John Jay Quotations

We've already felt the impact of one injury, so losing Nick is another significant blow. This isn't the way the season was supposed to be drawn up for two of our four seniors who have had such an impact on our program.

We're battling but offensively we have just been struggling for the past month.

Three weeks ago, I finally became comfortable with a rotation of eight guys, who could play on both offense and defense. Right now we don't have that on offense and we don't have it on defense.

We've been in a slump, been in a funk, feeling sorry for ourselves, and today we didn't.

We set up our schedule earlier in the year to travel and become more comfortable away from Gill Coliseum. Now we're comfortable in both places, home and away.

Last year, we ran certain things and did some things, but many times it was when in doubt, throw the ball to David and just hit space. ... And we don't quite have that. In the last 15 seconds of a shot clock, we are nowhere near as efficient.

Shoot, he plays every position on the court. He's just a guy who hurts you in whatever position he plays no matter who guards him.

No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.

Neither team was stopping each other and then Chris Hernandez had a stretch there that changed everything. The big shot he hits, the 3-pointers, and then he gets bumped and the parade continues. Having that happen where they get a lot of points at the line was one of my biggest fears.

Obviously going down 21-2, we were buried, plain and simple. We were buried. The fact the rest of the game ended up the way it did (was better). The game was over.

My sense is (today) he'll be a lot better. He has some tightness in his left shoulder and he'll have to work through it. He'll be able to play.

I wouldn't consider it wasted. I feel empty because it was clearly an opportunity for us. And it's rife for all sorts of second-guessing. And I'm my own worst critic. It will be one those weekends.

I was pretty comfortable with how those guys were defending, and I thought we had pretty good ball movement. I didn't need to experiment or try anything else. I had great confidence in that group. I didn't start the game like I was going to play seven. Somewhere in there I said to myself I'm only playing seven.

If we hadn't beaten Cal and Arizona back-to-back you could sit and say this team never has demonstrated any ability to compete with guys at the top level programs. But we did.

If we'd have had all our guys healthy, we wouldn't have been (down by) 32.

Chris Stephens was defended by a (future) NBA guy.

Given what we've been through, if there was ever a group of guys who earned it, deserved it, it's our guys. Everybody who was out there played their tails off and competed. They made energy plays and made enough plays to win.

He has reaffirmed his commitment. There are some things Jason and I needed to address. Jason is back with the program.

He'll need some time to heal, and then he'll get back into things. There's no question he'll be behind, however. I feel really bad for Josh because he has worked so hard and he is so passionate about the game and his development.

Having them being released is a good thing. People make a big deal about it because it's an unknown.

Guys are comfortable with him. The trust in him is building. And the shots he missed in the first half, he's going to start to make. It's a building thing for him.

He wants to suit up one more time, but we're five days from that. He still can't do anything ballistic. He doesn't do much with us but straight ahead shooting. He can't push off side to side or change direction. I don't see that happening in five days.

I was embarrassed after the Cal game. I'm not happy how the score ended up tonight, but it's different. The first half, we battled and fought. In the second half they just went on and blew us out, so it's different.

Jason's approach to things now has been great. He's working as hard on defense as on offense. He's into it. This is a big week for him. He's ready to play right now; that's a great frame of mind to be in here on Tuesday.

Jason needs to reaffirm his commitment to the Oregon State basketball program.

People who love soft methods and hate iniquity forget this, -- that reform consists in taking a bone from a dog. Philosophy will not do it.

Staying hydrated is an important part in getting back, but Jack is fine.

Marcel getting into foul trouble early in the game hurt us. His ability to rebound is something that has made our defense better all year long.

It feels empty because it was an opportunity wasted for us.

I'm still in my mind preparing for the worst: three to six weeks. But I don't know.

That's the unfortunate thing is that we needed him right away, and he helped us right away. Now you are seeing a balance of strength in his body, catching up to handle the rigors of constant pounding. You see him at full strength now. I think Kyle will continue to get better. With more minutes you should see productivity increase because he can be on the floor longer and play harder. He's not favoring a knee or something like that. He's probably going to have the other shoulder fixed after the season. So he's going to deal with that a little longer. But the lower body for the first time in his career is actually not failing him.

You just can't say the top seeded people are going to win throughout this tournament. It hasn't happened through the conference season. UCLA is as vulnerable as anyone else, and that will make for an exciting Pac-10 Tournament.

