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Favorite Quotes

We like to remember our players and coach, not just by their accomplishments on the court, but also by what they say. Maybe these won't make it into Bartlett's, but they all invoke fond memories for us.

madison724

"Lorin gets a lot of abuse at our practices and it's not from me because I don't talk to her. She doesn't know any of our plays, she doesn't know anything I just shun her, like the Amish," Auriemma said

unknown Boneyarder

"You were the difference in the game," Chancellor said. "I know that (Tina) Charles and (Maya) Moore get all the publicity, but you were the difference."

oldecoach

"I have been a sportswriter longer than Maya Moore has been alive, and never in my career have I met an athlete who better personifies the qualities of athleticism, grace, intelligence and candor that the NCAA looks for. She may be more fundamentally sound as a young woman than she is as a player." John Altavilla

HuskyNan

"She[Meghan Gardler] used to be No. 14 or something like that," Auriemma said. "Nobody changed it. You can't come to New Jersey without something stupid happening, so that was our contribution today."

HuskyNan

"Maya is just an aggressive individual. She worked her butt off to get that one rebound tonight [against WVU]," Auriemma said with full sarcasm. 12 Jan 2008

GothamBlue

"It's an attack mindset," UConn freshman Maya Moore said. "We don't want to come out slow and let the other team think they can play with us."

"I realized that we were playing incredible defense and they had two
points for a really long time," Moore said. "And we were just trying to
keep it that way as long as possible."

Source unknown

I remember a famous quote (UConn) Coach (Geno) Auriemmo told me, and I need to start applying this a lot more,” Turner said. “Basketball is a contradiction: You can’t play thinking too much and you can’t play without thinking. And finding that balance is not easy, but I need to find it a little more.

HuskyNan

USF's Jessica Dickson: "Connecticut's a great team and the scary part is they're just juniors and sophomores. Just think of them in another year."

HuskyNan

Short version:

Auriemma on the Huskies holding Purdue to 55 points and 34.4 percent shooting: "We have a new defensive philosophy. I just yell at them a lot."

Long version

"I'll phrase it the other way; we've practiced for a month and a half and we spend two and a half hours practicing offense every day in practice. I've learned over the years that offense takes a long time to learn and get good at. There's timing involved and the ball is involved; there's just a lot of variables. We've worked a little bit on it, but as the season goes on we're going to get better defensively. Right now our defensive philosophy is that I just yell at them a lot and they try their best to do what I tell them. We're not there yet, but we're going to be there."

Sherri Coale on DT

That's where general "like-ability" comes into play, I think. Diana Taurasi had it. I coached her in USA basketball. Think what you wish about her from a distance. I've heard it all: she's cocky, she's full of herself, she's brash, she's cruel. Maybe. More so I'd say she's just happy -- almost all the time. And happy people are addictive. She's funny and tough and completely unafraid to risk or be embarrassed. She is tough. She is brave. She is alive … she bubbles (without being perky, if that is even possible) … she makes you want to know her. For those who lack confidence, being in her presence makes them feel a little more capable, And for those who don't, she makes you want to be a better version of yourself so that you can kick her tail. It's a strange dichotomy. But you don't spend any time around her and walk away feeling neutral. Ever. And you want her on your team, no matter what.

Phil

"When you go to Connecticut", Diana explained, "you're connected from now until you die.""If you go there,you feel a sense of camaraderie and sense of family."

SouthBranch

"They're the best team in the country, everyone knows that. I mean, it's UConn. They have it on their shirts." Julie McBride, Syracuse.

ThisJustIn

At the 2004 Tennessee game, many of the Tennessee fans decided to boo Diana when she was introduced and whever she had the ball. A reporter asked her about it after the game. In her inimitable fashion, she responded,

"Booing? I thought they were mooing."

Phil

"Even if I had a chance to play in the [WNBA], nothing is ever going to compare to what I was a part of [at UConn]. I've realized that, and now I want to create that for myself as a coach."

Shea Ralph, talking about her experience as a first year assistant coach at Pittsburgh

meyers

"He knows how to put 12 people together and have them see one thing."

DT, commenting on the 2002-2003 season.

blakeon18

Diana's first remark upon going to the podium to accept her POY award. She said

'I want to thank AB for playing defense for me'.

A nice combo of praise for a teammate, a jibe at herself and some humor. Not bad for one sentence.

Olde Coach

"She still looked like Evel Knievel flying over 15 cars on one layup," Auriemma said,

(Geno talking about Ashley Battle at the Duke game.)

zorro gris

If Eddie Haskell don't get ya
Eddie Murphy must!!

(Geno referred to DT as an Eddie Haskell. When the wisecracking BT joined the team, he moaned that he now had an Eddie Murphy to go along with his Eddie Haskell.)

Phil

Geno, at open press conference 17 Jan 03 (day before game at which UConn will set new NCAA consecutive win streak.)

America is a funny country, they admire winners, they admire dynasties, but they can't wait to tear them down.

"There is not a better team to break (the record) in terms of overall quality," [Sonja] Hogg said. "I think that the program Geno has built up there is wonderful."

NYWheels

"This year's team might rely an awful lot on tradition and Diana (Taurasi), but last year's team was so good it could have been ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 in the country."

Former LA Tech Coach Sonja Hogg

HuskyNan

When asked about how fans were chanting the obligatory "Overrated" at the Huskies late in the game, Auriemma said:

"I know my wife was at the game. It might have been her."

