Jim Calhoun Lay Quotations

Very few players maintain the pace, obviously, he's on. Brian Fair, Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, the great shooters we've had here, if anybody could ... I don't think anybody we've ever had could get as hot as he could get. I think Ben Gordon and Ray might be better shooters, but I'm not sure anybody can get as hot as he could get.

Very few players are able to maintain the pace he's on. I don't think anybody I've ever had can get as hot as he can get. Ben (Gordon) and Ray (Allen) are probably better shooters, but nobody gets as hot as he does. He's done that against a whole bunch of folks. It's not the first time.

We haven't played defense really well the past couple of weeks and that was just highlighted there.

A lot of teams play us in a grind, not in a wide-open game. That played to our depth and our experience.

A lot of times games are built up and they don't fulfill their promise. This game more than fulfilled its promise. Villanova may be, pound-for-pound, the toughest team that we've played anywhere, any time. Early in the game, we had to match their toughness. They were getting every offensive rebound. They were hustling like crazy. Unless you have a tough team, you cannot win this conference. It was like an old Big East backyard ball amongst two really good teams.

They played some big games last year without Curtis. They can still win the league but it's going to be tougher. They scare me because of the way they spread the court and make you play small ball.

The thing that scares me always the most and the thing I caution our players on is that next week, you go home. You go home for the Big East tournament. And then next time you go home, we pack up the uniforms. And this team is good enough to get to Indianapolis. Will it get to Indianapolis? I have no idea. ... Maybe the first round of the tournament some team gets up, plays us tough and we don't execute.

It?s not Rashad?s fault, trust me. Whatever we ask our kids to do, it?s our responsibility. We make the choice of who plays who. ... I?m incredibly, incredibly disappointed in the loss, incredibly disappointed in myself. I would have changed a couple of things probably the last two, three minutes of the game and into overtime.

I can still see Calvin Murphy getting 62 points, and I can still see flashbacks from the pictures of Wilt getting 100, ... You go from the biggest to the smallest. The wonders of the game, from the guys playing pickup to the kids shooting in Indiana to the inner city kid who finds a way out through the sport of basketball - and I don't mean necessarily to the NBA - are embodied in this game. It doesn't take wealth or pure size. It takes heart, repetition, talent. All that stuff is embodied in the game. When I walk through that building, it's embodied there.

Coming off a Villanova game where he played 13 minutes and didn't score a point, I started him the next game to tell him we've got to get him back. For us to win, we've got to get him back. ... Thank God we got them back.

Denham is playing the best basketball of his life. This is the guy we had while winning the Maui Invitational. Denham had some roadblocks but thank God he stayed with it all season. But that's the story of this season. It's all about who can persevere.

If he plays well, then we've got a chance to win it. If Marcus were to sprain an ankle in the first 10 minutes against Albany, then we'll struggle but we would probably win. After that, it's 50-50 if we'll win a game or not.

We're trying to put pressure on Craig ? and I mean positive pressure ? and give him the reinforcement that he needs to take a few chances. You can't make good plays unless you make a few mistakes.

We're trying to give him a lot of reinforcement, tell him to take a couple of chances, make a few mistakes, because you can't make good plays unless you make a few mistakes. Craig becomes more important down the stretch.

Bobby Jones looks to me like a guy who can make a living in the NBA just playing defense. He's an absolutely magical player defensively.

They find a way to win. A lot of the things that happened against Washington were plays that players make. Guys who refuse to lose a basketball game, guys who are down by five with 30 seconds to go but don?t believe they?re going to lose. And that, as a coach, you don?t teach. Maybe you try to set the mood that we?re still here, but you can?t set the mood if you don?t have winners with you.

I wish we were playing tonight. Especially after our experience last week.

It?s a time we have to play. I don?t think for college kids it makes any difference. I talked to players today and asked them, ?How?d you sleep last night?? They said they went to bed early ? they were in bed by 1:15 a.m.

