2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball
Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes
Sprint Center * March 12, 2008
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Scott Drew
Opening statement:
"The Big 12 always goes an excellent job putting on this tournament and I know it's a beautiful facility. It's a great tournament and I'm excited for us to play in it."
On possibly being in the NCAA Tournament:
"The more we win, the better things are. We want to make sure we're playing good basketball and be able to advance and do some things in this tournament."
JUNIOR GUARD Curtis Jerrells
On looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament:
"It's not hard at all [to stay focused on the Big 12 Tournament] because you've got to respect each and every team in the tournament. We've beaten Colorado before, but it's the postseason. Everyone has their back up against the wall. So one thing we can't do is look ahead because we need to stay focused. On any night, any one can beat anybody, especially in the postseason."
Difference between last year's team:
"We're older and more experienced. We understand that games are 40 minutes long. We've got great depth. Coach has done a good job with keeping us fresh."
On the depth:
"The key thing about our team is you can't just prepare for one person, you've got to prepare for us as a team. Because if you do focus on one or two people, we've got three or four people who can hurt you. In our season, we've shown that. It just makes us very balanced offensively. We need to win our games on the defensive end...[The depth] is a good thing to have and it's good for coach. It keeps us fresh."
On team slogan "Justice":
"It's something that the team came up and something we put in the locker room. Coach Drew came up with the idea and we agreed upon it."
SENIOR GUARD Aaron Bruce
On experience playing in the Big 12 Tournament:
"The goal every year is to get as far as we can and win a conference title. I think we're playing well going into the end of the season and it's good time to start peaking. We're confident going into tomorrow, we've got to prepare and rest tonight and do the things we need to do."
On the team slogan "Justice":
It's a play on the words "Just Us," and out on the floor it really is just us. It's a team slogan and we use it to motivate ourselves."
On the guard play:
"It's definitely a key and a strength we play with. [The style of play] is something we enjoy doing. It's fun to play. As far as handling and dividing the playing time, I've always thought winning and being part of winning team is better than playing a lot of minutes on a losing team. "
