Jamie Dixon Improv Quotations

We were so impatient, rushing things offensively and that hurt our defense. We improved in the second half but again that early hole was huge.

I thought we just battled and ground out a victory. We beat them on the boards, which is a thing we knew we had to do coming into the game, and we beat them badly. We also had to get better at making free throws, and we need to improve defensively. We still have a long ways to go.

We're 16-1. I wouldn't want to be complaining about that. No one would listen. We're getting better and improving every game. Even (against St. John's), we got much better in the second half.

You're never perfect. But you're always trying to play great defense, do things right, and you have to continue to do it on the next play and the play after that. It's also about sticking with roles and principles. We're getting better at it in some areas, but it's something you constantly want to improve at.

Hamilton is a big-time player who put up big numbers last year. He's had some injuries, but he can get it going at any time. He is very good around the basket. He can also step out and shoot it. I thought he was an all-league type player last year. And he's improved this year.

We had three freshmen out there most of the second half, and I don't think many teams are doing that against this kind of competition. It's not to get ready to play in a couple of years, they're going to be out there now. Through 11 games, they've improved significantly, especially on defense, and you don't see that very often out of freshmen.

This team has improved from the beginning of the year more than any team I've been around. From the exhibition games through the 14 (regular-season) games, they've improved tremendously. But we have a lot of areas we can improve in. Maybe that's because of our youth.

We try to improve every game. We feel like we can get better and better. The battle on the boards (with Wisconsin) was tied, 32-32. That's an area we have to win, so we feel like there's always something we can do better.

I'm especially proud of the way we battled back and put ourselves in good position. This was a good week for us. We got better and we'll build on this.