three halves we have played before today, we had some slippage in the commitment to our identity and how we need to play. I hope everyone appreciates what a good team that was. I think they'll win their league and I think they'll be an NCAA tournament team. I just thought they were very, very good. They can score from a lot of different positions. They were very quick and they were confident coming in here because we had just been beaten. I thought our guys really dug down at half-time. Some of the disappointment I had was for our determination and our commitment to working together and playing hard, and our guys responded well in the second half. Jason Horton's leadership; he didn't make a basket, but he was invaluable. His defending of the ball, I thought, really wore them down. For Kevin Young to respond from what was a very, very difficult game for him both on the court and personally, he wanted to show people almost too much that he wanted to play. He kept it simple and I think you can argue that he was the difference down the stretch with the things he did inside. With Jimmy in foul trouble for the whole gane it was tough to take Thomas out. Those guys really provide our scoring punch on the wings. In evaluating where we had been I decided that we needed to make a commitment to the bench maybe before they were "ready." Those guys are going to get opportunities and if they do the things that my staff and I ask them to do, I think they're going to have success in helping our team succeed. I thought it was a great win, not just a good win. We've got a long way to go and a lot of work to do."
On the team free-throw performance:
"The game is all connected. When you're playing the right way and sharing the ball, diving on loose balls, cutting, passing and playing with energy, you're just more focused when you get to the line. The other night when we didn't shoot well from the line and I didn't think we were focused. I think there's just carry-over when you get to the line. It's very reassuring to see Horton hit those free-throws down the stretch. I thought he nailed the game down down the stretch. We spent the last few days working on everyone had to make 50 free-throws before they could leave practice."
On the play of Jimmy McKinney and Kevin Young:
"Thomas and Jimmy are our "play-through" guys. They're the guys that people are going to have to guard and they're going to have to make plays for other people, not just for themselves so they can draw attention. If Jimmy's on the post he starts to draw double-teams and kick it out to the guy that's open. In Kevin's case he has to be physical around the basket. I mean nine offensive rebounds is going to result in some baskets and that's the way Kevin is going to have to impact the game."
Northwestern State Head Coach Mike McConathy Quotes
Opening Statement...
"I thought they did some good things in the second half. I think they took the ball and took it to the hole all of a sudden. It was a little bit difference for us in the fact that we're not use to playing a team with so many people good off the dribble, and we worked on the team defense concept of taking the pass lanes away. I don't think we responded to getting two steps over or two steps back and keeping from them getting to the hole. That really was indicative of them just shooting so well, and getting the ball inside and doing a great job there. It was our inability to keep them in front of us."
On the huge difference in the free throw percentages...
"Well, it's very frustrating when you're on this side of the aisle, and you're coming to play a strong program. You got to understand that you have to make your breaks, and we'll talk about that a lot. We didn't take care of the basketball and put ourselves into a position to get to the line like we needed to. It's tough. My daddy said "don't get rolled around in the mud with it." It is frustrating."
On the difference of play between the first and second half...
"I just think we were relaxed. I thought we did a better job defensively. I think maybe it was just the situation that maybe we executed much better and it forced them to get easy buckets on us like we did on them. Our execution just wasn't as good, and I think we kept them a little off balance shifting defenses, and doing some different things in the first half. To their credit, they made the adjustment when we went to zone and we trapped a little bit in the first half, and we made the adjustment to try to do it in the second half. They adjusted well so I think that would be the difference."
On traveling by train...
"Well, I don't think anyone really understands the plot of Louisiana right now. Were not national news anymore, and I'm not whining or complaining, but it's serious. I mean its big time serious. The tennis shoes we got on, we can't buy anything. The only things we can do are travel and buy meals. I mean it is that serious. So when we checked the plane fair tickets, it was $300 cheaper to go buy train so do the math. That's a pretty good amount of money difference. The other factor though was when my assistant coach Mark Slessinger said, "look, we can do this." Great, let's do it because we felt we had enough time to move the game down to noon and it would give us an opportunity to give the kids something they've never done before. I felt when being in the train yesterday and being in the terminal, we had a five hour delay. We didn't leave Marshall until nine and we were supposed to leave at four. We slept on the floor, and I felt like honestly, in the dining car yesterday, the team eating. There's too many times today where everyone's fragmented and going every which way because there's so much going on. So, it ended up being a real positive thing. It needs to get back where it used to be twenty years ago. It's not about me, and for us to be successful that is the attitude we have to have.
Mizzou Player Quotes
On his play:
"We just run the plays, we run the offense and I pick my spots. My teammates did a good job screening for me, finding me and getting me open."
On Kevin Young's game:
"He stepped up big. Coach got on him this last week in practice and about him being a leader, he's coming out focused and leading us with emotion. Tonight he really came out there, he was a warrior. He had 17 points, a career high, and 13 rebounds. I think if he can do something consistently, he can help out as the season goes on."
On picking it up the 2nd Half:
"I think it was our energy. We really picked it up on the defensive end and we played off our defense. We got easy buckets, Jason [Horton] did a great job creating, getting Cap some easy dunks. We made shots and we defended well."
On the importance of the game:
"We knew that this was a big game for us, we were looking for our first win of the season and we wanted to bounce back from last week. Our whole mentality going out was `win.'"
On scoring:
"I'm going to get my chances to score. Some games I may not get any field goals, some games I might get 20 points. I just have to take it how it comes, I just have to stay focused and do what it takes to win. That's how a point guard is measured, wins and losses."
On Kevin Young:
"That's the best I've ever seen him play here. You expect that out of the other guys that play here, you expect that out of Thomas and Jimmy, so for Kevin to pick up his game like that, we're going to need him to play like that every game this year. It might not be the same numbers, but the effort that he gave was unbelievable. He just had a spark in him that sparked the whole team."