An Edge At KU

Quotes Hammer on A Theme

By now all hardcore fans have perused the official KU website quotes from media day a few times. Still, reading through them again, I noticed a theme that many of the players seem to be tapped into. There's a lot of confidence there in the talent and a lot of talk about working as a team. Those are standard cliches for all players and coaches on media, and we've certainly heard it at KU before. However, there seems to be an edge, or intensity just below the surface that shows that these players really do believe they have the talent to contend for a championship. I've followed KU long enough to witness a lot of optimistic August sessions. Somehow, this one seems different. It's nothing specific and perhaps it's imagined, but this team seems to have a confidence level right now that goes beyond the talk. We'll see. No one ever won a game on media day, but something seems slightly different this year. Check out the following quotes and see if you agree:

"It's a confident group and we are in a position right now where we feel if we keep things rolling and stay at the tempo that we are right now, good things are going to happen."
--Mark Mangino

"Right now, we are a team that others have to prepare to play. We are a very good team, but good is the enemy of great. For us to be a great team, we have to consistently go in to each game with a goal and be on the same page. We cannot afford to have the links on our team who do not want to preform to the best of their ability and have excuses. When our team comes together and gels and works hard for the person next to you and not for yourself is when we will be a great team on the field."
--Darrell Stuckey

"One thing I have noticed is the enthusiasm of the team, just to get out and work together and try to be the best we can be. We had a bunch of guys step up in the winter in the spring, and they are great leaders right now.
--Kerry Meier

"We want to contend for championships, and our team doesn't settle for average. Nobody wants to settle for mediocrity on this team."
--Derek Fine

"We have the play makers, we just need to have the mind-set to put it all together."
--Derek Fine

"I like the team's confidence. We've got a lot of swagger. We believe that if we play team ball we can go out there and beat anybody. We have a lot of enthusiasm. We came out in practice with no pads and people were just banging and hitting each other like we were in full pads."
--James McClinton

"We have learned from things that have happened in the fourth quarter. Now I feel like our team is ready to learn from those experiences and take them to the field. A lot of the guys who have experienced those close losses and bad losses will be able to play through them and redeem themselves."
--Brandon McAnderson

"This camp will be very important for us because as long as we get everything down. We have the talent and skill. This could be the year where we put it all together."
--Mike Rivera

"Now that camp has started I have set all the national attention things on the side. It is time to grind and go to work. That stuff is for the off-season. I don't worry about that stuff now."
--Aqib Talib