Brad Soderberg Quotations

On paper, we're .500, but if you look in deeper, we're so close to being a really good basketball team.

I guess I'm one of the few guys not surprised they're playing the way they are. I knew that both kids were confident in their ability to play right away. We've asked them to do more than most freshmen are asked to do. I'm pleased and proud of the way they're playing.

If we can fix it, than I think we can hope to do well in March. If we can't fix it, then I think we are going be done in a big hurry. I don't mean to be real negative, but I try to be honest.

Last year, we played 12 games that were decided in the last 90 seconds, and we lost 11 of 12. If we win a game when we're not playing well, it's a step in the right direction.

Shooters are shooters. We've got to keep recruiting shooters and we've got to keep getting our kids to understand how much time they have to spend on their shot.

He was like an adult playing with kids. He was getting shots for different kids.

When he came out, it was like their wheels came off.

I finally think they get it. When you've experienced something by doing that certain thing consistently well - defense - they get it.

I think they get it. I finally think they get it. It's not like they've been obstinate, but when you experience success by doing something consistently well - playing defense - then they get it. ... I can't tell you how excited I am about that because I've seen teams have amazing ends to their season when they figure out the value of defending.

It doesn't have a life of its own. You guys can write about it. But it's been weird.

It feels good. Not just to win three in a row, but to win four out of five.

It goes without saying, you have to win. You have to win more than one of them. You have to win a couple of them.

It always seems to be the hole in the dike.

Those are the kind of guys you build your program around. He's a warrior.

I would like it to be permanent. Unless it's absolutely, totally necessary, I'm not going to change it based on the opponent's starting lineup. I told the other guys, 'If one of you guys proves to me you should be in there, you're in there.' I think that will help our consistency a little if that fifth guy isn't a question as to who's going to be in.

That's two full games where we haven't stopped anybody. Somehow we outscored Charlotte. We didn't outscore Dayton. We're messing with fire if we think that's how we can play. We have to stop people.

We clearly can not be described as a good shooting team. I think that's obvious.

That was a team effort to make him more forceful. His teammates had to play a part in that, to continue to look into the post every time. To Ian's credit, he re-established himself as a dominant center. He was too much for them to handle.

Again, we just blew our chance, it's that simple. I'll be the first one to take the blame. Everyone's a part of it. To the credit of our players, they put us in position after being .500 for the better part of the season, but we told them going into the Dayton game this team will be remembered positively or negatively by what happened in March. There will be some negative memories about this season because of what happened in March. That's the cold, hard reality.

Tommie didn't get a great shot. There's a great player that made a great play. It wasn't a great designed play. He just made it work.

The reason we were able to win is that we did defend very well. It was one of our best defensive games of the year.

We're not putting this one behind us. I'm not so into the standings and all of that. I'm into the quality of play, and for two games in a row, our defensive quality of play was not good enough.

Whenever you have a five-man that makes free throws, it makes it a lot easier because he's going to get fouled the most. He's been working hard and it's paid off for him.

Wow. From my vantage point, that was fun to watch. I became a fan there for a while. He was really spectacular.

This will sound a little strange, but we did not play good basketball tonight. I'm sure that the outside observer will say they really played tough against a top-ranked team on the road and blah, blah, blah. We turned it over 20 times. We were not able to keep people off the glass when it mattered most. And we shot like a junior high team from the free throw line.

We'll keep our ears open, but nothing is pending. I really was hoping to get him. I don't have a plan B. That's not totally unusual. We've gotten good players in the past in the summer, but it's not ideal.

Adam will provide an immediate physical presence as a strong, power forward-type player, who has the ability to make an immediate impact in our program.

A year ago, we were struggling for survival. At least now, we can dream a little bigger.

All along I have known they are confident players, but they don't do it in a boastful way. Tommie is not intimidated by anybody. I have this vivid memory of how we were about to tip it off at (North) Carolina, and he looked like he had been there 25 times before. Kevin is the same way. How many big shots has he made in every setting?

That's how it's been for us. It's been unbelievable. We've literally won and lost for 19 straight games (dating to last season). The good news is last year I would have died for that. The bad news is that we can't get on a winning streak.

That's not the way we scripted the game to start. It just snowballed from there. One of the keys was for us to shoot the ball well early so we didn't have that self-perpetuating problem. This has happened to us before where we get off to a poor shooting start, and we really have a hard time turning the tide.

Our deficiency as 3-point shooters showed up, badly. When that happens, there is a domino effect. Once we quit making our shots from the perimeter, they stop defending us. Then our No. 1 threat, which is Ian, just gets locked down. Ian did not get a shot at the basket.

First time I'd ever subbed a kid in and out before he played.

This is about as distasteful a loss as I can remember, and it's baffling. After Sunday's game, I thought a good positive push was going to take place. It's the mystery of coaching.

I know that topic keeps coming up, but I'm most interested in quality basketball. We're having a hard time sustaining quality basketball, and tonight was as bad as it gets. Everything we tried didn't work. Every shot we attempted seemed a little off rhythm.

I'm concerned with Ian's turnovers. Those are hurting us a little.

I like the six wins, and I don't like the six losses. The good news is, we didn't really stub our toe against the teams we should beat, but the bad news is that we didn't knock off any of the (quality) opponents.

I'm not surprised by the way these kids are. When I recruited them I knew that these were special kids. I just prayed that we could get them to commit. And how excited I am that we're going to have them for more years. The fact that they're poised when it matters ... over the course of the season those two guys have done incredible things. When you look at them as a pair, I challenge you to find a freshman combination anywhere that's doing the things they're doing.

