University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: SMSU
11/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening statement:
"That was a good win, I was worried about that game because offensively I thought that was good team. I thought they passed the ball, shared the ball well, good offense. So it was a tough matchup, obviously the 3-point defense was not great but that is a little bit of an adjustment of how we are guarding defensively. The rebounding, that is evident. They shot 21 more shots than we did so that is stuff that we continually need to work on. That was a good team, good win."
On rebounding:
"Long rebounds and I think guards need to come back and rebound. I think they were shooting a lot of jump shots. I think they need to rebound the ball, pursue the ball. It was good for us. We know that is a weakness of ours that we need to get better at. Joey played well, but one rebound is not great. But Nate with seven rebounds was really good. Murph, four rebounds, he hardly played in the first half, so that was pretty good. And I thought JR gave us some pretty good things."
On the team's confidence and energy:
"I thought our first exhibition game our energy was not great. Our energy was really good today. I thought our fans were great. It was a pretty good crowd for an exhibition game. So I thought our guys fed off of that and had much better energy. The guys are ready for the season to get here. So I know they are excited."
Senior Carlos Morris
On adjustments from last game:
"Last game we came out a little sluggish and for this game coach was preaching to come out with intensity and get after these guys early. "
On SMSU's play:
"They played very hard, they have been playing together for a long time and they rebound the ball, they beat us on the boards and that is definitely something we have to get better at."
On being a senior leader along with Joey King:
"We work hard every day and we are practicing every day to get better at that. It is just an everyday process, it is a long process. I am just the one to lead by example and do the right thing in practice. I just try to show the guys an example by going hard."
On what it means to be named a team captain:
"It means a lot. DeAndre Mathieu and Andre Hollins took on that role last year and they took it on like captains and I am just trying to follow them."
On his shot selection:
"I watched a lot of film this summer. The biggest thing is just being patient on offense and let it come to you."
Senior Joey King
On being named team captain:
"You know we are just very fortunate to have played a few years here and get they experience that we have, coach trusts us. It is a big time responsibility but a great opportunity for all of us"
On his hot shooting start to the game:
"Anytime I go into a game I feel confident in my shooting ability, it is what I do best. So you know just like any other game I went through my normal routine getting ready for the game. A few shots were open to start the game and they dropped.
On Nate Mason as a leader:
"Absolutely, Carlos and I really consider Nate one of us. We have been playing together for the same amount of years and Nate had a great freshman season. So we look to him for leadership as well. We do not have a lot of upperclassmen so it is his time to step up and take one of those leadership roles with Carlos and I. I think he has done a great job this offseason and we have to look forward to him continuing that success."
