Nick DeWitz Quotations

We are going to kick them when they are down. They've been struggling, so we are not going to give them any breathing room.

No one goes in there thinking, 'Oh, we've got another road game. The seniors are almost looking forward to road trips so we can get that gorilla off our backs.

Personally, in the beginning of the year I could have come in in better shape, and been more focused on what other teams were looking at me to do. I really didn't come in as prepared as I should have been. But that's neither here nor there. It's over now.

He hit a big shot. He's a good player, and played well all game. What can I say; I tried the best I could. I tried to contest it. I had a hand up, but he just hit it.

He's a big factor for our team. We trust him when he's out there to run the offense and protect the ball. Everyone is confident when he's out there. But the guys who have stepped up and replaced him have done a great job. It's just tough when a senior leader goes out who's so valuable to our team.

Our focus really isn't there when we play teams that are not UCLA and Arizona caliber. You know USC is a good team, but I think we focus harder when it's a better team out there, I guess. With four seniors we shouldn't do that. We shouldn't play to the level we think they are. Every team is good in this conference, and I think it's a lack of focus.

I think I found my role. It's different from the way it was last year. I played a lot of (wing) last year when we had David. I did some slashing and coming off curls. I'm not doing that now. I'm setting screens. I'm not used to that.

I think last year we had a lot of revenge in mind. They beat us by 40. We had a lot to prove to them.

We just didn't have the right pieces combining early in the season. We knew what we had, but we didn't put the pieces together. We weren't meshing as a team like we are now. Teams are not looking at us as individuals anymore, but as a team.

Be ready to go Thursday. It's a given that we'll practice hard. But no matter how hard we practice, we have to be ready to go Thursday. If not, it's not going to be a pretty game, either.

Every time we go into a road game we are focused on getting that hump off our back. It's something we do prepare for. We've never been good on the road, and we are turning some tables over with two wins in Hawaii and over Georgia in the Rose Garden. Things are coming along. We'll be OK.

I've never been a post-up player. I think of posting up as something that accents my game. I didn't want to be put there at first. I'm not David Lucas and I'm not Kyle Jeffers. I do a little bit of everything. Basically, it was finding my role on the team because it changed from last year. I'm just trying to adapt to it. I'm not going to play post ever again in my life.

I tried to be aggressive. I wasn't aggressive the last couple games. It was there today. My shot was falling. And you have to go with the flow of the game.

It sucks that it has to come down to a call like that. We had a good play set up just in case we had time left on the clock. And then the refs called the game. There's nothing much we can do about that.

It's been a strange ride at times, but I always do my best to take away all the positives. We finished fifth in the Pac-10 last season, but we're looking for more this time around. Some March Madness would be fun.

It's tough to talk right now after losing the last five games at home. It's kind of deflating. We've won three games in the Pac-10. That's awful for being such a, I feel, pretty good team. Losing this many games, it's tough to bounce back from these things. But we have to find it within ourselves. And I think we did a little bit tonight.

It's definitely been a disappointing season. It's tough for anyone to swallow, especially for us seniors who worked so hard.

It was a good momentum game going into Oregon. Going into Oregon with a three-game winning streak is as good as you can get.

I'm just taking my stuff as it comes. I wasn't looking to attack like I was last year, and that's coming back. Take my shots when they're open and not pass them up.

I never thought I would graduate from college. I want to play ball until I can't play anymore, but it's sure a good feeling knowing I'll be able to do something with my degree. I'm thinking about being a coach.