University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Arizona State Post-Game Quotes
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota Interim Head Coach Jim Molinari
Opening Statement:
“I wasn’t shocked by that at all. I knew that there was going to come a point where they were going to make a run and we were probably going to respond badly for awhile. When you’re on a losing streak, it’s hard to fight past thoughts. We have a lot of work to do, but that said, I’m proud of our team. I’m proud that they found a way to win after building a big lead and then losing it.
“I want to thank the fans. They really gave everyone a lift, especially the first 10 minutes of the second half.”
On Minnesota’s defensive effort:
“That’s who we’re going to be. Herb Sendek is an excellent coach from a tremendous pedigree, so I knew they weren’t going to give up. They’re very disciplined. They probably looked better than they were the last 10 minutes, but we also probably made them look worse than they really are in the first 10 minutes of the second half. That’s how we’ll play. We’re going to try to keep people shooting around under 40 percent, and we’re going to try to prevent teams from beating us with threes. We took pretty good care of the ball until the last 10 minutes.”
On things the team needs to work on:
“We have individuals with strengths and weaknesses, but I try to challenge them to do it as a team. Arizona State really pounded us on the boards, so we’re going to have to address that and we’re going to have to work on breaking the press. We worked on a lot of different things, but we didn’t work on the press because they’ve never pressed. We only had one practice so we didn’t get a chance to work on everything we need to work on, but we can get better in those areas.”
On how Arizona State’s pressure affected the team in the second half:
“Kids are resilient, but at that point they were just thinking about trying to hold on. Before the game, I told them there was going to be a point in the game where Arizona State was going to make a run. We just had to keep playing. We missed some free throws down the stretch, but we found a way to win. Obviously, we could have won it in a better way, but I also think we avoided a devastating loss. If you don’t hold on there, then their confidence is really shot.”
On Jamal Abu-Shamala’s scrappy play:
“Jamal has to make those plays. That’s why he plays. Yes, he can shoot the ball, but we have him play because he does all those scrappy things. He did a very good job of that today.
“I always tell people there are absolutes in every game, then there are adjustments, and then you throw out parachutes in certain situations. One of the absolutes is that you have to dive for loose balls. We’re going to dive when the ball is on the floor.”
On his message to the team:
“We’re going to figure out who really cares about Minnesota. This is about Minnesota. It’s a privilege to be here, so I want guys who really care about this program.
“A lot of people value contentment over commitment. When they’re happy, they get committed. I believe you have to do it the other way. You have to get committed and keep fighting and then you usually get some contentment.”
On his approach in practice:
“Gene Keady once said, ‘If you don’t yell at them, they’re mad, and if you do yell at them, they’re mad, so you might as well yell at them.’ I kind of believed in that. I just got out there and did what we do. Our identity is going to be that we are going to play good man-to-man defense, defend threes and scrap for loose balls.”
Arizona State Head Coach Herb Sendek
Opening statement:
“I thought both teams really competed this afternoon. I was especially pleased with the way our guys battled back after falling behind by a significant margin early in the second half. I extend congratulations to Minnesota on an excellent afternoon.”
On what he expected from Minnesota:
“We’re really focused on Arizona State. Right now, our cup overflows trying to move ourselves forward and do the things we need to do. We have great respect for the Minnesota basketball program. It’s a storied program, and today’s crowd was terrific. But right now, we’re early in the season and we have a young team, so our focus is on Arizona State.”
On getting back into the at the end:
“We really put ourselves in a hole by not executing our offense the way we need to, and we didn’t play on the defensive end the way we needed to at the beginning of the second half. Having said all that, the silver lining was that our young team was able to regroup and continue to battle through it.”
On not pressing the entire game:
“One thing about sports is that you don’t get to do it over again. Sometimes it would be nice to have some do-overs, but you don’t have that luxury. When you’re a leader you make a decision and you don’t have the ability to change things. If I could have done it differently, I don’t know if I necessarily would because we have to play Arizona State basketball. We press in certain circumstances, but our personnel dictates some of the things we do. There’s no necessary connection that says if we would have pressed the whole game that things would have been different.”
On comparing Minnesota to Iowa, who ASU beat earlier:
“Some teams don’t play the same way between TV timeouts, let alone from one half to the next or one game to the next. It’s a long season. We still have three months of basketball left to play. If you see both teams tomorrow, you may have different impressions, and that’s the beauty of our game.”
Minnesota Player Quotes
Sophomore guard Jamal Abu-Shamala
On coming away the win:
“This was a huge game for us as a team, just getting in there and scrapping out a win. It wasn’t perfect and we had trouble with the press, but after that, to end up coming out with a win is all that matters.”
On the effect of Dan Monson’s resignation:
“It was tough as a team. Everyone was really sad, but everything ends for a reason. We had to pull through as a team.
On the team’s practice yesterday:
“Practice was a preparation day but also a chance to start over and establish our identity.”
Sophomore center Jonathan Williams
On the team’s attitude going into the game:
“It was emotional from the start. Everybody felt like we had something to prove and everyone contributed today.”
On the team’s practice yesterday:
“Coach Molinari told us we were going to go about this in the same way Coach Monson taught us. We’re in the middle of the season and it’s hard to change coaches, but we just have to stick together as a team and battle through this.”
On the departure of Coach Monson:
“It was really surprising. Coach Monson gave me a chance, so it was sad to see him go.”
Junior guard Lawrence McKenzie
On the coaching change:
“We started off so bad in the beginning of the season with a 2-5 record. We had to figure out what we needed to do. Coach Molinari is doing a great job and I think it will definitely help the team throughout the season.
On the last 10 minutes of the game:
“Coach told us before the game there was going to be a time in the game where it was going to be difficult and they were going to come back and create some problems. We knew we needed to keep our heads up and win this game. We refused to lose.”
On Coach Monson:
“Coach Monson was close to a lot of the guys on the team. He gave me a chance to come back and play basketball here, but now we have a new start.”
