Bob Thomason Game Quotations

I think they will be good, I just don't know how fast they'll be good. I don't know if early we'll be as good. I don't like to say we're not going to be as good. We'll be what we are. We'll work our tail off and try to win every game and see what happens. I didn't think we'd be 18-0 in league last year, either.

Our guys played perfect basketball over the last three minutes. The first game of a tournament is a little tougher, but we handled it. We got through it, and now we know we need to play a great 40 minutes for a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.

I think New Mexico State is a really good team. The way they're playing lately, this is going to be a heck of a game for us.

He just hit one of those shots. You wish when you hit a shot like that you win a game rather than lose a game.

There haven't been a lot of easy games here over the years. They've always played well here.

If it's on ESPN, I'll start at midnight. I don't care. It was the No. 1 featured game, the only game going on at that time. It was late for the East Coast, but people on the East Coast watched, got a chance to see us.

They hit a lot of tough shots. You've got to give them credit for making the shots they had to. I don't know if I've ever coached a game where a team shot 70 percent in the second half and we still won.

They'll be absolutely ready to go. We won't fool anybody. Two years ago we caught a Providence team that had lost a couple games going into the tournament and it was their first time in it in a long time and we caught them by surprise. Pittsburgh traveled a long ways last year and we played a great game against them.

Last Saturday morning, the day of the game (the Big West tournament final against Long Beach State, a 78-70 victory), I get a call from my dad. My son's wife just had our first granddaughter back north (in Walnut Creek), so as soon as the game ended, I had some pizza with the players and went to bed, and the next morning at 5:30, I drove back up to see them, had to go 101 because the Grapevine was closed, and then drove to Stockton for the selection show. I haven't had time to celebrate, but I'll be able to celebrate that every day.

I thought this was the first game all year we deserved to win and didn't.

I thought this was the first game all year that I thought we deserved to win. I thought we did a great job. I think we brought our toughness to the table, and we just had a few things slip through our fingers.