Famous Quotes & Sayings

John Beilein

In the long run I'll have to see if it wears down our team. Jim's got a point, but on the other hand the exposure of college basketball is everywhere and we want to be a part of that.

Bill Smith

In the last three or four years we've been working with our guys. More talent has been coming to our school. We have better quality athletes. Our basketball program is our top program.

In terms of basketball experience, they're a mature group.

Jerry Reinsdorf

Internationally, basketball is bigger than baseball, so the Bulls' championships had bigger impact around the world. In Chicago, this had a much greater impact on fans than the Bulls did.

In that third quarter, we didn't play very good basketball on our end. We had too many turnovers, and we didn't take care of the basketball, which is kind of uncharacteristic of our team.

Kristi Toliver

I really didn't have any jitters. We've both played in a lot of basketball games, and we really don't get caught up in the hype.

Tommy Amaker

I really believe the way we've played on the offensive end has really taken the life out of us defensively. This has been my biggest pet peeve about basketball in today's time. It seems to be when players aren't scoring, their energy and life to play the total game isn't there. I think that has hurt us defensively.

Jay Bilas

If you see something like that happening, I think it's safe to say this is a basketball school.

If you were to write a template of the kind of kid you want, it's Joanna Conner and Lindsey Koehn. They are the kind of people that I want to surround myself with as I continue my basketball career.

Scott Skiles

In my mind, he's the most improved player in the league.

Mark Turgeon

In my heart, this is where I'm supposed to be. I told the players, I never pursue a job. I never have. I never will. I was just trying to do what was best for our staff and our basketball program.

Brandon Roy

In my heart, I would have liked to have seen him come to Washington because I feel like the things I've been through here have made me not only a better person but a better basketball player. You come to college and nobody looks at you as a star anymore. You're just another guy on the team, and that would have been great for him.

Billy Donovan

In my opinion, they are a better team this year than they were a year ago watching them on film. I would say that our basketball team is totally different.

Vlade Divac

I never thought this day was going to come so quickly. I am sure my life after basketball is, hopefully, going to be even better.

I guess they can't believe that Granite Hills is actually a pretty decent basketball team this year. We've been using that for motivation all season. We want to prove we can play with the best.

I had a great four years. My teammates were great and the coaching staff helped me so much. I felt like I've grown as a basketball player and a person. You can't ask for much more than that.

If you have a basketball team with seven great players, and one leaves ... the overall team is worse

If you'd seen the first half, you would've said there wasn't any way in the world we were going to win that basketball game.

Mark Turgeon

If you put a gun to my head, I would say we would get four in. But there's a lot of basketball left, and the upsets will hurt a lot of at-large teams.

If you're a coach or a basketball player, your number one goal is to get to the state tournament. If we didn't do it, then Alma would have made it instead of us.

Gary Williams

If you're going to be a good basketball team you have to play every play. I preach that all the time. And I kind of coach that way to back up what I say.

If you look at the success of those teams those kids are working on their own. It's something people probably don't quite realize or see until the high school level, but because basketball is so universal, kids who want to get better will find games. Camps and tournaments are all over the place for kids who want to play.

If you just go by records and stats, it looks like we should be the final two. That makes it special. The traditions behind both schools makes it an interesting basketball game.

Mike Krzyzewski

If you just focus on J.J. and just watched him, you'd be shocked at the maze of things that he has to get through usually to get a shot. I think he's just evolved each year as a better basketball player, and the last two years he's made a year-round commitment to being in exceptional shape.

Cal Hubbard

If you commit six turnovers you should have won the basketball game.

Shane Battier

If you try to mess with the basketball gods, they punish you in the end. All the talk of massaging and losing games, that's not in our minds right now. We're trying to win every single game each time we step on the court. Wherever we are at the end of the year, hopefully we'll have some momentum and play well in the playoffs.

In the years prior to this year, we were playing our best basketball at the beginning of the year, and you don't really want to be doing that. So, we paced ourselves this year.

In the first half, we played the best basketball that we have played all year. We were really clicking on all cylinders. We were really psyched for this game.

In the first half we didn't take care of the basketball and it hurt us a little bit.

In the last five or six games, we've been playing our best basketball in this league. I'm really proud of how our kids have stayed together and gotten better in the course of a very difficult year.

Steve Alford

In the last five minutes, they were the tougher basketball team. They got the stops they needed, and we did not.

In the end it was our horrible start that did us in, which is the opposite of what we usually do (come out strong and fade as the game goes on). Our big thing is that we don't play consistent basketball but tonight I thought we did except for the first quarter and the last two minutes of the third.

Pat Williams

In the history of basketball, if you wondered who would do that, I don't think he would have gotten many votes. But everything came together that evening. It was a magical evening down in the Magic land. . . . It was basketball the old-fashioned way. Rip it and run.