Billy Donovan Playing Quotations

We're looking forward in playing in what is a great, great event. We don't know who our opponent will be, but we know it will be a very good team and we know that this is a one-and-done situation.

One of the biggest things to stop is momentum. There are always teams that can get on a roll. Some people say that if you have won 15 games in a row, it's good to take a loss into the (NCAA) tournament. Other people say that if you lose a game, your confidence level is lower, that you are not going into the tournament playing your best. I always say that just because you lose, you can still play well. You can get beat by a better team.

I don't know there's a clear-cut favorite right now. If you're going to look at what's happened, LSU has been the most impressive in our league. You're dealing with depth issues for everybody, you're going to be dealing with fatigue issues, you're going to have to deal with foul trouble, you're going to have to deal with playing three teams in a row and you have to deal and move from one day to the next.

If that happened, I'd be really disappointed in our team. We're playing against a team that really out-performed us a couple of weeks ago in Columbia. The final score says 6 points, but we were down by 15 in the second half, we were dominated in the game. I would hope our guys would be excited about having the opportunity to compete again and play again.

He got back to playing the way he normally does.

Going into this game, we don't have any excuses. We have enough to get out on the floor and dress. We're not going to be playing five against four.

I would say that our basketball team is totally different. Every guy on our team is playing a completely different role than they did a year ago.

I think in the SEC tournament if you can get a bye that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.

I think we have a different group of kids. They're having too much fun and enjoy playing together too much.

I think we've got a different group of kids. I believe in my heart that all those guys will be back. They're having too much fun, they're enjoying playing together too much.

I respect and appreciate him for coming across the country and playing at Florida. I think Ryan being away from his family and not playing as much was tough on him, and he saw that (since graduated guard) Anthony Roberson was coming back.

Our kids just kept battling and playing hard. I mean, to win a championship game and not even get to 50 points is truly remarkable.

Our starters didn't play a lot of minutes, and it was good to see us score as many points as we did with those guys not playing. For our team right now, playing this midweek game before getting back into the (Southeastern) conference at Tennessee (Saturday) was good for us.

Our blocks in the Miami game came the right way. They came with our big guys playing good post defense, moving their feet. When someone from Miami committed to shooting the basketball, most of our blocked shots were on the ball.

Playing hard and playing passionately isn't good enough to win.

Playing at a neutral site, you can throw all of the seeds out the window.

With the teams we're playing and the stretch we have the next seven days, these guys need to get to a crossroad. Their backs are against the wall. They're either really going to try to do those things, or they're going to put themselves in a position where we can't play to the best of our ability.

We were playing for survival. I felt fortunate just going into the locker room being tied at halftime.

Everybody talks about the end result. You're playing for the national championship. I think the only experience I tried to use from 2000 was, you've got to want this night to last as long as you can. You've got to want them to put more time on the clock. You've got to love playing.

I still don't necessarily believe we (are) the best team in the country. When you're playing in an event that's a one-and-done deal, anything can happen. I've been on the side of it where it ends in a heart-breaking manner. And now I've been on the side where it's obviously just an incredible feeling.

They appear to be playing very well. I've always felt like they have good personnel there, and it will be a great environment. As highly ranked as we are going into Knoxville, I think it's pretty clear the way both programs feel about each other. We know it's going to be a hostile environment.

The way our schedule works out is probably a little more of a disadvantage for our team because we are playing four of the last six games on the road. That is challenging. The only thing I am worried about right now is Vanderbilt. To me, that is the only game we have, and it's the only thing we need to worry about.

I've said it all along about this team, they derive a lot pleasure from moving and passing the basketball and playing together.

You're playing a game right now, living each moment. Play each moment. They peaked and probably played well because of the setbacks we had in February that helped us grow.

They started to understand that playing hard isn't enough. I think that stretch helped them understand that there was another piece to winning.

They play college basketball way they should play it. We're looking at this game as playing one of the best teams in the United States of America because that is what they are.

There might be some truth to (more pressure playing close to home). Kids say, 'There's so many people there I want to do so well,' so that can happen. If you're out in San Diego you're just kind of playing. (But) I don't think these guys will feel that way -- I hope they don't.

It's one of those things I can hope will get better and he can get back to playing because it's very obvious watching him play that he's not as reckless and daring and playing like he's capable of. I don't know if there's a level of uncertainty if he plants or runs or jumps or if the pain is so severe he just can't do what he's supposed to do.

It's very obvious watching him he's not as reckless and daring and playing like he's capable of. I don't know how available he is. He'll play, but will he be a productive player?

It's very, very obvious watching him play that he's not as reckless and daring and playing like he's capable of. I don't know if there's a level of uncertainty when he plants or jumps or runs, or if he just feels like the pain is so severe that he just can't do what he needs to do.

It was good to see us score so many points without those guys playing so much.

They've had some very heartbreaking losses that they've had chances to win. They're coming off a big win against Kentucky. To me, they're playing as well as anyone in our league.

Arkansas fans are great fans. It's a shame because you have two really great teams playing against each other and it wasn't a sellout because of the weather in the area.

I'm not even concerned about that right now. I'm more worried about playing LSU (Saturday at home). Even before this game, Tennessee was in control of its own destiny.

I'm very happy for John. He's done an absolutely fantastic job with his team this season. It's always difficult playing a game at this level against such a close friend.

I'm not surprised that he's playing small forward, and I'm not surprised that he's playing well, because he's a great kid and he's always been about the team. He's always been an unselfish kid.

If you look at our last four to six games, everybody knew it was going to be the toughest part and stretch of our schedule. Our basketball team, when we had all that early success, I don't know if we've played against teams as talented as we're playing against now.

In our league with the quality of teams and playing four consecutive nights, I think for any team it's a disadvantage. But you go into the tournament with the hand you're dealt.

I look at who we're playing as a basketball team and don?t get wrapped up in what the perception is about their team. They're a very, very good basketball team that has beaten Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina.

In the SEC Tournament if you can get a bye, that's always a great thing. It's certainly very hard playing four consecutive games in a row to win an SEC championship.

I just felt like our guys were playing with blinders on. We weren't taking what the defense was giving us. I don't think our 3-point shots were that bad in the first half.

I don't know if we've played against teams as talented as teams we're playing against now. Playing hard, playing unselfish, doing all the right things, team-wise, is great. ... But it's not good enough to beat good teams.

I don't know if you do pressure, if it's going to necessarily make them shoot any quicker. I think what becomes important in playing them is your late shot-clock defense.

He's a problem for anyone because he can rebound, he can score because of their great spacing and he's a very underrated passer out of the post. John (Thompson) has the luxury of playing him and going big or taking him off the floor and going quick. They can go from one extreme to the next because of their balance, so it makes them tough to prepare for.

George Mason has been playing great. But I thought the key to the game was the 3-point line. That was one thing missing from what people were talking about.

I'd say right now he's not going to play. I don't know how his treatment is going to go and how well he's going to respond. He was very, very sore (Sunday) morning. He came in several times for treatment. ... He's not capable of playing right now.

I do not believe there is any clear-cut favorite right now. LSU has been the most impressive in our league, but you're dealing with depth issues for everybody, you're dealing with fatigue issues, you're going to have to deal with foul trouble, you're going to have to deal with playing three games in a row.

These kids are about challenges, competition. I don't think they look at playing at Georgia any differently than they do playing St. Joe's. In their minds, being 13-0, they are going in there feeling that they are underdogs because it's a road game in a place that's tough to play.

All of those guys can look at the individual honors and attribute it to playing as a team. They made it possible by being a team and they were honored as a team.