University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-North Dakota State Postgame Quotes
12/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
On the game:
“We are happy to be playing well at this time. I talked with Saul Phillips before the game, he runs a classy operation and it is very impressive. I thought we had our best defensive effort of the season tonight. Our players were really focused, active and aggressive. We had good on-ball pressure and our traps were quick. We played well overall and shot well from the field tonight. Especially Lawrence (McKenzie), who is one of the guys we are going to need to play well. We have a good presence off the bench. Those guys are stepping up and doing a good job. I like our attitude. Our guys are doing a great job sharing the basketball. They are doing a good job moving without the ball, following a miss and that is a sign of improvement. We have to do a better job taking care of the ball. We got a little careless at times tonight. A lot of that is because of North Dakota State, who is a really good team. We are pleased to get this win tonight.'
On Dan Coleman:
“I believe in him and have a lot of confidence in him. He just had some shots in earlier games that did not go his way. There is no one who works any harder then Dan. He is here early every morning, so now is the time that everyone is pulling for him, because we need him to play better for us to be a successful team. This gives him a lot of confidence in a game like this. Hopefully he can build on that.'
On Jonathan Williams:
“Tonight he had backdoor feeds, and had an assist in there. He has really been playing well. He gave us a quality time whenever he was in the game tonight. One of the things we want to try to do is wear a team down through pressure. Jonathan and Spencer give us two different types of players. Jonathan is more of a shot blocker and Spencer is more of a man inside who can give us touch around the basket. He comes into the game with excitement and energy and gives us a lot of hustle. That is huge, because when you go to your bench and there is not drop off it is a big plus for us.'
On defensive pressure:
“I thought we wore them out throughout the course of the game. They gave us all we wanted, but we had a little spurt in there. From that point, we limited our droughts. That is the key in basketball is to be consistent. We can always be consistent with our play on the defensive end, but you have to find a way to manufacture points on the offensive end when you are not shooting well.'
Minnesota Player Quotes
Senior forward Dan Coleman
“I was struggling a little bit, and my teammates found me. I found a couple of spots in their defense and was able to score. Any time you get a win like this it is confidence booster. North Dakota State is a good team. Ben Woodside is the fourth-leading scorer in the country. They are a good team, and they have played some good teams very tough this year. It was good to get a win tonight.'
On tip-in during the first half:
“Any time you get a tip-in it is always big thing. It was a hustle play, so it was a good bucket for our energy level as a team. It was also good for myself to get me into the flow of the game.
On seniors responsibility to set the tone:
“I think it is our responsibility to set the tone as seniors, that is what we are out there for. We need to bring stability to the team, and make plays when we are supposed to.
On the defensive effort:
“I think defense is our little niche. We try to create offense off our defense, and make the other team uncomfortable.'
Senior guard Lawrence McKenzie
On defensive effort:
“Everybody did a good job of coming in and maintaining intensity throughout the game. Nobody let up. We have a great team; a great bench and everyone can make plays. We wear them down with how our pressure, and when we bring guys off the bench to keep us fresh.'
On North Dakota State:
“They have a lot of guys from our backyard, and you know they will always come in here and play hard. They are a good team with good players, to they were definitely a team we took a long look at coming into tonight.'
Opening statement:
“I tip my hat to Tubby Smith and the Gophers tonight. Overall, they played a great game. Coach Smith has
On game being close early:
“We had talked about trying to get into the paint but it's very difficult to do against the Gophers. They are extremely aggressive and they blocked several of our shots. As a result, we were deterred from going in the paint. Our halfcourt defense wasn't very good and the Gophers really hurt us in the open court. That is a testament to how well Coach Smith has coached them.'
On
“Coach Smith has brought some energy to this team. They played a solid defensive game tonight. They got us back on our heels and we couldn't handle it.'
