Jeff Hironaka Quotations

We took quick shots and, when you don't hit them, Western gets it back and gets open looks in transition. You're setting ourselves up for tough times.

He's just money when he plays us. We knew the right-hand hook was coming, but we haven't figured out a way to stop it.

He's done that all season, and that's why we're here. It's his team.

We looked flat at times and I thought pressure on us forced us into some hasty decisions. And they capitalized.

It came down to they shot the ball well in the second half and we didn't. We have to shoot the ball well to possibly win the game . . . and it didn't happen tonight when we needed it.

I think it's good for our league. Having two teams playing for the championship maybe justifies having five GNAC teams in the tournament.

I thought we were able to negate their big three (offensive stars), at least doing enough to frustrate them. At the other end, we were able to get decent, high-percentage shots.

I thought we got some good looks down the stretch and we just didn't convert them. We need to do that to be competitive. Give them credit. They have been here before. They hit big free throws and got the rebounds they needed.

I think we have to stop them from scoring and slow them down in transition. The bottom line for us is sharing the ball and getting people in the right spots to shoot.

That was the best crowd we've had all year. That's what you play for all season.

I wasn't comfortable the whole game even though we were up 10 for a while. But it was better than being down 10.

We're a good team. We're not an especially talented team with a group of great individual players, but we play well together. The chemistry on this team is exceptional.

We had to settle back down and get back to doing what we do best, which is sharing the ball. We can't press. When we press, we struggle because we don't have the type of player who can do it on his own.

We're not the Huskies, but we play pretty good basketball. All the teams in this league can shoot. You don't see too many zone defenses in this league.

We didn't do a very good job in the last minute and a half. What should have been a six- or eight-point win was four points.

Western has won so many games where they've been trailing and come back at the end, so I was never comfortable.

They were deadly with their transition offense. They don't need open looks to score, they can attack the basket.

It wasn't a pretty game, but we got some good shots to help us win the game. We got a little frustrated with ourselves. Fortunately we were able to weather that storm.

They held their composure. They hit their free throws. They hit the big shots when they had to. That's why they're the defending national champions.

At this point, when you get down to the Final Four, you're going to play somebody good. It's a privilege to play a historic program like that, and just to be on the same floor as them will be a challenge.

In the first half, we (hit the 3), and that opened things up. We had better opportunities to go to the basket. That's how we have to play.

The difference was they didn't get to the line too much. The last time (at Bellingham), they got 30-some free throws.

You've got to pick your poison. We tried to focus on the big three and let the other two roam.