Played Quotations | Page 10

We're just a couple of plays away. Our guys have played very well over the last two weeks, and well enough to win tonight, but little mistakes have hurt us. We're playing hard, and that's why I feel so bad for our guys.

We're just a couple of evenly matched teams. This was a great win for the kids. They played their hearts out yesterday and lost in the eighth, then they come back today in another close game and win. That's huge.

We're just so close. Look at the games we lost - we were right there. We should have closed out the LSU game, we had SC neutralized, and Oregon we just got outplayed, and we played flat. We shouldn't have lost all three of them - that's the thing that stands out. There's such a very fine line between being 6-0 and 3-3.

We're just pleased with these kids. We've played some good competition and played them tough. We've won the last two games. We're improving each and every day. It's been a real pleasure to work with them. For this group, that's a nice win.

We're just now starting to feel better about that. I'm not surprised how we played tonight, but it feels good to come out and redeem ourselves. This one's pretty big.

We're just looking forward to it. It's a big event for us each year. Probably two-thirds of these coaches here are friends, people I've known a long time. It's like a reunion for me every year. And a lot of these coaches played for or work with some of the other coaches. So it's just a good time where everybody gets back together again.

We're just happy, ... We wanted to win this game so bad. I've got to take my hat off to my teammates. They played big. They really picked me up tonight.

We're just happy to still be alive. We'll keep playing. Defensively, we were pretty good (Tuesday). Offensively, we were just as good, but we missed a lot of little shots. But the kids played really well.

We're just happy to get a win tonight. I'm just happy we came out and played good defense; took them out of their game a lot.

We're just happy to be alive. I think our guys hung in there. I thought they played really smart.

We're getting real used to playing against bigger people. Perry's the only team we've played so far that we match up with size-wise.

We're getting outworked and that can't happen, ... We haven't played a good 60-minute game yet.

We're getting our first shots and the goalie was making the save and the second shot was sitting right there for us. I thought we played well. It just didn't go in for us tonight.

We're getting guys who played in the league,

We're getting good quality pitching and we're probably playing the best defense we've played in four years. We have some good hitters, but we haven't put it together yet. We could. Once we get experience under our belts...

We're getting better looks at the basket, but we still played out of character. We missed free throw shots, we made turnovers and they outplayed us. That's how you lose games.

We're getting better. In fact, at times tonight, I thought we played some of our best basketball of the season.

We're getting a lot of production throughout the lineup. We've played some pretty good competition this year and have come up with some big hits.

We're hoping that Long Branch can pull an upset. We were all sharing the ball and hitting our shots. We played some tough defense that got them out of their rhythm.

We're honored that we played well enough to get to this point. The thing that we'll look at is that there's only a handful of teams that have been able to win back-to-back championships. I think that will weigh heavily on our mind.

We're not as determined as we were last season. We still play hard, but last season we played hard and smart. Whether it's because of a lack of confidence or whatever, we're not the same team right now.

We're better than we played tonight. I've said all along, 'We've got to improve. We need to continue to get better.' I think this group has responded all year. I'll be disappointed if we don't try to improve.

We're being smarter with the football now. Our defense has played well all year, but the biggest difference is we're running the ball. That makes everything much easier.

We're basically back to where we were last year. Matt Kubik will start based on the fact he played the most last year. Donald Allen will play early on and we'll leave it at that and see where we go from there.

We're barely getting beat, just one or two possessions away from winning. We've played good basketball. But we haven't played consistent.

We're a young team. We've had a lot of trouble catching and throwing the ball. When our defense played well, we didn't throw strikes.

We're a young team, but I thought we settled down in the second and third innings and played better defense. I liked the defense overall.

We're a young team and we've played a very tough schedule. I think they've gotten a little down and maybe lost some focus along the way. But I thought we came out in the second half and played with more intensity and focus.

We're a young team, and we're working hard. A lot of these guys have never played or came up from modified. We didn't have a modified team last year so they haven't played in a year. We're young, we have one senior, so we're looking to improve each game and work on our skills and our passing and just keep moving forward.

We're a young team, and we played like it,

We're a ways away with him. My concern with him was he already played catch and didn't tell us.

We're a very young team, and look how well we've played against so many teams. We've been able to win a lot in the Big 12, and we could have won a lot more. We're really showing up in the last part of the season.

To play music, you have to understand it. I didn't understand 'Topographic Oceans.' That's why I hardly played on it. It frustrated me no end - and playing the whole thing on tour, I got farther and farther away from it.

To play matches against the caliber of some of the teams we played this weekend, you always enjoy that, and the fact that we raised money for a great cause made it ten times more fulfilling, so it really was a win-win situation. It also increased all of our awareness about breast cancer and we can all feel good about raising a significant amount of money for breast cancer research and awareness.

To play against a team like that, you need better guard play. I thought we played really tentative the first quarter and a half.

