University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's
11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement:
"I originally had a rule - no freshman talking to the media this year, but I mean when you play like that, you need to change that rule. I'm really happy for our guys, that's a good team, much improved team, the guards are really good, I don't know what the runs we went on, but it's really impressive. I am really proud of them to find a way to come back like that. We are a very talented team, and I am excited about it."
On Amir Coffey...
"He's really quiet, he just likes basketball, but there's not a lot of emotions from him, so when you see his dunk and that fires everyone up… he's been tremendous since day one."
On Reggie Lynch's defense...
"Nine blocks, four fouls, really good. I think when he figures out from a defense standpoint he can be effective, he will be a really good center."
On defense...
"I think the rebounding was the problem, so we called a timeout, we kind of calmed ourselves down a little bit. I think we came out of the locker room and thought st.john are thin, we thought we are stronger than them, and that's a wrong thing to think, those guys played hard."
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin
On change of momentum in first half...
Freshman Amir Coffey
On his 30 point performance…
"I felt pretty good. Before the game, coach told me to be aggressive and stay within the offense and it really started with the defensive side…"
On getting used to college ball…
"I just try to find myself. It is a new system, new offense, new teammates, so just getting comfortable."
On his first four games and leading the team in scoring average…
"Points isn't everything. You can impact the game in different ways and that is defensive stops, rebounds, assists."
Junior Nate Mason
On Amir Coffey's performance…
"Amir came out with the energy. It is funny because you never see Amir show emotion. After the dunk he showed a little bit of emotion. That was fun to see, but it's always good to see a freshman get off like that….."
On Reggie Lynch's defensive performance…
"Just know you got a secure big men down there to clog up everything…..It is definitely reassuring to have a big men."
On expecting the challenge….
"I feel like we came in not ready to play and got punched in the mouth and then threw a little bit of a punch of our own. I have been telling these guys in the locker room that we can't start off like that especially against conference play or other big games. We can't go into a game like that; we have to throw the first punch."
