Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Kansas Quotes
January 13, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
"We are very disappointed in how it ended. I thought we played well for the first 32 minutes, and then had a stretch there where things kind of fell apart for us, and we weren't able to regain our composure and that was the tell of the game."
On Players Playing As A Team
"It was hard to get them all on the same page during that stretch. I think our players have to be mature with each other, with our staff, and they have to be winners. Players have to realize that their teammates love them, that the coaching staff loves them, that we all believe in them, and if they start to do that, then we will be pretty good. A lot of it is just going back to old habits, but if that stuff keeps happening then we won't be very successful. I think they know that and the best lesson coming out of this game is that we can't do it individually; we can't do it on our own. We can't have two players show up; we have to have all nine show up every game."
On The Lack Of Focus With The Team
"In that segment I feel that a couple of things happened that weren't in our favor, and we kind of got down on ourselves. More than anything I think players got down on themselves. They have to stay confident even when things like that happen, teams are going to go on runs. We just have to stop the runs and go on a run ourselves."
On Kansas' Six Point Lead In The Second Half
"I told our team there is a point in every game, there's a point of do-or-die situation in the game, and it is hardly ever the last three minutes of the game. It is usually between 10 and six minutes left in the second half where teams either step up and knock down shots, set great screens, score, get great stops and defensive rebounds, or they are going to fold. Our team still doesn't know how to recognize that. We need to work to help them recognize that. There will be more close games that they are going to be in, and every Big 12 game is going to be close. The better that gets, the better they are going to get. We as a coaching staff have to do a great job in telling them 'Hey, this is the point where we have to step up, we have to score, we have to execute and get stops."
On Whether There Is A Lack Of Killer Instinct
"More than anything, I think it is just recognition. We just have to recognize, and we as a staff we need to teach them how to recognize. There have been points where we have told them different things, and I don't know if they don't know what that looks like, if they haven't had that experience, if they have never heard that before. To me that is fairly common. You know when you need to get a defensive stop and everybody is hitting the floor, and you are getting in the passing lanes and getting stops. You know you need to get the defensive rebounds no matter what. You have to fight. You have to claw. You have to get the loose balls. In that part of the game we have to step up, and in that part of the game we folded."
On Getting More Offense From Post Players
"I thought Julie [Seabrook] had a lot of nice looks, and she has to knock those shots down. Whether they are off offensive rebounds or not, or out of our offense, she had some great looks, and she hit some there late. I thought she stepped up in that period, but she needs to continue to knock those down. Anytime you shoot 36 percent [field goal], 17 percent [3 pt field goal], 45 percent [free throw], you are not going to win very many games. I thought we had some great shots. I thought we had some nice drives. I thought we did a good job of getting offensive rebounds. So many times we were in position in the first half and we missed layups. In the second half I would think the number was pretty close to that many, but we need to start knocking down our shots and taking them like we know that we can make them."
On Addressing Issues
"We've already addressed them. We addressed them tonight. We've already addressed them in the past. I think when you lose a game like that everybody knows 'Hey, we weren't as together as we needed to be.' No one meant to do it. It just kind of happened, and that is where we need leadership. That is where we need someone to step up, and we need Chucky [Jeffery] to do that. We've told her that, and we've been telling her that. I think that she's grown tremendously so far this year. Even watching her in the second half against Texas A&M, that kid played unbelievable. She kept her team together and we stayed together. We probably stayed better together in that second half. With our team, it's like you have no idea. Why would you stay together down 30 at the half but not in a tight game at home against a team you can beat. They know what they are supposed to do. They know how to do it. It is just a matter of the consistency of coming together and taking responsibility for your play. I told them that there are a lot of parts that are selfish in the game, somebody sets a great screen for you and you don't knock down your shot. That's selfish. You have to do your job. It's not just taking a shot when you should have passed it up. There a lot of different parts to that. I think after tonight our team realizes that, and hopefully we see a different team Saturday."
On Having Only Eight Assists
"I thought we missed a lot of open players, especially when they went to a zone. We had some of our shooters in the corners and had plays to get the shot there. I will take some responsibility of our shot and where it's supposed to come. The coaches have to take responsibility for that sort of thing by saying, 'We are running this play, and here's who we need to get the shot, and where we need to get the shot.' If that was unclear, then that's something I need to do better with."
