from utsports.com
TENNESSEE PRE-TOURNAMENT QUOTES FROM GREENSBORO
Vols And Eagles Tip-Off at 2:40 p.m. EST On CBS
March 15, 2006
NCAA Men's Basketball Division I First and Second Round Tennessee and Winthrop Coach and Player Quotes
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Bruce Pearl
Comparing his experiences at UW-Milwaukee and Tennessee
"The SEC East was very good this year; very, very competitive. I thought it took its toll on us a little bit. At Wisconsin-Milwaukee you play all year long to get to the NCAA Tournament.
"You got a chip on your shoulder and you want to prove that you perhaps belong, and that's your focus all year long. I think that's Winthrop's focus. I think that's been their program's focus. If you look at the things that they've talked about all year and for the last two years, it's about this weekend.
"The difference in the SEC is you can't take that approach because you'll never get out of the SEC alive that way. I think there's a different level of mental fatigue that has set in."
On dealing with low preseason expectations
"These guys, all year long, played every game trying to prove they were better than what they had been playing. Not so much better than what you people thought, but just better than the way they were represented. We have to recapture that now."
On being seeded second
"We're where we are because of our strength of schedule, and our RPI. We went on the road and we had an unbelievable regular season. We've got to find the hunger once again to prove people that we're deserving and continue to bring honor to Tennessee Basketball."
On differences between Winthrop and Tennessee
"The Big South is a good league, but Winthrop is clearly the best team in that league. They are the most talented team in that league and there was a lot of pressure on them to advance because everybody knows it, but it was all about getting here.
"We are not the most talented team in the SEC. We're not the deepest team. We're not the biggest team. We're not the most athletic team. There is very little margin for error. What's gotten us where we are is that we bring it every night, regardless of the opponent, and that's what we're going to have to do tomorrow to advance."
On playing Winthrop
"They're really good. It's a David and Goliath story, two versus 15. The only thing that doesn't make any sense is they're bigger than us at almost every position. You watch on the floor. C.J. Watson, our point guard, is the only guy that may be looking over his opponent."
TENNESSEE SENIOR C.J. Watson
On when the goals changed for this team
"We started that at the beginning of last season. We wanted the seniors to go out on a winning note and try to get back into the tournament."
On his first impressions of Coach Bruce Pearl
"I thought he was a great guy. He was funny. He brought a lot of energy to the program. That's just what he does all the time. Whether it's a walk-through, or early in the morning lifting weights with us, he always brings a lot of energy and keeps us up to get ready to do what we have to do."
On the team getting its legs back after losing four of its last five
"I think that we have our legs. Everybody's tired during tournament time, it's just who wants it more. We're just going to go out there and practice, run and push the ball, just like we've been doing, and try to wear the opponent down."
On Winthrop
"They're a physical team. They like to slow it down, they don't like to really run that much. Their specialty is pretty much rebounding. You've got to go out there and guard the post. They have some great shooters. We have to go out there, contain the basketball and play solid defense."
TENNESSEE JUNIOR Dane Bradshaw
On the progression of his hand injury
"The hand has probably been in the same shape for close to two months now. Obviously, it's been out there that I'll have surgery on it after the season. I'm hoping to have surgery either after a big win or after a bad loss. We have enough tape and ice to deal with it right now. It's really not too bad right now once I put enough tape on it for pressure."
On the No. 2 seed
"That was a quote that we had been hearing all day; how did you guys get a No. 2 seed? Our strength of schedule and RPI are really what took care of that. Everyone was really excited at the time, but the next day we were back to business and preparing for it like it was just another tick on the schedule. You always want to try and get a higher ranking and try an get an easier path to the Final Four, which is our ultimate goal."
On whether or not the seed has given Tennessee an easier path to the Final Four
"I don't think so. You get excited when you see a No. 2 next to your name, but when you realize what a capable team Winthrop is and you look deep into the scouting report, you realize that nothing is going to be easy. We are fortunate to be close to home and we'll have some fans in the crowd, but Winthrop will definitely bring fans as well."
On the team's lack of tournament experience
"There are a lot of story lines on both sides about motivation factors, but both teams are preparing the same way with film and scouting. I think that it doesn't matter at all once it goes up in the air. You've got to be ready to play for 40 minutes and the seedings go out the window."
TENNESSEE SOPHOMORE Chris Lofton
On the attention Coach Pearl brings to himself and the team
"We like all of the attention that he brings to us. You know that he's going to bring the energy every day."
