Bill Self Quotations

The other thing our offense wasn't very good last night at all. If the offense isn't very good, I think you are better off playing your best defensive team the majority of time. That also could factor into the equation why those guys didn't get in the second half.

We've actually played better away from home. Our four road games are the best games we've played all year. Our fourth-best home game hasn't been as good as our worst road game.

We're in good shape with that. Our grades have been good. We're in good shape in that area.

We're not going to say, 'OK, you guys have done great, but this is a totally different now. We'll approach it the exact same way. We'll try to keep the guys loose, and they should be because they're fairly confident.

We're spoiled with the crowds we get here. We can't blame the crowd for us being dull, because we didn't give them much to get excited about. But I expected it. It was a sandwich game.

What happens on the Internet is some (players) are sensitive and some guys aren't. Some guys look at that stuff; some guys don't. The guys that don't usually perform better.

We're still playing better physically than we are mentally.

We were a team kind of just flapping in the wind and floundering around, not because they weren't trying but because we hadn't found ourselves yet. I knew we'd get better. But I didn't anticipate us coming together and having a surge like we've had here since we started conference play.

We did not do all the things that we should have done. Basketball isn't like football. You don't base everything on one game. You base everything over time, and there were certainly some things that we did out of character.

We have put this situation behind us. The district attorney statement speaks for itself. We will have no further comment on this matter.

Losing to Missouri and K-State ... a lot of people thought that ruined our season. But we hung on to the positives. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs, but I'd have to think we're on an upswing right now.

Last year was probably as tight as I've had a team going into a tournament.

Last year, there were the seniors and then there was the rest of the team. This year, because we're so young and everybody's kind of an unproven commodity, everybody's about the same. I do think this is a closer-knit group maybe than we had last year.

Of course it is a big deal. But they don't need to go in thinking, 'Hey, this is our chance. This is a big, bright stage,' or anything like that. They just need to go in thinking about the same things they've been thinking about for the last couple of months.

One thing they will do will be to provide our league with styles created more off of pressure, both offensively and defensively. That's something we haven't had much of. Facing different styles will help prepare teams for the post-season.

Personally I think it was a heck of a college basketball game. The crowd was great. Both teams competed their tails off. Plays at the end of regulation and overtime ... it was just unfortunate for us they made the last play.

I wish coach was here. I hope he gets to feeling better. He's done more for this school than anybody could ever imagine.

If we'd played man, he would have had 25 points.

If we play like that against a Big 12 team on the road, you're going to get beat. There are 10 wasted opportunities a game. If we can't get our wasted possessions to three or four, then we don't need to run like that. We need to execute better, keep our turnovers down.

If we didn't make those outside shots today, it would have been an ugly offensive game. You have got to make shots when teams do that.

I don't how many lead changes there were or ties, but there were a lot.

I believe when you recruit a perimeter player, you're recruiting for him to play one of three spots.

Certainly it will be a stretch for him to be effective on Sunday -- if he is able to play at all. He did the splits.

Certainly, from my stand point, this was sweeter than any of the other (victories) that we have had this season because we started (Big 12 play) 1-2. We were 1-2 and not very good, but the guys got confidence and the young guys grew up and we got pretty good late.

Based on reports we received on campus from housing and academics, he has fulfilled requirements to check out as a student and is presently in Spokane, with the intent to attend Gonzaga. Micah will be issued a release to visit with (Gonzaga coach Mark Few) and attend Gonzaga University.

I hate that for anybody in the profession. Sometimes administrations have to make decisions that benefit more than just an individual. I wish if a decision had come to this it would have been after the season. I would hope he would be given an opportunity to at least finish the season if there was going to be a change.

I hated to see this happen. I'm not convinced he made the right decision.

From a coach's perspective, if I watched Jim Wooldridge's team or Rick Barnes' team, it makes a difference. Your job is based on how you do with the potential that you have. That's why I think Jim is a great coach. I think Kansas State is one of the best four teams in our league in the last half of the Big 12 season.

From my standpoint, this was sweeter than any of the other ones that I have had, because we started 1-2.

I don't think we played with the same energy we did last night. We did what we needed to do but certainly we can improve in a lot of areas.

I don't think we played with the same energy we did last night. But we made shots. ... Yesterday we made three shots outside of 6 feet for the game. Three. Today, if we did not make shots, it would have really been an ugly offensive game.

