University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari & Player Teleconference Quotes
Apr 02, 2008 | Men's Basketball
April 2, 2008
Click here for a free audio replay of the teleconference
Steve Krause
Daily Item
I would like for you to tell me what Antonio Anderson's role is and what he brings to your team?
Antonio is an outstanding defender. His assist-to-turnover ratio is really, really high. In his three years here, in all of the players that I have had, and I have had some terrific players, he has played more minutes than anybody because he is reliable. He comes every game to play. He may not play great every game but he plays hard and does everything he can every game. He's got good size and he's a pretty good rebounder and defender. He does a little bit of everything.
Andy Gardner
USA Today
Talk about the collection of point guards that are in the Final Four. You have three players in the finals for the Bob Cousy Award and just terrific players across the board. Can you speak about the level at the point and what we are going to see at the Final Four?
Well the one thing you understand in the NCAA Tournament it is guard play. It really is. Big guys put you at another level like the Kevin Love's and the Joey Dorsey's and the Tyler Hansborough's, but if you don't have good guard play you do not get to the final four. I think that what you're finding out is that on all four teams guard play has been outstanding.
Columnist
St. Petersburg Times
What jumps out at you as you study film of Darren Collison?
Just very active, very smart. He's got a length to him and the ability to get the ball where he is trying to get it. Whether its post it or drive it to areas that hew ants the ball to go. Great athleticism and speed; very good, very, very good.
Anonymous
Question about the amount of respect thing. Now that you guys are in the Final Four do you think you have it? I know it was something you were talking about all year and the lack of it, but do you think you have it now that your one of the one Final Four teams standing? Also, one of your goals was top get here from last year and the guys obviously use that as motivation, can you talk about that.
The greatest thing for this team was they were on a mission and they still are. I like their focus. I like their concentration and intensity level. People that have watched us play, especially last weekend were stunned at how hard they played and how unselfish they played and with so much intelligence they played. They have done it all year. That's why our record is what it is. Yeah, we have gotten better as the year has gone on; that's what's supposed to happen. I don't think it's a lack of respect as much as it is that people just haven't seen us play. So one guy says something as that's what it is. They can't shoot free throws. All of a sudden there was a wildfire of that's what their team is. Well there are a lot of things we are and I would rate that one hundredth on the hundred things about my team. So, you just haven't seen us as much as you've seen Kansas, North Carolina or UCLA. So people don't know us, which would lead them to say, well they can't win.
Mike Jones
Forth Worth Star-Telegram
Talk about the remarkable poise and consistency that Derrick (Rose) has shown.
He has been pretty good all year with his efficiency. He doesn't take a whole lot of shots. He'll score when he needs to. He's playing the game as it happens. His reactions on the court are off the charts. His hand-eye (coordination) and the speed of his hands and the way he reacts to what's being thrown at him is tremendous. But, he's been that way. His will to win showed up in New York when we played USC and we were struggling. He just stepped out of it and said I'm going to get a block, I'm going to get a steal, I'm going to go get a rebound above the rim and I'm going to get an assist and we're going to win. That's what he did, and we won. Some guys think well I'm going to step it up and I'm gonna score now, but you know that's not how he plays.
Steve Krause
Daily Item
Antonio have you been emailed or have any of the Lynn people that you have grown up how many of them have called or wished you well? There are an awful lot of people out there that are proud of you.
Definitely, I got a lot of calls and a lot of emails from friends and family from back home. The teachers back at Lynn Tech as well who wish me good luck and things like that. They tell me that they're proud of me and they're glad that I'm doing so positive for the people and the city of Memphis.
Free Press-Chattanooga
Antonio, can you talk about the impact that the Tennessee lost had on your season? Coach Cal said that there were some things that you guys needed to improve on, do you remember what those things were?
That loss impacted us a lot. It had a big impact on us we definitely didn't want to lose any games this year but Tennessee is a great team and they beat us here and Memphis. We emphasized that we needed to rebound better, execute and play a lot harder than we played. Those were the things that I remembered. There were two more but I can't think of them right now. Those were some of the main things that we wanted to accomplish throughout the rest of the season and that is what we have accomplished thus far.
