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If they ever do, they've got to take my picture from about 20 years ago when I was kind of thin. I don't want a fat statue out there.
Bob Thomason -
I don't want to get fined or anything, but it's a call you don't see much in college basketball.
Bob Thomason
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Without Bates, they didn't have the penetration they usually get.
Bob Thomason -
With all the information we have, it's something that can be handled pretty simply, and he won't be out a very long time.
Bob Thomason -
I couldn't be more proud of our guys. A lot of teams drop down to .500 when they lose that many players. We didn't know what we were going to do early in the year, but these guys just battled, stayed tough and learned to win even when they don't play their best.
Bob Thomason -
We just looked like a tired basketball team. We haven't had a day off since the day after Christmas, and we looked like a team that needed a break.
Bob Thomason -
Last Saturday morning, the day of the game the Big West tournament final against Long Beach State, a 78-70 victory, I get a call from my dad. My son's wife just had our first granddaughter back north in Walnut Creek, so as soon as the game ended, I had some pizza with the players and went to bed, and the next morning at 5:30, I drove back up to see them, had to go 101 because the Grapevine was closed, and then drove to Stockton for the selection show. I haven't had time to celebrate, but I'll be able to celebrate that every day.
Bob Thomason -
It's not like they've been losing a lot, and we got after them. I love that. I was looking to see if we were going to be tentative or aggressive, and I was happy to see us being aggressive. I hope we see the same thing today.
Bob Thomason
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We know people can beat us in our conference. That's why we have to see if we can play our best basketball over the next four games.
Bob Thomason -
They'll be absolutely ready to go. We won't fool anybody. Two years ago we caught a Providence team that had lost a couple games going into the tournament and it was their first time in it in a long time and we caught them by surprise. Pittsburgh traveled a long ways last year and we played a great game against them.
Bob Thomason -
We really didn't deserve to win. We just didn't have great emotion and we had all week to get ready for this game. I'm amazed. I thought we were going to be excited.
Bob Thomason -
We want to win this thing by ourselves. We've worked hard all year to get into this position.
Bob Thomason -
I think they will be good, I just don't know how fast they'll be good. I don't know if early we'll be as good. I don't like to say we're not going to be as good. We'll be what we are. We'll work our tail off and try to win every game and see what happens. I didn't think we'd be 18-0 in league last year, either.
Bob Thomason -
Our guys played perfect basketball over the last three minutes. The first game of a tournament is a little tougher, but we handled it. We got through it, and now we know we need to play a great 40 minutes for a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.
Bob Thomason
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They might try to take Mike away with a zone, but they can't take away all our 3s.
Bob Thomason -
I won't know if it was a foul until I see it. I hope it was a good foul and not one of those other kinds of fouls.
Bob Thomason -
I think New Mexico State is a really good team. The way they're playing lately, this is going to be a heck of a game for us.
Bob Thomason -
I'm going to tell Anthony he's playing Davis every night. He played very well.
Bob Thomason -
If they beat us, they'll probably have the league pretty well in hand.
Bob Thomason -
He just hit one of those shots. You wish when you hit a shot like that you win a game rather than lose a game.
Bob Thomason
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It would be hard for anybody in the country who lost seven players. You never know how guys are going to respond, but our guys have responded pretty well. Now, we have an opportunity, and we have to capture that opportunity.
Bob Thomason -
That's one of the best conferences in the nation, and I'd like to play them just for a comparison.
Bob Thomason -
I think this is probably the best team we've played in the first round the last three years.
Bob Thomason -
Last year we could handle bigger teams. This year that's definitely a concern of mine. We had a team that could match up with anyone last year. We don't have a team like that this year.
Bob Thomason