30 Quotes by Orlando Early

The other team is always going to make a run. The key to being a heavyweight champion is to fight back and stand up against the punches.

We really got their attention tonight at halftime. We knew going into the game that they (UTA) was a good rebounding team. Early in the game, we were not getting out and contesting shots and they responded by shooting 62 percent.

Nicholls State is coming in a very hot team. They are 2-0 in league play and have been playing well. They have taken some lumps the past couple years, but have turned things around this season. We will have to play well to get the victory.

I have my hands around the problem, we're not good enough yet. I have some young guys that are decently talented, but aren't ready yet. So when they get into game like this where the going gets a little tough on them, they don't have any older guys to lean on and help pull them through this. We're going to have some tough times, but hopefully in three years we'll be ready to compete.

Jordan Payne is an outstanding addition to our program. He is a big-time scorer who can play either guard spot and is a coach on the floor. We feel he gives us an added dimension that we did not have last season and are expecting big things from Jordan next year.

Lance has really played well lately and continues to step up big. We are still a young team, but I feel like we will be able to surprise some people. Now we have to get ready to make the long trip to San Antonio and will have to be mentally tough to win on the road.

Lamar is a very good team that can really score. Coach (Billy) Tubbs does a good job of getting his guys prepared. They have a guy (Alan Daniels) who is leading the league in scoring and can score in a lot of different ways. We will have to find a way to contain him to be successful.

We just did not shoot the ball well tonight. We were able to cut the lead late because our guys really hung in there and played hard until the end. Now we have to get ready for two more tough games on the road, but I really think that this is going to be a fun team to coach for the rest of the year.

We played like we had been off for 13 days. Tonight was the first time during the lay-off that I felt we did not give maximum effort. I was very disappointed in our effort tonight and we will certainly address that when we get back and before Saturday.