Ken Koelbl
Ken Koelbl
conference expect half needed offense played points stops team
For us to be a conference contender, we've got to be a better team defensively. You can't give up (35) points in the first half and expect to win. Our offense played well, but didn't get the stops when we needed to.
ball half job needed quite ready
We did a better job of getting the ball down low. I thought the first half we weren't quite ready to play. We needed to be ready right from the get-go.
cusp matter staying
I think we're right there on the cusp (of being very good). It's just a matter of us staying with it. We need to keep doing the things we've been doing, and we need to do the little things to be successful.
focused good leading needed practices
We had two pretty good practices leading up to this game. We were pretty focused on what we needed to do.
games good win
You don't win 20-plus games if you're not a good team.
credit guys kept
One thing I give our guys credit for, they didn't give in. They kept battling.
believed both coach fortunate people played player stayed true worked
I was fortunate both as a player and a coach to have worked and played for people who stayed true to what they believed in.
guys priority realize team
Your first priority is always what you can do for your team. These guys realize that they're doing well because our team is doing well.
anybody compete conference good growth huge shows team
This is huge for our program. This really shows the growth we went through as a team this year. We are really confident, because as I told our kids, our conference is so good that we can compete with anybody nationally.
ability both chance knew learning liked lived saw work
I liked what I saw from them right away. They were young players, and I knew that they had a lot of learning to do. But I saw their ability and their work ethic, and I knew they had a chance to be successful. They've both lived up to expectations.
kept looked paying perspective struggle
Even when things were tough, I kept things in perspective. I looked at what we were going through as paying our dues. Sometimes you have to struggle before you can get to where you want to go.
bids conference hold matter outside shot sure teams winning
I told them not to hold their breaths, but that we had an outside shot at an at-large bid. It was just a matter of the right teams winning their conference tournaments to make sure there are enough at-large bids left.
appreciate far loss neat people short three
I told them the same thing after Whitewater (a 72-70 loss in the WIAC semifinals). In time, you'll appreciate what you did. We have come so far in three short years, and what's neat is how many people contributed.
seem
As I watched, it didn't seem like they missed.