Rick Barnes Basketball Quotations

Look at Oklahoma. They start three seniors. They're a good basketball team. If people thought they were just going to go away, they (were wrong). You don't get ranked in the top five in the preseason if you don't have a good basketball team.

Our guys showed a tremendous will to win. We had some tough times, but we kept believing, and our guys never doubted they were a good basketball team.

I still think we should be a good basketball team.

(Kelvin) lost some games when he didn't have his whole team there. Coming in (to the season) they were like us, a team that was up there. And they're a good basketball team.

Coming in, they were like us, a team that's up there. They start three seniors, and they are a good basketball team. If people thought they were just going to go away, you don't get ranked in the top five or six in the preseason if you don't have a good team.

There's no question. They're not going to take Penn lightly. They know better than that, and they know they're going to have to play good basketball to be successful.

You're not playing this time of year if you're not a good basketball team.

That's college basketball. I just told them they needed to finish the game. An 18-point lead is nothing that can't be overcome and in February you expect teams to play hard.

I want them to relax and almost have that kid-type attitude. I just want them to take care of the process and play the kind of basketball they're capable of playing.

Anyone close to our program knows the kind of kid and person he is. He knew a lot of the things that happened were his fault. He said he would fix it, and he did. I'm not sure I ever coached a player that spent as much time improving the kind of person he is as he did improving his basketball game.

The major reason for our score is we had four of our five seniors leave school early last year to chase their dream of playing professionally. I'm not sure the score is a true reflection to the commitment and success we've had when it comes to education in our basketball program.

I am obviously a better-looking guy than he is. If we play basketball he wasn't very good; but the reason he does all the loose-ball drills is because that's how he had to get on the court as a player. But if it got down to he and I playing, it won't be a rivalry. To have a rivalry you have got to split some games, and he would never win a game from me.