K-State Coach Quotes
Dec 07, 2005 | General
Head Coach Jim Wooldridge
On stopping forward Jason Smith...
“I thought we really got after him pretty good in the first half, and that was obviously a focal point of what we wanted to do defensively. We wanted to make it hard for him to catch and when he caught it we wanted to have other people available to help guard him. He is a driver, an outstanding driver, and a ranging driver, so we had to bring other people over there. Then he got into foul trouble and that had something to do with him not playing. I just can not take anything away from our guys and how they approached that assignment. I am just really proud of them. Akeem Wright started on him. Akeem has been our stopper. He’s been the guy we go to when we need a perimeter guy guarded.”
On Akeem Wright playing...
“I just talked to him, and he is going through a very difficult thing right now. He said Coach, I really wanted to play a really good game,’ and I said You did. For what you are having to deal with right now, you played an outstanding game.’”
On using David Hoskins inside...
“He is a tough guard in there. He really is and we went to him as much as we could. We didn’t turn it over when we tried to get it to him. I thought in the second half he really played well. We have to get him going earlier. He is a very difficult guard down there. He is strong and he is quick.”
On taking the ball inside...
“We kept telling our guys to go to the rim. We shot 26 percent, and a lot of those shots were right there. They were high percentage shots. We shot a couple that you have to categorize as ill-advised. But overall, we were right at the rim. That was a big part of the game plan. We thought that we could attack the press and get by some people and get to the hole. The free throw line was good to us tonight it was the best part of the game tonight. That was what our game plan was to attack the basket.”
