Pitino and Izzo post game press conference notes - can't sum it up in one line...

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just a lot of great comments on the Gophers, Michigan State, the players, Sid, Tom Izzo's father passing, etc.

Tom Izzo:
• Sid immediately went up to Izzo, and said he wanted to talk to him. Izzo politely said he'd talk to him later.
• It's a big win, MN, those guards Mason must enjoy MSU because they scored some. Murphy is going to be a heck of a player, B1G body and toughness. We cheated a lot to help out on King. We're just trying to shuffle guys around and we're not really fluid right now. We're missing a hell of a player, and I don't care if it's an excuse or not (in Valentine). MN will get better, I was impressed with Dorsey. Konate has that baseline jumper.
• Sid: You miss Valentine Izzo: We miss him a lot, he does it all. It's hard to make up for it. He's the nuts and bolts of our team. At least tonight we competed, and at Iowa I didn't feel we competed. The other question for our media, Marvin Clark hurt that wrist again.
• My Father was 90 years old, and my father had one of these when he was a little guy. I still have a flip phone so we're in the same boat.
• We made some stupid mistakes, unexcusable ones, and they capitalized on those.
• We're nowhere near the team we need to be, or the team I think we will be. We need to get a couple of other guys healthy.
• I keep blaming me, I am the #1 fault. We didn't switch as much in the 1st half, we covered ball screens different. It's going to be a challenge in the next week or so.
• Best - his issue is his thumb, it was heavily taped.
• On Denzel Valentine giving him the game ball - I'm leaving from here to go back to Iron Mountain for the funeral. It's just something Denzel did, I hope he ok'ed it with Minnesota or we'll pay MN for the ball. It was greatly appreciated.
• (On deciding to watch the football team in the playoffs) This team had done an unbelievable job this summer and spring, they came up with the 2nd best GPA in my era. I wanted my guys around champions. We had a lot of time, we stayed 20 miles out, practiced and watched film, then Denzel got hurt after I made the decision, my Dad died after that, we lost to Iowa after that…would I have made that decision with all of those things? Maybe not. The guys are great and I enjoyed every minute. Seeing them walk into that stadium the other night and seeing how they reacted. We still got more practices in than if we would have been at home. My guys were on the airplane with me on NYE, and that's the best way to spend New Year's.
• My good friend Flip, I spent some time with Ryan last night, he only got 60 years out of his Dad, I got 90 out of mine. It's going to be a tough couple of days, but I feel lucky and blessed that I got to spend time with him that many people don't. The only one that's probably not going to die is Sid, the rest of us will face it at one time or another.
• I really like this team, anytime you lose there's heat on the coach, I was really impressed…Murphy, he's the real deal. He's a rebounding machine, I'd like to steal him…I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I like the young guys. They're going to be good down the road.
• Alright Sid, I always have a minute or two for you because we've been here for 100 years.

Richard Pitino:
• Sid: Can I get you tomorrow? Pitino: Sure, what time? Sid: Anytime but in the morning.
• That's a very good team, thank goodness Valentine didn't play because that kid is awesome. I think they are a legit top 10 team with Valentine or not.
• We made a few mistakes at the end, our guys showed fight, Murph had a good looks, just didn't fall. Same with Nate. You're proud of the effort, but you're not satisfied.
• I thought you saw Kevin step up, Bakary showed growth, I think fans are like "hurry up with the moves" but needed some patience. We only had 4 TO's. Murph - either you need to dunk it, or have some better moves.
• Joey had good looks, he missed a couple that were in and out. I was happy with Carlos, I don't think he forced it too much, we're just not a great shooting team. Joey and Carlos did a lot of good things, but just didn’t score like we wanted them too.
• Bakary has put a lot of pressure on himself, we tell him to relax. He wants it now, and works his butt off everyday. He's not been showing that in practice, he showed great patience today.
• I think that there's a lot of factors, we did compete vs. OSU pretty well, but when Murph got that 4th foul, they just crushed us. When you're not a great scoring team, you need to get stops and rebounds. As Buggs, Gilbert, Gas, Kevin…we'll get more contributions. In this league if you don't compete, you're going to get embarrassed.
• Not sure why we only had 4 TO's, I think we were pretty efficient and only shot 34%.
• MSU's length across the board just bothers you a little bit
• Izzo said he'd steal Murphy from you. Pitino: That's probably some type of violation. I'm reporting him (smiling)
• Murph knows he can be a really good player. Great kid, approaches the game the right way, except the foul line. I don't think he's a great FT shooter, we worked on it extra. If you put too much pressure on though…
• On Buggs - He was available, just went with the guys who could help us win. I think he'll continue to get mentally and physically better.
• On Murph - I would like him to bury guys in the post a little better than he's done, but he seems to go by big guys pretty well. If you're not going to dunk, you need to stop getting your shot blocked, going up with his right hand on the right side, needs to get craftier because he's undersized. He's going to be a really good player.
• The crowd was certainly great, the #1 ranked team (of whatever they're going to be) - if you don't have energy, you've got problems. Can we do that at Penn State. Fans were great today. We need them, we feed off them, I understand fans are frustrated with us, but we're young. I hope they can stick with us.
• What Pitino says to recruits when struggling: I say "we want you now, graduate quicker."
• When his father passed away, we texted. I've got an amazing amount of respect for Tom Izzo, and that's sincere. Sometimes you're not sincere, and I am. He's a coaches coach, if I called him and had a question, he'd call you back right away. He has no ego. He's a guy I really really look up to. You look at his players that come back and give millions of dollars. HE's a special guy, I look up to, with every part of it. He deserves to be in the hall of fame, he's a phenomenal coach and a great person.
 


