Tommy Amaker Good Quotations

There are trappings in every step along the trail. Concerns over complacency or (being) overconfident and feeling too good about yourself. But I'm hopeful and I'm very confident given the group that we have that these guys are going to maintain their focus and their hunger. They'll push forward.

He's a good player. I'm really disappointed on the way we guarded their entire team, but he was definitely the catalyst when they jumped out.

He's a good basketball player, certainly he played very well this afternoon. I think that he was the catalyst that allowed them to get such a big lead early.

I talked to them in a calm manner. I didn't yell or scream. I said I was disappointed in the way they played. But the second 20 minutes was a really good half for us. Now we have to bottle that and play for 40 minutes.

I thought that their aggressiveness on the ball knocked us back a little bit. We haven't been good when people put pressure on us. We know that and we try to do things against it and safeguard for it, but it wasn't enough today.

I said Tuesday that if the season ended then, I thought we'd be in. I feel that same way tonight. This was a good win to put on our resume.

We realize that our challenge is going to be a very difficult one with a good South Carolina team.

We anticipated the post-double. When you post-double, you choose what shots to give your opponent. They chose to give us shots on the perimeter, so we thought we might have a good afternoon. It was something we were looking forward to. ... Tell me we're going to get open threes, I'll take our chances.

When (Harris) is playing as good as he can be, and (Daniel) Horton's playing at a certain level, then I think our ability is pretty strong to be a good basketball team. Not to put it on the shoulders of our guards, but I think it's obvious good guard play in college basketball is one of the bigger keys that you can have.

We start five seniors and that is something that we are very proud of going into this NIT tournament. Anytime you get an opportunity to play for a championship, where something is on the line and you have a chance to raise a banner, you have to feel good about it.

We're thrilled. This certainly puts us in position (for an NCAA bid) with a signature win around the country. We recognize how good Illinois has been over the last few years.

Boy, he was just an efficient basketball player as a senior. And when you think back on some of the really good senior players who have played in Madison, you think of those moments where a kid like Wilkinson is really in a nice state of mind. That's the difference in Daniel Horton.

They're as talented, as deep, and as good as anyone you could possibly face.

It's a signature win for us because we recognize how good Illinois has been. It was also important for us to stay in the thick of the Big Ten race.

I feel bad for Lester. I don't know how severe it is but it didn't look good when he went down. But he's as tough as they come.