It's a tribute to the hard work the kids put in because they played in the best league in the country. I think our kids should be honored. We have an awful lot of good players in this league. I couldn't be prouder of our kids.

It was tough, Albany just played great basketball. My hat, my gloves, my shoes, I'm going to tip all of them to them, because they were absolutely terrific.

In those 11 games, we did all kinds of things. We played and got better during this period. And I don?t know if we ever peaked, per se, nor did I want us to.

My fear is being flat (for the start of league play). When we lost to Boston College last year to start the Big East, we couldn't raise ourselves to that level. Having not played that kind of competition recently, I have concerns, but we have to play these two games first.

Marcus Johnson continues to make who is going to play at that 'three' or 'two' a little more of a struggle. He plays harder than anybody else on the court just about.

Sometimes it can be the best thing in the world for you. A lot of times when you go through a down period, you find out a lot more about yourself than times when everything is flowing and you're winning. To some degree, Kentucky is already tournament-tested. They've been playing games with tournament implications for a while now.

Rudy is starting to become the player that we think he has a chance to be.

said Pat Calhoun with a laugh. ''It doesn't matter to him whether he was playing for a state championship or a national championship.

This weekend might be like root canal in the sense the way Seton Hall is playing right now. That's the first order of business.

We did it, but it's tough to get all the way through. It won't surprise me to see somebody playing a fourth game in four days, the league is like that this year. This was the most games that came down to last three minutes, at least our most in 10 years and yet we were 27-2, which means we were there to finish the deal. But in a one-game tournament anything can happen.

It feels good so many guys contributed. We, the coaching staff, to some degree, have become so reliant on Rudy and he didn't have a particularly good evening and that happens to great players and will continue to happen.

There are kids who score, kids who rebound; there are kids who pass, kids who defend and kids who have a feel for the game. He has all those attributes. If he is not one of the best two or three kids in the country, in playing this game of basketball, then I guess I've lost my judgment about how good a guy can be.

When we're executing and blocking shots and playing defense and you don't get us in a situation where we have to create plays, we're absolutely terrific. But we're a flawed team.

When you watch Roy play, you're watching, really, from a coaching standpoint, everything you want a player to be. He can pull up and make mid-range shots. He can pass the ball. He can rebound. He plays with great composure. He seems to want the ball in tough situations.

It seems Ed picks up fouls quicker than any guy I've ever had. And I don't know why. Ed is a very good basketball player and yet I don't think he ever gets recognized for that. He automatically gets tagged because he looks strong and muscular. Well, he's a very good player.

It was an incredible display of what competition is all about.

It was really fitting that Denham had such a great game. He was a horse out there, as far as handling the ball, especially when Marcus played such a poor first half. We sat Marcus down, talked about the Dow Jones and some other things. He came back and got us going.

It's the first time he's done that in his entire career. It's the first time he's been able to maintain that. He played exceptionally well, I was really happy for him.

Over the last 15 years, the type of players we've had here, the fortune to be successful, we've had the bull's-eye. Now there's the added bull's-eye of a new league, being No. 1. They just pile up. That's exactly where you want to be. You want to be playing from the top. I hear guys say they like to be the underdog. But there's a reason you're the underdog. I'd like to be playing from the top any time I can.

Rashad wanted to be so good tonight, and of all guys who I thought wanted the limelight at home, it's really unfortunate he didn't have the kind of game he's capable of having. He's a terrific basketball player ... the best sixth man in college basketball.

I thought it was a good win for us. I don't think we played as well as we should have. ... Overall I think we did a decent job on defense, but the thing that is bothering me a little bit is we were inconsistent.

There is nobody like him. When you watch Roy play, from a coaching standpoint, he's everything you want a player to be. He has composure and seems to want the ball in tough situations.

The other night, if we had played him 28, 29 minutes, he would have had over 40 points. And I'm not sure he would have missed a 3.

Brandon Roy, in my opinion, is one of the top two or three players in the country.

I think depth has played a role for us. In this game, it won?t.

