Gophers got a big win over rival Iowa at a rocking Barn on Tuesday night.
Mo Walker
On Buggs – I was surprised, but I knew what he was capable of going against him everyday
To clarify why he was surprised – I was excited, happy and excited.*
I’m just going out there and playing, coach has been pressuring me to play harder.
One of the things we said in the huddle, was we needed to bring our own energy tonight, we didn’t know how packed the crowd would be.
DeAndre Matthieu
On the up tempo pace – That really helps my style a lot, get in the lane a bunch and give guys good looks.
Buggs had been working hard, he told coach he wanted the opportunity and he showed up.
On Buggs: They were leaving him open like they didn’t expect him to make it, so I kept finding him.
On Buggs: He was a huge spark, he was making big shots. Guys weren’t expecting Buggs to come off the bench and go off.
On Buggs: The last few practices, he’s been knocking it down with guys in his face. He just needed to get down to the right weight.
On being an expecting Father: I’m really really excited. I’m ready for it to get here (he’s expecting a boy on June 28th).
I’m going to teach him how to play*basketball at a young age.
He received a gift from a friend for the baby that says “I only shoot 3’s” – I disagree, he’s going to be a slasher.
Dre Hollins
On Rachel Banham – She watches all my games, I watch all of hers and we give each other suggestions. We both give each other good advice.*
Austin Hollins
I take it one game at a time, there’s so many other things you can do that don’t involve scoring, when my shot’s not falling, I try to do other things.
On Buggs- he’s pretty laid back. he doesn’t force any shots, he just works hard.*
On if he expected Buggs to go off – You can never expect anyone to do that, I know they’re capable of it.*
Oto Osenieks
My cartilage is ripping away, I’ll get a shot tomorrow. It’s limiting my practice time lately.*
I had surgery 7 years ago, there was no incident that happened that caused this.
Richard Pitino
Sid: Can I get a couple of minutes with you after this? Pitino: Why not right now (during the press conference)? Ok. Anything for you, Sid.
• I cannot focus on the negative the 1st question – when asked about D on Marble (by Sid). He’s one of the best players in our conference. They are as good of an offensive team as it gets. They’re really tough to guard, goodness.
• Wiatin, waiting, waiting. You know – I talked about with Buggs, some of the things you’ll see him do you’ll go “wow.” I did not know he would do that, it was a guess. Oto is hurt, btw, he’s been hobbling. I’ll give Buggs credit, he has come to practice everyday and is chipping away. We were going to go with him, regardless of Oto’s injury. Him and Mav, you’ve got to give them credit, they haven’t played and you wouldn’t know it. Buggs is just young, he’s a young player, he’s a freshman. It’s going to take time, but he showed a lot and he’s got a lot to still learn.
• Buggs – he comes to work every single day, and he’s just growing, he’s getting better. Charles is moving along and Oto is going the other way because he’s hurting a little bit. I’ve said from day 1, Charles has the most potential of anyone on the team. We were going to go with Buggs today. Maybe Oto is not playing as well because he’s hurt. (he said he didn’t want to say anything bad).
• Austin Hollins – he’s a really unique kid, he played really bad at OSU, the next practice, his attitude was unbelievable. He always works hard, every possession, every drill. I’m happy for him because he deserves success. I will say this, that’s him, not me (his attitude). He’s innately a really motivated kid. He’s s special, special kid. A lot of college kids would crawl into a shell when they’re not playing well.
• Buggs – it’s a marathon with him, we believe in his potential, and he’ll continue to get better.
• We never talk about the NCAA tournament, ever, ever. Only Marcus keeps bringing it up. We were picked at the bottom of the league. Or what did you pick us to finish, Amelia? Amelia – I had you at 9th – Pitino – we’re at 7th, 2 better than you. We’ve had some games that haven’t been great, some games that have. I didn’t take this job and make the NCAA tournament our goal.
• What do you call a successful season? This is a process. I love the kids that we’ve got. I don’t have any expectations. Mine were to play great today, we did. I want to learn from the mistakes we made.
• Buggs didn’t ask for an opportunity (like Mathieu said ) maybe he asked Mathieu (laughing).
• Mathieu – he controlled the game, they trapped his pick and rolls and he did a great job of handling it. He was tremendous. They did trap. They show out hard, and DeAndre is just learning, he’s getting better at it.
• These guys are really really positive, they came into the OSU game eager to win, they hate losing, they’re easy to coach…they’re all prideful positive kids, we were due a good game.
• On if this is the pace he liked – I’d love to average 95 points a game. As long as we win by 6.
• MSU plays any style, to be a good team, you have to learn how to do that.
• Top to bottom, Iowa is one of the toughest teams to guard in the country
• Austin Hollins works harder than anyone in the world and wasn’t making shots, now he made shots. Like Malik Smith. It’s good for them to come back and beat a really quality game.