To play a first half like we played tonight shows a lack of pride. I feel strongly about the tradition we have here at Toledo, and we're letting that tradition down big time.

Top 30 is something you'd like to do, but I hadn't done anything to feel confidence enough that top 30 was attainable, ... It's been a lot of fun. This is like a pat on the back for the guys have played great.

To our credit, we calmed down and just played basketball. The thing is, especially on the road, you put yourself in a position to win games. We don't beat ourselves.

To open up Chantel in the post, we had to hit some long shots, and for the most part that didn't happen. That's one reason we got beat, and the other reason is Dudley. We held her in scoring the previous three times we played Gibson County, but tonight she got us.

Three years ago when they came in and played us, it was a mismatch,

Throughout their history, the Nubians played a variety of roles with the Egyptians. They were colonized for a time and for a while were quite powerful in relationship to the Egyptians. And for 100 years, they ruled over them.

We're really down. We felt it was a game we could compete in and really win. All our guys played our hearts out. The guys are really down because we really believed.

We're real close to where we want to be. Especially after the way we played against Wesleyan Saturday night, against the quality of the team we were playing against, if we put it all together, I think we're as good as anybody.

We're ready for our conference games. We've played eight times, and that has allowed us to address our strengths and weaknesses.

We're quicker and we can play more pressure defense than last year. And we're ready. We were a little rusty tonight because we hadn't played in a week, but we're ready.

With what we had this year, I was hoping to end .500. When we were 2-6, I checked out schedule out and I said, 'I don't know if we can pull that off.' But our kids played their hearts out.

With what they had stacked up against them, they played pretty good.

We knocked down our free throws the fourth quarter and still took it to the basket. We weren't tentative, and that's really a good step for a young team. We know that almost all our scoring has to come from guys who haven't played much. Our seniors are role players, they don't score much.

We knew what we could do in our hearts, but we still had to go out and play each one of those games. We went and won seven in a row. We did what everybody said we couldn't do. We took the scenic route. We went and visited everybody's city and played on the road. They said, 'No way they could have all these games on the road and continue to win.' You know what? When you play football like we play at that point in time, and just execute like we're doing, we feel like we can beat anybody.

We knew what they were going to do, we knew how they were going to do it. They just played a little bit better then we did.

We knew what our situation was before the season. We played through that. We were winning games with that. That's no excuse. We've learned to accept it.

We knew we were outmatched. The kids played a good team tonight. I can't fault their effort. We're still a young team; we have something to build on.

We knew we were going to be strong. I don't think that realistically we thought we'd be 22-4 ... we've played some good teams along the way.

We knew we were going to be short-handed, being that Chris wasn't playing, and other guys stepped up and played big for us.

We let them score a lot more than the last time we played them. It was one of those nights when we were reeling and didn't play to our ability. We were a step slow on defense everywhere.

We let them get some easy buckets and missed some easy shots. From there we played with them. We worked so hard to get back in it, but we couldn't close it out. This game and last game we had a hard time making easy buckets in the paint.

We let their height bother us in the first half. We played a zone to help us rebound, but it didn't work in the first half.

We knew this was going to happen, ... We knew probably a week before the playoffs we'd get it done. We did it. Everything has been right on time. I just hope we get the same results as the other shots. I think I played fairly well after the shots, so hopefully that will continue.

We knew this was going to happen and we did it. Everything's been right on target, and hopefully I get the same result that I did from the other shots when I came back. I think I played fairly well after the shots.

We knew this game was going to be tough. We knew it would be a blood-and-guts game ? that's how both teams played tonight.

We knew this game was going to be close. Virginia Tech had played that way their first four games. We had to be tough. We weren't really sharp, but I was proud of the way the team came out at halftime. We played pretty well once we got going.

We knew they were undersized down low, so we wanted to take advantage of that. Tony played really big for us and was a big key in the win.

We knew they were going to play games for us, but to switch locker rooms before we even played a game, we never even thought about that stuff. We had our 23 guys and we thought that was it, then bang, bang things change dramatically.

We knew they were going to play desperate with the way they had been playing. It was a tight game and we broke down a little in the second. We played right into their hands.

We knew they were going to make a run; we knew it. Their run ended and we look up and they were only up by a few points. And that was all they got. And then we came out and played better.

We knew they were going to be a good team that was going to shoot the ball a lot. We had a good game plan, our defense played better than it did a week before (in a 16-3 loss to then No. 6 Cornell) and our offense moved the ball.

We knew they were big, and we knew we had to play our best game to win this. I felt like every single person played hard today. We just didn't execute on defense or on offense.

We knew they wanted to get up and down the court and we like to get up and down the court, so we figured the team that played the best defense would win. We did a better job with that after the first quarter.

We knew they played that overtime game. We didn't play that many minutes last night. So the key for us was just to get out quickly, make some stuff happen. It seemed like they had slow feet from the start of the game, which allowed us to jump on them early.