NYWheels

Geno, on when you should lose:

"I think if we play the exact same way we played (against Tennessee) at Duke, we will lose," Auriemma said. "That is not a bad thing. It is not a bad thing to play bad and lose. It is not always good to play bad and win, because then you start thinking that it doesn't matter if you play bad. I hate teams that keep playing bad and winning. At some point you have to play bad and lose to teach you a lesson."

NYWheels

What Geno is paid to do:

"... I'm not in the business of winning games; player development is what I'm all about. That's what I get paid to do and I take it seriously."

NYWheels

Conlon, on being an inexperienced team:

"A team that really believes that they are young really can't pull together and do something like we did the other day against Tennessee," Conlon said. "That has been a point we have stressed this year. We don't care if we are young. We are still expecting ourselves to be able to go out there and do the same exact things a senior would be able to do. I think we have been handling that pretty well."

NYWheels

(After hearing that both LSU and DUke were losing - he was driving to NJersey.)
"That's all I need," Auriemma said with a laugh. "I can't even think of us as No. 1 right now. If that happened, I was thinking of going to the Vince Lombardi drive-through (rest area) to commit suicide. I'd be one of those guys you find dead in the car."

NYWheels

Reporter: (asking DT about her 60' halftime shot against Tennessee) Is that your spot?

Diana: "Yea, but I shoot at the other basket."

NYWheels

Later, she[DT] turned to Valley. "Didn't you have a career high against Rutgers?" she asked.

(She had seven points and four rebounds - in a 94-66 Big East semifinal victory in 2001.)

"Yeah, seven points," Valley mumbled, then said giggling, "Rutgers-killer."

Geno, after the Rutgers game:

"We won the game because we have Diana and nobody else does," Auriemma said. "Our press offense would be really good if D could inbound the ball to herself."

DAB2

[With 3:51 to go in CT/TN game 4 Jan 03]

"Auriemma told his young players they weren't ready to win a game like this and that was OK with him.

"D was ready to rip my face off," he said. "The look in her eyes, the look on her face. She was like, `Come on, man, this guy's nuts, we're winning this game.' And she took over."

Quickliz

During Sue Bird's first season in the WNBA,

tough times don't last, but tough people do.

jjsooner

Sherri Coale's Diary 11 December 2002, reflecting on a game against UConn, in which the Sooners returned from halftime down only two points:

In typical Connecticut fashion, however, the Huskies stormed out of the locker room and promptly outscored us 15-1. When Diana Tarausi wants to take over a game, there is not much anyone can do about it.

HuskyNan

[B]ut does she really enjoy mixing it up inside? Especially against bigger teams?

"No," Taurasi said.

"I like playing on the outside. I'm a guard. But I don't mind playing on the inside, don't get me wrong. I think the first couple of games I probably played more inside than outside."

Said Auriemma: "Get to the free throw line, get a rebound, I think that's going to make her a better player. Besides, I don't care what she wants."

HuskyNan

Svet Abrosimova had had her nose broken during a game and was required to wear a face protector. A member of the press asked Svet if the mask over her eyes and nose would keep her from scoring.

Svet replied,

"Why should it? I don't shoot with my nose."

HuskyNan

Rebecca Lobo was doing some commentating on a game in the 1998-1999 season. Svet Abrosimova made a silly foul and was taken out of the game. When she went to the bench, Geno proceeded to chew her out. Svet protested, "But it was only my second foul." Geno got very red in the face and ripped a strip of hide off Svet.

Rebecca Lobo started laughing hysterically.

"You may think it," Becca said. "But she'll learn you never say it."

NYWheels

"don't you think they make me look particularily smug" [g]

Geno, commenting on his new glasses during the pregame show w/ Meghan

Abel Bachelor

"We don't call it ball handling....we call it grenade handling."

Geno, commenting on the ball handling of the early 2002-2003 season

"giving Schu the ball in the low post is like giving a 4 year old a hand grenade... something bad is going to happen"

Geno, commenting on the early development of Kelly Schumacher.

duchess9

"the first team that gets to 100 wins"

Geno, commenting on WAC and PAC 10 teams.

uconnhoopsfan3

"He's an Italian softy. He tries to come off with all this machoism, but he smokes his cigar, drinks a little wine, and that's all he is."

Diana Taurasi talking about her coach.

phil

"I just wanted to hit something orange"

Diana Taurasi after the 86-72 win over Tennessee (5 Jan 02), explaining why she punched the stanchion after a particularly impressive play.

ct_yankee

"Jubilations!!!"

Tamika Williams, after beating Oklahoma for the National Championship & 39-0 season...

KnightTimeFan

"That's it, no more foreigners!"

Overheard from Geno to Chris Dailey at the Big East Tournament at Rutgers, after (a young) Sveta went one-on-one and missed the layup .

Abel Bachelor

"Geno doesn't see the glass half empty or half full....he see's it smashed..."

Meghan Pattyson

UConn Card

"If Jen decided to put her head through a brick wall, I'd feel sorry for the brick wall."

Bill Sullivan (husband of Jen Rizzotti)

roguedave

"It doesn't get any better than this, We won the national championship in my senior season, went undefeated and I did with people I Love"

Rebecca Lobo

LasertT

"See this girl, Sue Bird, She thinks your hot 'cause instead of watching the game she was watching you."

Geno, yelling at a passing student walking through Gampel during a practice which wasn't going the way Geno wanted.

zorro gris

"There's THREE of them!"

A young lady who walked off the court shaking her head and speaking dazedly.

This page last updated on 27 November 2005.