Bo Ryan Quotations

We got to the dance. Did some guys play older? Yeah, they did. We got some great contributions. Was it consistent? No. But we're not here if we don't get those contributions.

Going into Indianapolis, playing Indiana, I guess bring it on. It's what we've caught at the end of the year, and we've got to try to make the best of it.

It's just a shame that it had to be played that way.

Four turnovers. Two assists. I told him he'd have the game ball if he had taken care of the ball a little bit better.

I recruit hungry kids who love the game and want to get better and feel they have more questions than answers

I'm still waiting for perfection. In the meantime, I'll settle for persistence

The best thing to do is try and make sure you're getting something at your end. We had stretches where we didn't get that.

Shot fakes and ball fakes work. No one uses more than Wisconsin. It's amazing how many people don't use them

You measure a person by what it takes to discourage them.

I didn't get into teaching and coaching for the number of wins or the money. It was a passion for trying to help young people

We are not athletic or quick enough to be playing from behind. These guys know it, and the coaching staff knows it. Boy, did (Arizona) play well.

We are not athletic or quick enough to be able to play from behind. The players know it. The coaching staff knows it. That was our worst nightmare.

We have played three straight NCAA Tournament teams in fairly hostile environments.

OK, that means there's opportunities for some of these younger guys to jump into those minutes.

Some campuses had a problem with certain establishments emptying out at midnight for people coming over to the 'Midnight Madness' and maybe not comprehending exactly what was going on on the court. So take that to mean whatever you might think I mean,

Nobody finished the season in the two best away gyms in the league like our guys (did).

Right at the end there, if we score on about three or four of those possessions where we had decent shots, we could have gotten it to two or three (points). Our free throws weren't going in. Who knows. But when you can come into a ranked opponent's gym and be in that position and get it to six it's do-able. Our guys battled tonight.

I don't know where we'd be without him. That's not conversation. That's a fact. He has that kind of impact on the people around him.

Basketball is a streaky game. The best thing to do is to make sure you get what you want at your end. We went through some stretches where we didn't get that.

Basketball is a streaky game. The best thing to do is getting something at your end and we went some stretches where we didn't do that.

Basketball is a streaky game. The best thing to do is get something at your end and we went some stretches where we didn't do that.

If that's all part of it, so be it. What we know is that ... we've just got to do things better than them in order to get it done, in order to play again in the next game.

We try to get to the line a lot, no matter what. We did a much better job than in some other games of getting position and making post feeds and getting people off their feet or out of position. That's how you get to the free throw line.

What I'm hoping is that our guys approach this as, 'OK here's some players that have done some good things, the program has been good, let's not let the program down. Let's not let what's on the front of our jersey down. Let's play hard,'

He didn't force anything, and he gets a double-double. That's a good line for Brian. It's a good line for anybody.

He'll be able to play as a post player and a perimeter player. That equates to a four, possibly a three, but at this time, we don't plan on playing him as a five.

There are so many good guards in the conference that if you don't have one like Devin, you'll get buried. He's finding out that he's a natural for the point position.

I think they made a statement that it's been a pretty good season for such a young group.

I think the way people are talking about how we're going to be is very exciting, ... And If you're a basketball fan you want to ask, 'How's this guy going to look?'

I see in him a young man that's always wanted to be a Badger, works hard, listens, makes the other guys better in practice, just does all the things a coaching staff likes to see a player do.

Over the years we've wanted to bring in high school people-not just players-but people who are interested in our team and our program that can't get tickets, they can't see us in the Kohl Center, so this is an opportunity, as well as our scrimmage on Oct. 30, the Red-White scrimmage, ... This doesn't replace that. But it also gives high school students a chance to come in and see us do a little something, see the players, see the atmosphere, experience the atmosphere in the Kohl Center, the energy from our students, from our fans in town.

My parents and sister can drive 15 minutes and see the game, so you can't beat that. Coming back is great, but it's really about our players getting a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.

I think they're hungry and ready to go after another one and keep playing.

Just hearing you ask that question makes me feel good.

That was his shot in the 1920s and 30s.

That was the ball game right in that stretch. They played better than we did.

That's what college does for people when given the opportunity, ... We've watched him grow into manhood right in front of our eyes. He has enveloped the knowledge, the experience and is a better person who can give more back than anybody I've ever coached. He has grown in so many ways beyond how he plays the game.