Hilton we lost for about two weeks. He got to the Big East tournament, was the defensive player of the year and he had a little letdown. I don't know what it was. He's such an emotional kid. But we've got him back and thank God we got him back tonight.

Hilton Armstrong was the best player on the court. He changed everything in the middle. He had big baskets. He was immense from the foul line.

He's the best passer I've ever coached. I think he took that as an affront because then he responded with 21 and 20. That shows what kind of player he is.

We just broke down and allowed some plays that shouldn't have happened.

Will it hurt us? Sure. Jeff has been a factor in every game he's played in. Hopefully the depth that we have will come into play in this game.

On the way down here, it was just a really happy team. They really felt they played well. ... It's going to be a different kind of game (tonight). Over the next 24 hours, at the team meeting (Sunday) and at the shoot-around (today), we'll get an opportunity to really tell them. With only six games to go, there is significance to the game.

Overall, I thought it was a good win for us, but I don't think we played as well as we're capable of.

Our veteran players made some terrific plays down the stretch.

We are lucky to have him as a part of our staff and this promotion is a well-deserved acknowledgment of the part that he has played in the phenomenal success of our basketball program.

That's the price you pay. And that's the price you want to continue to pay. We're not playing better or worse because of any kind of pressure. We're just not playing as well.

I think Indiana is a very good basketball team. I just think there were moments and minutes in that game where we were pretty special. It didn't matter who we were playing because we blocked everything, we ran out and we made good decisions. I'm very proud of my basketball team today.

We stop practice every time we see one of our players not blocking out.

He likes playing here. We may move all of our games here.

I don't want our kids playing the scoreboard because, quite frankly, we won't always be here at the Civic Center. In the second half we matched baskets and we won by five. I don't think we should do that. We should take more pride in what we're doing.

He's a four-year stay. He's been involved with championships and a national championship. He's made as many big three-pointers as any kid I've ever had. ... Rashad clearly has been a special player for us. He's a special kid.

We didn't shoot well (39 percent). But we played well. We played better than we did in our previous two wins over St. John's and Louisville. Providence was young and tenacious and gave us fits. But we were more athletic and more experienced.

It's amazing that we were playing Kentucky for the first time. But we're trying to earn (recognition) as a lead program in America, and hopefully we continue to do that. It was obviously a tremendous, tremendous basketball game.

He was a Hall of Fame coach in his own right at UMass, ... But playing in the Yankee Conference, he was never going to get the recognition.

We don't have anybody on our team, through our first Big East game, that plays like an all-star. I'll probably have to make some changes in the starting lineup because there's a couple players, some big names, who aren't doing very much.

He's going to be something very, very special. Right now, he is a terrific college basketball player, not the great, great dominating college basketball player that he would be if he stayed in college. I don't think the circumstances are going to allow it to come, unfortunately. I just think that's the way it is.

Hopefully, they'll learn if they truly, truly want to be UConn basketball players and represent the state, represent themselves and our team. Give me that opportunity.

This is where you want to be. You want to be playing from the top.

We may have guys close to or equal, but no one's been better, ever, at making clutch shots. He's made bigger 3's than any player I've ever had. When it comes down to crunch time, he makes shots. It seems to me the bigger the shot, the better chance he's going to make it.

It reminded me of a Big East game, probably back in the early 90s. (St. John's) took us out of our offense early, played us very physical and did not allow us to get into a flow.

Those jump shots were killers. You could probably go over six, seven, eight, nine plays that changed the game.

It's going to be nice playing an away game, too. I'm looking forward to that.

It's going to be nice playing an away game. I'm looking forward to that. I think that part of the system is really working out to protect the ones.

I don't know if there is another player as complete or as poised all the time with the basketball. Bottom line is that he's a terrific basketball player.

It was just an incredible game fought by two teams who gave it everything they possibly had. I just thought it was an incredible display of what competition is all about.

He plays a great game with great enthusiasm. What a wonderful thing.

He plays a great game with great enthusiasm. He's dedicated himself the past year to be a starter this year. He was the difference maker today. He cleaned up the middle by blocking shots and obviously scored a few baskets for us.

