University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Chicago State
12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement…
" I thought it was a good win. We defended, Murph was obviously really good with 18 rebounds. So overall, a good win with a guy going down. I was happy to get back on the winning track. We know now we have a lot of variables going into Milwaukee that are going to be very difficult. The first thing is they are a very good team, but we also have exams this week so we have to make sure we get better, but also prepare for exams. And we have the Christmas element where the guys are going to go home for Christmas right after the game. So a lot of elements that we have to battle, but I think our guys will be ready for it."
On what he was looking to see from the team tonight...
"Defense was important. I just wanted our guys to not feel sorry for themselves, and to understand this is all a process when you have a young team. I think the guys responded to that. It's tough when you lose three in a row. Its tough and you can't hide when you lose, so I wanted to see how the energy would be and I thought it was pretty good."
On the team's energy during the game...
"We were cold in the beginning, but I think unfortunately that is going to happen. I don't think we are a great shooting team, but I think we just need to understand what our strengths and weaknesses are. But I think we did a good job defending. We did a good job defending without fouling. We almost need to be a little more aggressive than we were showing. "
Do you attribute the slower start you had this season to the guys missing their shots?
"Maybe, I don't know. Every game is different. But we are trying to get a mentality with these young guys that its all about defense, its all about rebounding and the shots will come."
Senior Joey King
Chicago State Head Coach Tracy Dildy
On improvement since the Northwestern game...
"We have improved, we improved big because Clemmye (Owens) is back so we have made a major major step. One thing about scheduling is, we saw what the U (Minnesota) was going through, and thought aww man this is the wrong time to be going in there. And they took care of business, they got better also. So we saw a lot of positives in this game that we are going to take away. Giving us a gurantee to play here helps our program tremendously. I want to make sure we have a lot of great experiences, we come up here and play in the barn that is a great experience that they can take with them. Of course we have to get better. Our goals have not changed. Our goal is the win the WAC and get to the NCAA tournament. We strategically schedule these games to prepare us for January when we start our conference. One thing we can gurantee is that we are not going to see a team like this in January and February. We still have a couple more weeks to go and I see that our game is getting better and our team is working harder. We are going to have a real positive end and that is our goal. "
On staying positive while on a losing streak...
"We have a short memory, you have to remember this game. Remember that with 12 minutes to go we had a three point ball game. So we take that and build off of that. So we get prepared for Western Illinois at home. And that is another thing too, we have been on the road a lot so these guys are ready for some home cooking and ready to get back into the comfortable finds of our arena. But we are really excited with the addition of Clemmy and the rest of our guys and this thing is going to turn around. Just as much as those loses we can easily get those wins."
