We had the tempo the way we wanted it. It was a great win against a great opponent. |
We kept them from getting the easy baskets, and I can't say enough about the intangibles these players have. |
We knew what kind of shooter Smith was. That was no surprise to us. He made some unbelievable long-range shots with a hand in his face. And Carter hurt us in the first half. We allowed him to catch the ball in good position. We didn't play him properly. |
We pay no attention to it. We deserve to be here. The committee selected us. If you investigate our season, who we played, how we fared, what our resume is, we belong here. |
We played the worst game at the absolute worst time, but we were hoping one game wasn't going to spoil all the wonderful things we did all year long. I'm pleased the committee, in my mind, did the right thing. |
We say no all-star nights. |
We simply could not get enough defensive stops. They have a lot of offensive weapons. |
We simply couldn't get enough stops. Simply put, they had some firepower off the bench that hurt us. |
We thought they would sag off of John and really try to clog the middle. We encouraged John to just shoot the basketball. If you miss it, shoot it again. He did a heck of a job. |
We're not going to change the system they've been using here too much, ... Perhaps they've stumbled onto something, kind of like Coach (Fisher) DeBerry has done in football. He's run that offense for decades, and it works. That's the right fit for his football team, and maybe this system is the right fit for us. |
When I took him out of the game (in the final minute), I told him he was a great player and an even better person. He's been such a great leader. He came to practice every day and gave everything he had. He's very dedicated, very passionate, and that passion and energy was very contagious for the other guys on this team. |
When we allow them to have a day off, they get sluggish. It's interesting. You need to keep pushing them. |