Tom Crean Quotes (31 Quotes)

It's just a matter of time with Steve. If Steve were to stop shooting, you'd see him coming out of the game.

The best teams in this league have depth. The best teams are not putting players out there to hold their own. They're putting players out there who make their teams better. We had a lot of good players in Conference USA, but there wasn't nearly the depth in that league that there is in the Big East.

I think he can poke fun at them and they can poke fun at him. I don't know if it was always like that but he's grown into it he's learned to trust and respect and they've learned to trust and respect him.

For our guys to be a part of history like that is really important. It's important to understand history and realize they have the ability to make it.

As far as the end of the game, we got every look that we wanted. Two weeks ago (Novak) hit a shot with a second to go to win the game. Today he took a shot from a different place, and it just didn't go down.

This was a big deal to him. I think his focus today was Colin Falls, and he did a great job in defending him.

Playing 40 minutes of defense was the absolute key. We thought last week that we played about 20 minutes of solid defense, and we lost our defensive intensity in the second half.

He's comfortable down there he's improving all the time. The big things now are to improve his balance, his footwork, his skills and confidence down low. But he's a hard worker and when you work that hard you have a chance to really gain expertise in certain situations that much faster.

It was just a matter of time for Steve. If Steve would have stopped shooting, he would have come out of the game ... He has a very short memory when it comes to his shot, and that's what a great shooter has to have.

Our fans have been fantastic. Our home crowd is huge to us and we haven't seen it in a while.

Dan's very instinctive, which leads him to making good decisions. He can get into the lane and make some plays, and the other thing about him is his defense. He can move his feet very well -- that's his soccer background -- and keep the dribble in front of him. As times goes on, he'll be able to guard smaller, quicker guys.

This was a great college basketball game with two teams who have a lot of respect for each other.

You have to incorporate these things into practice. It takes a lot of courage to make free throws, and thats often what separates really good teams from average teams. You have to make it a point of emphasis.

Maybe 10, but I'm biased. When you go against Seton Hall, you see Cincinnati. When you see these teams on a day-in, day-out basis, you see how good they are.

I'm giving him the ball and telling him to give it back when he's finished.

I like our schedule. There's 17 teams that went to the post-season, and when we looked at it there's a potential 21 that we could face with the teams in Alaska and the Blue and Gold Classic. Then we open against Connecticut and Cincinnati. I'm jacked up, there's no question about it.

It's just a matter of time with Steve. If he were to stop shooting, you would see him come out of the game because he would have lost his aggressive mind-set.

They had a good game plan of grabbing and holding and keeping Steve from getting open looks. The credit goes to them. They played a great game.

We're just trying to make sure we keep having great practices and a lot of energy, get ready for each individual game and if it happens, it happens. We know it doesn't get any easier. To start talking about a bye could turn into a distraction for these gu

They've learned that the game comes down to three or four possessions on offense, three or four possessions on defense. We're trying to teach our team all the time that momentum comes down to execution, that we build our breaks by the way we execute.

I think rivalries don't just happen anymore. They've got to be created on the floor. I think a couple coaches could get together and manipulate the situation but that would be short-lived. I think what happens on the floor creates the rivalry a buzzer-beater, a double-overtime game, a couple games down to the wire.

He's getting better all the time. He impacts at both ends of the floor.

Not only does he care about the basketball team and the athletic department but he cares about the entire school. Every time I've been with him I have felt honored to be around him and he takes his role with the team very serious.

I never get into comparisons. And I don't know his father's game well enough to make a comparison. His bloodlines are obviously very strong. But he's his own man and he's developing his own game.

Look what Syracuse did they couldn't have played any worse against DePaul a week ago and they just won four great games. Anything can happen this time of year.

They're unbelievably battle-tested. You're not only going to have to play to the final minute against Notre Dame, you're going to have to play to the final second. Notre Dame's got the second most efficient offense in college basketball, right behind Duke, averaging 119 points on every 100 possessions.

This was an unbelievable conference win. This is a special night in the program's history. We beat a premier program in our first game in the Big East.

I thought our team learned something over the (Rutgers loss). They have learned to be honest when they don't play up to their standards.

We have to make it a defensive game every time we turn around, that's the Big East. You've got to take advantage of your possessions.

To start us out with one of the most storied college basketball programs of the last 15 years, I guess thats good. My players would see right through me if I told them it was just another game.

We got our second wind under us when we started to make those shots.