When the ball doesn't go in, you can't explain it all the time.

We just couldn't figure things out in the first part of the second half. We figured it out, but couldn't do it physically.

We're all relaxed talking to one another. There's not a prince and princess thing working here.

We played him similar to a lot of ways other teams have played him, or tried to. He's still 5-for-10 (shooting), he still gets in double figures, pretty close to a double-double. He's a good player. I was glad he got into foul trouble.

You know what they can do outside and they can do it with so many guys. That's the dilemma. Gotta find a way to guard them.

We needed to have those guys on the floor when we had Indiana missing shots and they were struggling for a while. We needed to have our strength out there...and maybe open it up to 10, 15 points in our favor, knowing they'd make a run in the second half.

We are where we are and we go to the next game. I'll let other people judge whether that's good, bad or indifferent because they're all entitled to their opinion. I'm just getting ready for Northwestern.

Those are three really good testers for a team to show weaknesses and show how close we are with this group.

You look at some coaching staffs across the country,

We are so generic in our first practice,

When you have Dee Brown and James Augustine, two guys who have been through so much a post and a point. There's a lot of coaches who firmly believe that ... in basketball, if you have a post and a point you can compete on that day with anybody.

The players here represent the university and they represent the players who have played here. Everyone knows that when you're part of something good, the tendency to give in or to stop working is tougher,

Tucker has put himself into a leadership position, because of how hard he works in conditioning, in the weight room, in the hill, all the drills. Because of his personality, he works hard all the time, ... But he also knows that this gets done as a team, and he has his responsibilities that he needs to handle.

Well, he looks like he's in his early 60s.

We've got a great group of guys who are working hard. No matter who we have there, we hope he's a contributor.

We figure 7 p.m., people can get there of all ages, they get to the Kohl Center, they see us play some games and have some fun, ... When most people see us only during a game, where it's more intense, and they get a chance to see everybody, plus we get some students out there. They shoot half-court shots, three-point shots, free throws, a chance to win some contests.

We did a much better job today than other games getting in position and getting people off their feet. That's how you get to the line, and then play with the lead.

We didn't move well, but when you do get a look you've got to make something happen. We had some drives to the basket where we shot some floaters - shots that I've never seen before. You can't get those back.

Every player thinks he should win every game. They understand what competition is all about.

Don't know yet. Sometimes it's out of necessity that you play a freshman right away. Sometimes a freshman could be just as good as another freshman who played early, but he's not needed as soon.

Everything was just the way our training staff and medical staff had it planned. He was on the practice floor doing the things everybody else was doing.

There's not a lot of guys built like him, and he knows how to use his body. If the big man isn't scoring, he's not going to get the ball.

The toughest part for bigger-than-average people is to move your feet and to get your feet in good position,

These young guys get to live in their moment. I don't know what people remember about Wisconsin or what people remember about Arizona. Everyone is in their own time warp.

The three of us appreciate where we came from and how we got here. There was no one that received a job here, among the three of us, by privilege. You had to get something done somewhere as a coach on your own.

The three of us appreciate where we came from and how we got here,

The thing we didn't want to have happen happened. You can't play from behind. It's very difficult. We are not as athletic or quick enough to play from behind.

Sometimes that's a lot to ask, so I'm not going to pressure them into being at a certain stage. As a coach and a teacher I learned a long time ago you've got to bring them along, and then when they're ready they'll show what they can do. You push, you prod, you pat and you do the other things that everybody does in teaching, and it's amazing how our guys over the years have kind of stepped forward and picked up and filled that void.

Right now, they're playing their best basketball. They're coming in with a heck of a lot of confidence. What our guys better do is make sure they haven't lost any.

People that know basketball recognize effort opportunities that a guy takes advantage of and he's done that every minute he's been on the floor. Here's a freshman that's come in an really chipped in on the glass, defensively, making good passes and playing with a lot of energy and kind of uplifting the team when he gets on the floor.

Adversity can reveal character, and I've certainly seen an awful lot.

After five minutes of that Memphis game, ... I shut the VCR off, walked out into the kitchen, got a cup of coffee, turned around and went back into my office at home, and just said, 'Wow.'

Defensively he's better. Passing, you know, he's been able to catch the ball in the post or attack the paint and find people. He's done a pretty good job of that. He's stronger with the ball when he gets it inside.

