Post-Game Quotes
12/21/2002 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2002
Head Coach Stan Joplin
"We're happy with the win because the players can go home and have a good Christmas. We shot the ball pretty well but I think you have to give Arkansas State some credit. Their guards are pretty quick and they were able to penetrate and take us off the dribble. We picked things up more defensively to gain more control."
On the team's success at home:
"I always tell our players in order to be a good team you have to win at home and more than half your games on the road. Since I've been at Toledo every good team in the MAC has won at home and did well on the road. I think we have a comfort zone at home and the players believe in that."
On whether this team is one of the best three-point shooting teams he has coached:
"We have some guys who can shoot the basketball. I think this is by far the best shooting team I've had in my seven years. The guys can shoot the ball off the dribble, penetrate and get into the lane and kick it out. We're doing a great job of passing the basketball and turning down good shots for better shots. The players are doing a very good job of sharing the basketball and that's good to see."
Ricardo Thomas
On the team's balanced scoring:
"When we're shooting the ball well it's kind of contagious. Everybody was feeling good and nobody has a caution light. Everybody has a green light to shoot and they're falling for us now."
On the team's success at home:
"We really like having the fans come out and support us and they make it tough for teams to win here. We just feed off their energy. Even when we're down they're still cheering for us. If you can win at home and at least half your road games your record is going to be pretty good."
Keith Triplett
"It was very important to go into the break with a victory. We've won five straight games but we have our toughest games coming up against St. Bonaventure and Michigan State. We need to go into those games with confidence and play Rocket basketball and try to get a victory."
On the team's hot shooting:
"We have a lot of great shooters on this team in Sammy, Nick, Jim, Anton, Ricardo and myself. Everybody's just hitting right now. Right now we're getting pretty good looks. Everybody's worrying about us making threes so now we can penetrate and get our big men involved."
