Keith Dambrot Quotations

We've still survived, which is a tribute to our guys. We've played a good schedule with four high-major teams.

We need to beat them. You always want to get a monkey off your back. This season we got the 20-win monkey off of our back. Last season, we got to Cleveland. This season, we got the (first-round) bye. We need to just keep taking monkeys off of our back.

Mentally, you figure out that if you're not strong enough, you need to get in the weight room. The hard part is all that skill and knowledge and ability, and he's got that. It's a tribute to their staff to find a guy like that who slipped through the cracks.

I am glad to get the monkey off my back. The program needed the 20 wins more than anything to take that next jump. It's big for us.

Bubba wants to explore his options elsewhere, and our program wishes him the best of luck.

For us to come in after 17 years of never being in the postseason since Coach Huggins was here, you couldn't write a better script then to play Temple. For a fledgling group like us, to come in and be able to play them is just a great honor.

I thought they were in trouble when they left here, but they rallied. They will be in every game because they defend.

I think we've had a problem putting teams away all year. They (CMU) played harder than us that last 15 minutes (of regulation) and it almost cost us. (CMU head coach) Jay Smith gets his guys to play hard for him.

I think this is good for our program. We're trying to build a Nevada, Gonzaga, Xavier, Dayton (program). That's why I came home here.

Our heart goes out to (Collins). He?s a great player. We just hope he?s healthy.

We put on our board (in the locker room) the word 'spurt.' Teams play even. Then somebody goes on a spurt and then another. Most games are won by spurts. Whoever has the most spurts wins games.

We have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out a way to beat them.

We needed to clinch Cleveland. That's a key for this team because we are not that deep.

We played well only in stretches. Everybody was tired.

We were a little jittery offensively. It reminded me a lot of the first half against Kent. We were a little impatient, a little out of our element. We were disjointed.

Twelve minutes. We got into the locker room at 7:58, and we talked about until ten minutes after 8. That was it. I don't want to bring it up again. We have to move on because we have four tough games left.

We have to do a good job on their big three, and make sure none of their (other players) hurt us.

We had them on the ropes and didn't finish them off.

We gotta be able to guard their dribble penetration.

We controlled the game for most of it but let it slip away. We missed open looks. We could have hammered them. They got that little run and we never recovered.

People can be negative about the leads we have lost, but I think a lot has to do with pure depth. We work hard to get the lead, but other teams have more depth and they come at you with that.

They have been playing well. I come into every game thinking it is going to be close. I thought it was going to be a nip-and-tuck game. We just got it done on defense.

They give you nothing inside. You have to score outside against them. They have solid, smart kids, and they play great position defense.

They're prepared to play. Nervousness isn't going to be an issue. You're talking about a team that traveled the country after I left.

They're every bit as good as any of the teams we've played if not better in a lot of respects.

It was a tough game. They shot well, and we played below average. They have been to the NCAA Tournament the last two years and were an AP Top 25 team before the season. We caught them on a good night.

I told him that he is making me look bad, but I am loving it. I have not played him that much, but he is a great kid. He gives us better firepower because he is a person that can score.

It's another game that we need to win to get ready for the MAC Tournament and to help our postseason chances.

The biggest difference between the two teams isn't talent, it's that belief factor. Teams that haven't won have that doubt in their mind. We won a lot of close games last season and our kids believe in themselves.

It looked like it was going to be a 6-0 game there for a while.

They will come in with a chip on their shoulder after last year. But we have an incentive, too. It's going to be a big game. But all of them are big.

I knew this was going to happen. They had some injuries, but when they got people back, they were going to be tough.

If Jay Smith isn't the coach here, then this university doesn't know what it is doing. This is a cyclical league, and he has the pieces in place to get back to the top. You can see it with how hard his kids play even when they are down.

In this league, when you win, you better go out to eat, enjoy yourself and be happy because you don't know when the next one is coming.

I really like our team. These are good people. They respond so well. They care about each other.

I don't think they should be in it. You don't see Gonzaga in it. Didn't they beat Gonzaga by 21 in the (2004) NCAA Tournament? It is a waste of their time. It is a no-win situation for them.