And then you take a look at what we're returning.

As I've been saying all along, they just have to play a little older,

As I've been saying all along, they have to play a little older. Each guy is going to have to mature just a little quicker. Sophomores need to play like juniors and juniors need to play like seniors. And freshmen need to play like second-semester freshmen early on.

You've got to remember what was being said about them in November, December, and into January. What's changed? OK, now what's happened is the coach is stepping down. But they can play. They can make shots. They've got one of the best big men in the country. What don't they have?

The way we were moving the ball, especially early, we had guys catching pneumonia they were so wide open. But then again, when somebody says, 'Go ahead and let them shoot that.' I've seen Brian Butch, I've seen Ray Nixon, I've seen these guys hit those shots. They're trying. One of these nights, they will (make them).

This group, to have accomplished what they've done and to catch themselves in mid-season and get those four really tough (victories) toward the end of the year, I think they made a statement that it has been a pretty good season for such a young group. That's a tough group in (that locker room).

They're still young men who want to be successful and be a part of something that is successful. So I always start with that as the basic premise, ... And then you show them to the best of your ability.

A lot of teams have the potential to be in that top six or seven, which hopefully at the end of the year will lead to teams playing on after the conference.

They are positions of responsibility, I take them seriously and I try to make sure that I stay up on all the legislation, all the issues and just try to be fair,

They're attentive, they're hungry, they have good instincts, they've had good coaching and hopefully they'll continue to stay hungry and hopefully they'll continue to get good coaching.

They're good on the glass. They've been good all year and we needed to be better. When you let them have second-chance opportunities like that, it's tough.

They're shooting the heck out of it. They got back to some true home games and got some confidence back. There's something to be said for playing before your home crowd, in your familiar surroundings.

There's a lot that goes into it now, and I never know from year to year how good we're going to be as far as record and everything else, ... But I just know that these guys are working every bit as hard as any group I've ever coached.

It's easier for them to know that if they do the right things, they've seen it happen where you can have some success. And people don't jump ship as easily. They don't get discouraged as easily if they're a part of something that has shown some success.

It's very difficult to ever try to analyze this without paralyzing yourself.

It's the same old story and I'd like to say it's a different tune, but it's not. People will say, 'Oh, you lost this guy, lost that guy'. OK, that means there's opportunities for some of these younger guys to jump into those minutes.

It's kind of like the free throws we've given up. We've lost a couple games because (against) Michigan and Northwestern, they (didn't) miss a free throw down the stretch. We just closed out (a victory) the same way.

It's always about feet and position. Position means your feet have to get you there. How you use your upper body is important, too, but your feet are what take you where you go.

It's pretty much been the same practice plan on the first day for 20-some years as a head coach, and I don't think I'm going to change.

That's the ball game right in that stretch.

Not that I've seen. Maybe every once in a while our training staff just talked to him a little bit to make sure, 'What are you feeling?' But they've done that in the past with other guys, too, that have had injuries.

The ball went in the basket and they were struggling at that point. We knocked some shots down and then we were a little more patient. Sometimes we have to remember it isn't all going to happen in five seconds. It can happen in 18 seconds on a possession. If you don't show some patience against Northwestern, they'll eat you up.

I've had that said to me a lot, that I'm good at working a room, ... There are people who have questions they want to ask me. If I stand in a corner somewhere, how is that perceived? That's perceived as me thinking I know everything. I don't know everything. Far from it. I'm willing to learn. That's why I'm not bashful about mixing with people.

Not at all. No way. We knew they were a good team.

It was a hard-fought game. Our guys got some pretty good looks. We won the battle over the grabs and we won the turnover battle. We didn't get it done where it mattered, and that is the score.

It's very easy to communicate with them because somebody's talking and somebody listens and vice versa,

They've only been banging against each other, so I don't know yet. It's very important to have an inside presence. As the game goes on, speed fatigues, but height doesn't shrink.

At the end there, if we score on the three or four possessions when we had a shot, we could have got it to three or four points ... who knows? When you come into a ranked opponent's gym, and you're in that kind of a position, you get it down to six or so and it's doable. You need some help, but our guys battled to that point.

At the end of the season here, we know we played three straight NCAA Tournament teams in fairly hostile environments. If that doesn't help you get ready, I don't know what does.

That's been the biggest key so far. Our young guys realize it is a transition.