I expected it to be tough, and this would have been a great atmosphere no matter what. Usually, when Kansas comes to town it adds spice to the game. When we don't play well on the road, our chances aren't good because usually teams are pumped to play us.

I don't think panic's set in by any means. But in fans' minds, they're thinking it's awful early to be struggling this much.

For us to have the worst league start since (1983) and then go 13-3 is probably more gratifying than if we had started out 10-0.

If we allowed them to play well, talent was going to prevail, and we allowed them to play well.

I always have had the approach to try to be loose. Last year was probably as tight as we've been going into a tournament and I think a lot of it was we weren't playing well.

He is great. We had no answer for him.

He influenced me in all areas. Game management and preparation ... we still do drills identical to what we did at Oklahoma State. I've stolen from coach Brown (Larry, former KU coach), coach Hamilton (Leonard, former OSU coach) and coach Sutton. He's impacted me a lot. He stood for class. He's been a positive influence for me.

He had a good attitude when he wasn't playing and he came in and made shots. But he does more than just make shots. He is concerned with being well-rounded and he is doing better defensively. He is stepping up and making shots because he is feeling good about how he is playing.

He got a good one. If he was a boxer, they would have called the fight. I don't know how many (stitches) he will need, but he's going to need several.

He'll wear a splint when he's not practicing. (On the court) he'll tape it up and be fine.

What Micah and I visited about should stay between Micah and myself. What he said was consistent with his statements last week (about personal reasons to play closer to home).

We talked about this last night: How can you not respect somebody whose body feels worse than everybody else's in the gym every single day, and he practices harder than everybody else every single day?

Today couldn't have been scripted much better for Kansas. This did a lot for our program from an exposure standpoint. Playing well was icing on the cake.

He's a ball mover. It's not that our offense has been so slow ... we ran the same stuff when he was in the game and looked pretty good. Moving, cutting, being sharp, understanding how hard you've got to play, tighten every possession up, pay attention to detail ... he does that as well as anybody we have, if not better.

He's a good on-the-ball defender, loose-ball guy and forces help offensively. Now that he's not worried about making shots, he's shooting better. He's playing really well.

He's hard to guard because he's unorthodox. He doesn't have a good base yet. Guys can certainly dislodge him from certain positions.

He showed a play they ran to win a game in the last second with Danny (Manning). We talked about multiple things. He always asks about how everybody is doing here (at KU). He loved coaching here.

He's as well-liked as anyone we have and if anything, he's too unselfish.

He's a very versatile guy. Before he leaves KU, he'll be a guy who plays three positions.

He's been as good an ambassador for this university and the athletic program as anybody ever has -- maybe the best. Stop and think about all the lives he has touched along the way, people in western Kansas, or wherever, that have never seen Max but know his voice the first time they turn on the radio.

He was riding the stationary bike and running straight lines. Later in the week he should be ready to go.

He deserves it. If you're going to tie for the championship, you at least would have to get one guy up there, you would think.

He deserves it. If you're going to tie for the championship, I think you have to have one guy up there. Brandon certainly played at a level deserving of that.

Halfway through the second half, (the Raiders) were physically tired because we were able to throw a lot of bodies at them. We benefited from a travel day for them and them playing 45 minutes against Oklahoma State (on Saturday).

I would say that if you could try to sum up those guys' four years, and the emotions they have, and multiply it by 15, that would give you an idea of what it will be like for Max. I would think he will be very emotional.

I think it is fair to say that (the) winner of this game has a serious leg up on the other team. The winner of this game, if you are able to win a home game, is guaranteed at least a piece of it. There is not much margin for error.

I think that right there would be something to put Billy's crew in. They may still be on the bubble, but to my eyes (a win) would be the thing to put them over it.

I was disappointed in how we played not how we lost because Arizona's a great team. I thought we might be nervous and then Arizona's pressure set the tone early. Then we dug ourselves another hole we couldn't climb out of.

I thought there were some men playing against guys who were not as old tonight.

I think that game did a lot for our confidence. It doesn't guarantee we're going to play well in the next game, but we're probably in about as good a frame of mind as we have been in all year.

It gives everybody the impression that we didn't do that well. ... We had a good year last year. I don't think we should apologize for winning the league or finishing second the year before and going to the Elite Eight.

I think today, we got them pretty good. I think we really did a good job of controlling the game from the get-go.

