University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Niagara
11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2017
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
On his thoughts of the play of the starting 5...
"I thought they were good, this is a good game for Dupree to get going, because he has been out for a while over the summer with an injury, and I just don't think he's gotten his flow back offensively so it's good for him. You can tell the flow was on his mind a little bit, so he broke out, which was really good. Amir was terrific in the first half, Nate was really really solid. Reggie, Murph were terrific as well, so when we got that balance with five guys in double figures, we could have had 8 justifiably, I saw a lot of good things."
On starter defending against 3pt shooting...
"I think they have been making a lot of tough shots to be honest with you. They play freely, so I'll look at the film, I mean I thought it was good against Providence for how many they hit. Yeah, they had five shooters on the court, so I'm not panicking with that too much, to be honest. I'm sure there is room for improvement."
"I think they have been making a lot of tough shots to be honest with you. They play freely, so I'll look at the film, I mean I thought it was good against Providence for how many they hit. Yeah, they had five shooters on the court, so I'm not panicking with that too much, to be honest. I'm sure there is room for improvement."
On Reggie Lynch getting blocks and avoiding foul trouble...
"Well the biggest miracle of them all is six assists. I don't know how the heck he did that. So there will be an investigation into that one. But he was good, and you know he surprises guys by blocking jump shots, you know they don't see it coming. He has kind of a quick burst, so he was good, overall he was really good, played 30 minutes, you know which I really liked. Obviously, the fouls are a big big issue but he was good tonight.
"Well the biggest miracle of them all is six assists. I don't know how the heck he did that. So there will be an investigation into that one. But he was good, and you know he surprises guys by blocking jump shots, you know they don't see it coming. He has kind of a quick burst, so he was good, overall he was really good, played 30 minutes, you know which I really liked. Obviously, the fouls are a big big issue but he was good tonight.
On his message to the team after Niagra's run...
"We were pretty poised, just do a better job on Dukes, calm down. You know I thought that we were pretty confident that we would be ok, just had to make a minor adjustment, play a little better defense on him. But there wasn't a whole lot of panic, you got guys that have been here before, and honestly, I think that we went on a 27-2 run after that. So our guys are really good, they handled it well."
"We were pretty poised, just do a better job on Dukes, calm down. You know I thought that we were pretty confident that we would be ok, just had to make a minor adjustment, play a little better defense on him. But there wasn't a whole lot of panic, you got guys that have been here before, and honestly, I think that we went on a 27-2 run after that. So our guys are really good, they handled it well."
On Nate Mason's command of his game and passing...
"He's very very confident, he's playing the right way, it's just experience. You know, I look at this is going on four years now playing in a lot of big games. Even like two years ago, as difficult as it was, that was good for Nate, Dupree, Murph, and now those guys, they're in and they have had a lot of quality reps throughout the years. So, he's playing like a senior, he's very very business like every single day in practice. Takes advantage of the opportunities of his last go around and he wants to have a great experience, so he's showing that.
Redshirt Senior Center Reggie Lynch
On first half…
We only had a day to prepare for them and they had about six to prepare for us. There is a little bit of tiredness and soreness to start the game, but either way we know we can't allow teams to go on runs on our own court. We responded the right way and found a way to share the ball.
On starting five…
I haven't really analyzed many of the other teams in the Big Ten, but I do know we are playing with a lot of confidence right now and I love playing with this starting five. When we are locked in we are all sharing the ball and making plays for each other, we are an unstoppable team.
On his career-high six assists…
I have been trying to emphasize that my entire life because everyone says I'm a black hole in the post. I am trying to work on it and find the open man, especially recently. Now that we have Devonte [Fitzgerlad] back and [Jordan] Murphy is finding areas in the post when I catch it, so I am trying to find guys more because coach has emphasized it to me more.
Junior Forward Jordan Murphy
On turning game around after lead down to three points with 11 minutes left…
We just reminded ourselves that we just need to relax and we were playing a little rushed at that point. So we decided to regroup and coach reminded us to keep calm. He wasn't really worried and that kind of instilled some confidence before the timeout. That helped us to regroup.
On bouncing back from first half…
Just having Amir [Coffey] start off the way he did, that was pretty impressive. Nate [ had a really good first and second half, Reggie [Lynch] had a good game, so having all those weapons and knowing anyone can have a really good game on any given day. We are just really hard to guard right now.
"He's very very confident, he's playing the right way, it's just experience. You know, I look at this is going on four years now playing in a lot of big games. Even like two years ago, as difficult as it was, that was good for Nate, Dupree, Murph, and now those guys, they're in and they have had a lot of quality reps throughout the years. So, he's playing like a senior, he's very very business like every single day in practice. Takes advantage of the opportunities of his last go around and he wants to have a great experience, so he's showing that.
Redshirt Senior Center Reggie Lynch
On first half…
We only had a day to prepare for them and they had about six to prepare for us. There is a little bit of tiredness and soreness to start the game, but either way we know we can't allow teams to go on runs on our own court. We responded the right way and found a way to share the ball.
On starting five…
I haven't really analyzed many of the other teams in the Big Ten, but I do know we are playing with a lot of confidence right now and I love playing with this starting five. When we are locked in we are all sharing the ball and making plays for each other, we are an unstoppable team.
On his career-high six assists…
I have been trying to emphasize that my entire life because everyone says I'm a black hole in the post. I am trying to work on it and find the open man, especially recently. Now that we have Devonte [Fitzgerlad] back and [Jordan] Murphy is finding areas in the post when I catch it, so I am trying to find guys more because coach has emphasized it to me more.
Junior Forward Jordan Murphy
On turning game around after lead down to three points with 11 minutes left…
We just reminded ourselves that we just need to relax and we were playing a little rushed at that point. So we decided to regroup and coach reminded us to keep calm. He wasn't really worried and that kind of instilled some confidence before the timeout. That helped us to regroup.
On bouncing back from first half…
Just having Amir [Coffey] start off the way he did, that was pretty impressive. Nate [ had a really good first and second half, Reggie [Lynch] had a good game, so having all those weapons and knowing anyone can have a really good game on any given day. We are just really hard to guard right now.
Players Mentioned
Center
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Guard
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Forward
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