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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT


March 9, 2007


Bob Knight


OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

COACH BOB KNIGHT: We played pretty well for about 12 or 13 minutes. Kansas State really dominated the play with its defense, I thought. Even when the score was going pretty even or pretty tight through the first 12 or 13 minutes, their defense was going to wear us out.
We are not a team -- this really bothered me yesterday. We had to play Colorado yesterday in such a way that we could substitute a lot and rest a lot of people and we couldn't. The game could have easily been lost, and we just had -- we're not a team that can play back-to-back games one day after another. We need a day's rest and Kansas State is just too tough for us to play like that.
I felt that -- you know, you see all of this stuff about when the NCAA tournament comes around and everybody is an expert, but it was very difficult for me to imagine a tournament that could put 65 teams together that were better than Kansas State. Prior to this game -- I mean, this league is really, really good and the coaching is good.
If you finish in the upper division, in the first division in this league or certainly in the upper five spots and you have a winning record, then you -- unless you have just screwed up unbelievably in your preconference season, you're a team that should be in the NCAA tournament.
And I don't think that Kansas State winning this game or our losing this game or our winning yesterday really has any bearing on that.
Kansas State is a very tough team. They're the perfect team, at least from my perspective, because they have got guys that can play in the post but they can go outside. They're a tough team. He's done a very good job with that team.
And it was just not a team that we were going to be able to play today with a game yesterday. That just was it. So here I am. So I'm not as pissed off as I might have been, as I told you yesterday. I'm a realist. This was just not something that we were going to do once we got into it.

Q. Why weren't you guys able to get anybody going other than Jackson offensively?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: Well, it could have had something to do with what we had for breakfast. I don't know. We may have eaten the wrong cereal. We may not have had the proper lighting in the locker room or maybe Kansas State was pretty damn good defensively and maybe we were a little bit tired. I would like to think that I already covered that sufficiently.

Q. Does the quick turnaround of the conference tournament provide the biggest reason why you feel these games should have more bearing on what happens with the selection committee?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I think the season is a season. I think if somebody wins a tournament that may not have done well in the season, fine. But beyond that, I just don't think -- I never thought they served a purpose. I don't think they serve a purpose today and I won't tomorrow.

Q. If you make the NCAA, are you concerned about being able to turn around from round 1 to round 2? If you win round 1, are you worried about turning around for round 2?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: You have a day off.

Q. One day makes a difference?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: Goddamn, you don't think one day makes a difference? I mean, if you had to run five miles today, could you run five miles tomorrow? Would you rather wait until the next day? Damn, you need to get some exercise, boy.
See ya.

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