Mizzou-Kansas State Postgame Quotes
1/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2011
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Kansas State Head Coach Frank Martin
Opening Statement...
"We had bad turnovers. ItÂ?fs not like we were aggressive, it was just lackadaisical travels - forced plays trying to go one-on-one, lazy passes, lazy cuts. YouÂ?fre going to turn it over a couple of times against Missouri, itÂ?fs what they do. But when you have bad turnovers you might as well just put a basket on the scoreboard."
On what decided the game...
"You canÂ?ft dig yourself such a big hole. We were pathetic defensively in the first half and we werenÂ?ft much better on offense. We were casual, we missed layups and open shots. When you dig yourself a big hole playing a very good basketball team at home where theyÂ?fre hard to deal with, when you dig such a hole, itÂ?fs hard to overcome. We cut it to three, and then they came down, took a shot and missed. Jacob [Pullen] was just standing around and so they got an offensive rebound, pitched it out and made a three. We come down and make a three, they have another miss and Will Spradling has a rebound in his hands and he canÂ?ft hold onto it. They throw it out to Kimmie [English]. We go over that [in practice], that Kimmie can shoot. Rodney McGruder, instead of going to guard him, which we drill every day, turns and runs away from him. Then he makes a three and IÂ?fve got to call a timeout, and we just couldnÂ?ft get it after that point."
On Henriquez-RobertsÂ?f play...
"I donÂ?ft know if IÂ?fm proud, but IÂ?fm pleased. Like I told you guys the other day, heÂ?fs got that in him and IÂ?fve got to get it out of him. IÂ?fm not talking about the points, IÂ?fm talking about the energy with which he played... IÂ?fve got to get that out of him. ThatÂ?fs where when I tell you IÂ?fve got to do a better job with this team, thatÂ?fs what IÂ?fm talking about. IÂ?fve got to get better play from him, and IÂ?fve got to make him improve. HeÂ?fs got a lot to give and itÂ?fs my job to help him understand how to give it."
On his halftime speech to the team...
"That itÂ?fs a shame. But then I told them, seven or eight days ago we were a vulnerable basketball team. Part of it is our youth, part of it is that our feelings were hurt, and we started doing some things to rectify the problem. Like I said, it starts with me. I told them at half, we didnÂ?ft play well or whatever, but now itÂ?fs over. LetÂ?fs go play media timeout segments, and letÂ?fs win each segment. We won the first three, but we lost the fourth and thatÂ?fs when the game got away from us."
On whether youth affected the game...
"All our guards are young, and none of them were very good. There was bad decision making, but thatÂ?fs where youÂ?fve got to rely on your upperclassmen, Jacob [Pullen] and Curt [Kelly] and Jamar [Samuels]. I thought Jamar gave us tremendous energy, and I was disappointed in Jacob and Curt, but itÂ?fs not their fault. IÂ?fm the one thatÂ?fs allowed it to get to that point. IÂ?fve got to continue to do my job better. We used to go into these kind of environments, weÂ?fd have grown men. Denis [Clemente], Luis [Colon], [Chris] Merriweather, Dominique [Sutton]... they were grown men. Those guys understand the game plan, they understand the challenge at hand. In the first half, Jacob never brought the ball up for us. It took us three minutes to realize that theyÂ?fre pressing when thereÂ?fs a dead ball. I thought we went over that yesterday in practice, but maybe we thought we were playing Syracuse that plays a 2-3 zone or something."
Mizzou Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement...
"K-StateÂ?fs a great team, this is a good win for us. Our players gave a good effort tonight and it was good to protect our home court. I also thought we did a good job of spreading the ball around. We also did well to force turnovers. Coming off a close loss on Saturday, I was happy that our players were able to put that game behind them and play well tonight. We know that conference play is a 16-game season, so we want to improve throughout the year, and tonight was a good start."
On the TigersÂ?f reserves...
"When we bring in our second unit, we donÂ?ft look at it as a drop-off defensively. We had a lot of good performances off the bench, and weÂ?fre starting to see more players work their way into the fold. Our bench players made good contributions to shut down their starters."
On Phil Pressey...
"ItÂ?fs always nice if your guards can score, but Phil had three assists and four steals today, which really helped us to develop our offense. He made crisp passes offensively and it seemed like he was always nagging their guards and putting pressure on them on defense."
On withstanding K-StateÂ?fs late surge:
"TheyÂ?fre a very good team, and we knew they would make a run at the end. I thought our team showed a lot of heart to keep playing tough defense when they started scoring late in the second half."
Phil Pressey
On improved 3-point shootingÂ?c
"ItÂ?fs just pretty much hard work. Marcus sees me in the gym and I practice every day and I see him like every day. I donÂ?ft hope it goes in - I expect it to go in - so if I miss one, I keep shooting and if I make it, itÂ?fs the same thing."
On being more comfortable on the courtÂ?c
"In the beginning of the year the teams werenÂ?ft as good so I was comfortable then, but once that game at A&M that first half was the most pressure and craziest atmosphere IÂ?fve ever been in. So after IÂ?fve experienced that and gone through that, IÂ?fm starting to get more comfortable in playing with the Big 12. So I think once I get situated and comfortable it makes it a lot easier."
On BowersÂ?f dunk on his passÂ?c
"Defense started it. Coach A has been preaching this whole entire year that good defense leads to good offense. So once we got that stop on defense, we had a transition and that defense led to a highlight reel. So the more defense we play the more you all are going to see highlights."
Kim English
On rediscovering the ability to finish gamesÂ?c
"WeÂ?fve had opportunities this year where we have been right there. Like Georgetown we shouldÂ?fve, Vanderbilt and Oregon we did, Illinois we did, A&M we shouldÂ?fve. We gave away some games but the mark of a good team is being able to finish games in the waning moments. So we always talk about and replay the [losing] games over and over in our mind, so when weÂ?fre put in a situation when weÂ?fre not playing against the team anymore, itÂ?fs the clock. So we just had to finish the game. And thatÂ?fs how it is in this league - thereÂ?fs not going to be too many blowouts in the Big 12."
On attacking the basketÂ?c
"Yes we always attack. Until it gets to where you obviously have to hold it, but any number weÂ?fre trying to attack because teams can catch fire quick."
On this being a stabilizing victoryÂ?c
"ThatÂ?fs tough. 1-3 is tough but in the Big 12 you have got to take care of your home turf and go steal some on the road. We dropped two opportunities on the road but you canÂ?ft dwell on losses and you canÂ?ft get too up on wins. It was a quick turnaround after the game at A&M. We had to come back and win this game. This was a big important game. We have a hungry Iowa State team thatÂ?fs coming in here on Saturday. We have to refocus and regroup and get ready for that."
Marcus Denmon
On defense being an important factor in Mizzou winsÂ?c
"Yeah I feel like it is. We did a lot of things that we always try to do today - we turn the opponent over and play up-tempo basketball. I think thatÂ?fs some of the things we did today."
On Phil PresseyÂ?c
"When Phil comes in for Mike we donÂ?ft lose anything. I mean he is a good player. WeÂ?fve seem him do it every day in practice and I feel itÂ?fs something weÂ?fre accustomed to. He was playing really good basketball even when he did get hurt, right before he got hurt, and heÂ?fs been working hard to get back and now that heÂ?fs back itÂ?fs really good to have him out there."
On the 3-pointerÂ?c
"I think it was a pretty big shot because it was kind of a scramble it was off a loose ball. Sometimes it can be demoralizing when you play really good defense and you stop the team and they get a shot and itÂ?fs a loose ball that gets deflected two or three times and we come up with it. I just was open and I try to knock every shot that I get open down."