Where we are right now, I'm going to try and get as many minutes as I can out of each starter.

We dug ourselves a huge hole, no question about it. We found a rhythm, but I wish we could have found our rhythm three or four minutes earlier.

We can be undersized and play. We do sacrifice some height and girth when we have to slide down with more lean guys. Where we are now, I'm going to try and get as much time as I can out of each starter.

We had a point where we cracked. When people start throwing dunks down, there's a point where they've created a competitive edge.

We had a point when we cracked. When people start throwing dunks down, they've created a competitive edge.

We played well enough to win this game. As a team we have a significant ceiling to shoot for. There is a lot of room for this team to grow. I'm pleased with how we played. If we played this well the first three weeks we would have a different record from 7-5.

We played well enough to win. I though our guys played well. We just never quite got ahead.

We still have yet to fully adapt to playing without David Lucas. Many times when in doubt it was 'Throw the ball to David and get space.' We don't quite have that.

We gave them the ball early and they didn't even have to go 30 yards to score, ... That really hurt us.

The deal right now is our perimeter defense. We battle for a while and the lack of depth and height is killing us. Guys are trying, but the guys we are trying to stop are the lead guys in the conference. And Lamar always took that assignment. We've been vulnerable there.

Winning is so hard - period. At this point, it doesn't really matter who you are playing. Every time we played Arizona maybe I thought about it more because of who it is. But now it's just an opponent.

Those who own the country ought to govern it.

UCLA did exactly what they've been doing defend with great focus and team energy. They continue to improve. There wasn't any complacency.

UCLA did exactly what they've been doing - defend with great focus and team energy. They continue to improve. There wasn't any complacency.

UCLA did exactly what they've been doing -- defend with great focus and team energy. They continue to improve. There wasn't any complacency.

We have five banks that we have yet to settle with and we are very anxious to continue our conversation with those banks.

When Nick is comfortable he is very effective. When he is uncomfortable he's unpredictable. At this point, whatever trigger is there, Nick is playing comfortable and thus is very effective.

There has to be some development and growth there. When the point guards play well, then we are pretty good. We are hard to beat when the point guards play well.

We're trying to find the right combination to make us comfortable. I want guys to be aggressive, but I want them to be smart in doing that. Just way too many turnovers.

We got humbled (today). We need to scratch and claw to get our way back into a competitive mindset.

There are lots of people who can't think seriously without injuring their brains

What option do I have. It's logical if the clock started on the touch. We were arguing over 0.1 or 0.2. There's nothing there.

What Jordan does like any great point guard is the ability to have vision and control from sideline to sideline, as well as end line to end line. It's a talent that makes a good point guard a great point guard.

We've prepared ourselves, and we've made progress as a team through 11 games. We haven't played a team like that in respect to changing defenses all the time. To recognize defenses all the time and play a game with only eight turnovers, I thought we did a good job with our patience.

Thursday's game was difficult for me as a coach to endure. Today's was not. I'm pleased today. We dug ourselves a huge hole, no doubt about it, but we found a rhythm.

Thursday's game was a difficult game to coach and endure. Today's was not. It was the best 40 minutes of basketball we've played since Washington State (on Jan. 21). There's an enthusiastic locker room that is excited about practicing on Monday. From those things, I'm pleased today.

When I talk about finding a comfortable lineup, I'm serious because last year we went through the same thing. It was a big deal to me early in the (Pac-10) season to be able to say I have a comfortable rotation. And then we lost one guy and it changed.

We certainly got an extreme test of what maximum challenges there are in Seattle and in that we flowed better with Wesley. Now he has an opportunity and that's what he needed.

We are going to be very cautious to make sure when he comes back, it's 100 percent. The next time this happens, we may not get him back. His college career will end on the bench. When someone says he's ready, I would keep him out an extra week to make sure he's strong enough.

Brett played 20 minutes on Thursday with two turnovers. We don't have that ratio of turnovers per minutes played on our team right now. He did a really good job. I'm very pleased with what he did, and the chances are pretty good I'll probably start him again on Thursday.

Ed had a lot of love and appreciation for Oregon State, and he was very much interested in our basketball program. He'd come to practice a couple of times a year, and I'd see him at Beaver Huddles in Salem. It was an honor to get to know Ed. He's one of the first true legends in Oregon State basketball and he'll be forever remembered.

It would have been nice to go down and have the lead one time. That sometimes changes the mind-set - you look at it a little bit different. But we don't know what would have changed. Aaron made two great plays. He was definitely the star of the game.

