Post-game Quotes
December 12, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2009
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Post-game Quotes:
Bo Ryan Quotes:
On Jon Leuer getting the ball so frequently in the first half...
"Jon works to get open. So if you get open then you should get the ball. I don't want to be simplistic, but he worked hard to get open in the post, he cut hard, and he is stronger this year. He's getting in position a little better and he gets rewarded because his teammates know that he can do something with [the ball] when he gets it. But you still have to make the shots and he's been doing that."
Did you know that Marquette was going to come back at some point?
"Most teams do. There tends to be some of that give and take and I'm glad that we started out the way we did, to have that kind of a cushion to absorb what they brought at us and then be able to turn around and give something back at the end - give back meaning us separating a little bit. They gave the best they could give and we gave the best we could give and this is how this one turned out."
On the stabilizing effect of Jordan Taylor...
"He's as tough-minded as any player I've ever coached. He doesn't waiver, he knows what needs to get done. He's going to take care of the ball. He's been hitting that shot quite a bit in practice. He knows that if he drives and gets some separation that he has the green light to shoot that. He got to the rim and broke them down a few times. His teammates know that he will get them the ball if they get open."
On his team's response to the loss against Green Bay...
"We didn't talk about it much. We looked at the clips then went right back to setting up what Marquette was going to do and what we were going to do to them. We never dwell too much, whether we hit a bump or get the W. We didn't dwell a lot on the Duke game because there is always something next. I liked the way the guys didn't let it affect their approach to the game in practice. It's not like they didn't care, but there's only one thing you can do when you go on the other side - get ready to take care of business with the next opponent. Which we did."
On Ryan Evans...
"Both defensively and on the glass, he made some good rotations. He made Lazar [Hayward] work a little harder and he sure works hard. Ryan answered that and we needed it."
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UW Player Quotes
On establishing an early lead:
“We definitely knew that we wanted to get the ball inside against these guys, we want to do that every game, though. We get a high percentage of shots from there, and the guards did a great job of getting us the ball down low, it’s our job to just make something happen, make a play, whether that’s doing a post move and trying to score, or try and help and kick it out to them.”
“Any time you can jump on a team like we did tonight, it helps, and I just think the main thing was we were executing better than we did at Green Bay. We were able to force them into some tough shots and I thought defensively we played pretty well. We had some lapses in there, but for the most part we got them to take some tough shots, and any time you’re doing that, you give yourself a good chance to be successful.”
After Wednesday’s loss:
“We don’t try to get too high on our wins or too low on our losses, but that one definitely stung a little bit, and we wanted to get that taste out of our mouths. We were just looking forward to getting back on the court, mixing it up and competing.”
On Ryan Evans’ rebound off of his jump shot:
“I don’t remember exactly what the score was or whatever, but we hadn’t scored in a while, but I missed the shot unfortunately and Ryan did a good job of crashing the board and it was obviously a big play. I think he pushed it from three to five. Ryan is athletic, he’s a great rebounder and that was a big play in the game. I think that was a turning point; if they come down and score, it’s a one-point game.”
On being ahead in the first half:
“We’re thinking we need to put them away, but obviously at this level and especially with a team like that, they have some good players over there obviously, and we knew they were going to make a run. We sustained it, we could have done a little bit of a better job. I think we were up 65-54 just like the Duke game, late in the game with four minutes and we let them back in it again. I still think we have to get better at putting teams away and making shots down the stretch and make free-throws. But we still came out on the left-hand side which is what’s important.”
On defensive pressure:
“I think we got back to playing defense the way we know we can play defense, but we still had some lapses. For the most part we did a decent job playing defense, which got away from us at Green Bay, which is pretty much the reason we loss. So it was nice to get back to the way Wisconsin plays defense.”
