Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell
Oliver Gordon Purnell, Jr.is an American college basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach at DePaul University. Purnell previously served as the head coach for Clemson University, the University of Dayton, Old Dominion University, and Radford University...
run winning
I think we will probably be in the NIT. It's disappointing we didn't make a run at winning (the ACC) tournament.
conference early ready resilient team trouble year
I wouldn't say there's no trouble because I think there is frustration and disappointment at going out early in your conference tournament. But this has been a resilient team all year long. We'll be ready to go (tonight).
carolina chance game south special
After the South Carolina game I thought we had a chance to have a really special team. I thought we had a chance to really leapfrog forward.
improved opened outside
Akin, I think, his improved play really opened up the outside for us.
advance forward game home major obviously pleased step
Obviously we are very pleased to advance in the NIT. A home game was a major step forward for our program, as was a win.
boost close finish game great home love win
I'd love to see us be in a close game with them on their home court. And getting a win would be a much-needed boost for us, a great jump-start to finish out the year.
ahead challenge definitely erase says scouting team
I don't think we want to erase it. It definitely says to our team that we have a real challenge ahead of us. We want to use it for scouting purposes. We don't want to erase any part of the season.
assured bit classic granted lost middle played rest season state sunday took
NC State lost the other night, but it was kind of a classic setup: out of the league, they just played Duke, in the middle of the ACC season at home, and they probably just took things for granted a little bit probably. You can be rest assured that on Sunday we'll see NC State at their best.
confidence hungry night team wednesday
I have every confidence come Wednesday night our team will be hungry and focused.
catch cold defensive focus learned lesson lose painful shooting teams
We've learned a painful lesson here today. That is if you lose focus on the defensive end of the floor, teams can catch you, particularly a team that was as cold shooting as we were.
adjust change game map might road
We've got to change and adjust - every game might have a little different road map to it.
basketball cold defense giving happens horribly nights played score stone zone
We had one of those nights in basketball where we went stone cold for three-quarters of the game, and we couldn't really score ... we just couldn't score. I don't really want to say we played that horribly without giving Miami's defense credit, because they played pretty good. It was just one of those nights. It happens to you now and then in coaching, but give Miami's zone defense credit.
cold nights stone
We had one of those nights where we went stone cold for three-quarters of the game. We just couldn't score.
improved means
We improved in every area, but by no means are we satisfied. We're right there - and were a competitive right there.