Tom Penders
Tom Penders
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Pendersis a retired college basketball head coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649-437 career record. As a college athlete, Penders played both basketball and baseball for the University of Connecticut, and is one of the few players to have competed in both the NCAA Tournament as well as the College World Series...
ball beginning caliber early edgar good guard hitting injuries inside players playing point rough season shame start stride strong team top
They are an outstanding ball club. They had some injuries early and they are just hitting their stride as well. Doc Sadler has got his team playing really, really well. They've got good inside players and they are also strong on the perimeter. And they have an experienced point guard in Edgar Moreno. They are an outstanding club. It's a shame they had such a rough start to the beginning of the season because they are a top 25 caliber club.
absolutely ahead anybody ball beat best focus lose playing
We should be playing our best ball in February. We have to go out and focus on each game. We can't look ahead ? we can beat absolutely anybody and we can lose to absolutely anybody.
hard letters received telephone
I've received so many letters and telephone calls, it's hard to keep up. I appreciated it so much. But I'm fine.
defensive hard team
I've never had a better defensive team in all the years I've coached. They get after it and play hard every possession.
arizona beating best defensive final focus giddy guys indicative kids margin pressure quick rather score talented team turned
Rather than get giddy after beating LSU, which is an unbelievably talented team, the guys immediately turned their focus on Arizona and that final score wasn't indicative of the margin of that game. This is best defensive team I've ever had. They really get after it. These are very athletic, quick long-armed kids who pressure all over.
free shoot
We don't want to shoot a free throw.
coached disrespect fire game lecture win
There's no fire-and-brimstone lecture (for tonight's game). It's a game we want to win because we want to win our 19th game, and we want to play in the postseason. Not because it's Rice. And that's no disrespect to Rice. I've never coached that way.
beat came empty house maybe rent
We have to look at this as a payback game. They came into our house ? and granted, it was an empty house ? and beat us. Maybe I'll go down there and rent some fans.
bad boo cities depends easy market people team
It all depends on what market you're in, as to how easy it is. In some cities and towns, a team can be bad and all the people will show up to boo the coach. In Houston, they just don't show up.
excited feels honored nice potential university
I'm honored and pleased. I'm more excited about the potential of this program, so it's nice that the university feels the same way.
broke caught couple early glad hit kids marshall shots
We got them (the Marshall players) to play fast. I told the kids early on that we just had to come out and hit a couple of (early) shots because then they get caught up in our tempo, going up and down. We broke away from them, and I'm glad we did.
almost build great jump maybe program trying
Yeah, it was disappointing. You want to be in. I'm not about to jump off a building, though. We've had a great year. It was almost one of those years, and maybe that will make us hungrier for the future. We're trying to build a program here.
anybody arizona beaten knows lobby memphis saw sweet taken teams tournament worse
If anybody saw (the Memphis game) and knows we've beaten Arizona and LSU, if they don't think we're a tournament team, then they don't know basketball. I've taken worse teams than this to the Sweet 16. I don't think I have to lobby for it.
deeper defense floor foul great offensive pound walked
If we didn't do that (go small), we lose. Had we walked up and down the floor with them and let them pound it inside, we would have been in much deeper foul trouble, and we would have had nothing on the offensive end. I'll always give up rebounding for defense and great quickness.