Geno Auriemma Good Quotations

We're in a good bracket with good teams like everybody else is. Say all you want about who's in a tough bracket, who's not? The bottom line is, starting this weekend everybody will get to a chance to prove whether they belong there or not.

We're 18-2 and it doesn't feel that way. I don't know why. Maybe because you know how many games are really hard to play in and you just keep thinking, 'This is really hard.' If someone figures out what we're not good at, it's good night, Irene.

We're 18-2 and it doesn't feel that way. I don't feel overly comfortable or ecstatic. I just like where we are right now, but I know that there's a lot in front of us, so I'm not ready to make any defining statements yet. We've played pretty good basketball, but I don't know that we've played an exceptional game at both ends. So I think there's a lot of room for improvement, a lot of room for growth.

There are a lot of good players back, a lot of good teams. I'm anxious to see how this plays out.

She's very, very good under pressure. She doesn't get bothered by anything. That's why she's kind of hard for me to coach because when I talk to her, she don't listen because she's not affected by anything. I knew she was going to make the free throws.

She's very good under pressure. She's not bothered by it. I knew she was going to make those free throws.

She?s sneaky and she caught those guys a couple times. She?s not easy to guard, and I thought those guys did a pretty good job of making her work hard for everything.

She finally realized that the more I do for others, the better it is for me, and in the end she ends up being better than she's ever been. I think you grow as a person when you start doing things for other people. So college was good for Barbara. The University of Connecticut was good for Barbara. And Barbara was good for the University of Connecticut.

Obviously in the long term, as the season wears on, there's no way you can be as good a team without someone who is, I think, one of the best five players in the league. Meg can put up 20 points every night, and that has to be comforting. But this West Virginia team is still one of the best that I've seen. That team is very difficult to play against.

One of the reasons why we want to play in this tournament when we're eligible is because it's usually a good field and you end up playing pretty good teams. You find out quickly early in the season where you stand. We're a lot better today than we were last week.

I'd like to see her shoot the ball more from the foul line. She's a good shooter from 15 feet out. And she still gets ahead of herself every once in a while, which is natural. Slowly, but surely, it's going to come. It's just going to look ugly at times. As long as she keeps making progress, that's all I care about.

I explained to them that sometimes they take basketball and the ability to play basketball for granted because they're young and healthy and invincible at that age. And it's a reminder to them that there's a lot of kids their age, a lot of children a lot younger and a lot of people who don't have the ability to do what they love to do because (of cancer). Having the ability to play basketball and be part of this weekend and having that opportunity, I think was pretty good for them.

If we play as well as we're capable of playing, we're going to win (tonight) regardless of what Rutgers does. If we don't play our 'A' or to the best of our ability, then there's a pretty good chance that if Rutgers plays well we're going to lose. And that's the way it should be when you play against a really good team. But, you know what? We're home. We're in our building. And the expectation level is we're going to win. That's the bottom line.

If that's the way they had it planned, then I would say that's pretty good planning.

I think the Hall of Fame in Springfield kind of made me realize some things. ... There's a lot of people in the Hall of Fame that are dead. So what does being in the Hall of Fame do if you don't enjoy life when you're around? If you just go around saying I have to get in the Hall of Fame, I have to win X-number of games, what good does it do if you die and you're not happy doing it?

I thought we could get away with not playing Ann. I thought we were in pretty good shape at 12-4. I didn't know that was the highlight of the first half ? getting to 12.

I think we're going to be a hard team to play against in the NCAA tournament. We play good defense. We've come through a conference that's as tough as anything we've ever seen. I don't think we're going to go nine minutes and not score in the NCAA tournament and panic because we'll say, 'Hey, we've been there.' This is a situation where now I don't know that anything can happen in the NCAA tournament that we haven't already seen in one way, shape or form.

I think we know pretty well after this trip that we?re pretty good. We?re not as good as you want to be yet, but we?re pretty good.

I think we have a reputation of being a really good NCAA tournament team. There does seem to be a little more of an edge to our game, a little more of a focus. I don't think we get up tight. I see teams that get very, very tentative and tense at tournament time and I don't see us being like that generally. I think our approach as a coaching staff is pretty laid back. We want to reward our kids for a great season.

