Geno Auriemma Hard Quotations

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.

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 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.

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.

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 a team like ours, they need to be constantly reminded of how hard every game is. This isn't the old St. John's where you're up 25. Those days are behind us. They need to know that every team we play, whether it's Cincinnati, St. John's, it's going to be tough.

I think it would have been hard to keep up that pace that she had that month. There's a little bit of a dip in games, but I think she'll be back.

That would be pretty ironic, wouldn't it? Maybe it's meant to be that way. Hard to say, but it would be pretty neat. How about she's in the starting lineup at the Final Four and knocks in the first play of the game and scores 30 and is the MVP and rides off into sunset? You never know how it's going to be.

We have an opportunity to be get a share of the Big East championship. And, heck, we could even win a coin flip and be the top seed (in the tournament). Anything can happen. But first you've got to go down there and do something that's really, really hard to do and that's beat them down on their home court.

We can't run a play. We can't get into any kind of offense. For us, it was hard to find people to contribute. (Rutgers) got contributions from a lot of people.

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.

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.

(Duffy) should get 40 points if she played the way she did in the last 10 minutes. She's just one of those unselfish kids who wants to get the other people on her team the ball. She showed in the last 10 minutes how hard she is to defend.

The time she broke her ankle standing still. Do you know how hard that is to do?

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're able to do some things defensively that are hard to deal with because they're really quick at every position and they're really strong; they're really well coached. It was hard for us to really kind of generate enough to really put them away.

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.

It's easier to fix the plays at the end because they are one-shot deals. What got us 13 down is a little bit harder to fix. I'd have disappointed if it went from 13 to 20. The fact that it went from 13 to two, that's a positive. But getting down 13 on your home court against a Rutgers team that we knew coming in was going to be hard to guard in the perimeter, I'm just really disappointed in the way we came out and played the game.

It's too hard to get to; it's too far away. My guys get plane-sick when they come over those mountains, so we would have to wait 'til we get a team with a little bit more ... what's the word ... intestinal fortitude.

The big guys hurt us. And Essence Carson hurt us. They got contributions from the big guys and Essence Carson. And for us it was hard to find people to contribute.

I'm happy for these kids. The worst thing that could have happened is for them not to get to the final with an opportunity to win a championship. After what happened last week, that would have been really really hard for them going into the NCAA Tournament.

I feel bad for the kid. She was working so hard and just when you thought she had it going, that happens, and now she?s kind of back to, not exactly square one, but ... I?m hoping these next four games, we can get her ready.

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.