On limiting turnovers today after the loss at Green Bay:
“I think it was lack of focus and we weren’t executing. We were throwing the ball away early and Green Bay came and they were taking charge. We came out flat. We had a lot more energy today and we knew what kind of guards Marquette has and we knew they were going to pressure us so we prepared ourselves all week for that.”
“We came out and we knew we had to win this game. You can’t lose two in a row first of all, and second of all, you can’t lose two in-state games. Basically, it’s bragging rights, we’ll see each other around all year.”
On reaching double bonus early in the second half:
“We’re trying to get back to that, our first couple of games we probably weren’t at the free throw line as much, and last two games we were there over 20 or 25 times, probably shooting more than the opponent. That’s definitely something we have to get back to, that’s Wisconsin basketball, trying to make more free throws than opponents attempt.”
On realizing Jon Leuer was on:
“The game plan was to get him to the post. Marquette’s first losses were against Florida State and North Carolina State, and they were losing early on in the game because they were taking bad shots. Jon (Leuer) was hitting some tough shots and at the same time he was getting into them decent foul trouble. We had the size advantage and we wanted to take advantage of that. That was our plan all week.”
On Jordan Taylor as a stabilizer:
“Coach always calls him a bulldog, and that’s what he is. He’s always fighting for things on the defense end. He’s feisty, he makes great plays and good decisions. He’s good with the ball, he’s strong, and just having him out there on the court, he’s more precious than anybody else out there.”
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Marquette head coach Buzz Williams Quotes
Opening comment: “I think Wisconsin is a very, very good team. I think they’re extremely well-coached. I think that how they play, they never beat themselves, and you have to play with perfect possessions as their opponent on both ends of the floor. We were down eight at the first media timeout. We end up losing by nine and that’s a testament to how thorough and how disciplined Wisconsin is on both ends of the floor because you have to play better that way from start to finish.”
On what initially put Marquette behind: “Our guys were excited to play. Everybody was excited to be here and we didn’t handle the excitement in the right way initially, and then I thought from that point on, I thought we were fine. Not to say that we should have won, that’s not what I’m saying at all, but you can’t play from behind against a great team. That’s not necessarily behind with four minutes left, but behind four minutes into the game.”
On drawing up a game plan against Jon Leuer: “I told our guys when Coach Monarch brought up (Jon Leuer), initially, I said ‘I think he’s a pro.’ I think he has improved for Wisconsin as much as Jimmy Butler has improved for Marquette. When I begin to study an opponent, I go back to what it was last year and (Trevon Hughes), (Jordan Taylor) and (Leuer) were three of their top four scorers. (Leuer) was really good off the bench last year. I told our guys, ‘I don’t know if you remember him, but he is really really good. His length, his skill set, his intelligence level is a really really hard matchup.”
On getting into the bonus early on: “They (Wisconsin) are going to do what they do. I think we fouled four times at the very end of the game in trying to stop the clock, but you can’t foul a really good team 23 times, even though the coach told them to foul four more times to get to 27. You can’t let a team attempt 33 free throws. That’s not just Wisconsin. They scored 23 out of their 72 points from the free-throw line. I don’t know if you can win on the road or at home, regardless of the opponent, doing that.
On the change after halftime: “I think Jimmy (Butler), for the complexion of our team, he can guard anybody on the floor. Up until this point, 10 games into the season, he has guarded the best player. Sometimes for fear that (Lazar Hayward) doesn’t get into early foul trouble because we need (Hayward’s) presence more than we need (Hayward’s) scoring. The issue that we have is that we only have four guards that are healthy: (Maurice Acker), (David Cubillan), (Darius Johnson-Odom) and (Dwight Buyks). So I think jimmy is effective at the three but I think he’s become comfortable at the four. So I like his versatility. But when I changed Jimmy to guard (Leuer), it wasn’t because (Leuer) was hurting us, It was because we needed to get Buyks and (Johnson-Odom) in the game. I think those guys can guard (Hughes). I think we did okay on (Hughes), we didn’t against (Leuer), no matter who guarded him.
