Joe Katich Quotations

We set the game of basketball back 100 years tonight. We got guys doing one-on-one's. Urbandale played like a team tonight. We certainly didn't do what I taught them to do.

He was under control, he was making 3-point shots. He was the difference in the first half.

He gave us a lift. He was huge for us last year, and when he hit those shots, he looked like that player we had last year.

He was our first priority; we just couldn't stop him. We just told Pat to play straight-up with him, and it didn't work. We were counting on the other guys having an off night, and they did.

We leave David close to the paint and let the other guys gamble a bit defensively. Usually, he'll deter enough shots underneath to make a difference down there.

There are a lot of heavy hearts in the locker room, but they gave me what they had. It wasn't a lack of effort.

You can't blame it on any one player. It was a team effort for a loss. I don't think we've played any worse.

We are taking baby steps. . . . It has been hard to get their confidence back. We were a damaged team after last Friday night and we needed to get our feet back under us. It wasn't pretty tonight, but Southeast Polk will make you play a game that is slow and rugged, and I thought we responded pretty well in the second half.

The second half we decided just to let it all out and run up and down the floor. Trying to match them basket for basket - we did it, but the problem was we had an eight-point deficit at halftime.

This is the only place we've had trouble at all year. Unfortunately, we had to win a big game on their floor and we just couldn't get it.

The better team won. Johnston put forth a great effort on our home floor. I was disappointed we came out in the first quarter and didn't play the defense I expected us to play, but hats off to Johnston. I thought a number of their kids really played their roles well.

If you like offensive basketball, it was a good game to watch. I wasn't sure either one of us wanted to play good defense. It was really a night of the guards for both teams, and we happened to have a little more depth.

In the first half, we stayed patient against their zone so we got some different looks at the basket. We didn't have to put up shots from outside and we were able to get the ball underneath to generate points.

In the tournament, most teams aren't going to be playing 75-, 80-point games. The games are slower, more conservative and we need to work on our man-to-man defense. We're capable of playing it, but we've got to fine-tune.

The first half was just a complete reversal of the last time we played them. I thought last time was a fluke in terms of how we played, but our kids have really improved.