I think we have a pretty good record in the NCAA tournament regardless of where we play. So the fact that we've won a lot of games here is probably indicative that we've had a lot of really good teams.

I think it was harder than all the other 12 put together. I thought our guys battled through a lot of stuff tonight. We played against a really good team that played their hearts out.

I think today was another reminder for our team that we can be as good as we were on Monday but when we're not all on the same page and not properly focused where we need to be, we can be just like anyone else. I'm hoping that games like this remind us, because once you get into the NCAA Tournament, you play a game like this, you're going to go home.

I think that Will, say what you will, she's going to rebound. She's going to chase balls down. She's going to play pretty good defense. And if nothing else, she understands our offense completely. She understands it like the back of her hand. She knows exactly what needs to be done.

I think there are a lot of teams that are going to make the NCAA tournament that are not as good as Texas. With their conference, they have a chance to play some really good teams and if they can knock off one or two of them . . .

I think for as good as Sue was and as talented as her teams were ... I don't know if I ever met anyone that didn't like her and hold her in the highest regard. Unbelievable.

Renee set the tone in the second half by how aggressive she was, looking to score, looking to make a play every time down the court. When she's aggressive, she's as good as anybody. She's got all the skills, and her best games are on the road. That's a great sign.

Renee is making a real case to be the starting point guard. She makes things happen. She makes plays. She's assertive. She acts like she's a real good player and that goes a long way into believing you're a real good player.

Pitt has a chance to be really good. They have a great facility. They are located in an area that is really good for high school basketball. The hardest part is winning, especially being in such a tough league. But they are winning and scoring a lot of points. People will notice. The men's program has done just that. Pittsburgh is a city that likes winners.

Playing at Louisville, at DePaul, at Villanova, at Notre Dame, at Texas, and we're going to go to Rutgers... I think we've had the toughest stretch of anybody else in the league. And for us to play well and to win, that's a huge step for us because I don't think this group really believed last year that we could win on the road against good teams.

Our offense always looks good in practice. It is games sometimes that it leaves a lot to be desired.

I was trying not to play her a lot. I thought we were in pretty good shape at 12-4. I didn't realize that was the highlight of the first half.

I think if we would have played Wednesday, or Thursday, it might not have been as good as it was (vs. ND). I think we needed some time. It was more of just kind of getting our heads, rather than our bodies, right.

Most good teams play good at home. But the really good teams, they really separate themselves by playing well on the road. This is probably the biggest win we've had this year.

We were lousy. I told the players the one good thing that game out of this was we won the game. Other than that I can't think of really anything that came out of this that was good.

We've got some good basketball left in us we haven't played yet. There's a lot that still has to come together for us and hopefully it will be Monday night.

We have won some big games on the road against some good teams, which has given the group the confidence that you need to play in these games. I don?t know that we went in feeling like we were good enough to win this thing last year. I think maybe we thought we were, but I?m not sure we really believed it.

We played pretty good defense and took good care of the ball and got people involved in offense that we wanted to get involved. We got the right shot at the right time. We accomplished a lot.

We needed some time. The only days we did anything was Friday and Saturday. Both of the days were more of just getting our heads rather than our bodies ready. We had a talk last night with the team and a lot of really good things came out.

We can be as good as anyone in the nation on any given day, and we can be worse than anyone in the nation on any given day. I never know what team is going to show up to play.

Today we played almost well enough to win the game. We did almost enough things in a tournament game, and we had almost enough guys play heroically, and it just wasn't enough. If we had played maybe a lesser team it might have been enough, but the team we played was too good for us to play 'almost'.

We played almost well enough to win. We were almost good enough to win. Almost enough guys played heroically for us. But it wasn't enough. If we had played a lesser team, it might have been enough. But the team we played was too good to be almost good enough against.

The really good teams, the way they separate themselves is they play well on the road. I'm really happy with our guys, because we answered a lot of different challenges tonight. When we needed a stop, we got one. If we needed a turnover, we got one. When we needed a bucket ... I liked the way we responded to all the things thrown at us.

There are serious concerns about our guard play. Good guard play is such a pivotal factor in good basketball teams.

