Feb. 27 Player Practice Quotes

February 27, 2003

Bloomington, Ind. -
Bracey Wright

Regarding the teams spirits staying high
"It is hard to get your spirits up when you lose by 26, but you have to. We need to stay positive."

Regarding surgery
"Right now it is still up in the air. The talk is that I will have surgery. If I do it will be a couple of days after the last game. It was brought up about two and a half weeks ago, but I am not too concerned about it."

Regarding how it affects his play
"Right now it is affecting my game a lot. It affects me the most on the defensive end of the court, when I am running and making quick stops or changing my pace. The final decision on the surgery will most likely be made this week."

What has the team been talking about lately?
"There are not many words to say, we just need to play."

How confident are you about the team's chances to go to the NCAA Tournament?
"It really depends on the next three games and how we do in the Big Ten Tournament. There are so many factors that go into it. We just need to concentrate on the next game right now."

More regarding his back injury
"My injury is day to day. That's how it always is. I will play really well and it will feel really good and then the next day or the next game it doesn't."

Sean Kline
"We need to get to where we were in Maui. We need to push the ball up the court when we have the chance to and we need to run the lanes. And of course we have to have good defense."

Regarding the next couple of games
"Everyone knows what we have to do - win the next three games. We need to get on a roll. The peak can come at any time. When we peak we can be a very dangerous team."

Regarding teams focus
"Everyone is focused. It is pretty much do or die at this point. We need to focus on one game a time."

Regarding Iowa
"We need to defend better than we have been. We need to be consistent with our intensity. The last game against Illinois, they wanted it more in regards to intensity. We need to pick up our intensity to win the next three games."

Tom Coverdale
Regarding Illinois game
"You can't dwell on the past. We can't go back and change it. We need to be ready to play on Saturday and that is our focus right now."

Regarding inconsistent play
"We play good in stretches. We need to play for 40 minutes. Right now we will play really well for 10 minutes and then lapse for five. You can't win doing that. We need to play all 40 minutes of the game."

Regarding how to approach Iowa
"We are more focused on ourselves right now. We can't be worried about how they will come out or if they will come out differently then they did the last time against us."

Regarding communication
"We have been better with our communication but when we lapse that's when the other team goes on the run. We need to continue to focus on our communication."

Regarding media and fans
"I use the papers and the media as motivation. I want to prove everyone wrong. Our true fans have stuck with us even through losses. Our home crowd always gives us a boast. Saturday it shouldn't be any different."

Regarding lack of foul line appearance
"I need to look to drive more. I need to use my body to make contact so I can get back to the line. I didn't even realize that I hadn't been to the line in so long."

Regarding confidence
"We need to build some confidence. We need to get our momentum going again. If we can win the next three and get a run going and do well in the Big Ten Tournament, anything can happen at the NCAA's. You go up against teams that you don't play against all the time. Anyone can win on any given day in the NCAA Tournament."

Indiana University Athletics

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Tom Coverdale

Tom Coverdale

Tom Coverdale

Tom Coverdale

Sean Kline

Sean Kline

Sean Kline

Sean Kline

Sean Kline

Bracey Wright

Bracey Wright

Bracey Wright

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