Rick Barnes Quotes

"If you want me to be quite blunt, I've got one of the best jobs in America. I have no desire to coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference or any other part of the country."

"When the game was in doubt, they made plays and we didn't."

"I think they know I'm upset because I think they know how much I want execution. It's always disappointing when you don't execute."

"Kansas may be the hottest team in the country right now. I think they're a Top 10 team. On any given night, Kansas can beat any team in the country."

"We weren't the second-best team in the country when we played Duke. We weren't."

"This is one of the better situations in the country. I know this, there are a lot of guys who would like to be sitting in my chair."

"I think there's a culture at Texas about winning. You come there expecting great things to happen, to be special. There is a culture on our campus about wanting to be the best at what you do."

"The environment was great and to come in here and find a way to get it done is huge. I feel good for our guys. Memphis is a very hard team to defend because of the way they play."

"Look at Oklahoma. They start three seniors. They're a good basketball team. If people thought they were just going to go away, they (were wrong). You don't get ranked in the top five in the preseason if you don't have a good basketball team."

"You're not playing this time of year if you're not a good basketball team."

"I've always told Kenton that he sells himself short. He's a much better basketball player than he thinks he is. He's got a great pace to his game. You're not going to speed him up much. He's really embraced the fact that he wants to run the team. He's comfortable now. He knows his teammates. He knows what we need to work our way into."

"Kenton's been around. He's matured. He'll tell you his approach has changed. He's always had an excellent basketball IQ. It's just that everything else has come together for him."

"That's college basketball. I just told them they needed to finish the game. An 18-point lead is nothing that can't be overcome and in February you expect teams to play hard."

"I still think we should be a good basketball team."

"I am obviously a better-looking guy than he is. If we play basketball he wasn't very good; but the reason he does all the loose-ball drills is because that's how he had to get on the court as a player. But if it got down to he and I playing, it won't be a rivalry. To have a rivalry you have got to split some games, and he would never win a game from me."

"The whole team put in a great effort and our inside game was just great. Back in the beginning of the season ... I knew it was going to be a tough finish for us."

"Back in the beginning of the season when I was looking at the schedule I knew it was going to be a tough finish for us."

"Obviously it was a goal we had at the beginning of the season. At the start of the year, looking at our schedule, we knew we had a target on our backs, and I am proud of the way the team handled it."

"He really can shoot college threes."

"[A few days before the start of the NCAA tournament last March, Texas coach Rick Barnes looked on as reporters fired questions at guard Brandon Mouton, most of which were a variation on one theme:] You play so well during the season, but then you disappear in the tournament -- what's up with that? ... Brandon, I've heard all those questions. I know you don't choke. But if you don't play well in this tournament, that's what I'm going to tell the world you did ."