Nicely done! Thanks for the consistent effort. Again, I think you really do nice job with these, and covey the tone of the coaches.
 




You're welcome. I know us super fans want to know everything the coaches say.
Both Izzo and Pitino are articulate communicators, so this one is particularly of interest. And Izzo is always gracious in winning or losing and expresses interest and respect for the team he plays against. Unlike some coaches we could mention but we won't bother since they've retired...
 

If I didn't love the gophers, I would love msu, at so hard, and so well.
 

I really love and respect Izzo, but he's the master of beating you, then offering a gratuitous pat on the head after. He's been doing it to the Gophers for years.
 

Thanks Nadine. Always love Izzo. The best coach in CBB in my book. If we continue to play this way, we will win 5-6 games and provide some hope for the future.
 



The crowd WAS great today. Glad coach acknowledged that.

The fans are just as weary as Pitino that this isn't a good shooting team. But the fans didn't recruit these players.

The one thing Pitino should have to answer for is that the Gophers rarely doubled the post. When they did, good things tended to happen. They could easily afford to leave Tum Tum, who can't shoot. In my opinion, this was an inexcusable tactical error.
 


• Not sure why we only had 4 TO's, I think we were pretty efficient and only shot 34%.

Looked backed through the seasons and ran out of box scores being available on baseballreference.com on trying to find a game with less turnovers. For sure the least from the present through 2010-2011. The espn box score shows 4, the baseballreference.com box score shows 3 turnovers. Better shooting and the Gophers come away with a W. The game sure helped my faith.
 

If I didn't love the gophers, I would love msu, at so hard, and so well.

You can love both. I do. I root for State in all games and in all sports sports except for when they play the Gophers. Being beaten by my second favorite team makes the loss easier to take.
 



You can love both. I do. I root for State in all games and in all sports sports except for when they play the Gophers. Being beaten by my second favorite team makes the loss easier to take.

Dude! You didn't even watch the game! You were caulking the bathroom!
 


Yeah, sorry about that. I couldn't stop myself from messing with you.

We both want them to win. Hopefully it happens sooner than later.
 


• Not sure why we only had 4 TO's, I think we were pretty efficient and only shot 34%.

Looked backed through the seasons and ran out of box scores being available on baseballreference.com on trying to find a game with less turnovers. For sure the least from the present through 2010-2011. The espn box score shows 4, the baseballreference.com box score shows 3 turnovers. Better shooting and the Gophers come away with a W. The game sure helped my faith.

Yes, 3 (or 4) turnovers in a game is extremely good but this team hasn't been turnover prone on the whole this season. They currently rank 16th for fewest turnovers per game. Perhaps a contributing factor in that is that they aren't pushing the envelope in passing for assists either. They currently rank #231 in assists per game. Because of the low assist numbers, their assist to turnover ratio isn't all that special (86th).

The 34% FG% against Mich St isn't really an outlier. That performance marks the 6th time in the last 7 games where the Gophers have shot under 40% from the field and the 8th time in 14 games. They currently rank #303 in the nation in field goal percentage (40.6%). They were able to beat LA-Monroe and Chicago State shooting under 40% but no one else. They were able to get 22 and 32 free throw attempts respectively in those two games.
 

Pitino & Izzo... just an observation...

We were at Saturday's game and my wife took a picture of Pitino & Izzo talking before the game. You could tell it was more than just a casual conversation. I did not realize Izzo was that short, he actually looked up (a bit) to Pitino. I'm guessing they are the 2 shortest coaches in the B10...
 

Yes, 3 (or 4) turnovers in a game is extremely good but this team hasn't been turnover prone on the whole this season. They currently rank 16th for fewest turnovers per game. Perhaps a contributing factor in that is that they aren't pushing the envelope in passing for assists either. They currently rank #231 in assists per game. Because of the low assist numbers, their assist to turnover ratio isn't all that special (86th).

The 34% FG% against Mich St isn't really an outlier. That performance marks the 6th time in the last 7 games where the Gophers have shot under 40% from the field and the 8th time in 14 games. They currently rank #303 in the nation in field goal percentage (40.6%). They were able to beat LA-Monroe and Chicago State shooting under 40% but no one else. They were able to get 22 and 32 free throw attempts respectively in those two games.

Is there a stat out there for points in the paint? Outside of Murphy we have got to be the lowest. Touches in the paint have got to be terrible too.
 

Is there a stat out there for points in the paint? Outside of Murphy we have got to be the lowest. Touches in the paint have got to be terrible too.

I think Pitino's offense is designed to get open 3's. Which it often doesn't do a terrible job at. The problem is, this team isn't made up of great shooters. They need to do the drive and kick to create layups, not necessarily threes.
 




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