Kansas가 시범경기긴 하지만 첫 공식전을 무사히 마쳤다. 114-80으로 대승을 거뒀다. 시범경기고 상대도 상대인지라 큰 의미를 두긴 어렵지만 그래도 기분은 업된다.
Bill Self 감독 밑에서 1년을 지냈기에 이제 선수들도 어느 정도 적응한 것 같다. 상대와 관계없이 평가할 수 있는 척도는 외곽슛인데 28개 중 14개를 성공시켜 작년보다 향상됐다는 것을 보여줬다. Alex Galindo가 3점 4개를 쏴서 하나도 성공하지 못한 것이 걸리긴 한다. Galindo보다는 Russell Robinson이 3점슛의 해결책이 될 것 같은 예감이 든다. Wayne Simien도 3점슛 2개를 시도해 둘 다 성공시켰다. NBA를 대비한 것이기도 하겠지만 여차하면 외곽슛도 날리겠다는 심산일 것이다. High-Low 오펜스에서 Simien이 3점라인까지 나와서 슛을 던질 수 있다면 골밑은 더욱 열릴 것이다.
주전 센터 자리를 놓고 치열한 경쟁을 벌이는 4인 중 누가 선발로 출장할 것인가도 관심사였는데 이 날은 Christian Moody의 차지였다. 정규시즌에 들어서도 Moody가 된다는 것은 아닐 것이다. 이 경기 해설을 맡은 Rick Majerus 전 Utah감독은 Moody가 팀에 많은 기여를 할 수 있는 선수지만 자신감이 부족하다고 지적했다. Walk-on이기에 자신의 역할을 일부러 축소하려는 소극적인 자세가 그의 성장을 가로막는 요인이라고 했다. Majerus는 이외에도 여러 Kansas 선수들에 대해 언급했는데 신입생 프런트 코트 3인방 중에서는 Sasha Kaun이 가장 잘 적응한 것 같다고 했다. 그동안 보도에 의하면 선수들이나 코치진은 C.J. Giles가 가장 잘하고 있다고 했는데 역전이 된건지 보는 관점이 다른 것인지 모르겠다. 누가 주전이 되건간에 4명 모두 꽤 많은 출전시간을 받을 것이라는게 지배적인 의견이다.
highlights
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
"I thought we played very well. I thought we guarded hard and we were good in transition. Of course everything looks good when you make shots, but we really shared the basketball. We were making the extra pass and guys were getting good looks. Emporia State wasn't very big, but they played hard and they scrapped. They run a lot of motion, which is hard to guard because you have a big guy guarding a 6'2" or 6'3" guy. I thought we did well, I thought everybody played well and I was glad that we were able to play everybody. The seniors played great, J.R. (Giddens) made shots, but I was most happy with our freshmen, because I thought they went in and weren't too star struck. I think we are going to be a good spurt team. We may trade baskets for a while, but if we can get a three minute stretch and go on a 10-0 run, we can really break the game open. The key is going to be whether or not we can guard when we're not making shots."
On three point shots taken:
"I don't think you can look at how many three-pointers you shoot, I think you should look at it in relationship to how many shots you take overall. I think it might be a little too many, but they (Emporia State) crammed it in pretty good on Wayne (Simien). We were shooting well enough tonight so I didn't mind shooting so many three's. In a closely-contested game, guys aren't going to be free-wheeling like they were tonight."
On the fans:
"I told our guys that one of the great things about wearing a Kansas uniform is the fans. This may be the only place in America that can get 16,300 fans for an exhibition game, when it's a full price ticket. We certainly appreciate it and the players love it. That's why this is such a great place to play."
Sophomore Guard J.R. Giddens
On his performance:
"Coach told me to shoot the ball when I was open and I thought all of my shots were good. I set my man up and my teammates did a good job of setting picks and finding me when I was open."
On the team:
"When people said that we couldn't shoot the ball, we all just kind of laughed. One game doesn't prove that we are good shooters, but I think that we are a team that can shoot the ball and we will show more of that this season. A lot of the guys looked like they had a bounce in their step tonight."
Senior Guard Keith Langford
On the team's performance:
"We shot well tonight, but we are not going to go too crazy after one game. They (Emporia State) were a scrappy team, they played hard. I think we are shooting a lot better than in the past."
On playing exhibition games:
"It's good to play against somebody different. It's good for the freshmen to get in this type of an atmosphere. As long as they (freshmen) continue to take these games seriously, we will be fine. I think playing in Canada helped the freshmen a lot, because they are used to playing with us and we are used to playing with them. They seem comfortable with the offense and they know what coach wants them to do."
Freshman Center C.J. Giles
On team chemistry:
"Everybody helps everybody on the team, like a family. It's like our big brother teaches us things everyday. I think we did pretty well as a team, we shared the ball a lot. Everyone had their heads in the game, so I think we are looking really good as a team. Overall, I do think we could have played a little better."
On playing for the first time at home:
"When we came in at halftime, we were all really pumped, but when we first came out, we had butterflies in our stomach. As the game went on, I started to control myself, so it was easier to deal with the crowd."
Visitor Quotes:
Emporia State Head Coach David Moe
On the game:
"I think tonight was a great example of us struggling to pass. You have to work a little bit harder to get yourself open. They did a great job defensively, and we settled sometimes for the easy way out, which means taking a quick shot or just trying to find somebody to hand the ball off to. We stayed (on the perimeter) and did not attack the paint very much. Those are the things that you have to point out and can't do against good defensive teams. We were not getting open as much as we were against Gonzaga. You have to be successful by working together, and tonight, I don't know if we really did that. We hadn't seen full-court pressure, and that slowed us down. It made it harder for the wings to get open. By the time we adjusted to Kansas' play, we were already discouraged."
On game-by-game improvement:
"We didn't make a lot of the decisions. I don't know if we were as aggressive. Our defensive transition was a little worse. We were a little more aggressive against Gonzaga offensively. We set a few more screens, we had more confidence, and made a few more shots. We actually played better (against Gonzaga) than we did here, but Kansas might be better defensively. As far as improvements, we eliminated some of the mistakes. We had a little better of a whistle tonight then we did against Gonzaga. We were forced to do a lot of things tonight one-on-one.
On Deshawn Anderson's technical foul:
"He made a great play and was very excited about it. We can't afford mistakes. To make a play like that and have the game stop took any momentum that we would have got from the play, and we don't have that much margin of error against a team like (Kansas)."
Junior Forward Shawn Herrman
On the game:
"It was very tough to get shots inside. The ball pressure that they put on our guards took a lot away from our offense. We had a lot of things that happened that were good and bad."
On playing in Allen Fieldhouse:
"Of course it was scary coming in here. I had the gitters, but you have to overcome (the crowd.)"
Senior Guard DeShawn Anderson
On playing Kansas:
"We just wanted to go out and compete and play hard. We knew that we just had to play as a team, not one-on-one. We had to create for each other by setting screens. When you play against a high-profile Division-I team, you have to play almost perfect."