University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Bemidji State
11/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2016
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
On Nate Mason's concussion...
"I'd rather he play. It was kind of hard because the rotation has had Dupree [McBrayer] playing the two, as well as the back up one, and Akeem [Springs] was playing the two. I couldn't really move Amir [Coffey] to the one because I didn't have time. Ideally, you get Nate in there. I thought the guys did a good job of figuring out on the fly. Steph [Sharp] gave us good minutes."
On the newcomers...
"Eric [Curry] obviously was tremendous. I think we got a steal there. It's natural when you've got two instinct kids, two of better players in the state in Mike [Hurt] and Amir, you're always going to talk about the in state guys, but Eric's future is extremely bright. Plays hard. Has length. Plays the four and the five. Obviously, he's got really, really good hands. It didn't really show how good of a passer he is, but I think he's going to be a really great player. I thought Amir, with the assists and the rebounding, he did a really good job there. Did a pretty good job defensively. Still want him to be aggressive from a scoring standpoint. Those guys missed some free throws, but I think that was just nerves. Mike gave us the dimension that we need from him, hitting two threes. I'm excited about all of these guys. I though Reggie [Lynch] was really good when he got his legs under him a little. Just foul trouble. He's got to find a way to not do that."
On positives taken out of the game tonight...
"Thirteen blocks was nice. I think we played hard. I thought we got some good looks. Getting to the foul line 32 times was positive. Only making 19 was negative. I liked their approach leading up to the game. We treated like a regular game."
On Akeem Springs' role when Mason gets back...
"We don't have a lot of depth, so he'd going to play. I think he's going to play a lot. Hopefully his role is to give us a bit of everything. He plays hard, shows good leadership, works really hard. He talks on defense. That really helps us out."
Sophomore Dupree McBrayer
Sophomore Dupree McBrayer
On Eric Curry...
"He has got great potential I think in my mind, he is a great player and has great hands. I think as long as he keeps working, he will be very good."
Sophomore Jordan Murphy
On leaving last season behind...
"I think we all feel the need to step up in a way. We all now what type of year this is going to be with what are expectations are for ourselves and what the expectations our coaches have for us. We need to know and believe in ourselves."
On personal expectations for himself...
"To come and play every night and play hard, I need to give it all I got and leave it all on the floor. I'm not looking for awards, I'm just trying to play the game the right way."
On how to prepare for an exhibition game...
"You need to take it like every other game. This is still college basketball even though they are at a different level."
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Guard
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Forward
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Guard
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