Jim Calhoun Quotes on Games (15 Quotes)

I can feel the emotions start to build, ... I've had conversations with my first recruit at Northeastern, with eight kids from my Dedham High School team that won 21 straight games, a lot of phone calls from my former players ... it's an exciting time for me.

I'm a big fan of the Big East but I won't watch the games on TV on Friday and Saturday. It would hurt too much.

We did things necessary to stop our opponents at crucial times and win games. Defensive rebounds and taking good shots in the last four to five minutes.

We have not seen each other as a group, I didn't watch any of the games. I just kind of stayed away, did things with my wife, shopping.

Any team that's won 20 games, we're going to have respect for. They have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. But you know what We have a lot to gain, too. We're really excited about it. I like this time of year. I hope my kids like it as much as I do.

Right now, that guy would be Denham (Brown). In the last two games, it's been Denham against very good defense.

To state the obvious, overall we were pretty good. We're now 5-0 in games decided by 10 and under. There's got to be something to that. That goes back to Maui. It's harder here (in the Big East) because now everybody is settled in.

A lot of times games are built up and they don't fulfill their promise. This game more than fulfilled its promise. Villanova may be, pound-for-pound, the toughest team that we've played anywhere, any time. Early in the game, we had to match their toughness. They were getting every offensive rebound. They were hustling like crazy. Unless you have a tough team, you cannot win this conference. It was like an old Big East backyard ball amongst two really good teams.

Only two of the six kids have college degrees - my brother, who is a cardiologist, and me, ... We were a large Irish family, and in those days, the boys went to college. My sisters gave me 50 here and there and came to my games. They all gave me something. When people love you and believe in you, it instills confidence. Confidence comes from the people around you.

When you look out there and see Ray (Allen), Mec (Emeka Okafor), Johnny Gwynn ... any of those people. You dont win the number of games weve been able to win or the championships weve won without those players,

It's back to the Big East of old, to some degree. There are no easy games. This is a Georgetown-Syracuse weekend, which we've faced on a number of occasions. It's an important time for us.

I said all along that Marcus, in my opinion, is the best passer I've ever coached. I think he took an affront to that because now he's got two 20-point games.

Thus far they've given me no great reason to worry as much as I do with other teams. Because they don't fool around in games.

This team, at times, can be overwhelming to handle for certain teams. It can dominate through size. It can mismatch you in so many different ways. As long as the guy who makes us go (Marcus Williams) has good games, they we can play with anybody.

You have seen somewhat the Connecticut you've heard about being disrupted in the tournament because teams do catch up. Teams find ways to catch you when you play 30-something games. We are 30-3, and I think (we) find a way to win.