Matt Painter Quotes (113 Quotes)

They have a lot more weapons than one guy, but I think it all starts with their big men inside.

Our guys gave a good effort. They fought, but we didn't take care of the ball in the second half. A lot of that had to do with Ohio State's quickness.

I thought their pressure was a little too much for us. They would get a couple turnovers or force us into a couple of bad shots two or three possessions in a row, and we simply just ran out of timeouts.

I don't think it's a negative recruiting tool (for other schools). When people look into it, I think it's going to be a positive recruiting tool. There's discipline in the program.

I would say so, with Bryant Dillon making the shot to put us in position. I thought we made enough plays.

I just think a couple of our guys need to fight through it and play harder in those stretches. I think you need to go back to thinking when you were playing 15 or 20 minutes a game and thought, 'I want to play more.' Well, now you're playing more.

We compounded our mistakes. At times, we simply couldn't pass and catch.

A lot of things happened in their career they couldn't control, and not one of those guys made excuses. I'll always respect them for that and I'll always respect them for the effort.

I think he gives us an inside presence from an athleticism standpoint, ... He's a guy that can run and jump, make things happen, get a lot of rebounds and get a lot of put-backs.

I like having a couple of road games to begin conference play. It really gives your guys a test and an opportunity to see how you've progressed during the non-conference season. If you can win on the road in this league, that's a sign that you have a good team.

We are a better team than we were two and one-half hours ago - there's no doubt about that. That is what we have to have going into the Northwestern game.

It's only a national rivalry if you have two national teams, if you have two teams that are in the top 15, 20 in the country. Right now we're not in that position.

We don't talk about the adversity. We talk about the things that will help us improve and win. It's going to happen. And if it doesn't, we died trying.

We tried like hell. We just didn't make them adjust, because we didn't make enough shots.

This is one of those teams that, if the season ended today, I wouldn't pin (its success) on wins and losses. It would be pinned on the effort and continued fight to win games. I'm proud of our guys and proud they're not giving up under adverse conditions.

This is a very meaningful victory for us. After beating Minnesota we have made some improvements, but we didn't have anything to show for it. Now we have something to show for it and hopefully this can keep us going.

It gets to a point during the game it's obvious who's really chasing the basketball, who has the nose for it. That's what you have to have. We didn't do a good job (of that).

There's a spot for him on our team, but we've got to make some strides in practice.

Most recruits don't mind, because they're probably not paying for it. That's the key. Their parents are probably paying for it, so they don't care. It's a great way to communicate and a great way to stay in touch with recruits, especially text-messaging them, so they can get in touch with you.

When he makes good decisions, he is going to give us production. I think tonight he did a good job of that. He's got to be a guy who blocks shots, rebounds and is very active.

If we had made a bunch of shots, they would not have changed. They would have stuck with the zone. We had to utilize Gary Ware, and he had to have a good game ... had to utilize our interior guys to make (Penn State) pay for their lack of height. We didn't do that.

The one thing that shocked me when he first got to campus and we started doing individual workouts was his ability to shoot the basketball. As the year went on his percentage from three was poor but he's a rhythm shooter, when he gets into a rhythm he makes them.

Marcus has had some back problems in the past. As this past season progressed, his condition worsened. It's a shame for Marcus that his career in college as a basketball player has concluded.

You can't sit there and feel sorry for yourself because you really don't have any problems. You're just short-handed on your basketball team.

I will text-message recruits. It's a great way to stay in contact with them. Everybody has a cell phone. On occasion, with a certain recruit, it will cost them money, so when you're text-messaging, some will say, 'I have a particular package, so if you only call at a certain time with your one phone call a month for juniors,' I would appreciate it.

He has no idea how good he can be. He should be a 20-and-10 guy every night. He should play in the NBA. That's all up to Carl, but he'll be ready to go.

Chicago has so many players, and I've recruited Illinois for nine years at Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois. Players in Chicago -- really good players -- can fall under the radar because there's so many guys there.

There is no question we would like more than one day to prepare for Memphis. But we were stuck with the start of the Big Ten and with the Christmas holidays.

You had two guys who were fixtures at their universities. They're kind of institutions in their own right. The success of both of those guys and what they accomplished but also their teams' success, and that consistency fed into the rivalry also.

We have to have our seniors take their game to another level this season. They are all capable to doing that, and it will be a key to our success this season.

He's had some good times and some down times. That's why I'm excited about this. He's kept plugging away, kept trying to be a leader, and fighting through everything.

I think the key was their aggressive play to start the second half. And their ability to get steals.

We are still looking at several high school players who can play immediately and a handful of junior college players, ... We just need to get quality big men that can play from day one.

When you have distractions, and I'm an expert on that from this season, it's tough to get everybody thinking positive. It's tough to get 19- to 20-year-olds to concentrate on the task at hand when so many people outside the program -- whether students, media or people from your hometown -- are talking about, 'Is your head coach going to be there.' Now the focus is really on the team.

He's really made some strides in learning how to handle things in the half court. His decision making in the last three or four games has been better, so his productivity in terms of scoring has gone up.

He's a bruiser. I love him. He can make 3-pointers and score inside. Once he gets a handle on the defensive end, he'll create mismatches in the Big Ten.

He didn't treat me as an ex-player. He allowed my opinion to mean something and he gave me a lot of responsibility. That's something I cherished. It allowed me to grow as a coach and learn from my mistakes.

We really struggled shooting the basketball in the last four or five games, which is too bad because I think these guys worked hard to improve.

We know Tarrance was involved in a serious incident Saturday night. Right now, we are gathering all the information we can about the events. When we have determined all the facts, we will decide on the next appropriate action that is taken.

He has a skill level ... a nice-looking jump shot. He can go get the basketball and make athletic plays. But at times, he is just out there. He floats sometimes ... comes and goes. When he is focused and playing hard, he is a very good player.

They have some different guys that are playing that didn't play against us the first time. Any time you make an adjustment, it has an effect.

Their pressure was a little too much for us at times. It forced us to make ill-advised passes and take ill-advised shots. When they're at home you must keep them out of transition. You must make them play in the half court. Once they get in the open court they obviously have an advantage when they have Dee Brown.

They had a better nose for the basketball, especially late in the game. We played hard, but at times we didn't play smart and on the road, that's what you have to do.

You keep playing because no one's going to have sympathy for you. At Southern Illinois, we had one guy miss two games in six years. We had a lot of success being injury-free.

I thought our guys gave a really great effort. They were hooked up and ready to go.

I just thought their pressure was a little too much for us at times. When they'd get a couple turnovers or force us into a bad shot a combination of two or three possessions in a row, you simply just run out of timeouts. We wanted to keep them out of transition. Normally, when you take bad shots from the baseline, it's going to lead to a sprint out by Dee or a sprint out by Dee that leads to a three-pointer.

I'm proud of our guys this team keeps improving. It's not like teams are lying down for us we're playing well and we're hanging with them.

I thought he had an opportunity to have a monster game tonight.

I've never been through something like that, but I'm pleased with the effort our seniors gave us and pleased our players kept fighting and wouldn't give in, despite all the adversity.

If the season ended today I'd vote for him. He's been very consistent. He has the ability to play well even though they don't have another low-post presence.