Fair or unfair, at Connecticut it's not good enough just to win. There's a perception that if we don't go to the Final Four, it's a bad season. I want the players to understand that the one constant in our program, is that we want to make sure we play hard and have fun.

Today we were smart enough (to win). We ran out of timeouts and we did a lot of good things the last two minutes that we needed to do. Everybody feels real good about it right now.

To her credit, Will?s hung in there this year when it could have gotten away from her. Now you?re looking at a possibility of (15) more games, if you?re lucky enough to play that long, so maybe somebody like Will in the next month can salvage something pretty darn good out of something that looked like it was really terrible.

You have to temper everything, you have to say that some of the passes that we threw, if they were thrown against teams that have great athletic ability, they might have been stolen. But you look at it and you say, ?How many turnovers should you have if you play Albany?? Well, seven is a good number.

When you lose this game, there's nothing worse. There's nothing worse because this is the game that gets you to the place where all good things can happen. This is the hardest hurdle to get over, because you need 12 more months then to get back here and you didn't put yourself in a position to win the national championship.

Brittany did a lot of good things tonight. If we know we can get 10-15 minutes from her every night like that, that changes things.

Every day that you see somebody that you think is really, really good and can't seem to get it going, you're always concerned about that because after a while, it's not physical anymore. It's mental. And that's the hardest thing to overcome. Every day that it goes on, you worry like they might never come out of this.

Diana said afterwards there's pretty good vibes. There's a good feel to the group out there and the way they're approaching things right now. All I can tell from looking at them is they really think that this can be something pretty special for them. And as long as they think that, there's a chance it will happen.

As I look at stuff like this I say to myself, it's kind of odd because you always think of coaching as an opportunity for your players to stand up their on that podium and put the net around their neck and celebrate winning championships. You never think of yourself as being in that situation. You're only as good as the people that you get to direct, and if you're fortunate enough to have the best people to direct then you're one of the lucky few. I think that's kind of what this is all about. So it's hard for me to put it into perspective from a personal perspective.

Duke has more good players than any other team in the country right now. You can say (North) Carolina is talented, Tennessee is talented and Maryland is talented. But look at Duke's roster, the size and speed and quickness and shooting and experience and depth. You name it, they've got it all covered.

The strength of your league is what is going on in the middle. We have always been good at the top. But we will have teams finishing 10th, 11th 12th in our league who are pretty darned good, and I don't know that anybody else has that.

Sometimes you get it right and you have to kind of enjoy the moment. That last five minutes, the defensive stops that we made, the things that we accomplished, that's what good teams have to do.

Sometimes the reaction (to losing) is more of you're just stunned and you have no (outward) reaction. So you just sit there and you stare into space, and there's a pretty good chance that that will happen to you again because you have no idea what just happened and you don't know how to deal with it.

Any time like you have a really good point guard like they do, you have a chance to have a really good team. Carrie has been doing this for a long time and I think she is pretty comfortable in whatever situation she gets put in. She has a really good group of players that are pretty versatile.

As long as we play good defense, we have a chance to win the game. We're starting to believe in each other a little bit.

As it should be. When you've played here the longest, you should have a pretty good idea what to do. If you're going to be a good team, you have to do that.

You?re only as good as the people that you get to direct, and if you?re fortunate enough to have the best people to direct, then you?re one of the lucky few. I think that?s kind of what this is all about, so it?s hard for me to put it into perspective from a personal point of view.

They say you don't appreciate winning until you've had your share of losing. But you don't fathom how much losing hurts after all the winning you've done over the years. We played almost well enough to win. We played heroically. But Duke was too good for us to beat tonight.

You can't just run plays against a good defensive team. You've got to make them. We let one (bad) play lead to another and another and another ... until it just got completely away from us.

There's 12 really good reasons (to stay), the 12 players on my team, ... And that's always going to be the case. You always coach for the players and you always coach for the enjoyment that you get out of it. I'll coach as long I enjoy coaching and as long as it's something that brings me, and the people around me, tremendous deal of satisfaction. When that's not the case any more I won't coach anymore. Here or anywhere else.

They're a good team. They're able to do some things defensively that are hard to deal with because they're really quick, strong and well-coached.

There's a lot of soul searching that has to go on. Maybe we just don't have it in us. Maybe we're just not good enough right now.

