60 Quotes by Bob Thomason

I thought Christian was really a great player tonight. He was real aggressive, real active and real focused on what he had to do.

I thought this was the first game all year we deserved to win and didn't.

I thought this was the first game all year that I thought we deserved to win. I thought we did a great job. I think we brought our toughness to the table, and we just had a few things slip through our fingers.

I thought they were supposed to pick teams, not conferences. Last year, the Big West got two (berths) because we deserved to go and Utah State won the tournament. This year, they were almost over fair. Utah State and Air Force had to be bubble teams, and if you have four or five bubble teams, you pick two and two or three don't get in. Cincinnati should have gotten in, but Syracuse ended up winning the (Big East) tournament. The Big East still got eight teams in. Cincinnati kicked itself out.

I think this is probably the best team we've played in the first round the last three years.

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.

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.

Our guys are hungry to prove people wrong. This team has taken a lot of flak. Everywhere you turn, people are questioning how well this team can come around. I just said, 'Give it time. Give it time.' Well, here we are, and whatever happens the rest of the year, I'm going to be proud of this team.

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.