Once in front of us, I yelled, 'Be patient.' He still shot it. He looked at me and smiled. He was in one of those grooves. |
One (RPI expert) came to a league meeting. |
One of the problems is we've only played them once the last couple of years. We've lost a little bit of that rivalry. I still think it's a pretty good rivalry. It's a border state. They've been pretty good over the years. I think a lot of people still get excited about Indiana being on the schedule and when that game comes up. |
One thing he has done is try and commit to guarding and doing some things we've asked, like getting on the floor. He didn't do a lot of that stuff early. Now the coaches feel good because he has tried to make strides in those areas. |
One thing that has been constant is our defense. It has carried us early. I hope it continues to carry us until at least Christmas. Motion coaches tell you that you won't be good until after Christmas. I'm crossing my fingers on that one. |
One thing we do have is confidence. Winning, I believe, is a habit. It's a belief and I believe it's definitely part of our personality as a team. I think they believe in themselves, they have confidence and they believe they should win every game. |
One thing we've learned is that you still have to enjoy it. You have to have fun. But once practice starts, once film starts, once the game starts, you'd better be focused. The coaches are focused and I think our seniors are focused and they aren't going to let anyone slip up. |
Our big problem will be scoring, I think. Last year scoring was so easy. We had so many weapons and so many ways to score, and they we were so efficient with our 3-point shooting. |
Our relationship with Michigan State makes this a big rivalry, and we talked coming into the game about making a statement. I feel really good about what we did, and this was a great win for us. |
Parker had the game of his life, to his credit obviously. We put Brian (Randle) on Parker and James (Augustine) on Claxton. Every time we made some adjustment, they adjusted. |
Parker had the game of his life. And their second-chance shots were huge. They outscored us 18-8 in second-chance shots. |
People are alarmed; we're alarmed. |
People can sit back in offices and tell you it doesn't matter. They're wrong. |
People can sit back in offices and tell you it doesn't matter. They're wrong. They don't live it. It's something we've talked about in Big Ten meetings. They say it's part of being a good team. People want to see you on TV. I guess that's so. But that doesn't make it easy. |
Purdue was coming off a bad loss and our kids just thought they were going to win at home. |