Mark Turgeon Quotes (66 Quotes)


    It's not a hump, it's a mountain. My AD knows. My fans know where we were when I took this job. My first year, we lost 11 in a row and I didn't know if we were ever going to win a game. My third year we were 3-3, and I wasn't sure I would keep my job. We lost at home to Kansas State and ever since then it has been a tremendous run to get where we are today. We accomplished something we haven't in 23 years, we won a championship.

    This league is good, from top to bottom. The coaching is good, the players are good. I wouldn't have said that three years ago, but I really believe it now.

    I want to give George Mason a lot of credit. They came out of the gates hot, and that was the difference. That said, I don't think we played particularly well in the first half. We didn't play the way that led us to the Sweet 16. Our shot selection hurt us.

    We have done a lot of nice things here in our first six years. We have gotten better every year. We have won a lot of league games. We learned how to win on the road. We've won a league championship. Now we need to figure out how to play well in St. Louis. Creighton has figured that out. That's why everybody knows who Creighton is.

    You never forget a night like that, senior night and a guy hitting a shot at the buzzer.


    What you have to understand is that at our level, reaching the Sweet 16 is like reaching the Final Four. It raises the profile of a program like nothing else can.

    If you could have been at our practice the other day, the pressure is off. We had our best practice we've had in months. We carried that 23-year wait around with us. No matter what happens, if we go and lose in the first round and don't make the NCAA Tournament, you can't take that league championship away from us.

    Hopefully, they'll start showing up on time. Showing up late to things is not the way to do it.

    We can't make a jump shot.. It's wearing on us.

    I think they are a little more athletic ... but we are a lot alike. They have been much more efficient on offense than we have.

    We're really proud of what we've done, and we weren't going to let a bunch of people around the country who haven't seen us make us feel any different. We know what we have and it's pretty special.

    We didn't play together. We didn't play the way that led us to the (Missouri Valley regular-season) championship or the Sweet 16.

    You don't want to notice them. You don't notice the really good ones. Those guys ref the game the way it's supposed to be called. Simple as that.

    We feel good because of where we are. We'd much rather be one game ahead with two to go. Drake really challenges you and they're good at home. They've played everybody really tough in that building.

    We're 2-0 and we took care of our home court. This league is loaded. (Bradley) looked like a pro team out there.

    Our execution was good. We worked really hard this week. Not knowing who you were going to play really helped us because we worked on us, and I think it showed today in our execution.

    He was the only kid that could make a shot. I was begging the guys, 'Give Sean shots.' It was hard to get him shots. When Sean banked the shot in, I really thought we were going to win. But they were just too good.

    It's just a basketball game. It's just played in a bigger arena with more people watching.

    I do think we got some scrutiny that we didn't deserve. We're really proud of what we've done. We weren't going to let a bunch of people around the country who haven't seen us tell us any different.

    It's hard not to hit a bump in this league because everybody is so good. We're playing a little better. I think losing a couple of games might have brought us together as a team.

    He's a great kid and one of our leaders. I think a lot of players watch his example. Chemistry is a funny thing with each team. I think with this team, everyone respects each others' roles and respects what each other can do. That starts at the top with Paul.

    We played like we've been here 20 years in a row. You never expect a game to be this easy, especially this time of the year.

    It's just something that doesn't go away. Sometimes you talk about selfishness and it goes away. This one, it creeps back in and you have to handle it again. I'm on them all the time.

    I thought maybe we could do it. I've seen our guys get hot. But we could never get close enough to put pressure on them.

    We were so bad offensively in the first half. It was 15-6, and I thought we should be up 16 or 17 points right now.

    I was in a power position, obviously, so I drove a hard bargain. I wanted to make sure that Jim knew what I was looking for. Over time, through each contract, I've talked about 'This is what I'd like to have someday.' I think he got as close to that as he could.

    They're gonna be taller more athletic than we are, and they can jump a little higher. We're definitely not flashy. . . . We try to guard and rebound, just try to play together on the other end. We don't blow anybody out. Everything is a battle for us.

    Last year I think we wanted to be part of the NCAA Tournament so badly we didn't worry about the things that we could control, which is making our team better. That's what we're doing this year.


    I've heard from a lot of people. It's amazing how many Valley fans have called. And he doesn't call anybody. Maybe his wife.

    If you look over the (statistic) sheets of our last few games, it's been that way. We've worked on it all year, trying to get them to pass the ball and use each other. They really did that well tonight. This was a great team game.

    I think that's the way to the teach the game. I want to be balanced. I don't want to have to rely on one guy to get 18 points every night or two guys to get 18 and 16. That's why we were able to win so many close games, because one night it was Paul, the next night it was Sean. The next night it was Kyle.

    I don't know if it's a measuring stick. But I do know one thing we're fired up to play a Big East school. It's the best league in the country.

    If you look at the numbers, we almost played a perfect half offensively. It took that, because I thought Tennessee played at a high, high level (Saturday). I thought they played really good. Our guys just wanted it.

    We've had a lot of practice the last two weeks and it showed today. When we shoot well, we're pretty darn good.

    You never know what kind of competition you'll have (for MVP), but usually the teams at the top have a chance to be MVP. I always felt he had a chance to be one of the better centers in the league.

    This team has figured out how to win games.

    It's a lot of guys we had that were our top officials that just went away because they could make 6, 7, 800 dollars more going to a different league. Our league's gotten so much better. There's so much at stake. You don't want to, for a few extra thousand dollars, not do what's best for your league.

    I thought we had them at that point, but they kept making shots.

    I couldn't get them under control in the first half. I just couldn't. They thought if they made a shot it would count as nine points.

    Our guards are starting to play better. We are capable of shooting it. We have good shooters.

    It's like a a gorilla has been taken off my back because the fans and the city wanted it so badly because it has been 23 years. This is what we all wanted.

    Paul is very intelligent. He's very skilled, has great hands and can do a turnaround jumper from 6 feet to 18 feet on the block.

    Our shot selection hurt us in the first half. After that I thought we (gave) a valiant effort.

    He's doing better this morning. It feels weak to him when he puts a lot of pressure on it.

    In my heart, this is where I'm supposed to be. I told the players, I never pursue a job. I never have. I never will. I was just trying to do what was best for our staff and our basketball program.

    Kids handle discipline different ways. Some get embarrassed. Some get mad. You just hope in the end they all use it the right way, and I think they will. I think the only way to get through to players today is playing time. It used to be running them, getting them out of bed and running them. Playing time, today, is really the answer. Hopefully, we won't have this again.

    No complaints. We had the first game on our home court. This is probably how it should be.

    I felt like if we could keep pressure on them and make them shoot jump shots.

    I remember back to the year he got hurt. He spent more time tripping over his feet than anything else. So he's improved a lot, and he's consistently improved every year.


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