Feb. 3, 2012
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Quotes from head coach Mark Turgeon in advance of Saturday's game with North Carolina at 4 p.m. from Comcast Center.
On how much of his identity was carved by Roy Williams & Larry Brown:
"A lot of times I hear myself talking and I'll be like `Okay Coach Larry, here we go.' Just like when you talk and you say OK I sound just like my dad. I coached a JV teach back in Kanas when I was 24 years old and the last game, I remember calling coach Williams after the game and said I don't know if I'm going to be any good at this, I'm not you and I'm not Larry Brown and right then he said `that's your problem, you've got to be Mark Turgeon, that's always been good enough.' From that conversation on I've always just tried to be me but take what some great coaches have taught me and coach the way that makes me feel comfortable."
On how the team responded after his ejection Wednesday against Miami:
"I thought they were fantastic. I was really proud of my coaches and my players. They played inspired. We were very uninspired for 32 minutes. To think the hole that I put them in and that they had a chance to win in regulation, says a lot for us because we haven't been able to come back on teams. We've been practicing coming from behind and I was proud of our guys. They made free throws, they executed, they defended, they rebounded. I was happy. It's another step for us. We would have liked to win the game, obviously. I was sitting back there saying we're giving so much effort to win, but I could tell that my guys were proud of what they did. They got a little bit of confidence and that's huge for our program right now."
On Alex Len and what he's been telling him:
"We tried to simplify things for him offensively and really concentrate on defending without fouling and rebounding. It was a pretty good rebounding game, seven rebounds and four blocks. He still doesn't look 100 percent comfortable out there but I think it is just going to take time, but you see it coming and that's great for us. We tried to play him till exhaustion and then sub him out but it was a good feeling. I just need them all to play well at the same time, that would help."
On the effort of the players Wednesday night against Miami:
"The thing that I got out of it the most, from what everybody has told me, was how into it our bench was in cheering the guys on. It just meant a lot to me because I knew that they were trying for me and it made me feel good."
On junior forward James Padgett:
"He's up and down. He didn't play as good at Miami as we needed him to. He's had a great year but teams are doing a great job at boxing him out now and that's been the big difference against the major teams. He was athletic enough or big enough that he could still rebound but now that you're running into ACC bodies, he's not getting as many offensive rebounds for us but he's still trying to get them. He's a got-to guy for us on the block, we feel comfortable throwing him the ball and think he can score and get fouled down there. We just want to try and make him more aggressive and more assertive all the time."
