City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The national hoops media has descended upon the City of Brotherly Love, as four top programs battle for a spot in the Final Four in Houston next weekend. Wisconsin, Indiana, Notre Dame and North Carolina all faced the press on Thursday in press conferences and locker room swarms, with coaches and players alike sharing their thoughts on all sorts of topics.

Here are some of the best quotes (one-liners and otherwise) from the quartet of teams participating in the East Regional at Wells Fargo Center this weekend:

Wisconsin

Head coach Greg Gard, to a reporter who didn’t know he was no longer interim coach:

“They actually gave me a five-year contract about three weeks ago. I always had a one-year contract. I thought, wow, I saw five years on that thing, where do I sign? Interim tag -- the best loss we had all year was the loss of the interim tag. That's our best loss in the last three weeks.”

Gard on the last 12 months, which have seen Wisconsin make the 2015 Final Four, his father pass away from cancer and then his taking control of the program:

“It's been the worst year of my life and it's been the best year of my life rolled into one.”

Gard on Bronson Koenig’s game-winner in the Second Round:

“I don't know if I drew it up and said run to the corner and shoot a step-back 24-footer. Our players make plays. And Bronson hit an unbelievable shot, probably one of the best shots in Wisconsin basketball history or obviously it's the most fresh in everybody's mind.”

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Notre Dame

Head coach Mike Brey on assistant Martin Ingelsby, who’s involved with both the Drexel and Delaware openings:

“I think somebody's going to get him. I'd be thrilled if the guys in Newark got him. I think he'd be an unbelievable fit. But that process, I'm sure, will play himself out. He's the whole package. We've been known for our offensive efficiency and how we've played. He has as much input in what we do offensively as I do. We conspire on a lot of things. A great communicator. Our players love him. He knows how to connect. He's done a heck of a job recruiting. And what's lost a lot of times, too, is he's got a great family. His wife gets the profession. Three young kids. As you know, being in the community with your young family is as important as running the right out-of-bounds play when you start to build a program.

Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson on a Philly staple and Philly player:

We had cheesesteaks as soon as we got here yesterday in the hotel, so had it right away. (Steve Vasturia) gives us a great lift, just as a whole. He's a great leader, he definitely leads with his actions and his play. He goes out and plays as hard as he can and gets on the floor. He's always the first guy to the floor. That's definitely something that the team really needs and he's really giving it to us in his whole career at Notre Dame.

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Indiana

Head coach Tom Crean on how much he respects Philadelphia as a basketball city:

“I think it's tremendous. And when you look at the national championships that have been won here, they've heard about that this week. We certainly -- I wish we could take them and tour the Spectrum. We should go take a picture outside in the lot there. We had a great day today. We went and practiced at the Palestra. And they understand how big that is to me. That's a bucket-list deal for me for us to be able to get in there. And that was fantastic.

“But they know the history. And they see the pictures, because the Sports Illustrated cover of Isaiah Thomas hangs in our locker room in a full-sized poster. And they know the history. And they're basketball fans, so they understand that Philadelphia has got great basketball -- it's one of the great basketball cities in the world let alone the United States, and not just because of the history but because of the way people keep honoring the tradition by the great teams that are here and by the fact that so many really good players and coaches keep coming out of this area.”

Nick Zeisloft on his dunking ability, which was called out by Crean:

"He's not telling the truth with that. I've been able to dunk for quite some time, as much as people might not think I can. It wasn't a Thomas dunk. So it was just a little dunk. I mean, I don't know what he was laughing about with all that, but…”

Thomas Bryant on facing Kentucky and North Carolina consecutively in the NCAA Tournament:

“It feels great to face these teams. When you play for a great team like Indiana and you're in the NCAA, you expect to face nothing but the best teams. And it feels great to do that.”

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North Carolina

Marcus Paige, on the history between UNC and Indiana meeting in the NCAA Tournament now three times in Philadelphia:

“We haven't talked much about it as a group or had any specific words about the past matchups, but you know about Michael Jordan playing his final game against Indiana in 1984 and stuff like that. They've beaten us the last couple of times we've matched up in the tournament, I think. So I know stuff like that, but I don't think it pertains a whole lot to tomorrow's game.”

Brice Johnson, on Indiana freshman Thomas Bryant:

“He does kind of look a little weird out there sometimes, but he's a really good player. Just being honest. Just watching him on film, it's not the norm, but I mean he's a really good player. You just have to challenge him to his weaknesses and not let him get to his strengths. Like I said, he's a really good player. And he has the potential to probably leave this year if he so chooses to.”

Head coach Roy Williams on not relying too much on the 3-point shot:

“After about ten games, all the local guys said, boy, you're shooting so much better this year. Then they stopped asking that question...I think having balance is the best way (to win), but the last game we played was one of the things that sort of solidifies one of the biggest beliefs I have, is that the end of the game I hope that I'm playing against the other team and they don't have all their players on the court because of foul trouble. You don't get teams in foul trouble too much shooting 35 threes in a game.”

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