I don't think we played an ounce of basketball after that.

I don't think we shot well (38.7 percent), but I think we played well and yet it took us 30 minutes to shake them, maybe 35 minutes to shake them. That's just by their tenacity and how hard they played. Providence has a young team. The three guys who I think played really well for us happened to be seniors and that makes a difference in college basketball.

In all my years of coaching, I can't remember a player who came as far as he did at that point of his career. He should be held up as an example.

He makes you make plays you don?t want to make. He takes teams out of their offense by the ball pressure he puts on you. He?s really, really been a godsend to us in many ways.

Well, 1,100 basketball games I've been fortunate to be involved with (and) I've never been quite involved with something like that. It was just an incredible game fought by two teams who gave it everything they possibly have. And I don't know if the teams could have gone another minute. I thought it was an incredible display of what competition is all about.

There's a chance that one of the parents will be moving up here with one of the players if everything goes through. I shouldn't pre-judge, but in most instances like this, they face a loss of housing privileges. If that happens, one of the parents will be moving with one of the players.

We worked on the 1-3-1 for three straight days this week and it paid off. It means a little something extra to go home with a win against such a great team. The enthusiasm of each shot is big when playing in such a hostile environment as we were today.

I'm so proud of my kids. We took every shot Kentucky had. It's amazing we were playing Kentucky for the very first time.

We have Marcus Williams who made big plays down the stretch. We turned up the defense the last four or five minutes.

We've played in spurts, not always a full 40 minutes.

The two guards are just absolutely playing terrific.. Whitney has really become a force in this league. They're the kind of team that feels good about itself and those kind of teams you cannot give an opening to.

I think he feels a great deal of pressure. He's a human highlight film, but he's a young player who is learning how to be good. This tournament could be an opportunity for him to break out a little bit. He kind of got worn down by the pressure of expectations.

We aren't overrated, we are misconstrued. We've got three big players and two wings but only one guard (Williams). We have to be able to create for others and we only have one guy that can do it.

Could he have played (Friday)? Probably. But obviously we didn't need him.

They gave us fits. I don't think we shot well, but we played well.

He's really had a sensational four years with us. This will be their chance to see Rashad in person. We hope he plays exceptionally well.

He's one of the most memorable players we've ever had if you think about just how spectacular he's been and the darts he's thrown at teams.

I think we finally wore them down. They didn't have any more players to play.

We're not a team of breakdown individuals. We're much more a team of execution. We're going to have to work on execution tomorrow, the next day and continue. It's fine when we're running. It's not quite as fine in the half-court set. Yet I've seen us in the half-court set be brilliant. I'm not sure we truly have a guy we would run five plays in a row for.

It was one of the most disappointing losses we've had in an awful long time, mainly because we got off to such a poor start. We played like a team that had a 25-point lead at the Carrier Dome and then beat a team by 23 at our place.

We caught them when they were playing terrific basketball. And we caught them off guard. I could see it on tape that they just didn't expect us to be as good as we were. That may have been, at particular points, as good as we've played offensively. We really, really played well.

We played them twice this year and on both of those occasions we were able to physically dominate them inside. We did a tremendous job last Saturday, won by 18 points and dominated them again. They turned the tide on us tonight. They physically dominated us in every aspect of the game.

We really played our best basketball. It was one of the few games I can say you could just enjoy. It was just really a tremendous basketball game for us and hopefully it's a peek into what we're capable of. Seasons are really funny. But I think those things are good. We jump right now into a hot stove.

Regardless of our success over the years, whatever it may be, Providence has always played us close. Providence has given us a lot of problems.

Regardless of our successes, failures, whatever it may be, it seems like Providence always plays us close. I think it's 3-3 over the last six games. Our national championship team (2004), they showed up at 12 o'clock at the (Hartford) Civic Center and beat us pretty good.

The first two or three passes should be used to spread the defense. Then you have a better opportunity for entry passes, because the post players will replace the back of the zone.