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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 24, 2014Cliff AlexanderPerry EllisBrannen GreeneKansas – 87 Q.  Perry, were you anxious to get back out there after Kentucky and finally put that behind you? PERRY ELLIS: Yeah, we definitely were anxious. We've been working, had some pretty tough practices, so we were definitely ready to get out there and get after it. Q. You guys have had a tough stretch, the UC Santa Barbara and then the Kentucky game. How good does it feel to get a game like this under your belt? PERRY ELLIS: I mean, it's always good. The fans were always there to cheer us on and just to get that confidence back up and just to get a game under your belt always helps with confidence. Q. Brannen, you had 17 points in nine minutes tonight. What was working for you? BRANNEN GREENE: I was just playing within the system, taking good open shots. That's pretty much it. It's simple. Q. Brannen, we asked you about the offense the other day. Did it flow a little bit better overall today? BRANNEN GREENE: Yeah, I felt like we paid more attention to details and our spacing was better, which opened up some of our options. We were able to feed the post a lot more. As you could see in the first half, Cliff and Perry were able to get easy buckets. I definitely think it worked out for the better. Q. Cliff, you hadn't had a huge first half, 10 points and then played a couple of minutes in the first half and sat for a while. Was there a particular play that he talked to you about after he took you out of the game? CLIFF ALEXANDER: No, it wasn't no typical play. Q. Do you know what it was? CLIFF ALEXANDER: No, I'm not sure. Q. Can you guys talk about being more aggressive tonight? Perry, you really attacked the rim, Brannen, you shot without hesitation most of the time. Was that kind of a theme for tonight? PERRY ELLIS: Yeah, it definitely was, but the key thing was just defensively. I felt like we did a great job in the first half, but the second half wasn't too good. But I feel like the first half we really got after it and really improved. Q. What do you think it was in the second half that kind of slowed you guys down a little bit? PERRY ELLIS: I mean, I don't know. We just kind of stopped and we took our foot off the gas I guess you could say, and we can't do that. We have to learn that we have to complete the full game to become a better team. Q. Perry, what were some of the key points that Coach emphasized on offense the last few days? Do you feel like it was better today? PERRY ELLIS: The key was just moving the ball, moving the ball. We were moving the ball real well the last couple practices, and it's been going well. Q. Brannen, Wayne finished, I think, didn't have any points but he had nine assists. Did it feel like he was kind of facilitating stuff out there? BRANNEN GREENE: Yeah, in practice the last couple days, though, he's been taking that as a focus, to facilitate more. I feel like with him, Perry also being one of our team leaders, they've got to set the example for these young guys, and I think that's what Wayne was trying to do. He's more so trying to make a statement, I don't have to score, get rid of the ball, pass it. As you could see, he made a number of very good passes, but that's the result of us running our offense right, too. Q. Cliff, are you excited to see what kind of numbers you can put up once you earn more playing time? CLIFF ALEXANDER: Yeah, just get out there and do what I need to do and do what Coach asks me to do. Q. Brannen, were you ready to play this game? BRANNEN GREENE: I was definitely ready to play this game. I think we all were, though. I mean, coming after a game like that, that should never happen, and I feel like we just were get to get another game under our belt, just ready to get out there on the floor again and play and make the corrections, see it as a team. Q. Perry, after the Kentucky game the leadership of this team kind of came into question. Is that something you take personally? PERRY ELLIS: I mean, it definitely is. I'm one of the older guys here, just trying to get better at that, becoming a leader. It's kind of out of my character, talking and stuff, but there's other ways I can do that, other ways I can really show and pick my spots to be vocal. Q. Brannen, you guys are going to play three games the rest of the week. Do you think this team can maybe use a lot of game reps the way it works out right now? BRANNEN GREENE: Yeah, for sure. As you said, we have three games coming up this week, so it'll be important to focus in on what we do in the games and also in practice. We won't have as much practice time, but when we get into practice just continue to keep getting better and continue to do what we've got to do. We know what we have to do. We know where we need to make improvements from tonight, and we do have improvements we need from tonight, so we'll just keep working. Q. Perry, did Coach challenge you and Wayne a lot this week? PERRY ELLIS: Yeah, he challenged all of us. He challenged all of us as a team, just to come together and just be one team, one unit. He challenged all of us. Q. How did you feel you played? PERRY ELLIS: I felt I played pretty well. Just got to continue being aggressive and just keep doing what Coach wants us to do. Q. Brannen, do you think Perry and Wayne are taking it upon themselves, like you said? BRANNEN GREENE: I mean, our loss to Kentucky wasn't on Wayne and Perry at all. It's more of a team thing. They can't do it by themselves, we can't do it without Perry and Wayne. It's more of a team thing, it's not Wayne and Perry doing something by themselves. It's all of us as a team and being our leaders and leading us and leading the young guys. I mean, yeah, they've taken it upon themselves to do better with Wayne having nine assists, Perry coming out, being aggressive, attacking the rim, ferocious dunk, but it's all of us, it's a team. It's a collective effort. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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