We knew they played good defense, but that zone was even better than we ever could have thought it would be. It was incredible. It was surprising we didn't turn it over more than we did.

We knew they may have a little trouble because of the lack of a background in here. Our girls have played here, obviously, and I've coached here before quite a few times. Perimeter shooting teams tend to struggle in here.

We knew they have a quality pitcher. I knew they had the potential to be a good team as they played Sacred Heart tough before falling 4-1.

We knew they'd start shooting the ball better. But I'm pleased with our defense. We played great tonight. I'm particularly pleased with how we played heading into Districts.

We lacked intensity on defense in the first quarter. After the first quarter we played a pretty solid game, so things are looking up for us.

We lacked a cutting edge at times but I thought we were worth more than a point and I think that's as well as we've played so far this season.

We know who their best player was, frustrated him, and played good overall defense. As you can see, we're not the biggest team in the world, so we have to rely on our quickness and defense.

We know when we signed Facundo here he was going to be a great defender. We had to play him in the first couple of weeks at a different position, as a sweeper. We had to insist on him communicating. That's why he played a couple of games as a marker. Right now, he goes back to his natural position. I think he did very well today in communicating with the guys in the front and the back.

We know what we can do, we know what we're capable of. We just come in and play. It means a lot to the young guys. It's a learning experience for them. You always want to know what it's like with the game on the line and you get a chance to play, and they did. They played well.

We know what Louisville Central has back and they played our tails off last year after we got a 40-0 lead. Bullitt East has already beaten them and not looked back at anybody. So they must have a heck of a team. We can't just go on cruise into the playoffs because we are going to have some tough games right away.

We know we've got a good, solid team. We're a balanced team and we've played an extremely tough schedule. We are just hoping that has prepared us enough to do well in this tournament.

We know we played like some trash out there. And now we know we need to play a lot better than we did. We need to put the pressure on them. I think we just set back and waited for them to attack us. We have to be the first ones to be aggressive.

We know we have the pieces in place, ... That's evident. You look at last year, with us being a game away. So we know that. The question going into this camp is can we create that same chemistry? Can everybody play at that same level that we played last year? Can we be that same football team? In this business, that's the hardest thing to do.

We know we can put on a good show. When you go to Chicago, you hardly know what's going on. It's just a huge city. Here, the Big Ten takes over the city. We played on that notion.

We know each other quite well. Our families get along well. When you play with somebody for the first time, you don't know how to react. I've played with Justin quite a few times and you know how he reacts and just go out there and just have fun.

When I was a kid, they had six hockey teams, they had eight to 10 basketball teams. The teams played each other once, twice a week. Maybe we should stack (the schedule) a little in terms of conference games.

Wales made life difficult for us, especially hanging in during the first half when I thought we played well,

Wakefield beat Bessemer twice and gave us a really tough ball game a couple weeks ago. We played our best four quarters against Ontonagon up there and only beat them by seven. They've got good size and some kids that can shoot from outside.

Verdigris has three guards that are very good. We played very poor defense against Bethel. If we play like that against Verdigris, we are going to get embarrassed.

Ultimately, we weren't ready to play, and (Murrieta) played hard. You can't let a team totally dominate you for 40 minutes and expect that, in the next 40 minutes, you can come back, because Murrieta is a good team. You just can't allow that to happen.

Ultimately, we didn't end up getting some breaks we needed to get an upset. Virginia has a great team and we tried to take it to them. ? We played hard. They played hard.

Ultimately, I didn't know which path he would take. I thought Brian did it in a great way. He played a tremendous bowl game, and he had the ability to kind of put it on the shelf until it was time to deal with it.

With this loss, I still see us being a strong contender for the state title. I wasn't happy with the way we played tonight. ... I wasn't upset we didn't win tonight, it was how we lost.

With this, it was, yes, we were excited about it but it was something new that we hadn't done before being on national TV. You get one shot, one song and that's it. And you're in a room full of screaming girls and we played acoustically and couldn't hear ourselves.

With the workouts we had, ... I was a little surprised we played as well as we did.

Wow, it was a long season. I played in probably 80 games. But it works for me because I come over here in shape. I don't get tired at all. I'm still in shape.

Would we love to have had (Roddick)? Absolutely. But there's going to be a lot of great tennis played by some amazing athletes.

Would it be fair to put him out there ahead of these other guys who have played those positions for quite some time?

Words played an important part in my growing up. Not only the written word... but words that flew through the air: jokes, riddles, puns.

We're still struggling in doubles. Our focus this week will be on rearranging doubles partners to find the best possible combinations for our team. Bottom line though, was our singles play. We came in and got it done in singles and it resulted in a victory. I give credit to all of the singles players today. They played real hard.

We're still looking at lineups. But Meredith did a great job of setting and Lillian played a great match.