I've seen since Pac-10 started a greater focus in practice toward the game plan, the scouting report. He's absorbing more. The more anybody invests into something with a commitment; you don't accept failure as easy. You are better prepared to sustain effort and focus. It sure helps us when he plays like that. He's more difficult to deal with.

I've never seen them shoot that well. They shot us right out of the fight.

The stuff he's doing is within the framework of the offense because he's practiced at game speed.

Ryan Appleby just blew us up in the second half.

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

A vision of truth which does not call upon us to get out of our armchair -- why, this is the desideratum of mankind.

You're trying to do things to him that people have been trying to do to him his whole life. He's as quick as all get-out and he's as strong as all get-out, he's smart and he's skilled. Unless you can be bigger than him and jump on his top shoulder and not let him around you, he gets where he wants.

They were exceptional. I've never seen them shoot like that. We're the leading 3-point defense team in the Pac-10 and they shot us right out of the fight.

They put the squeeze on us the second half. And for the first time since Northwestern State, five weeks ago, we hit a point where we cracked. When teams start throwing dunks down, there's a point there where they created a competitive edge.

They played really good defense, and you could see that we couldn't handle the ball.

There were definitely places where fouls could have been called, but UCLA did a nice job of not fouling on the shot. There may have been some bumps prior to, but for the most part they did a nice job of not fouling on the shot.

A thing is not the truth till it is so strongly believed in, that the believer is convinced that its existence does not depend upon him

It wasn't that he had a bad attitude. He had no attitude. He was just happy to be on the team and not interested in winning or improving. He didn't understand how hard you had to work in practice at this level. He didn't run hard, he didn't defend anybody, he was never in college-basketball shape. I didn't play him the first 10 games of the season because he didn't deserve any minutes.

It's a conclusion of a marvelous career of an honorable man. Everything good about college basketball is in Dick Bennett.

It's a good thing; good for the guys to get some home games early. We'll want to make it an annual thing.

It's unfortunate for him. He's playing the best he's ever played. It's amazing the growth he's made in the last month. And the command he has. So I feel bad for Lamar.

It's not the way it's supposed to be drawn up with two of the four seniors who have had an impact on the program. Two seniors not really having a chance to play, it's unfortunate.

It's obvious that Lamar was our most valuable player. At Oregon State University at this particular time, if you lose your most valuable player it's hard.

It just gets to the point where you ride the ponies until they fall. There's nothing to hold back on. As athletes, we think they should want to close off the season being on the floor as many minutes as possible.

It's always been such a somewhat stale environment to play in. You always get a cold feeling.

It's good to see him participate in low impact shooting. When we start talking about next week, we're still eight days away. There's no ballistic movement in what we are doing, so we'll see.

The odds are stacked against anybody to (win four in a row), but I think it's good for the kids to come down and be part of the conference tournament.

The odds are stacked against anybody to do that.

The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.

That goes without saying. It looks good (to be at home for so long), but if you don't perform and get it done, it won't look as good.

It's definitely not your father's Los Angeles of 1955. It's one of those ironies that LAPD, in a city that's pretty hip and sophisticated, is still somewhat trapped in a time capsule,

I've got to give a lot of credit to (Oregon coach) Ernie Kent on that. He was really receptive to that, and the officials were also. ... I genuinely applaud that and appreciate it for Lamar.

It was a good effort and we moved the ball better than we have in a while, and so it's fun to get back on that side of it again. It was good to see guys make plays at the end of the game, and keep poised.

The turnovers were a combination of Washington's defense and us. You've got to know where the traps, the danger zones are, and we didn't stay out of the traps.

The turnovers have been killing us before and they continue to knife us. The guys are uncomfortable on offense, plain, pure and simple.

They demonstrated why they are two of the elite guards in the country.

It was great (defense). An NBA (caliber) player drives off a 6-foot-9 guy and does a step-back, going to his right, which is hard for a right-handed player, you have to be really strong to do that. It was great defense.

They will hit their stride, because the program is used to winning and they will figure it out.

Their opinion of this game doesn't really matter. How we played speaks for itself.

I made up my mind I was going to play some guys. Those guys I put in have been playing their tails off in practice. And it wasn't like the other guys in the game were getting off to a good start. The kids knew I was going to do it.

In all my years of coaching, I've never had a team with just one free throw. For us to be successful, we have to get to the free throw line.