Rick Barnes Quotes (119 Quotes)

You have to give Oklahoma all the credit. They played a great game. They did what they needed to to get the win.

Ask me in a week or so and I'll tell you. I don't know. Sometimes I think I do, sometimes I'm not sure. I haven't thought about it much. I believe that if you work and you go about your business the way you need to every day, and if you keep focused and don't allow outside things to creep in and if you're chasing something and if you stay with it, handle the ups and downs, I think that some way, somehow, something good will happen.

We ask him to be aggressive and block shots. He is just over anxious. He is a guy that really believes he can stop people from scoring.

He did well going the distance because he did not even practice yesterday.

If you want me to be quite blunt, I've got one of the best jobs in America. I have no desire to coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference or any other part of the country.

We tried to keep two guys down around the block. Every now and then we would float somebody into the high post. We felt like if we could take care of the ball, get it on the rim, that we could do some damage there. We ended with 17 of them (offensive rebounds) and that gave us 17 more opportunities.

I knew he'd make it back, ... He never pouted.

You know they're probably going to shoot 25 threes, and they're capable of making more than half.

The bottom line is you could have done a lot more. Regardless of what the world throws at you, you're responsible for yourself. From that day on, he's been terrific.

Our guys showed a tremendous will to win. We had some tough times, but we kept believing, and our guys never doubted they were a good basketball team.

Kansas may be the hottest team in the country right now. I think they're a Top 10 team. On any given night, Kansas can beat any team in the country.

(Kelvin) lost some games when he didn't have his whole team there. Coming in (to the season) they were like us, a team that was up there. And they're a good basketball team.

Every game in this league, as you know in any league, that night you've got to be ready to play. We've got to continue to improve. There are areas we definitely can improve in.

I am obviously a better-looking guy than he is. If we play basketball he wasn't very good but the reason he does all the loose-ball drills is because that's how he had to get on the court as a player. But if it got down to he and I playing, it won't be a rivalry. To have a rivalry you have got to split some games, and he would never win a game from me.

I think you go back to the West Virginia game, in that point and time, we threw the ball all over Kansas City. If we turn it over 24 times here, we won't have a chance.

J.J. was terrific. He got comfortable and whether we allowed him to or not, he got going and they understand to get the ball in his hands.

I've always told Kenton that he sells himself short. He's a much better basketball player than he thinks he is. He's got a great pace to his game. You're not going to speed him up much. He's really embraced the fact that he wants to run the team. He's comfortable now. He knows his teammates. He knows what we need to work our way into.

We told him all year to play more disciplined. Its just a bad habit of him reaching. He is too good a player to let that happen.

Our man defense was good, but we used a lot more zone than I thought we would. Both teams were throwing the ball around because of the intensity of the game.