Brad Buckman Quotations

We know everybody thinks Illinois will come out of it. Maybe that's a way to sneak up and bite somebody, and we can show the world what we can do.

There are times in a game where we completely abandon what we typically do and just start running plays for Daniel because he's been so hot.

Nine times out of 10, I'd give P.J. the ball. He's shown he can get the job done. There's no way I'd pick anybody else. (A&M) is a big deal, but the guy has meant so much to the program. He's an incredible player.

Nine times out of 10, I'd give P.J. the ball.

I don't even want to talk about Duke right now. We've got Penn ahead of us right now so that's all we're going to think about.

I can tell you right now I didn't play my best. But it happens. I got mixed up a couple of plays. I was just thinking a lot during the game.

If we win this one and we lose the next two, we are out of it, so we have to be thinking about it both ways.

He has just got to play within himself. He just has to stay down. He is a heck of a defender. No matter what he does, he is going to affect a shot. You just have to be smart with it. He will be fine. He learns from every game.

He is contagious. If I see him working, then I want to work, and that is what we need to do to win.

Having those two guys makes everything easier. Last year, I was the post guy getting the ball down low. Now I don't have to get the ball as much. I can freelance and do whatever I want.

He's a big boy. We have to do what we can to stop him.

He's a tremendous athlete. Just for being a freshman he's got a huge upside. And he's aggressive. He can rebound the ball. He is going to be good, man, he's going to be real good.

He could have made any shot he chose.

Guys that are that tall are going to try to block shots all the time. He is going to get better. He knows what he's got to do. We need him in the game at all times.

There are so many memories from that year. Playing the regional in San Antonio was one of the craziest environments I've ever been in. It was an unbelievable situation. Then walking on the court in front of 50,000 people at the Final Four was something else. I've never been in front of a crowd that big.

Kenton and I went to a Final Four as freshmen, and now we have a Big 12 championship. We have to approach every remaining game like we did tonight and see if we can get back to the Final Four.

Jones was a load down low. He is so physical that we had to bang with him and do anything we could to keep him away from the basket.

I think it's very important this time of year. KP and I are the most experienced players on this team. We've seen everything. We have to bring it every night and show the younger guys what it takes.

It gets pretty selfish out there ... That's our goal every game.

I think we all quit trying to score and just tried to figure out a way to get the ball to Daniel, he was so hot. He was in another world.

I was just glad to be back on the court. I haven't played a full game in a while, so it was nice to finish one off.

I was kind of mad about how I was playing. That put a smile on my face.

James Thomas was a tough dude, but P.J. took on that challenge head on. James was one guy you didn't mess with, but P.J. took him on.

P.J. used to get on guys pretty hard in practice for making a mistake, and he'd kind of leave them there to stew about it. Now, he gets on them but also helps teach them how to correct the mistake.

My performance would have felt a lot better if we had gotten a 'W'. It's never great when you don't win.

Look, it's a long season and we had a young team and guys get tired at times. But we've played well lately. Our guys aren't settling. Our goal is to win the national championship.

It felt good to help the team out. I have to do what I have to do, and if my shot's not falling, I have to be able to rebound and defend. I think I did a good job of that. I was glad I hit that free throw at the end.

It doesn't bother us if we shared it or not. We earned it and worked our tails off to get it.

That's the toughest environment I've ever been in for college basketball. To see that many people in that environment so quiet, it was priceless.

I was obviously glad to be out on the court. Because I shot the ball way too much.

We're not even thinking about Duke. We can't afford to.

We like the more physical game and going up and down as fast we can. We get the best game from everybody every time we play. It's been a battle the whole time.

We've been really great at times. We just have to find out what it takes to be that team all the time.

We just have to slow him down as much as we can. We have to be there on the catch and make him do something else besides shoot the three.

Those turnovers were tough, man. I mean, we tried to get something going and we had a couple mental lapses and it just happened. It's how the game goes.

Big Baby, he's just a load down there. Some of his moves are incredible.

There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. They played great 'D.' It's a tough way to go out. You all saw the Duke game. They held them to 54 points.

There's no ifs, ands or buts about it, I mean they played great D.

I've seen his shot go from average to really good. He's not a guy you want to leave open anymore.

It was tough. We were close to winning it all, and then we fell short. I don't just want to go through that again, I want to win it all.

Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes it's painful. But you can always find a joke in it.

Stopping the 3-pointer was definitely a key to us winning the game.

Any given day any player on this team can shoot the ball. Daniel did it (Saturday) against Baylor and then did it again tonight.

That was a big shot. We really needed that. It gave us back the momentum that they had just took.

They're two great players. They came ready to play, and we did our best job. I think we played pretty good defense on those guys and it was tough, because Tyrus is always jumping when you try to shoot a shot and he had a couple great blocks.

A lot of people are looking at this team not to be very good, but they're a solid team. We watched them. They're a real solid team. They've got some great players.

They had balloons in the rafters, ready to go down after they won. To see their fans after that loss, it was pretty amazing. Of course, Oklahoma did the same thing to us last year on senior night.

It was something I had to at least try. Joe's a load down low. I felt like it was the right time to try it and it worked.

It was something I had to at least try because Joe is such a load down low. He's so physical, you've got to do anything you can.

It was incredible. We've been doing a great job attacking the ball, keeping people out of the paint.

It's a lot different. I'm a huge part of this team now. I was just a role player then. We had so many other players with a lot of experience. There were no expectations for me.

It's great for us to face a team like that, ... It really forces us to play great defense.

Everybody makes fun of me. They'll say, 'Oh, you're not practicing today?' Big surprise. Sometimes, I think I should sit on the side with a cold drink.

It's incredible seeing a kid his age never be content with how good he is. He can push you and keep you focused.

It was my last game. Maybe I should have been thinking about that during the games where I've struggled recently. But I just wanted to do the best I could and leave it all on the court. I thought I did that today. I'm sorry it wasn't enough to win.

It's to show I remember him. I'm playing for him.

I want to keep it going as long as I can. I'm a senior and I don't want to say goodbye to these guys.

The fans chanting 'Texas fight!' were as loud as those at a football game. The atmosphere was incredible. Every time we scored a basket, I couldn't hear myself think because the crowd was so loud. We played so hard, and it made it so much more exciting to cut down the nets in front of all of our fans.

I'm not even thinking about Duke. I don't even want to talk about Duke.

I know you're not supposed to look up to guys younger than you, but he's a guy I look up to. He rubs off on you.

I love it when games get physical. It was an all-in-all fun game.

I'm just happy to be out on the court. I realize how good this team is. It's been very frustrating, but I just have to persevere. I'll do anything to play.

It has to be gang defense. In other years, when we were better on defense, it was because of a team effort.

But I'm sitting in a different seat. We want to change Atlanta to a winning place for us.

I didn't know what to expect. Sometimes, the older guys pick on you, but Brendan took me under his wing like I was his brother.

He's got a huge upside. He's aggressive. He's going to be good -- real good.

He's incredible, a tremendous athlete and I just love watching him play. Playing with him is a treat. I look up to the guy and you don't normally look up to younger guys. The injury made him even stronger.

The kid is mature beyond his years. He's so focused on what he wants to do that I've actually learned a lot from him, and I'm the senior.

The environment was incredible in San Antonio. We're excited to be back in Dallas, and expect to have a fun crowd.