It seems like we're in the late game an unusual amount of times compared to maybe some other schools. I guess that's a good thing that people want us to be in that game. Or maybe they're trying to keep women and children from being exposed to some of the stuff that we do on the court, and hoping everybody's asleep by the time we play. I do think it's difficult on the players.

It's a reminder to ourselves that as good as we can be at times, as good as we can look for long stretches, we're not all there. We're not completely there, mentally or physically.

I told them before the (Providence) game started, every team that I've ever coached that was consistently good had seniors that were very, very consistent. And it's time now for this group to kind of separate themselves and say, 'Hey, it's time for me to have an impact every single game and not be in those peaks and valleys.' I think they've all kind of made that progression.

I told them any time you are open and it's your shot, it's a good shot. I think my job is to instill confidence in shooters. The only way to instill confidence is to tell them every time you are open - shoot it. If we get an open look we are going to make the most of them.

For 15 years, I've been living the life of all things looking great, and now everything's a struggle. But it's good that we can still win when it's a struggle.

It's always good to see Trina. It's interesting when you know somebody when they're 17. Now you look at her and they're struggling and playing us without their leading scorer. It's kind of bittersweet. You hate to see them in that situation.

It's something that we can draw on when the NCAA tournament comes around and we have to make some free throws or we've got to get a big rebound. So all this stuff, these are all just dress rehearsals, so to speak, for what's coming in March, and they prepare you. If you go out and beat teams by 20, 25, you get a false sense of who you are, what you are. I think we know pretty well after this trip that we're pretty good. We're not as good as you want to be yet, but we're pretty good.

It's day-to-day. She said she felt pretty good (Friday), but right now it's going to be some down time for her. We'll give her a couple more days off and see if it keeps getting better.

They were pretty aggressive and good defensively. They helped make us look pretty bad.

I'm glad that they set it up the way they did to where it's the last game of the season. Ironically it ends up being for the Big East championship. If that's the way they had it planned, obviously it was pretty good planning.

I know that when she gets it going you can't guard her. She can make the three. She can take you off the dribble. She is as strong as anybody else on the court. She has the mentality of a scorer. And she defends. To me,every good team starts with a good point guard.

I never know what to think anymore. Last year we go up to Notre Dame and spank them all over the court and then they come here and beat us. But I do think when you go on the road and play really well, that's a good sign. That's a sign that you can handle adversity and focus on what you need to focus on.

In some ways, Ann has always been looked upon as the Andy Pettitte of women's basketball. Everybody else was always the star, but when you really needed something she always gave it to you. And people just take it for granted. That's just Ann. What's she great at? Nothing. But she's really good in every area.

In the short term, they have some kids they have plugged in there and are doing a good job.

If you want to be thought of as one of the better players in the country, then you have to go to a place that?s really, really difficult, tough to play and play really well. Most good teams play good at home, but the really good teams, the way they separate themselves is they play well on the road.

I think our defense will be tested, no question. I think our offense is going to be tested. You have to be a good defensive team to win, don't get me wrong. I don't think non-defensive teams are going to win national championship. I don't think non-defensive teams are going to win the Big East championship.

If I could predict what this team is going to do ... based on our history, we're going to play really good and we're going to do things that are going to put us in jeopardy of losing. That's about the only thing I can predict.

I don't think we forced the ball and tried to make plays that are hard to make. We tried to keep it simple. You look at it, how many turnovers should you have when you play Albany? Seven is a good number. If it were 17, I'd be really disappointed. But those seven could easily be 17 or 20 next week against a better team. You hope it gets better every game where our guys see things.

He and I talk all the time about playing again and we probably will. They're a really good team to play. I think he runs the kind of program that I would enjoy matching up against from a competitive standpoint and from a personal standpoint that I have a lot of respect for him and I have a really good relationship with him. I would want to do it if we could.

You can't gang up on the post players because they have so many good shooters on the perimeter.

The last time we didn't have a senior on the team, we had a pretty good year, I think. We were (37-1) and we won a national championship. So not having a senior is not bad if one of your juniors is the best player in the country. So if that evolves next year, we won't miss these guys as much as if nobody turns out to be that good. Then we'll miss them a lot.