Missouri Head Coach Quotes
Jan 15, 2005 | General
Opening statement...
“What I told our team before the game was that the team who played the toughest and the hardest would win. We talked about how this was a back to the wall’ game for K-State. It needed to be that way for us. Our pysche has been fragile. When you aren’t making shots, you have to dig in defensively and we didn’t have the same defensive tenacity. That showed in how we lost the ball and we were a step slow. Not making shots affected our resolve. We don’t want to be reliant on the three, but you have to take some. We just have to recognize when we aren’t making them. We didn’t finish and we didn’t get to the line.”
On team’s shot selection...
“We looked like we did in November, although we were better in some ways. If our shots had gone in, it would have been a close game. We don’t have perimeter guys driving to finish in the lane. Because the shots weren’t falling, it looked like we were taking bad shots even though they were wide open. Defensively, K-State collapses and closes the paint. I’d like to see us at the line. We have had success before in getting to the paint and getting fouled.”
On team’s inability to get to the line...
“They did a better job in getting to the free throw line than we did. At times I want them to take it stronger and not look for calls or help [from the officials]. We have got to be tougher; we need to be tougher mentally. We have to find out what gets us there and works for our team.”
