Coach Williams' Post-Game Comments
after Kansas 70, Iowa State 51
courtesy of Jack Alden

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"Aaron had nine assists, nine steals. Broke a school record on steals. I know that Alonzo had eight twice, and Nick Bradford had eight once. He was really good.

"You can’t say that about a lot of things that went on today, including my talk about Raef. My whole intention was to say that I was so happy that he didn’t go to Iowa and came to Kansas. That was a weird (mistake), because I think I do remember coaching the boy. I’m not going senile that early. But it was a weird day. I was disappointed that we didn’t get the time set as much, because I wanted Iowa State to have some time to warm up after they came back out. There were just so many things going on. We didn’t get the color guard out there. It was almost dysfunctional at the start of the game, and that’s about the way the whole game was played.

"We’ve shot a lot of free throws. Nick’s been great from the free throw line this year, and he goes 3-13 today, yet he has 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kirk couldn’t throw it in the ocean, then makes three of his last four (three-pointers). I was really pleased to get Wayne back in to get him some minutes. Seven rebounds, seven points in 18 minutes. I told him we’re not taking baby steps, but we taking just steps, trying to get him back into the flow. I thought Jeff Graves did a nice job when he came back in there. He was six minutes late to a meeting yesterday, so he ran the whole practice, and that’s the reason he didn’t start today. I started Bryant in his place, and I was mad at Bryant because he didn’t do what he was supposed to do at pre-game. It was a really screwed up day, but it was a W, and we were able to honor some people who mean a lot to our program.

"Last night was a great night if you were a Kansas basketball fan. To hear those stories and see the depth of the feelings those people have for Kansas basketball, and what their time here at the university and playing basketball meant to them. I think our players got a better appreciation of Kansas basketball tradition and history. It was fun for me to see all those guys.

"I was really pleased to be able to see Raef. Every day I walk into that field house, and I’m able to look up there and see their names and the jersey numbers, and it’s important to me. I meant it--I recruited Raef LaFrentz harder than anybody I’ve ever recruited, and this was justified because of the kind of player he was. At the banquet, I went down about what I would miss, and the thing I miss about Raef is the smile. When the young man smiles, his whole body smiles. And he was as competitive as any kid I’ve ever coached. We could do drill after drill after drill, and he wasn’t really into it. Then I’d say, ‘OK, we’re gonna do this drill, and the loser has to run to halfcourt.’ And you’d think I’d said the loser has to run a hundred miles, because the kid would kill people then, he’s so competitive. Or maybe he just frickin’ didn’t want to run, I don’t know. But I was really happy to see him have his jersey up there.

"It was an ugly situation, but for the most part the players did a pretty good job. I was disappointed in Aaron’s involvement in it. I’ll need to look at it on tape, because I didn’t see it, but he did something to get the technical. So I’ll watch it on tape, and if we need to do some extra running for Aaron, it will be what we should do, because our guys don’t need to do those kinds of things. I was really pleased everybody stayed on our bench, and for the most part the kids on the court did a nice job.

"Nick really did a nice job defensively. The official underneath called a charge, and the official out front called a walk before that. That’s when Larry (Eustachy, ISU coach) got upset. And again, it was just a dysfunctional day.

"“Oklahoma State losing at home was a shock to everybody, but I said on Media Day that you have to be ready to play every day, regardless of who you’re playing and regardless of where you’re playing. Iowa State could have come in and laid down, and they didn’t. They competed their tails off, and they’ve had as much problem with depth as we have. The Alexander youngster is no longer playing for them. Larry does a heck of a job with his club. They’re hard to play. And Jake Sullivan is really something.

"I thought Kirk Hinrich’s defense today was sensational. He and Jake do a great job of competing against each other. But I really believe that deep down, he might not say it, but deep down Jake really thinks Kirk’s really good defensively, as well.”

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