Colorado Players
Chucky Jeffery, So., G
ON THE LOSS -- "We were only down six, and at that point we made back to back mistakes and got frustrated and didn't realize we were still in the game. At some point you just have to get over things like that. We had eight minutes left and we were down six. Score-stop-score-stop-score-stop; we do it all the time in practice. We all went our separate ways and we fell apart."
ON LOSING TO A BIG 12 NORTH TEAM-- "It's a tough one...any team in our gym we should win. We were prepared and we did everything that we needed to do. We just had, in that point and time, that eight minute lapse towards the end of the game and it killed us."
ON THE LACK OF ASSISTS-- "When we had our little lapse, she [Coach Lappe] told us that we kind of got a little selfish of not hitting open players and that's their role. I think another thing that we didn't get those open shots. We were just so open we were just shooting it instead of setting our feet and knowing we could make those shots."
ON THE TEAM'S PERFORMANCE-- "We can't have mental lapses. When things go bad we can't break apart or we're just going to keep going down. We just have to have everybody step up. We only have nine of us and everybody has to be mentally ready. When things do go wrong we have to mentally uplift each other no matter what's going on. We have to be positive with each other because that's the only way we're going to come back together."
Julie Seabrook, Jr., F
ON WHEN THE GAME WAS LOST-- "The last eight minutes of the game."
ON LOSING TO A BIG 12 NORTH TEAM-- "It's a tough one. North teams in our gyms should be our game."
ON BEING A POST PLAYER IN THE BIG 12-- "I think it's been different for the two teams we've been playing. With Texas A&M we were trying to get our wings open, because we were under a lot of pressure and denial, so we were more of a five-out. Tonight they weren't really doing anything differently; they were bigger and stronger. When we have success going to Chucky [Jeffery] and [Brittany] Spears we want to keep running it at them. In the second half when we weren't going to have much success we got more in the paint. With post players, coaches challenge us to step up offensively and that's one of the things that I need to work on personally. I know Rachel [Hargis] wants to work on that too. Being more of an available option posting it up and getting it in because then we'll have more options to kick out."
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
GENERAL-"They made a great run. They played great zone. [Colorado] went maybe three for 11 against the zone towards the end. They did a great job with the zone and with switching defenses. That group's run offensively where Krysten [Boogaard] gets it at one-on-one and just scores at will, and Keena [Mays] gets a kick out three and another kick out three and when they buckle down defensively and play the zone was great. We've said it before. You can't give Krysten and Tania [Jackson] enough credit for how good they are in practice every day to be prepared when they are called upon. [Colorado] was doubling Carolyn [Davis] and I thought let's give Krysten the ball and see if they let get go one-on-one. Krysten does great working it out in the lane and then we got a little fatigued and went back to Carolyn and Aishah [Sutherland]."
ON AISHAH SUTHERLAND-"[She] hit some big jumpers, and because there was so much traffic in the lane, there were probably three possessions that were a box-and-one with Spears with the one on Carolyn in the lane and really crowded the lane, and we turned in over. We tried to go high-low a couple of times, and we're reluctant to throw it. We said Monica [Engelman] has to hit her shot, and Angel [Goodrich] throws an extra ball. I wasn't going to spend the entire second half running picks to Carolyn when we couldn't get her a look, but then she became an offensive rebounder."
ON WINNING ON THE ROAD-"It's priceless when you feel like this and they'll get another opportunity on Sunday. We were able to bounce back on the road. It's hard to do."
Kansas Player Krysten Boogaard
ON THE SECOND HALF-"It was really exciting to bring that spark off the bench. We me, Keena [Mays] and [Angel Good]rich got in the game, it was something that was needed. It was kinda flat out there, but I think we brought that spark to the team."
ON COMING OFF THE BENCH-"I think that it's always important to be on ready the bench because you never know when you are going to go in. You need to provide that spark, that extra spark, or even just to stay steady on the court while other players rest. It's a team court, so you just have to stay ready."
ON HER EIGHT POINTS-"I think just being ready, posting low, and trying to get my shot off. My teammates did a great job of finding me over the top."
ON COMPETING IN THE BIG 12-"I think that [win] will help us, coming back from the loss we had against Texas Tech. In the Big 12 you never know who really has it that night. It's the team that works the hardest. Colorado is a great team, and Texas Tech is a great team. We have to be ready and prepared."
