I don't think anyone can ever imagine -- please don't give me any credit for this. It's those 11 guys in there. They've been as solid and focused and committed as we could ask. I don't know if I've ever had a team more committed to just going out and doing what it needed to do. |
I have always said I take so much more pride in where we finish in the two months of going through the Big Ten. That to me is far more important than four days in one city. Now, I do like the atmosphere here and chance for rejuvenation for teams and kids. |
I have been a 16 seed, a 14 seed and a 12 seed, so I understand that when the ball gets thrown up you can throw those seeds out the window. With Davidson, the first thing is their experience. Offensively they want to push the ball. I think getting back and not giving up easy baskets is key. |
I haven't allowed myself or my players to think along those lines. We won't even talk about what's at stake. |
I hope that gives us a little more idea of getting inside and finishing inside closer to the basket. Something we felt we could do was get inside. |
I know at this stage of the season, kids are wearing down. And knowing that you're in the NCAA Tournament, you want to keep that freshness and try to do the best you can in the first week of (the NCAA) Tournament. |
I really had to step in and challenge our guys. This was the first time all year I did not think we had the energy needed out there. |
I think he's in the best shape of his life. He's finishing much better than earlier in the season. I thought, as well as he scored and rebounded, his defense was 100 times better than it was at Michigan. He got a real film session lesson (Friday) before practice on what he had to do. To his credit, he came out and took care of business. |
I think I pulled a hamstring. We wanted them to have their feet set, legs bent and to shoot with confidence. A lot of times, shooting becomes contagious. Today fortunately for us it got contagious and we were able to knock down the last 6 of 7 three-pointers. |
I think it was a major impact. |
I think it was pretty obvious we ran out of gas today down the stretch. We just didn't have enough to finish it off with nine scholarship players. |
I think our guys have a pretty good feel that there's still another game to play. I think that they understand that obviously we're elated to be co-champions ... but once again we've put ourselves in a big position to have the opportunity to win outright on our home court on senior day. |
I think the Big Ten is a tremendous league. |
I think the Big Ten race is just wide-open, I honestly do. I think that you could see probably about six or seven teams who can compete for the championship, and it's all a matter of who gets hot and who is playing well. |
I think the thing that Greg is going to bring is a defensive presence. He's one of the best shot-blockers I've ever seen. His ability to finish around the basket is very good as well. The thing I noticed this summer is that he was able to step out and knock down 12- to 15-foot jump shots, which was good to see. |