“One thing we do have is confidence. Winning, I believe, is a habit. It's a belief and I believe it's definitely part of our personality as a team. I think they believe in themselves, they have confidence and they believe they should win every game.”
“He will do well. Matt is a very good basketball coach, and he knows the inside and outside of basketball. He also is a good people person and has good energy.”
“We were hoping for 12-2, maybe 11-3. I didn't think it would be that easy. It was still the first phase of our season. Our next worry is to compete for the Big Ten championship. I feel we can compete. One thing we have is confidence. It's part of their personality as a team. They believe in themselves. Winning is a habit. They believe they should win every game.”
“You always feel you can be successful, but to be where we are at, it's surprised myself and my staff. You've got to give Dee Brown and James Augustine credit for kind of conveying from one group to the next how hard you've got to compete to stay at this level. They've been great leaders.”
“I don't think there's any doubt. I hope they come in cocky and think they're going to win. I'd love that. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think they'll play at a high level with a little bit of a fear factor. I would expect a grind-it-out game.”
“You always think you can be successful, but to be where we're at, it's surprised myself and our staff. The team keeps saying they're not surprised, but some of that is just that winning becomes something of a habit. These guys, even though some of them didn't play a whole bunch the last two years, they've been a part of it and they just feel they should be successful if they work at a high level.”
“I think they understand [their roles], but once in a while they slip out of it. The big guys are posted up at 9 feet [from the basket], and I tell them they're not Karl Malone. But they don't know who Karl Malone is, so that doesn't do any good.”