I'm very impressed with coach Baron. I've always been impressed with his concept of the game. He puts his kids in a position to win, no matter their talent or their depth. That's what they've done this year. They don't make dumb mistakes. If you beat them, you're going to have to play well.

I have not been looking forward to Wednesday because I have to find a way to properly address the team and Anthony. Senior Night is always emotional, but I think this will be particularly emotional because I've been as close to this kid personally as any kid I've coached.

I'm searching a little bit for answers. I think Luke has earned the spot. I was very impressed with the way he played in the midst of a gut-wrenching game. I thought he played really hard, I thought he played steady, solid. He didn't just get that position by default. He got it because he's played well.

I'm really proud of both of those guys. I have asked them to do a lot more than most freshman and they have stepped up in a big way.

In the five years I've been here, this is the biggest game we've had. This one's kind of special.

I'm going to be really critical of myself when I watch tape to see how in the Lord's name did we not get him a shot at the rim somehow. What's baffling is we worked extra (in practice) on getting him the ball, and he didn't get one shot at the rim. There are days when I absolutely love what I do and days when I hate it. Right now, I hate it. We worked on making the post feed, and the more we tried, the worse it got. It was one of those nights when everything possible could go wrong.

Not surprised. He's a Big Ten veteran. Those are the kinds of guys you build programs around.

That has to be the No. 1 point of discussion when the A-10 coaches get together after the season.

I want to establish quality on both ends of the floor. It's very important going into the conference tournament that we're not just good on offense, but also good on defense. We have to have a better defensive conversion (from offense to defense), we need to take care of the ball. I need to see a complete performance.

Not at all. He's a Big Ten veteran.

His guy got free a couple times. He had three turnovers in the first 10 minutes. I don't want to lay blame on any one person. He got off to a slow start.

His leadership style is who he is. He's very abrasive. If his teammates were honest, some would say they don't like it at all. I've always felt when you ask a kid to lead, you have to ask them to be who they are. Anthony is who he is. He'll stop practice if he doesn't think his teammates are working. If nothing else, he's not afraid to be in front. He's not afraid to lead.

I'll never limit his time during a game, but we'll give him days off from practice. I've never done that in my career, but this is a special case.

They just have to log minutes. As good a player as Tommie is, as good a player as Kevin is, they just need more minutes. They need to keep playing and they need to keep being challenged with great competition and they'll get their mouthful on Friday.

Anthony's a gambler. Sometimes the play works. It's not a perfect science.

The bottom line is, we didn't make shots. It's just disappointing that we played as well as we did defensively, and yet it's a 10-point loss. And we missed free throws. It's just not good enough if you want to beat good teams. You've got to play complete basketball, not just defend, not just rebound, it's got to be complete. We're either going to get it or we're going to continue to be a .500 team. We're either going to figure it out or remain an average program.

It's the craziest thing I've ever been around. I've never been on a team, coach or player, where this has happened. I just hope we can take the positives to Rhode Island and see if we can play good basketball again.

It's an unfortunate way to end the season. We had a rough 10-day stretch here to end it. But such is life. We move on from here.

It's a huge win, no matter how you slice it. This game doesn't turn our program around, but it's a step in the right direction.

They have figured it out. We're every bit as good, but we haven't figured it out. I'm not saying we're better than the Missouri Valley, but we're every bit as good.

They had every reason to lose tonight and they found a way to win and that's the sign of a good team.

It's just disappointing. I don't really have good answers. ... Maybe I will (feel good about what the team has done) at the end of the year. I don't feel good right now. The quality of our play hasn't been good for two games in a row. That's my measuring stick. You focus on the quality and the wins come.

We got lucky, it's as simple as that. You win some, you lose some. I've seen that shot by Smith go in many, many times, and we got lucky because we made an error in coverage.

I told Ian when he left last summer that he had to come back ready to be the centerpiece of our offense. He not only wanted it, but he came back here to do it.

This was the biggest win of the season for us. I'm happy with our players. When we flew in here they had a mission about them and wanted to play well and they did not back down.

It makes a statement we're serious about becoming a player on the national level. I would have liked it to have been done two years ago, but that's OK. We can finally say we're going to have a groundbreaking ceremony. I'm so excited.

This is who we are. We've established ourselves as a defensive team, but our offense comes and goes. We missed a lot of open shots in the second half. We have to find a way to pull those out.

They're getting a ton of publicity in St. Louis. They have not exceeded my expectations, because my expectations were very high. We knew they could come in and give us quality minutes.

They're in a little slump right now. That affects a lot of things. I've been in Sean's situation, and he's got his hands full for the rest of the year, just to keep his kids feeling confident in their abilities. He has to really work to keep the kids engaged, because he's got talent there. Those kids are gifted.

If Ian gets drafted, that's going to hurt us, there's no way around it. What can I say? I don't think even if we find out he gets drafted in June, we can find someone to replace him in that short period of time, no matter where in the world we look.

I could tell right away before the first media timeout that we were ready to defend.

I certainly haven't coached a better guard tandem. They've done a remarkable job this year, especially in light of the expectations that were on them when they came in. They've certainly lived up to those, and maybe beyond it.

I don't think everybody thought they would have the impact they did. I knew both kids were confident in their ability and I knew they were talented.

I do think it was the biggest win of the year. At the time we beat Xavier, I thought that was the biggest win, but since they have kind of fallen on harder times, it doesn't seem as big.

He played essentially a second season with the Greek national team. I'm a little concerned about that, because (Wednesday night against Rhode Island), he looked a little bit tired. I've been concerned all year with the volume of games he's played and that it could become a problem.