Kelvin Sampson Team Quotations

(My) team could get a lot better, though, and that's what's exciting.

I am really thrilled to have Rob, Jerry and Jeff as part of our staff. When you combine them with Coach McCallum and Coach Meyer, our staff is as good as any team in the country.

But we're a little bit different team than we were against Missouri and Nebraska. There's no secret that our guards are playing a lot better now that we have them all.

He gives Texas an identity. An important part of being a good team is you're going to be known for something. P.J. gives them a toughness and orneriness because that's the way he plays.

He was in a group that could have made it or not made it. But I said there's no way we're going out of this country playing on a team without P.J. Tucker. That's one of the things the USA teams have missed in the past. We've taken cookie-cutter kids instead of kids with big hearts who know how to win.

I think we're a top 10-type team. If this team stays healthy, we'll be hard to beat.

I think Texas is good, but I don't think there's a lot of difference between the two teams. I thought Gibson was a lot more active today. Texas was good today, but I was more disappointed in our team than I was impressed with Texas.

I think this is going to be a fun team to watch. I'm really looking forward to getting started.

We're all trying to get that one little thing to get us going. Whichever team does that has a chance to finish higher in the standings.

We had no answer for Blalock and Stinson. Iowa State has the two best guards on a single team in the Big 12.

The problem with being ranked so high comes if you don't play up to expectations. But we never had our guys. We were always saying what would happen if we could ever get them back. We expected to be a good team, but we weren't the only team to go through some injuries.

This team desperately needs leadership. Coaches can fuel practice, but come game time, you've got to have kids that are more vocal, with more fire.

The strength of the team is up front now. But we don't have a guy who you know can give you points when the going gets tough.

Texas has kind of separated itself. They're the one team that cannot be at their best and win, because they're good. There's not that much difference between the rest of us right now. We're all searching.

Sometimes recruiting is either through convenience or necessity. We can't go into next season with the team we have right now up front. We have to have some help. And if you need immediate help, the best source for that is junior college right now and that's where we'll go. We need some size.

You may upset one team, but you don't sneak up on the next one. This team is not Cinderella. This team is the security guard at the back door. They'll beat you up.

Confidence comes through in your swagger. Our program has always had a swagger, regardless of where we play. This team is just now starting to get it.

I have no desire to go anywhere. I have a desire to make my team better. . . . It ain't time for me to go yet.

I just know that Ricardo does a great job there and he's got his team in the tournament and a guy who does that needs to be rewarded.

I don't know if it could work out any better, but we had 17 offensive rebounds tonight. We're the No. 1 rebounding team in the nation and tonight it helped us.

He can be as good as he wants to be. Had he been a little better last year in Chicago, he wouldn't even be in college. There's a reason why he was in Chicago. He's a pro. Whatever team he's on, he automatically is going to lift that team to a different level. He's a unique talent with his length. Guys that athletic, guys that long usually aren't that good of 3-point shooters. But there's no area of the game that he's not good at.

For our team and what we need right now, I'm not sure I could have scripted it any better. It would have been nice to win by 25, but I don't think there's a team in America that could beat (Oral Roberts) by 25.

K-State is a dangerous team. Those are the kind of teams you don't want to see in the tournament.

Our offensive philosophy is to simply find a way to get the ball into the hands of our team's best player.