Jerry Wainwright Quotations

There are some incredible swings this season. More so than I've ever seen.

Somebody else stepped up for them and good teams do that. I thought I saw his chest swell a little bit after the first one. He was the difference in the game.

Shooting percentages can be misleading. Their steals led directly to baskets. I think they've done that all year. They're terrific open-court players.

I don't know what else you can say; you need to make them.

I am happy for their seniors. They were able to get through the grind, and now they have the opportunity to play on.

He was certainly out of sync. But showed a lot of courage in playing. You could tell he was laboring. We'll just have to see where he is at over the next couple of days.

The only thing I would say is that when you play Wake, you have to pick your poison. We tried to close the perimeter down and left our post on an island. It's no fun being on an island with Eric Williams. He's going to push you into the ocean. He's a terrific player. I told him before the game I was so proud of the way he's developed his body and his stamina.

I thought the difference was Palacios. I think he's been struggling a bit lately. I know he's been fighting injuries, but he was really effective at the 5-to-8-foot level and made a lot of shots from penetration around the basket.

I thought the difference in tonight's game was Palacios. I think he has been struggling a bit lately. I know he has been fighting injuries. He made a lot of shots in penetration around the basket.

I think it was a really bad fall and he was walking on it gingerly. I didn't think it was worth risking at all at this point of the season and this point of his career. It was a tough injury. He's been playing really well for us.

Our kids represented our school the right way. We just did not have it in us through the last couple possessions.

Statistics point to what happened in this game. We had problems finishing plays where we had the size advantage, and it was painful at the free-throw line.

I will tell you without any question that every league game I've been in part of in the Big East seems like a conference tournament game. There's an intensity and urgency. It took a while for our kids to get used to.

I won't win anywhere close to the number of games coach Ray Meyer won. But I hope that when it's all said and done that people will say that I was a pretty nice guy, the way they'll always be able to say about him.

I was told the one was the best win for DePaul in 10 years and the other was the worst loss in DePaul history. It was like the day before I got married and the day after I got married.

I think most of our young players have adapted to the college life. It takes a while to adjust to those things.

We got beat up a little bit on the glass because we got spread out a little. They're quick to the glass.

We never gave ourselves a chance to win. But I don't think we have despair in our game; it's frustration. These losses hurt, but it should be painful.

We worked hard to hold them in the 60s. We got beat up on the glass, but ... we did a good job of guarding.

When you have a young team, you have to hold the lead. We started off well, but we didn't earn our baskets later on. We didn't get to the free-throw line.

When you have a group of young kids, the ups and downs are dramatic.

We've been beaten this year, but I didn't think we lost any of those games, but we lost today. It was important for us to get off to a good start today but we didn't do it.

We were down three to Villanova and 5-for-17 at the line. We have lost three or four at the free-throw line so I'm really proud of our kids.

You have to make shots so close to the rim.

We had the opportunities to make shots. You get to a point where you have to make them. We got to rebound better. We're not strong enough to rebound consistently when we get spread out like that.

We did a great job of breaking it down into four-minute segments. I don't have a 19-point play.

Both of these teams are trying to be one of the 12 that go to the Big East Tournament. That is a different kind of pressure than most teams in any league in this country face. ... Twelve teams are going. There is nothing easy on our schedule, and you have to win home games.

Every game is such incredible pressure. That pressure is on both coaches and players.

Every league game seems like a conference tournament game to me. You're looking at two sets of standings: who's winning and who's at the bottom. It's a tough, tough thing on coaches. That's why I rent (a house) and I didn't buy.

Sammy to me is a guy who has to be healthy to play well. I'd rather come down on the side of safety.

You're looking at two sets of standings. You're looking at who's winning, but you also look at the bottom.

You're going to be in front of full arenas from now on. I think you have to make that another whole season.

You're basically looking at two sets of standings. You're looking at who's winning our league, but you're looking far more at the bottom of the league. It's something we talk about every day.

They're (Wake Forest) going to have a terrific year, and obviously this is a great confidence builder for our program. We were facing four straight road games. Dayton , Wake, we're at Old Dominion Saturday, and we have to go to California next week. We really have played a difficult schedule and been in a lot of close games. We've taken everybody's best shot, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. Our kids have toughened up and are starting to learn how to play together.

They don't get knocked out. They go the 15 rounds.

They're a team of basketball players. They're not a team of positions. But they create problems you're not going to see the rest of the year.

They're no fluke. They manhandled us in the lane.

It's like you're dealing with two sets of standings. You look at who's winning the league, but you're looking far more at the bottom and seeing where that line is (for the Big East Tournament). It's something we talk about every day.

Dan Fitzgerald had a great game and was responsible for the spread and the spread stayed the same from the first to second half.

That's probably how dentistry was in the 1800s, before they had anesthetics. That's how I felt.

It's not going to be good when you have games taken away from your progress.

The biggest thing, when you play teams like this, you've got to stand in the middle of the ring. You cannot get on your heels. I told them before the game, 'We're going to get knocked down, you've got to get back up.' And I thought the kids did a good job of that.

The key to the game for us was our ability to pass the basketball. We moved it better than we have in a long time.

His ankle is really not swollen, but we have to get it evaluated, both he and Marlon.

I don't know if we can match up against Villanova's starting five. They present a completely different problem than any other team.

Hopefully not playing this weekend will give him a chance to get near 100 percent for Tuesday. If we played (Thursday), he certainly couldn't play.

If he is indeed finished, we need to embark upon a different playing style, obviously. Right now we're trying to hold the fort with what we have.

He plays with great enthusiasm, and what a physical specimen! If I looked like that, I'd spend all day walking around in a Speedo.

The game was dictated at the free-throw line. You can't miss 11 and win at this level.