Texas Tech University Athletics
Post Game Quotes
January 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2011
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Post Game Quotes
Texas Tech
Head Coach Pat Knight
On Kansas State's play -- "They (KSU) got the big guy (Curtis Kelly) back today and that really helped them. We knew it was going to happen because Frank (Martin) has probably gotten after them pretty good the last couple days. When we watched the tape, we did not see the same Kansas State team that we saw in the preseason. They should have not gotten off to a 0-2 start in the conference. (Jacob) Pullen is too good of a player to have that happen to a team. They played tonight with a lot of intensity and got after it. I am not surprised. We warned our guys that after two games like that which they should not have lost they would come out hard and they did. I think you will see a different team from them from then on out."
On K-State's rebounding advantage in today's contest -- "We are not a very good rebounding team to begin with so that does not help. They just had three or four guys on the ball at all times. We also did not shoot very well so there are more opportunities for rebounds. We have to be careful not to send everybody to get an offensive rebound which gives opportunities for a fast break. The last two games against Texas and Kansas State were against the better two rebounding teams we have seen. They just have three or four guys that are always going after the ball."
On things getting worse before they get better -- "I thought the loss was really bad and we did not compete in the first half. They jumped on us and took the shot and we did not step up. We played better and competed more in the second half whereas against Texas, it was just two bad halves. That makes things a little better, but looking at the schedule in having to play Baylor, Texas, and Kansas State I warned the guys that things will get worse before it gets better for us. We just have to fight through it."
On the three straight losses to open conference play -- "We are 0-3. We have to play 13 more games. It just means that we got off to a bad start in the Big 12, but overall we still have a lot more games to play in the season. It could be a wake-up call and they get their stuff together. If you get beat like we have, you hope we can run off a winning streak or it could affect us from the standpoint that it snowballs and we continue to lose. You have to be careful from a coach's standpoint to not let these guys get too low."
On Rodney McGruder's 16 point and 15 rebound performance -- "He killed us. We actually wanted to play zone because we were so worried about their bigs hammering us inside. The zone was not very effective. That's what a good team does. They have good outside players and inside players. I thought he stepped up. I am not really a zone coach, but I wanted to try something different and a kid like that can kill your zone. I thought he did a good job. When we also play man, we have to worry about doubling down on the inside and now you have a threat on the outside. They have everything you need to make a pretty good run."
Senior Guard John Roberson
On Texas Tech's shots not falling -- "We have to do a better job of screening to get people open at the same time so we can get better looks. So we will work on that, we have to keep working, it's just a matter of fixing those things.
Junior Forward Robert Lewandowski
On team morale -- "I think it would have been better if we had actually made a game out of this, but we did not do that. It wears on me, but we come back to practice every day, and we get done with practice and we just have to take what we practice and put it into the game."
On rebounding -- "Rebounding is a lot of effort, it's not a skill. It comes with a little bit of athleticism and things like that. You actually have to want the ball. In this league, you are not just going to be able to stand there and get the ball. You have to want the ball, get your guy away from the basket and then go get it. So it is definitely a mentality, it's not so much a skill."
