University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
1/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2012
Postgame Quotes
Iowa (10-6, 2-1) 64, Minnesota (12-4, 0-3) 62
Williams Arena - Minneapolis, Minn.
Jan. 4, 2012
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening thoughts:
"I'm disappointed in our performance tonight. I felt like we were ready to play. I don't know if our guys were feeling pressure or a fear of losing. They just seemed to be very shaky as far as the way we attacked the zone tonight. I've gotta give Iowa credit--they kept us off balance and they gained momentum at the end of the first half... There were some real concerns, like getting out of here 4-for-23 from three, but we had some good looks."
On the final play:
"Once again, we didn't execute. We were running a play where one guy runs off and it's supposed to be a hand off. Maverick (Ahanmisi) did the best he could to take the ball to the basket."
On the team's trouble with three-point shooting:
"It's a real concern… Austin (Hollins) was struggling. He looked like he was nervous. He was shaking like a leaf out there. ... I was real disappointed we didn't get the ball inside. We need Ralph (Sampson) to attack the basket and not settle for jump shots."
Minnesota Players
Ralph Sampson III
On the game:
"I think it's more about where we played. We jumped on the early, forced them to play our ball (game) and went on and we got complacent. We allowed them to settle into their game."|
On Iowa's zone defense:
"Later they switched to zone which is a different pace of game for us. The whole game switched when they did that."
On the future of the season:
"Being in the Big Ten Conference, you're reminded that you're still part of a young team. So we still have a little work to do, still have some growing and maturing to do. We're going to keep going at it hard and we'll be alright."
Rodney Williams
On the final shot attempt:
"We were looking to get the ball to Julian (Welch) but his man denied him and Mav's man went towards him, too, so Mav had a clear path to the bucket and I thought it was going in but it didn't end up going our way."
On previously finishing strong:
"We're getting defensive stops -- we're just not executing on the offensive end, we're having way to many turnovers, and we've been out-rebounded again for the fourth game in a row."
On three-point struggles:
"We're just not knocking them down. The ball's going in the hoop for us in practice but out here, come game time."
Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery
On what Iowa changed in the second half to turn the game around:
"I challenged [the team] to be more aggressive defensively. They were scoring pretty easily - quickly and easily, and in demand. We couldn't run, and they were scoring pretty much every time, so we shifted to the zone at that point, and we challenged them to keep the ball in front of us, rebound, and run. That's pretty much what we did."
On the Hawkeyes missing their last six free throws:
"Well, good thing we were up by enough points. We're a good free throw shooting team, and it's frustrating when you miss them when there's a chance to put the game away. We kept our composure enough to get the W."
On Matt Gatens' play:
"He was spectacular tonight. He was all over the place defensively, on the glass. When we were struggling offensively late in the first half, he bagged two threes in a row. That really I think propelled us. You know, you're on the road, they're cooking, you're down eleven, the games imbalanced right there. It can go from [a lead of] eleven to twenty-one, or it can go to one."
On what it means going forward in the Big Ten:
"I look at getting better. We had a big road win on Saturday -- can we get in here and play with enough composure to win a game? We did that, and that's a big step for us. Now, we have to regroup. We've got one of the best three teams of the country coming in on Saturday. How can we play against those guys? Minnesota presented different problems than Wisconsin, Ohio State presents different problems than Minnesota. It's all part of the process for this team."
