2005 Big Ten Men's Tournament Game 8 Quotes

Illinois 64, Minnesota 56




March 12, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

2005 BIG TEN

MEN'S BASKETBALL

TOURNAMENT

Game Eight • March 12, 2005 • United Center • Chicago, Ill.

#1 Illinois 64, #5 Minnesota 56

 

ILLINOIS COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

 


 

 

Head Coach Bruce Webber:

Opening Statement:

"I want to thank the Big Ten for the moment of silence recognizing my mom. It meant a lot to our family. I appreciate what the United Center did yesterday. They were unbelievable. I wasn't a part of it, but from what everybody told me, they went out of their way to give my mom a chance. Rush Presbyterian Hospital and Dr. Higgins went beyond the call of duty to try and save my mom. I appreciate that. It's been an emotional 24 hours for me. It's tough when you lose somebody. My mom wanted me to coach and my brother to coach last night. The last thing she told my sister before she went into surgery was not to tell me and not to tell my brother. Then we would worry about it and we wouldn't coach. That was in her heart. Everyone felt that we should coach the game.

 

"I think that early on in the game the kids had too much emotion. We were going too fast. We were turning it over. We were very uncharacteristic. We settled down and had some nice runs. James was great on the boards. Roger was on the boards. Luther got us going in different stretches. Minnesota is very good team. They are definitely an NCAA team. There is no doubt about that. Grier is a tremendous player. I believe that, if we didn't have such a great run, Dan Monson should have been the Big Ten Coach of the year. He did a great job, after losing Humphries, putting that team together. So, you've got to give him some credit. It was a hard-fought physical game, a great defensive game. We won it with defense and rebounding. You've got to play all different styles if you are going to advance. I am proud of the kids and happy to be back in the championship."

 

On the moment of silence prior to the game:

"It hit me pretty hard, but then you start coaching and you get after it. I told the kids that I am going to coach hard, you better play hard. That's how she would want to have it. She was a big fan. She watched them, and I think that the Ohio State game might have gotten to her. She didn't like that. Last time I talked to her, it hit her pretty hard."

 

On deciding to coach this game:

"There have been a lot of tears since 6 o'clock yesterday. I heard a lot of the good things about all the time we had together. She was a great mom, but, at the same time, it is emotional. It gets a little knot in your stomach. Everyone is here. Nieces, nephews, everyone is here. So, that is the nicest thing about the whole thing. We told my brother to coach last night and he wanted to come to the hospital. We told him that wasn't going to do any good and he needed to coach. They won, so we were happy for him. Basketball is a very important part of our lives. She loved it. My dad loved it. We thought it would be the best thing to do."

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Augustine:

On the team's emotions after the loss of Dawn Weber:

"It hits close to home.  We have said we were a family all year, so it really hits close to home.  In the beginning of the game, emotions were running high. We came out a little fast." 

 

On his own feelings after seeing Coach Weber show emotion:

"I got emotional myself.  I know how coach feels. My grandma past away this summer, so it hits close to home, especially having coach as a father figure.  This team is a family, so we felt it with him."

 

Roger Powell Jr.:

On the first time the players saw Coach Weber after learning of his mother's passing:

"The first time we saw him was that night.  We prayed for him. Like James said, we are a big family.  A lot of prayer and feeling pain."

 

On the importance of rebounding with the low field goal percentage:

"It was something that coach stressed. He told us to really hit the boards hard.  Even the guards were focused on rebounding.  We were able to get the boards today."

 

Luther Head:

On the battle between Head and Vincent Grier:

"He is a really good player, so I was just trying to contain him.  It is hard to guard him, so I was just trying to stay in front of him."

 

MINNESOTA COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

 

 

Head Coach Dan Monson:

Opening Statement:

"Every game since I have been coaching, we have put two things on the board that we can control: our attitude and our effort. If we can handle those two things, then usually we have a good chance. I am proud of our guys, because we controlled those two things. You go into games, and when you do not come out on the right end of the scoreboard one of two things happened: you lost or you got beat. I think there is a big difference in athletics. Today, we did not lose; we got beat by a better team. I feel that those are the games where you can leave and not be happy but be proud of our attitude and effort. Those two things are not enough against Illinois. You have to play well against a team the caliber of Illinois. You cannot give them 39 extra opportunities to beat you, and that is what happened today. They had 19 offensive rebounds and we had 20 turnovers, and that is obviously too many extra chances when playing against a quality opponent."

 

On his opportunity to say something to Coach Weber before the game:

"I had a quick moment to say something. I said what anyone would say. I gave my condolences. It just puts basketball into perspective. Anyone would trade any basketball moment for family."

 

On what good came out of this weekend:

"I do not think that you need to lose to get better. We are going to make a run next week to see if we are the best team in the country, and we are right there. One of the things we felt in the locker room is that we went out there and slugged it out toe-for-toe and they were better than us today. But, the margin is narrowing for us, and we are getting better at the right time of year. How fun is that? Hopefully, we get another opportunity next week to prove that."  

 

Aaron Robinson:

On his thoughts when the lead was cut to four points:

"With this team when we had it that close I was thinking just get the stop and rebound. That's what you have to do in close games get stops and on the other end try to make something happen. We had it close and we didn't execute." 

 

On after seeing Illinois lose to Ohio State if their mindset changed:

"Them losing to Ohio State didn't effect our chances. Ever since we lost to them in late January, every day we got better. We've gotten closer and there is a bond with this team, and we believe that we can play with anybody. I think we've proved that. It was a tough fought game and the ball just didn't bounce our way.

 

Vincent Grier:

On what he'll take away from this game:

"I will remember that we should have had some stops. I don't really worry about the points because if I would have scored zero and we won, I would have been happy. The points don't really matter right now. In crunch time we needed to make stops; that's what I'll remember most about the game."

 

On Minnesota's tournament chances now:

"Before the season started we knew people had doubts about us. We just came together and believed in ourselves, that we could make it happen. Monday we just have to go back to work and get ready for the tournament if the tournament committee selects us. That's how we think about it, just going back to work."