Geno Auriemma Great Quotations

In games like this it?s usually when you do something rather than how many. And I thought today we made great plays, got the lead up, lost our composure a little bit, struggled a little bit offensively for a stretch but these guys have come a long way, I?m really proud of them.

I want them to be remembered for being at Connecticut for four years and having had an incredible experience during those four years that no one else got to experience in their four years. It?s unfair to think of them as, ?Well, this is how it ended.? It ended not great, but there was a lot of great stuff that they were a part of.

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.

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.

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.

I sense that this year, there have been more near-upsets and more great moments in this tournament than maybe the last five combined. Which is a sign, I think, that we are going in the right direction.

Just when you think this kid's going to be a great point guard, the next three possessions you look at her and say, I don't know if she'll ever play again for us. It's just unbelievable.

No one ever talks about our defense. Our defense has always been good. But when you have great offensive players like I've coached the last 15 years, it's hard to concentrate on our defense. But our defense has been pretty good.

She is assembling a really great cast here. She is taking young players and playing them. Once they are older they will know how to play together. Pitt accomplished more (yesterday) then we did.

This is what we get for having a great season.

I know we didn't win the regular season, but I don't know how finishing second was all that great when you have to get the winner of South Florida-Notre Dame in the first round. I'm saying to myself, the four teams with a bye, this is what we get for a great season. I'm not sure that's ever been the case. They've come into this league and dramatically altered the landscape. They certainly have benefited and we have benefited from it also.

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.

With the absence of pressure, it's hard to do great things.

They haven't done anything wrong yet in practice. They love it here. They think this is the greatest place in the world, and they should. In addition, this is probably the most energetic and upbeat group of kids that we've had here in a long, long time. Individually and collectively, they have fun and have outgoing personalities. They are just a joy to be around and I think they are going to contribute because they are that good.

It's a great barometer for not only what is happening with our team at the moment but what could happen, what might happen down the road. There are times we have played them at our place and played unbelievably well and beat them easily and I thought, 'You know what? I think this team can win the national championship.' There's times when we've played them at their place and got our heads handed to us and I left there thinking, 'You know what? I'm not sure we're a national championship-type team.

I remember the last time we won a national championship without a great tournament from our point guards. I think it was never. And I would venture to say if our guard play isn't really, really good, it won't happen again this year.

We're not a great free throw shooting team but the fact that we could make that many free throws here when we had to make them, I think that's a great sign for our guys.

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.

There's some seniors that would be afraid to take that drive. You can't become great unless you're willing to suffer the consequences if it doesn't go in. You've just got to know it's going in.

I think Brittany Hunter is capable of playing lousy against anybody like she did (Sunday) night. And I think she's capable of playing great like she played against Tennessee, against anybody.

She's come a long way with this team. She's one of the great people in the game and I'm happy for her.

Watching them play kind of brought back memories of when you spring an upset. I don't remember the last time we had a chance to spring an upset on somebody. It's a great feeling for them.

I'm just happy she's been able to have the kind of year, and her team has had the kind of year they've had. Tina desperately wants to win. She loves winning more than anything else. For her team to be No. 1 in the country and to be named the player of the year in the country, it's deserved on all fronts. She's a great kid and, I think, the best player.

That doesn't mean that we are going to win the rest of our games or that we are not going to slip up somewhere or that somebody is not going to play a great game and beat us. But I do think we aren't going to give it away. That's for sure. I thought a while back that we might give some games away. I don't think we will give any away now. If we get beat, we get beat.

If you want to win the conference, every road trip is important. It is not just all pomp and circumstance on the road now where you just show up, go to a great dinner the night before, roll in and win by 30 and leave. Those days are over. There are some tough kids in our league.