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MAUI JIM MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 25, 2019Bill SelfDavid McCormackIsaiah MossLahaina, Maui, Hawaii Kansas - 93, Chaminade - 63 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach. BILL SELF: Well, I don't think we played great, but I don't think we played poorly either. I thought Chaminade did a good job of getting after us and I think the game was much closer than the score at halftime. And we were able to get the ball inside to Dok in the second half which was certainly a bonus for us. But certainly happy to advance and what an atmosphere for an opening round game like this. And the games have been obviously great so far. The game this afternoon was incredible. And we'll look forward to playing whoever we get because we know either one will be a tough opponent. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. Did you guys watch the Michigan State game and what would your response be to that? DAVID MCCORMACK: Actually, I didn't. I was resting up for this game, making sure I stayed locked in and doing what I needed to do on the court. ISAIAH MOSS: Same with me. I was pretty locked in and just trying to focus on our game today. Q. Dave, can you talk about just the importance of competing, regardless of what the score said tonight? You guys had, Isaiah ran down the loose ball, you and Tristan dove after balls, up 30. How important was that to just have that mindset? DAVID MCCORMACK: It's just a part of our culture. It's always competing, like Coach talks about the difference in trying and competing. And competing is actually having that production and making sure it just, not thinking about going for a loose ball but making sure that you try to save it or dive for it or get that extra possession. And that's just the culture that we have among our team. Q. Isaiah, how did the hamstring feel? You looked like you had to open it up to go get that loose ball? ISAIAH MOSS: It's feeling good. I'm still getting treatment, but every day it feels like I'm getting better. So I'm thankful for that. Q. (No microphone.) ISAIAH MOSS: No. Q. Did Chaminade get your attention when they led 5-0? And what was the key to forcing all those turnovers? They had 27. DAVID MCCORMACK: I wouldn't say it was that they got our attention because Coach had a great scouting report before, we just needed to lock in and do what we needed to do in order to be successful. But I think just, like how Coach says, and emphasizing defense and just making them turn over the ball is what we did. And I actually didn't know they had that many. Q. Isaiah, any thoughts about starting the second half? ISAIAH MOSS: No, it doesn't matter to me. Any time I'm out there I'm just going to give it a hundred percent. Coming off the bench or starting, I'm just going to try to give it my all. Q. When did you find out? ISAIAH MOSS: When I was going to? Yeah, at halftime Coach just told me I was going to start the second half. Q. What was the key to doing so well with Dok only playing seven minutes and not getting a shot in the first half? You guys still led by 20 at half without Dok. ISAIAH MOSS: Obviously, having him on the court for us is great. Pretty much unstoppable. I mean, you can see that in the second half. We just tried to throw it to him and we know he's going to score it. BILL SELF: He made shots in the first half. Ochai, Isaiah and Dok, they all shot the ball pretty well in the first half to compensate for it. THE MODERATOR: All right. Take questions for coach. Q. What was your impression of Chaminade? How do you think they might be able to do at the Division-II level this year? BILL SELF: We've played them twice since I've been coming here and I'm not going to, I'm not trying to speak negatively of the prior teams, but this is the best team that they have had that we have seen. They are actually a very good passing team and they turned it over quite a bit tonight, which we were concerned about them being a really good passing team. And they got their shoulders pass us way, way, way too often. And so I like their team. I like their bunch. We had a huge size advantage, obviously. But I don't think at the Division-II level they're going to go against very many teams that have a guy like Dok that's that big. So I would anticipate them and expect them to have a good year. I believe last year they had a good year. And I know they played Arizona extremely tough at, in Tucson, if I'm not mistaken. So capable, I mean, single-digit game. So if you can do that in Tucson and this team, I would think, would probably be every bit of last year's team, I would think they will have a fun year. Q. What did you think of the crowd tonight? Did it seem like maybe more than ever Jayhawk fans? BILL SELF: Yeah, I don't know. How many does this place seat? Q. 2400. BILL SELF: 2400. So there were probably 2000 Jayhawk fans here, which was unbelievable for a fan base to travel like that. It may be more difficult moving forward for everybody to getting tickets. I don't know. But, no, it's amazing how much support we get wherever we travel, but our fans love coming over here. Q. Anything different for Ochai tonight? He knocked that first one in and that looked like it loosened him up. BILL SELF: Yeah, maybe. I thought he played fine. I actually thought he and Dot and Marcus were all pretty good in the first half. The second half, I don't think anybody got in any rhythm offensively like they were the first, like those three were the first half. And Dok got a little bit better second half. But Ochai is a good player and a good scorer. He made a three and that dunk he made in transition was pretty impressive too. Those plays obviously give you confidence and he seemed like to have a lot more tonight. Q. What did you see from Isaiah tonight? BILL SELF: I actually thought he looked quicker. He made shots. If I can make one recommendation for the tournament, these stat sheet numbers are so small, I need my readers on to be able to read them. So if anybody has -- I have gotten old but I'm half your age, but I have gotten really old. But I don't know. I think Isaiah was, what was he, five of seven and three of four. So, obviously, if he can make 50 percent of his threes that's a huge bonus for us. And I actually thought he looked the quickest he's looked since he's pulled his hamstring. And to me, the best play was when he ran down the loose ball because that, he kind of had to stretch out to do that. So I think that should give him some confidence as well. And I'm joking about this. It's fine. I just need to go to something else. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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