|
|
||||||||
 |
March 1, 2012
On coming off of a win
“Winning helps a lot of things in the program and we have a week to prepare so we’re looking forward to going out on Sunday and having a good game.”
On U of A
“Obviously they have a different aspect this year. They’re undersized in the post a little bit but they definitely make up for that in their physicality and they still rebound the ball fairly well. Its going to be a tough match up on Sunday.”
On Kyle Fogg
“Kyle is a good player. Obviously he’s a senior so he has all the senior vet moves. I would say the biggest thing for him is that he can do it all. He can shoot the ball, he can get to the basket, and he has nice floaters. You kind of have to pick your poison when you’re guarding him.”
On Coach Sendek and his coaching tree
“It just shows what kind of coach he really is. He’s mentored many coaches and he comes from a great coaching tree with Pitino, Toby Smith, and Donovan. I guess he has a good coaching family around him.”
“Carrick looks good. He was a little raggedy coming in. I hadn’t seen him for a week but he’s got a hair cut so he’s looking and playing fairly well.”
On his ankle
“It’s getting better every day. I’m getting a little bit of my explosiveness back and I’ll be good.”
On the U of A game coming up
“Anytime we have the opportunity to play U of A, our instate rival, I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be crazy. It means a lot to our school and our community so we’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
On the season
“I guess I would say the season has definitely had a lot of ups and downs. We’ve been through a lot this season. I’m proud of the way our guys always come ready to go the next day even after a tough loss. We’re looking forward to working hard over the off-season.”
|
|
 |
On what he’s learned this year
“I guess just the ability to deal with adversity. Like I said, a lot of things have happened with personnel changes, injuries, and you just have to roll with the punches and be appreciative of what you do have.”
COACH Herb Sendek
On the team’s health
“We’re doing pretty well. Carrick has returned gradually to practice this week and is doing much better. Jordan suffered a mild concussion on Monday in practice but is making progress and doing better. Outside of some normal bumps and bruises that the season distributes, we’re doing well.”
On U of A
“Arizona is playing really well right now. They’re an outstanding team and we know we have to play a great deal better than we did in Tucson at the end of December.”
On Kyle Fogg
“He’s been one of my favorite players over the last four years in the Pac-12. I think he’s a winner and he makes big plays. He plays within himself. I don’t know if he gets nearly the credit he deserves. I just think he produces. He makes shots and makes plays for them and he’s done it consistently for four years. I just have a great deal of respect for Kyle Fogg.”
On looking forward to the rivalry game
“Honestly, once the game starts we coach and play like we do for all of our games. We try to do our best. We don’t try to do better in this game than we do in the last game. We’re always trying to do our best. That comes from a coaching standpoint as well as a playing standpoint. If theoretically we’re always trying to give everything that we have, you can’t then all of a sudden try to give more than everything.”
On Arizona’s team this year
“Derrick Williams was arguably the best player in college basketball last year. He certainly was on the one hand that you would hold up. You don’t typically replace him by any other one player unless you’re just really fortunate. They’ve been able to do it collectively so once again they’re a really good team. They have had an influx of very talented freshman help them.”
On the team’s positive attitude despite adversity
“It’s a choice that we make. Every day you have a choice what your attitude is going to be like and what you’re outlook is. To the best of our ability we’ve tried to make very productive, positive choices. Even among struggles there are always silver linings. There is always joy is you’re aware and alert enough to know where it is and how to find it. It’s not as if we’re under some cloud of despair. It’s a very positive, energetic, and enthusiastic approach. There are lessons being learned but also great anticipation and hope for what is around the corner for us. I think for the most part, I’m speaking largely for myself, we’re in a good place mentally. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have our moments and its not easy to have slippage in the places you would rather not be but for the most part its not how we go about our business. Conversely when we’re having different outcomes and we have a different season the approach is still very much the same. I don’t think you’ve seen this group get overly carried away with them selves when things have gone well. I think that steady, positive, upbeat, present-minded approach has served our program well over the span of time.”
On having no seniors to recognize at the last home game of the season
“I thought about that for the first time yesterday and it will be different. It doesn’t happen very often but it will certainly happen on Sunday.”
