Mizzou 91, NW Missouri State 58
10/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 29, 2012
Missouri vs. Northwestern Missouri State University
October 29, 2012 - Mizzou Arena
Missouri Head Coach Frank Haith Quotes
On start of game ....
"The first 12 minutes of the ball game we played just about as well as we could play. We were getting out in transition and limiting it to just one shot, and that's how this team has to play to be very good and we saw glimpses of that with Earnest (Ross) and Keion (Bell) and how physical those guys were."
On redshirt junior forward Earnest Ross...
"He can shoot for a guy his size and, with his physique, you wouldn't know that he could have that kind of touch; but he can shoot the ball. He's worked really hard at it too. He even sat out a year and became a really good shooter."
On redshirt senior Keion Bell...
"He's a great athlete. He can play with some poise. We need both of those guys (Bell and Ross) to cut the turnovers down. I think both of those guys turned the ball over too much. You know first game out, first time out. Like I said, we had a spurt where we played outstanding. But you know, then you're up 30. That's what we don't want to see from this basketball team, that slippage."
On senior forward Alex Oriakhi...
"Alex is a great and reached our expectations with him doing a lot more offensively than he's probably done in the past. We had Ryan Rosburggo in after he got into foul trouble and he became passive, that's not who he is. We need him to be aggressive and obviously Tony (Criswell) and Laurence (Bowers). It was nice to see Laurence get out there and I thought he had a nice game."
On rotation of different players on the team...
"Well I think we have to play a lot of different combinations. It's exciting though. I think I'm looking forward to having those pieces and the versatility on this basketball team."
Northwest Missouri State Player Quotes
Alex Sullivan, G
On moving forward...
"Going right into the game our offense was real shaky because their athleticism is definitely more dominant than ours. I mean, now we know what we need to work on. I keep repeating it, but we just need to take that away from this game and work on that and prepare for the next game."
On the Tigers...
"They were fast and they were strong too, real athletic. We really did struggle with rebounding because we weren't putting bodies on people and with their physicality, they were just outdoing us. It was real tough, but we just need to play harder next time.
Mizzou Tigers Player Quotes:
On his performance shooting the basketball...
"This year I've really been working on my jump shot and my defense. That's what I take pride in. In this offense I'm going to get a lot of open shots with Phil's (Pressey) ability to create in the lane, and so knocking down open shots is going to be important for this team. It's something that I'm going to have to do and it's something that I take pride in."
On playing in his first game for the Tigers...
"Being out there playing my first game in front of the Zou was a great experience for me. I just want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us, I'm just glad we were able to get the win."
On the offensive weapons surrounding him this season......
"With the new guys we have coming in like Earnest, Keion and Jabari along with the rest of the freshmen, only time can tell how good we can be. We're going to work every day, and I think we can have a terrific season."
On having Laurence Bowers back on the court......
"It feels really good having him back. When he got hurt, I guess it was kind of a blessing in disguise for me, because now I get to play with him another year. He's a big part of this team and it's great to have him back."
Northwest Missouri State Head Coach Quotes
Thoughts on the game…
“It wasn't very pretty to start, you know they jumped on us right away, which is what a team like that is supposed to do. Our eyes were pretty wide open. We weren't real focused on what we needed to do. We were more focused on everything outside of that and that's what happens. I have been on teams where we have gone into bad teams and been down 25 to 30 to 0 because your eyes are wide open but this is a really good team and at that point you just got to hang on for a little bit so you can start executing and doing the things you do in practice.”
On how to get the team focused…
“Well whenever you are going to play these kinds of players, first off, the issue with that is that we didn't play hard to start the game. We played scared to death. If you don't (play hard) and not only are you out-talented considerably but when on top of that when you don't play hard because you are scared to death, it becomes that much worse and the snowball effect. We couldn't stop the bleeding.”
On this game being a teaching tool…
“I think once we got inside, and when we started establishing that we started. We got to get DeSean Cooper healthy. Again, that doesn't prevent us from playing hard and going inside and we just didn't do a good job of that.”
On Mizzou's athleticism…
“Athletically, they are really good. They really shot it good tonight. I guess the guys we played as shooters didn't shoot well and the guys we didn't play as shooters shot it. I guess that's coaching. Their defense is pretty good, they are pretty athletic and we didn't move the basketball very well on ball screens, and they mixed up their defenses some. I think we will have a counter to the switch later in the season, and then they start hedging and we will be able to start exposing things inside. They are real athletic and I think he does a good job coaching.”
Mizzou Tigers Player Quotes:
Earnest Ross, Guard
On his performance shooting the basketball…
“This year I've really been working on my jump shot and my defense. That's what I take pride in. In this offense I'm going to get a lot of open shots with Phil's (Pressey) ability to create in the lane, and so knocking down open shots is going to be important for this team. It's something that I'm going to have to do and it's something that I take pride in.”
On playing in his first game for the Tigers…
“Being out there playing my first game in front of the Zou was a great experience for me. I just want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us, I'm just glad we were able to get the win.”
Phil Pressey, Guard
On the offensive weapons surrounding him this season……
“With the new guys we have coming in like Earnest, Keion and Jabari along with the rest of the freshmen, only time can tell how good we can be. We're going to work every day, and I think we can have a terrific season.”
On having Laurence Bowers back on the court……
“It feels really good having him back. When he got hurt, I guess it was kind of a blessing in disguise for me, because now I get to play with him another year. He's a big part of this team and it's great to have him back.”
Northwest Missouri Player Quotes
Alex Sullivan, Guard
On moving forward…
“Going right into the game our offense was real shaky because their athleticism is definitely more dominant than ours. I mean, now we know what we need to work on. I keep repeating it, but we just need to take that away from this game and work on that and prepare for the next game.”
On the Tigers…
“They were fast and they were strong too, real athletic. We really did struggle with rebounding because we weren't putting bodies on people and with their physicality, they were just outdoing us. It was real tough, but we just need to play harder next time.