I will not go on record with you guys and comment on something he and I have not talked about. I'll let the dust settle a bit so emotion doesn't make the decision. He had a great freshman year, not played as well lately. We all get spoiled. He had a great year.

I think these changes will be positive for the conference. If anything, I think they will enhance it. Look at what we're bringing in.

Jeremy has been left out in the cold more than anybody else.

Last week Keith complained of soreness is his knee. He had an MRI on Monday, which revealed some very slight cartilage damage. Keith, his mother and the medical staff then got together and decided to repair it now instead of having it be a nuisance throughout the season.

I think (conference tournaments) get teams (prepared) to play the whole year. I coached at Oral Roberts when it was an independent. Try telling those kids on Feb. 10 the rest of the season means something.

I think every team goes through phases where they don't play quite as well, especially away from home. They probably haven't played as well in the last two games as they had been, but we've had numerous games like this as well. I don't know if the recent performances by either team will have much bearing on the game Saturday.

I saw men playing against some guys that weren't quite as old.

Our kids didn't get to feel the way Texas felt (in the regular season). It was certainly nice to hold that trophy today.

Our fans were certainly disappointed and all that stuff. But I'm thinking, we have an extra day's rest and it doesn't hurt.

Our point guard and two-guard play has been average. That's not throwing anybody under the bus. We've just got to play better. When we do start playing better (at guard) I think our big guys will play better because they'll get more touches in tight at the basket.

Some guys play a little better when they are ill. Maybe the game slowed down for him a little bit. He made some plays that sparked us and really changed the game.

My personal opinion is that I don't want our point guard to be our biggest scorer. But if our point guard is our best scorer, we have to find a way to take advantage of that, and he is going to be involved in a very competitive position to see who plays the most minutes.

Mario had the big answers for us tonight. He had a couple of big three-pointers late in the shot clock.

Mario, Brandon and Russell all played very, very well. When they play well, they're about as good as any guards around, in my opinion.

Listen when I say that Baylor team is going to be heard from next year and in the coming years. There's a lot of talent there.

I won't talk to the team about that. I think that's pretty premature. If our whole focus right now is beating Colorado and trying to win the league, I don't think you bring stuff like that into it just yet.

I was very disappointed in our toughness. We were not very tough tonight.

I think Rondo is the best, most complete guard in the country. He has a unique way about him. He can change the game in one or two possessions because of his length defensively and his hands. That's something that we have to be prepared for.

I think he's just scratching the surface of how good he can be.

I think he'll be OK (for Friday). He just tweaked it.

I think he's a good person and good coach.

I think he did some good things. I don't think I'll do any cartwheels based on how anybody played.

I still think there's a lot of encouraging things happening. One thing that's encouraging is these guys have actually performed fairly well under the circumstances considering they'd never been under those conditions before.

I thought it was a physical game before the game started. I mean before the opening tip. I don't know that the intentional foul made it more physical. I think it made officials call more stuff after that.

I thought it was two teams playing really hard. I thought Oklahoma State played really tough and it rebounded well and pressured us out of what we wanted to do. We kind of did the same to them for awhile.

I thought Mario deserved third team, and I thought Russell (Robinson) deserved honorable mention, but there's a lot of other coaches that say the same thing about their players. Brandon certainly played at a certain level and led us from start to finish. He's deserving of that.

Julian's going to have some turnovers because of the way he plays, and we're going to have to live with some of them, but a couple of them, in my opinion, are just non-basketball-type plays.

Julian needs to play more. When he's played well, he's looked great. When he doesn't play well, he doesn't find a way to piece it together. It's been a feast-or-famine situation. He is getting more consistent.

Julian makes the game easier for others by getting them easy baskets. But he can also make the game more complicated than what it is.

Just because guys have been here before, they are not going to have the upper hand,

We needed a win like this. We've played better since Cal (a 69-56 win on Dec. 10), but we really haven't rocked anybody. But tonight we kept the foot on the gas.

There's not many things less important than the score at halftime.

Most every day — if not every day — for the rest of your life, you will be reminded or think of this night. And I want to thank you in advance right now for the great memories it’s going to be.

Desire outweighs footwork when it comes to crashing the glass

That was a great victory by (A&M). It gives us a chance.

That was big because people forget that Young was the guy who really hurt us in Columbia with 14 points and six offensive rebounds. I thought that (Kaun) played great post defense, and C.J., too.

I worried because I knew that Stinson and Blalock love playing here.