WINTHROP HEAD COACH GREGG MARSHALL
On scheduling for the 2005-06 season
"From what I understand, in my limited knowledge of the RPI, it's about who you play and actually who you beat. It gives you more credence to do that on the road. It all worked out well. We generated $295,000, that will buy a lot of soccer cleats, and we were able to beat Marquette at Marquette. We were able to play Memphis a very good game and went to the wire with two of the three SEC teams. That helps us. After the first weekend, which was the Marquette tournament, we were number two in the RPI, so we had a steady freefall. Talk about Tennessee having a freefall, we've fallen big time since that first weekend.
"It worked out in a lot of ways to play that type of schedule; for financial reasons, for RPI reasons, and lastly ... it gives our guys confidence now that they can play with those people. There's no doubt in our minds that we can play with the best teams in the country, if we play well.
On seeding
"What matters now is how we play tomorrow. From 2:40 on will determine whether or not we deserved a better seed or if they deserved a worse seed. I can't get into that. Our play and our coaching and the way we perform now will answer all of those questions.
"We were disappointed in our seed, but the bottom line is we lost a couple games in our league and we're not supposed to do that. Had we gone undefeated in our conference, maybe our seed would've been much better, but that's very difficult to do and somewhat unrealistic. We've never been a 15th seed. Maybe 15 seed is what we've been looking for.
"We put ourselves in a position to be the 15 seed and here we are. Now we've got to go play and dispel that a Big South team can't be any higher than a 14."
On regular rumors of him leaving Winthrop and his reputation as a "hot item" in the coaching ranks
"My wife thinks I'm very hot. She tells me that every couple of weeks, especially when we go to the NCAA Tournament and all the nice things come along with it.
"From late March to early June for several years my life was hectic and it was a wreck for no other reason than speculation about jobs. It wasn't helping recruiting any way. It's amazing that we get Torrell Martin, Craig Bradshaw and James Shuler and Chris Gaynor, the guys that are sitting here, with all of the speculation.
"I signed a long-term contract. It will cost me six figures if I leave Winthrop, so I've made Winthrop that next "big job" and in my mind, I have a big job."
WINTHROP SENIOR JAMES SHULER
On being prepared to play Tennessee
"Last year, playing against Gonzaga in the tournament, I think our overall feeling was that we were just happy to there. Playing the schedule that we played this year, going to Auburn, Alabama, Marquette, playing in those big arenas and that type of environment, I think that has prepared us for the type of game that we're going to play tomorrow. I know that this year we want to win."
On facing Tennessee
"They're a great team with a great coach. I actually saw them play a couple times and we've watched film the last couple of days. We're just ready to play. A lot of people are saying that we shouldn't have even won our conference tournament, but we won it again. We're here again. We match up well with Tennessee. I'm excited along with everybody else. We're just ready to play."
On whether or not he is surprised that Coach Marshall is still at Winthrop
"I'm a little surprised. That was one thing that went into the whole recruiting process with Billy Houston and I coming in. He's had great success like a lot of other coaches, and whatever God has planned for coach Marshall, that's what's going to happen in the end. It's definitely been a hot topic every year after the season, I guess for you guys. As a player, all you can do is just stay focused, come out and play. You can't really get involved in that type of stuff."
On comparing going into the tournament last year against Gonzaga to this year
"Last year was everyone's first year in the tournament. Winning our conference championship was like a highlight for us. Two years previous to that, we didn't win it. We won it last year and we were just happy to get out there to Arizona and play that first-round game. With our schedule that we played this year, going into those tough environments, we won our conference championship. We want to win. I think a lot of guys, including myself, were more happy just to be there last year. This is our second time around and we want to win this time."
WINTHROP SOPHOMORE CHRIS GAYNOR
On handling Tennessee's pressure
"We've just got to take our time and play our game. They're going to come with pressure and we all know that. It's like they're the giant and they are going to try and take us out in the first five minutes of the game. If we can handle their pressure then we will be in a good position to win the game."
On Winthrop's confidence and how big of an upset it would be to beat Tennessee
"I think that it would be a huge upset. You look on TV and all that they talk about is how Winthrop's lost by an average of 30 points every year in the NCAAs. Really, no one is even expecting us to win the game. We've just got to come out and play our game and the results will be positive if we do that."
WINTHROP JUNIOR CRAIG BRADSHAW
On coming to Winthrop from New Zealand
"I had a coach that knew of Winthrop. I actually was in school in New Zealand, but they don't have university sports so I was just playing club ball. Coach told me, why not play college ball? I sent some tapes to Winthrop and I'm here now.
