Trent Johnson Quotations

We're playing better. Certain guys are figuring out that you have to defend with a sense of urgency and you have to compete with a sense of urgency. It's a different team out there.

None whatsoever. They are a completely different team that's playing extremely well.

I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't concerned. It's all mental and physical toughness when you go on the road. You've got to do a better job taking care of the ball. Every mistake you make magnifies. Rebounding and being able to execute offensively are huge, especially with a team like Arizona.

I'd be shocked if we'd be in consideration if we didn't. I think we have to. That's the safe bet.

Chris, Matt, Danny - these guys have been through some wars. All we ever talked about was the next game and the next practice. This is a very bright, articulate group. There was never any sense of panic.

I feel we have to win all three (games). That's a safe bet.

I feel very fortunate to be coaching and our guys look at it the same way. I think their last experience at home was embarrassing. I think they would like to get that taste out of their mouths.

I can't remember a team that's come in here and beat us as handily as that team did. This was by far the best team we faced this year. They took Matt away, made Chris work and they made more shots.

From our standpoint, and how we've been playing of late, I don't think (Adams' absence is) going to make that much of a difference anyway.

For Virginia, finding out that they had to travel clear across the country on Sunday -- they definitely fatigued a little late in the first half and at the end of the game.

He's a good player. We knew that. He's a handful, like he's been all year. Tonight he had an exceptional night. I have to believe that this was his best game all year offensively and they needed that.

Go down to the official's locker room and ask those guys.

He's done a good job passing out of the double team. And, yeah, there have been a lot of guys on our team (who have) been open and not knocked shots down, but he hasn't gotten frustrated with it.

How we've been playing as of late, I don't think it's going to make that big a difference anyway.

I thought we played well offensively and defensively, and we shared the ball better than we have all season. Virginia, finding out they had to come cross country ? it looked like they had a bit of fatigue.

I thought their defensive pressure hurt us. Especially at the start of the second half, they really got us out of rhythm offensively, what we were trying to do. And that was the game right there.

I think this league is extremely strong from bottom to top.

I thought Matt was very courageous today. He didn't practice all week and he didn't participate in shoot-around for more than 15 minutes, but he came in and gave us a lift.

We played in one of the more hostile environments, so, yes, we played with toughness. We were in the game.

We don't talk about that. The bottom line is I don't dwell on those things.

We haven't played well against quick, athletic, tough, defensive-minded teams.

We probably played as well as we have to date. We're playing better, we're getting there, and it's a good time to start doing that.

We don't make that decision. The NIT is money generated and if the NIT powers say we want you to play at home, we will. ... But if it was my decision, I would like to take this basketball team on the road. Because we compete well at home, but for the guys that are returning next year we've got to fight through on the road.

You have to look at why those turnovers happened, and I choose to give credit to our opponent, as opposed to some of our deficiencies in terms of taking care of the ball. For us to have 23 turnovers and 13 assists, and still be in a situation where we can win that game, we were doing something good in other facets.

We're going into one of the more hostile environments we've seen all year. I'm impressed with Missouri State's team, with how physical they play.

Virginia found out on Sunday they had to travel all the way across the country. I think they got a little fatigued late in the first half and then late in the game.

Early on we had a lot of open shots and they just weren't falling. Again, we're not taking anything away from Cal. Their athleticism allows them to stretch you defensively, but we had a lot of things going for us offensively early on and shots just weren't going down.

Quite frankly, I don't care if we had six guys who could have stepped in, when Matt's playing like that, you leave him on the floor. They're college kids. I've never seen a guy who's healthy who wants to sit. And when the ball's going down and you're playing well, nobody wants to come out.

They're very defensive minded. They're going to be well prepared and very physical.

They have every reason to be upset about not being selected for an at-large bid. The thing that sticks out the most is how physical and aggressive they are.

They are pretty good. If they continue to play like that they have a chance to go deep into the (NCAA) tournament.

They're a good basketball team. They have a very hostile home environment. They are very balanced. They have seven or eight guys who can score for them. They are probably a little bitter since they didn't get an at-large bid to the Tournament.

For him to do what he did after being out says a lot about Gabe Pruitt as a player.

It's safe to say this was one of our better games all year. I've felt all along, all year long, that zones give us the opportunity to get open looks. And when teams get up after us man-to-man and pressure us on the half-court and full-court, it causes problems for us.

It's premature to respond to anything about the NIT. We're a long way from even qualifying for the NIT.

That is extremely hard to do. Did I say anything to him? Nah. What was I going to tell him, make them?

It was nice to see them play well, see them play up to their capabilities.

It's what you expect when you play a Dick Bennett-coached team.

They certainly have individuals on that team that are capable. They are plenty talented enough. And they didn't have Chris Rogers the first time around when they beat us in Tucson.

They've had plenty of time to adjust, and someone else will step up.

Anytime you lose a player of Matt's caliber, it is going to impact what you do, but we're not changing anything. And it's nothing we haven't had experience at.

The last few games I thought we've been playing better basketball. I didn't want our players to be down or lose sight of how far we've come just because they lost the other night.

I'm not going to comment on the NCAA. We're getting ready to play Arizona.

I'm looking forward to taking our group out.

I'm preparing myself for the worst. Even if he plays, it won't be as effective as he was the last few weeks.

In the first half, we shared the ball as well as we have all year.

I heard someone say Arizona is going to be down. Huh? When in the heck is Arizona down?

Call it being lucky, call it being good. You just have to execute down the stretch.

Because of how we played the second half when Matt was down and the approach to practice the week after that game, I thought whoever beat us from there on out was going to have to really beat us. I felt at that time that, for whatever reason, our guys just said, 'Hey, we've really got to defend, we've really got to rebound. We've really got to play with a sense of urgency.' And I feel we've done that.

He's a handful and has been all year. Tonight he had an exceptional game.

He's one of the best he's one of our icons. He's humble and unassuming.

He's got a shiner. He looks like he got hit by Muhammad Ali.

You were blackout drunk the night before if you wake up and have no idea where you are and why.

The easiest thing to do in coaching is when you have an element of success, to take off (for) the highest paycheck. That's never been the agenda for me. My agenda has always been what's best for the kids.

The first half we probably shared the ball as well as we have all year. Zones give us a chance to get open looks. When teams get up on us and pressure us man-to-man, it causes problems for us. There were a couple sequences in the first half where we made seven or eight passes, side to side. Zones are usually good for us.

The last time we played at home we got beat by a really good team. I thought tonight our guys were really looking forward to the challenge and knew we had an opportunity to be successful.