Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell
Oliver Gordon Purnell, Jr.is an American college basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach at DePaul University. Purnell previously served as the head coach for Clemson University, the University of Dayton, Old Dominion University, and Radford University...
indication james mays returning
We still have every indication that James Mays will be returning this summer.
improved means
We improved in every area, but by no means are we satisfied. We're right there - and were a competitive right there.
game nice state struggling
It would've been nice to get that N.C. State game (a two-overtime loss), but we didn't get it done in any of the three. It has put us in a struggling state.
clear critical difference last league scores stepping
As I look around the league and the scores the last two weeks, it's just clear that there's not a lot of difference between the teams. Just one or two (freshmen) stepping up would make a critical difference.
beat care couple court everybody gets home losing qualify road stays takes team time
Everybody will beat up on one another. The team that stays away from the losing streak, takes care of their home court and gets a couple (wins) on the road will be successful. You'll qualify (for postseason play) with your resume, and there's a lot of time to do that.
bid certainly four teams top whether
We should get a bid if we do that -- whether we will or not I don't know. There are certainly more than four ACC teams in the top 64 in the country. To say the ACC has only four teams in the top 64 is laughable.
against
There's no way they should be ducking in there like that against us.
catch cold defensive focus learned lesson lose painful shooting teams
We've learned a painful lesson here today. That is if you lose focus on the defensive end of the floor, teams can catch you, particularly a team that was as cold shooting as we were.
access candidates final four hiring obviously process qualified start
I will start the process of hiring a replacement immediately. I obviously will have access to a lot of qualified candidates who are here at the Final Four in Indianapolis this weekend.
hold run toughness
It exemplifies toughness. They make a run at you and you make a toughness play or two to hold them off.
care developing experience itself player premium terms winning
I think player development will take care of itself with experience. Experience is something you can't put a premium on in terms of developing as a player, so there's nothing we can do about that. We're concentrating on winning a game.
chance close closely continue games league talked terms work
We've talked about what's real in terms of this league and how close the games are and how closely things are being contested. If you continue to work hard, then you're going to have a chance to get over the hump.
cold nights stone
We had one of those nights where we went stone cold for three-quarters of the game. We just couldn't score.
basketball cold defense giving happens horribly nights played score stone zone
We had one of those nights in basketball where we went stone cold for three-quarters of the game, and we couldn't really score ... we just couldn't score. I don't really want to say we played that horribly without giving Miami's defense credit, because they played pretty good. It was just one of those nights. It happens to you now and then in coaching, but give Miami's zone defense credit.