Phil Martelli Quotations

He is the best player in college basketball, because he's the best leader in college basketball.

I would say that in my 21 years, the number of those schools has quadrupled, and I would put schools in quotation marks. They're not all academic institutions.

Kansas ran more effectively than anyone else in the country last year. It's a style that creates better opportunities for our big people. Of course, if all you needed were a perimeter game ... it's see you in San Antonio .

I think it's going to be really interesting because I think some of the teams that are in the middle of the pack are probably better than some of the teams that will get a bye.

I thought coming in that there was no clear two (seed) and there was no clear 12. Maybe you say Richmond was 12, but there's a lot of teams that think they can win it now.

Jim Boyle gave me an opportunity to enter college basketball in 1985 and I will be forever grateful.

The actions should never have happened. They are forgiven, but they are not forgotten.

When the ball doesn't go in the basket, you start hoping you can get out of town under the cloak of darkness. Confidence has dwindled here. We'll see whether the second half against La Salle has energized and picked up their emotional level. We've put ourselves in a precarious situation in terms of the league.

We let Robinson, who I think is having a wonderful, wonderful year and who I think is the most improved player in the Atlantic 10, loose in the first half. That was the only defensive slipup we had.

This will be a monumental feat to get them and to get me back up. This is really hard. It will take a lot to pick them up psychologically.

There is a certain arrogance that still says, 'How can anybody beat us at our own game.' Well, they have. We have to be more diligent throughout our program, understanding the nuances of international basketball.

Offensively, we were very poor in our execution. I was really concerned with our offense (coming into the game), and we proved that as we went forward.

There's a certain expectation at the University of Delaware that Monte signed on for. He will fight every day to make sure their expectations are fulfilled.

I told our players the only thing we don't leave with is the trophy. We played like champions.

You try to play your best basketball at the end of the year. We've clearly been playing our best basketball. We just have a feel that we're suppose to win these games.

It's very, very disappointing because of our toughness. We showed it in the first half, and then for 12 minutes in the second half there was none. There was a bunch of little boys running around out there.

They haven't seen a guy of this magnitude. Even (former Xavier player) David West was a dominant player, but not like Morrison.

They have wonderful, wonderful players and their inside guys are better offensively than ours were.

I'm delighted for the seniors. It's also great to go out and get a win because every win is big in this league.

I'm proud of them after being down to come back and get a win.

I'm really disappointed in our play tonight. I don't know if we played with near enough heart and near enough head.

I'm very, very impressed with their balance. There are some teams we've played that haven't had their balance. I think they've all bought into a system.

I'm blown away by 19 assists on 20 baskets. That's basketball the way it was meant to be played.

I just said to the players when I took them out with 1 minute to go: We've been here. We've done this. We've played for the championship. It's time to break through and win a championship.

Being a greater nuisance on defense doesn't always mean stealing the ball. At times he got anxious and wanted to steal the ball when he was already in the player's head. He can win a lot of psychological battles without stealing the ball.