Jim Larranaga
Jim Larranaga
James Joseph Larrañagais an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the University of Miami men's basketball program. Prior to his time at Miami, he was most recently the men's basketball coach at George Mason, where he coached the Patriots to 13 consecutive winning seasons and became a media sensation during the Patriots' improbable run to the Final Four of the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
athlete call diamonds foot hand knows lewis objectives quickness somebody talented
I think one of the objectives of any professional organization is to find diamonds in the rough, what they affectionately call 'sleepers,' somebody that no one else knows about. Jai Lewis is as talented an athlete as I've ever been around. His hand quickness and foot quickness are incredible.
agreed athletes basketball both george immediate mason message needed represent rest send steps team university
We both agreed that this was something that doesn't represent George Mason University or our basketball program. That we needed to take immediate steps to send that message not only to Tony, but to the rest of our team and to the rest of the athletes who represent George Mason.
biggest bunch event guys loving playing
We're a bunch of no-name guys playing in the biggest sporting event in the world and loving it.
bottom incredible league season start top
Our league has had an incredible season from top to bottom and start to finish. The league is at its all-time best.
fun higher kids maybe pressure seeds stress
We don't feel the stress maybe the higher seeds feel because we're emphasizing to the kids to have fun with this and not to put that pressure on themselves, not to put other peoples' expectations on themselves.
final four george hope mason message
I hope that the message that George Mason made it to the Final Four is not about winning, it's about doing things the right way.
concern concerned game good group lewis smart stuff thomas
Does it concern me? Before every game I'm concerned about stuff like that. We've got a very good group of smart players. Jai Lewis and Will Thomas especially are very intelligent.
formed
Everything that I am as a coach, it was formed there.
amount everybody expected felt final national observe pressure trying win
Everybody expected us to win the national championship. I could observe the amount of pressure that we all felt trying to get to the Final Four.
concern concerned emphasized foul game good group people smart stuff year
We have emphasized all year long not to put people on the foul line. Does it concern me? Before every game I'm always concerned about stuff like that. So far, we've got a very good group of smart players.
capable care court decide excited good maybe people supposed themselves
They don't really care that maybe we weren't supposed to get in. They were excited to show what they were capable of doing on the court and let people decide for themselves who they are and how good they are.
attitude community embrace embraced great identify players team underdog university
It's been really great for these players ... to see not only the university community embrace them but the whole country. I think we all feel like it would be great to be the underdog and to be the overachiever. I think we can all identify with that attitude and personality. This team has embraced that.
committed final relaxed stay totally
The whole idea is to stay upbeat, positive, totally committed to what we want to do and what we want to accomplish, but just to do it in a relaxed atmosphere. It's not to feel like ?Oh my goodness, we're here now at the Final Four.
absolutely carpet coach exactly fantastic fun guys head magic ncaa sure
I told them I'm going to have more fun than any other head coach in the NCAA Tournament, and I want you guys to have more fun than any other team. When I said that, I'm not sure exactly what I meant, but boy, it's sure been true. ... It's been an absolutely fantastic magic carpet ride.