Quotes from Gary Williams - 3/14/10
3/14/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2010
On what he told the team after learning they would be a No. 4 seed:
"I told them I was proud of the team for what they did. It's so difficult now as you see the teams that didn't make the tournament. To make the tournament is significant and then to be a four seed off of where we were picked when the season started and with the two losses in Maui, we had to work hard to get to a four seed so I'm proud of the team."
On first-round opponent Houston:
"I really haven't seen them but we do a good job of taping games from the year and we have all the conference tournaments taped. So we have plenty of tape and we'll get more. [Houston head coach] Tom Penders has done a good job wherever he's been and he's been around a little bit. Obviously he knows how to coach. He's got a great player that's scoring 25 points a game and any time you have a player that can go off like that it's a challenge for the other team. I think the big thing this week is for us to have a good week of practice and prepare ourselves."
On the possibility of winning the tournament:
"I think once you get into the tournament those seeds don't mean anything. In other words, here's your bracket, that's who you have to play. Whoever plays well wins this thing. We were a No. 1 seed when we won it [in 2002]. I think there's probably an advantage to being a No. 1 seed, but after that a lot depends on your bracket, if you run into a hot team or a team that's not playing as well as they did during the year. Things like that come into play. I think you go in there with a very positive attitude and it snowballs very quickly. You win two games and you're in the Sweet Sixteen. Things can happen quickly."
On how his perspective on reaching the tournament has changed over the years:
"As you get older you appreciate it more because you know how tough it is. You see some teams get left out that are probably good enough to be in the tournament and you appreciate being there first. You don't gloss over the fact that you're in the tournament. You don't worry about where you're being sent. If you are a four seed or a five seed, fine; you just go play. I think that comes through experience. You realize you don't know when your last one is."
