University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Iowa Postgame Quotes
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
On the game:
“I was happy to finally play a good game at home and win. We played a good game against Michigan State and lost, and we played well against Indiana and lost. We obviously did not play well against Wisconsin. I bring that up because today we were very efficient, focused and ready to play today.'
On Al Nolen and Damian Johnson:
“Al played better today. He has struggled a little bit lately. However, he came around today and did some good things for us. Damian was once again very active. He got his hands on a lot of passes and shots.'
On starting lineup, and the lineup at the end of the game:
“I am not worried about lineups. I worry about which guys are playing well enough to give us what we need. Then we go from there. At the end of the game, we played a smaller lineup for defensive purposes. Iowa is not really an inside-oriented, and we obviously needed to guard the three-point shots. That lineup gave us the best quickness on the perimeter to challenge the three.
Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter
Opening statement:
“
On turnovers:
“We turned the ball over too many times. We gave them too many fadeaways...too many threes. Too many times, our turnovers led to their runs.'
On
“I thought we shot pretty well from the three-point line. We couldn't really do anything in the post. It's difficult to do against a team like
On passing:
“I think there was a combination of things why our passing wasn't very good today. There was a lack of discipline. They lacked the kind of focus to get the ball to our players. They didn't have the determination to get the ball where it was supposed to be. But, I have to give
On fastbreak points:
“This game was really ugly but we will take any game like this. Al Nolen was absolutely huge, especially for a freshman. Al Nolen made some big shots and had some crucial assists. He has been big for us all year but tonight he stepped up his game. It was nice to get one at home again. Having a freshman step up in your senior year really makes you want to try harder. “
About playing at home:
“Obviously we have played other tough teams at home with
On the postseason:
“The NCAA Tournament is a realistic goal for us. The fight and the talent that this team has as well as the coaching and defense can put us there. We are still going to look one game at a time. As coach said today, it's never as good as it seems and never as bad as it seems. It was a great win but we need to bounce back and try to get the win on Tuesday.'
Minnesota guard Al Nolen
On protecting home court:
"Playing on the road in the Big Ten is a very difficult task, so it's very important that we wrap up these big wins at home. This was a great win for us against a good Iowa team. I think it's difficult for us not to look ahead, but I think that Coach Smith is very good at getting us focused. The teams that are going to be coming in [to Williams Arena] ... their record really doesn't tell the whole story; every team is going to come out and play hard every day. You can see that this week Illinois - a team we have coming up on Tuesday - gave Indiana, one of the top teams in our conference, a run for their money. We have to make sure to come out every game, play hard and play as well as we can."
On his contribution this afternoon as compared to Wednesday's game at Northwestern:
"I think that the Northwestern game was more of a shooter's game and I think that's why you saw our shooters really carry us. Today it seemed more important that we control the flow and I think that's why I had an opportunity to be more successful. One of the things we worked on when we were getting ready for Iowa was our defense. Coach Smith let us know that if we pressure them, they have a tendency to turn the ball over. I think you saw that today."
