University of Minnesota Athletics
Quotes
12/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement
Overall, I think we are playing at a really, really high level right now. I think we're doing a lot of good things, UNCW, that's a team that knew exactly what we were going to do. I worked with the head coach, he's a great coach, Casey was my assistant, so they knew everything we were going to do and it really didn't matter offensively. We played great offensive basketball.
On Charles Buggs...
He's still got a long way to go. He does some things... he's almost like Manny Ramierez out there, Buggs being Buggs. All of a sudden some guy is open and Buggs is just there and it's his guy. What I really like about him is he really knows it, he's a smart kid, he's got some growing to do, but he's got the ability. You want the ability first, and then you can coach the rest. We need him big time, because Carlos isn't always going to be like he was today, but he's stepping up with the absence of McNeil.
On UNCW's 9 point lead in the 1st half...
They were playing well, give them the credit, they had a great offensive game plan... we were pretty calm in our huddle, it's comforting when your offense is really clicking, because normally when you're down, you're saying let's rely on our defense, but our offense has been confident - nobody was really panicking, we knew they were a good team, we knew they would be prepared because he's a very good coach.
On the Gophers play overall...
We were getting steals, we were getting turnovers without being kind of crazy defensively, like we've been the past couple of games. I thought our defense was good, our rebounding was not very good. I don't think we are overpassing. It's our second year, I think guys understand our offensive better, it's clicking pretty good right now, certainly we have to do it in B1G play as well, but it's fun to watch.
DeAndre Mathieu
On his hand...
It was my right hand. I just hit my funny bone and my fingers went to sleep. I think it was more that I was shocked and nervous because I had a teammate once who couldn't feel his fingers and it was bad so it was just a precaution.
On trailing in the first half...
Yeah it was, Coach said they were 7-for-9 and they were shooting really good, I thought we were just shooting bad but Coach said we weren't shooting bad just making some tough shots. We knew we had to do something different, amp it up a little bit and force some turnovers. We really turned it up midway through the second half.
On an 11 assists and no turnover game...
The guys make a lot of the shots, a lot of tough ones and a lot of easy ones. They help me out and making the right pass and not trying to force the tough passes. I had two good days of practice just being selfish with it and running plays and it played off into the game.
Carlos Morris
On being more comfortable when taking shots...
Yeah most definitely, I was rushing shots and didn't know which shot to shoot earlier this season, now I feel like I can get in my groove and take better shots and know when to shoot the ball.
On playing in the Big Ten...
I mean any conference is going to be tough, everybody scouts so everyone is going to know what your weakness is so you just got to be ready to play. That's all it is, you got to be ready to play.
On being more vocal...
I just have to work on it in practice that's the biggest key. I have to be able to talk to my guys and my guys have to talk to me. Yeah, I'm laid back. I let my game speak.
Maurice Walker
On what Pitino said when you were down 9...
He just told us to keep our composure. He was relaxed and told us he was confident that we were going to win the game but that we needed to play with more intensity and pick it up.
On improving on rebounds...
We are going to work on it at practice. It is more of a mental thing though, I mean I know I get caught sometimes just staring at the ball and trying to hit my man he just gets around me. So I just have to be more conscious of it.
