Jan. 7, 2012
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Head coach Steve Alford Quotes
Opening Statement
“Well, I’m really proud of our basketball. Obviously, you go through a 16 game non-league schedule, you have a lot to deal with. We have to deal with Hugh (Greenwood) being out and I thought the guys really handled that well. Demetrius Walker did a good job coming off the bench providing a spark at the point position as well. He hadn’t done that all year. You get six guys in double figures and you do the things that you’ve been doing all season defensively. We hold the team down from a shooting standpoint. Assist turnovers are two to one; and, I just really appreciate the focus this team has given. And now we get a little bit of a break. Guys need it, coaches need it. There are a couple days here that we get some rest. Wyoming plays Tuesday night and we will get a head start on them. I’m really looking forward to getting started on the conference season and am very pleased to go 14 and two in the non-conference play.”
Question: Talk about Kendall’s (Williams) performance tonight?
“He played well. Took good shots and made shots, good to get him going. We nearly shot 50% behind the line. We did a good job with that. Good job behind the free throw line. Even when we were up double digits, we were still able to get those shots behind the line. He was very aggressive, six assists one turnover, Jamal (Fenton) had six assists no turnovers and they worked well together.”
Question: There was a choppy first half, was that because Hugh (Greenwood) was out?
“I don’t know; I like this team. North Dakota plays hard and physical. Give credit to them and their staff. They have been on the road, they played in Kansas. They knew they weren’t going to be intimidated. I didn’t think we played particularly bad, we scored 41 points in the first half and shot 47% and didn’t turn the ball over. I just thought the opponent was playing very, very hard. The second half got to them a little bit. They missed shots and we took advantage of that. Six-point play with two shot foul and a technical and an OB. Then we were able to keep it there.”
Question: You were really effective tonight with their zone, how was that?
“We figured it would be mostly man, I liked how we adjusted. And, we got good shots. That’s the key to a good offense is taking good shots and taking care of the ball. A lot of our guys have a lot of confidence right now; playing very confident and shooting ball very well. And, hopefully we don’t mess them up this week. We need to get good rest and get a really good preparation going into league play.”
Question: There are several sharp shooters on the team, what does it say about the team’s discipline that they still try to find the good shots?
“They know that if they don’t get the quality they won’t get many shots especially when they are sitting next to me. I think that is on the coaches. If you let your players take bad shots they are going to keep taking bad shots. I think they know the consequences that they will come to the bench if they keep making bad shots. We are really taking high-percentage shots. I don’t know if we are number one, but definitely top five when it comes to sharing the basketball from assists to field goals. Our guys have done a tremendous job from sharing the ball to getting good looks.”
Question: How big is your inside out game especially with your great shooters?
“Well, we got off to a rough start today. I thought Drew (Gordon) really had a tough couple minutes and didn’t’ really get anything there, and once he settled down and he got going it was better. A.J. (Hardeman) was a little under the weather, and didn’t know how much he was going to play today. We kept him in the starting lineup, and he has missed some practice time. We just appreciate his effort there. We didn’t have that presence from him that we normally have. Maybe the last 30 minutes we had that inside out going for us again. That is big for us. We got to attack, and I thought we did that.”
Question: You mentioned in pregame getting some rest for Hugh, when are going to make the final assessment for Wyoming?
“That is not on me. That is on him healing and the doctors and trainers. If I had to make the assessment I would probably put him in right when he got hurt, so it is probably good they don’t make me make those assessments. I just listen to trainers and doctors and he is doing a great job with rehab so we are fortunate we are deep in the back court. We are not going to rush him back and we are not going to put him in there until he is near 100% and healthy. We will just have to wait and see. The timeline is Wednesday, so we will have a good weekend here of rest. We don’t have anything until Monday, so he can get a lot of treatment and rest and hopefully that will help him. He had tight jeans on today so hopefully that didn’t affect the blood flow!!! That’s my biggest concern. Thank you”
Player Quotes
Junior Guard Jamal Fenton
On whether there was any pressure of starting …
“[There was] No pressure at all. I just still play the role that coach wants me to play. Even though I started, I still tried to bring energy at the beginning. We had a slow start, but got with the program and we had a good little start after that.”
On the reason for the slow start the Lobos had to open the game …
“Just not being focused. I don’t think everyone was all-the-way focused for this game. Coach yelled at us and we got it together after he yelled at us. We got a little run going and after that; it was great.”
On fellow guard Kendall Williams …
“He brings just confidence for all of us. When you get somebody going like that, you have to get them the ball. I think he started off with four in-a-row, and when you get somebody going like that, you have to keep giving it to them.”
Sophomore Guard Kendall Williams
On picking up the team during its slow start …
“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough game; last game of non-conference, early game, maybe not the opponent you always get up for. But I just wanted to make sure – and coaches have been emphasizing all week long – to finish strong and finish off what we’ve started, which is a pretty good record at 14-2 right now. And just wanted to go out there and be aggressive and some shots fell, so it’s a good feeling.”
On the upcoming conference-season opener at Wyoming …
“I know they beat us this time last year, which really hurt our season. We’re in a similar situation where we had an alright non-conference record, played some good teams and beat some good teams. But, I think we’re obviously playing a little better this year that last year – we’re a lot deeper than we were – and I like where we’re at. But, we need to step it up a notch. You can always improve. So, this next game is important, like the one after that and the one after that, but you just have to take it one step at a time.”
On his offense now compared to early in the season …
“I feel good. I feel a lot more comfortable. I’m just going out there and playing my game at this point. It’s been an up and down year, but luckily, this team’s been able to win, and everyone’s been really gelling.”