Bill Self Game Quotations

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

With the game evolving into so many ball screens and stretching defenses, you're so much harder to guard when you have a four man (power forward) that can be a threat from the perimeter as well as inside.

We were unsure even during the game do you trap him or not. Fortunately for us, we did not have to make those decisions because he had foul problems.

We didn't play with any energy all night long. This is the worst outing that we've had from an energy standpoint in quite some time. But I expected it. It was a sandwich game and we really didn't get after them like we could have.

We've been on a pretty good roll and certainly played a bad game tonight. Texas didn't become a bad team after Duke (a 31-point setback December 10) and we didn't become a bad team after these 40 minutes. We certainly aren't going to dwell on that.

The seniors set the tone early. They did a nice job and I told them afterwards they'll remember this one because they impacted the game as much as anyone on our team. They'll remember this game for a long, long time.

What are they, 6-9 in the conference? They could easily be 9-6 or 10-5. They are a good basketball team. Jim (Wooldridge) has done a great job with them and it will be a very difficult game for us.

To win a game like that against a quality opponent like that when you don't play well should give us a lot of confidence.

Brandon's got to be a playmaker for us. When you're shooting 60 percent from three, you need to be taking more than three a game. He should be taking eight a game and shooting 40 percent. That would help the team a lot more.

In front of the crowd, I thought they did a pretty good job. Julian was in a hurry. The game was in fast-forward (Friday night) for him. The others all had pretty good composure.

I kind of thought we would be a four seed before the game even started. We are not complaining at all about the seed. That is one of the negatives about playing a game that butts right up to the selection show.

The big guys were the better performers this game. It sure wasn't a typical game for the perimeter.

I don't think that game has affected him negatively. He's a mature kid, and he's handled it well. He's fine. But I do think that, at least initially, it hurt and hurt bad.

How can we base the season on one game when you're starting three freshmen and two sophomores? To me, that's something that we can't allow to happen. I'll encourage the guys, and I'll get on them. I'll be the same way I've always been.

It was huge, because we didn't play well at all. That's what makes great seasons ? when you figure out how to win a game when you don't play real well. Hopefully that's a start for us.

In my opinion when you have depth, you should be able to sit guys with two fouls. We subbed with nine minutes left and had a comfortable lead. We're playing to win the game first, not for a point spread. We're doing things that give us the best chance to win the game. (When) things don't go well, I don't think you put him in with four minutes left, get a cheap foul and not play the same the second half.

The game should have been cracked open earlier than it was. But we have a way of making things interesting.

That's one of the negatives of playing the game that butts up against the selection show.

We got after them pretty good. We did a good job of controlling the game from the get-go. At 16-2, I thought we were in pretty good shape.