GopherLady
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anything.
Here are my post game notes - as always, not verbatim, just typing as they talk.
Richard Pitino honoring the seniors post-game on the court….
• He will go down as one of the best Gophers to ever put on that jersey, Austin Hollins
• He's another guy, these 4 guys have been so much fun to coach, Oto made a tough decision because he was in so much pain, he'll be a great coach one day, he's going to hang around next year so you see him, Oto. If anyone has a job they can offer him over the summer, he wants to earn some extra money and work.
• You are the best fans in the world, I love you guys - Oto
• I appreciate him so much, I maybe should have played him more, he's going to have a great career hopefully overseas, Maverick.
• This next guys, I could spend about 10 minutes making fun of but I'm not going to do it. When I got the job, Malik said he wanted to come with us, and we told him he had to be patient. He's showed unbelievable loyalty to us and this University. He never saw a shot he didn't like, Malik Smith.
Mo Walker
It's tough to beat a team so many times in a row, we need to take this week to get better offensively and defensively.*
Austin Hollins
It's bitter sweet. It felt great getting the win, and seeing Mav get a career high.
My family has been my biggest support system
It felt good, just being persistence and not giving up
On the best thing this team has going for them - I think our confidence, our confidence is really high. I think guys know that we can go in and win this thing.
It was great seeing guys that I went in w like Mav have w career game
Sid: How good can the #Gophers be without you next year? Austin: They can be as good as they wanna be.
On playing PSU for the 3rd time - I don't think it's a help or hindrance, it's tough to beat a team 3 times in a row
Malik Smith
(On being here only one year) I think I was a big part of the system, being that I already played it last year
On how many games they'll have to win to get to the Dance: I'm not sure how that works, it's too confusing. I'll give Joe Lunardi a call tonight (joking).
DeAndre Mathieu
We took care of the ball today, that's why we got such a big lead
I don't really follow anything about the tournament, I just know if you win, you get in.
He just told us we were fine, everyone makes runs in this league, and it was our turn next.
On the importance of Austin Hollins - Austin is going to carry us, we go as far as he goes.*
Maverick Ahanmisi
It feels good, I've had fun here for 4 years, it was a fun experience going out like that. I'm going to miss the barn, I had to hold back some tears.*
Oto Osenieks
It was really sad for me, kind of disappointed because I didn't get to play. It really meant a lot to me that Coach Pitino put me in today.
Next year, he said I could do video coordinator stuff. I'll be helping at practice...
On who's decision it was to stop playing - It was mostly my decision, I was talking to a lot of people, and it would be tough to play at this level with this knee.
It was really sad and emotional for me to say goodbye, it was tough not to cry.
I think we're taking a medical leave. I'll still be on scholarship next year, just not playing.*
Richard Pitino:
• Obviously, a good win for us. It was tough having 7 days off this time of year, the guys are so eager to get on the court. The best thing you've got to do is play. Mentally, more than anything, I think the guys handled business. They were sick of seeing me, and I may have been sick of seeing them too. We play them again on Thursday, and one of the hardest things to do is beat a team 3 times
• The reason why we announced is because we wanted to honor him tonight. If we wouldn't of had that opportunity, we would have waited. I wanted him to have his opportunity to get a jersey, speak to the crowd. I didn't want to show up PSU in anyway, but I wanted to find a way to get him on the court. He's a really good kid. Hopefully he has a career in coaching, he'll be with us next year if he gets his medical.
• We've always done that (speaking after the game) - I always thought it was great for these guys, they'll never forget it. IT's good for them, to throw them out in front of 10, 12K. These are memories they'll remember for the rest of their lives.
• It was hard. We wrestled with do we start them or not? Mav wants to play, he doesn't want to start and being subbed out after 30 seconds. Malik wants to play. Mav played 13 minutes, he took advantage of every minute because he shot it 8 times (laughing). I've got a lot of regrets this year, but I need to find him more minutes, somehow somewhere.
• On Mo Walker - He comes in, he demands the ball, and our guys look for him. He's become a good FT shooter too. He's a big target, I think he's going to have a huge off-season this year. He's going to get in unbelievable shape, I think he's going to be one of the better bigs in the conference. He lost 60, it's hard to do, it wasn't me, he deserves the credit. I didn't need to stay on him every day, it wasn't an issue. He enjoys feeling good about himself.
• That Purdue game comes to mind, we were up 19 and gave up the lead. It's them growing. We're old, but we're not all that experienced. Mathieu was at a JUCO, Mo hardly played, Joey was in the Missouri valley. I think we handled their run pretty well today.
• I think they're really good, I think Pat does a great job, he took over a really difficult situation. He's a great recruiter, he's great coach. They played WI tough, won against OSU, we continue to have respect for him.
• We played 3 games (at FIU in the conf. tourney last year), that was a lesson for me as a young HC, we had to win the tourney, I don't know if we have to win this to go to the NCAA. Maui taught me a lot too. We hopefully will play 4 games in 4 nights.
• Austin has been playing really well in practice too. He works so hard every single day. There were no adjustments that we made. It's huge to have him playing like this.
• We need to cut down on the TO's, that's always been our issue. When we don’t' turn it over, we're pretty hard to guard.
• Andre Hollins was just sitting for fouls
• I think it's definitely mental, more than anything. They need to understand that it's a very well coached group. We'll fix whatever mistakes we can make. We have never won a BT championship. I had no idea that it only has gone on since 1998, I thought they had them for like 100 years.
• I think when you get this far, there aren't many secrets anymore. I put in a lot of stuff early, but don't put in a lot of new stuff anymore.
Here are my post game notes - as always, not verbatim, just typing as they talk.
Richard Pitino honoring the seniors post-game on the court….
• He will go down as one of the best Gophers to ever put on that jersey, Austin Hollins
• He's another guy, these 4 guys have been so much fun to coach, Oto made a tough decision because he was in so much pain, he'll be a great coach one day, he's going to hang around next year so you see him, Oto. If anyone has a job they can offer him over the summer, he wants to earn some extra money and work.
• You are the best fans in the world, I love you guys - Oto
• I appreciate him so much, I maybe should have played him more, he's going to have a great career hopefully overseas, Maverick.
• This next guys, I could spend about 10 minutes making fun of but I'm not going to do it. When I got the job, Malik said he wanted to come with us, and we told him he had to be patient. He's showed unbelievable loyalty to us and this University. He never saw a shot he didn't like, Malik Smith.
Mo Walker
It's tough to beat a team so many times in a row, we need to take this week to get better offensively and defensively.*
Austin Hollins
It's bitter sweet. It felt great getting the win, and seeing Mav get a career high.
My family has been my biggest support system
It felt good, just being persistence and not giving up
On the best thing this team has going for them - I think our confidence, our confidence is really high. I think guys know that we can go in and win this thing.
It was great seeing guys that I went in w like Mav have w career game
Sid: How good can the #Gophers be without you next year? Austin: They can be as good as they wanna be.
On playing PSU for the 3rd time - I don't think it's a help or hindrance, it's tough to beat a team 3 times in a row
Malik Smith
(On being here only one year) I think I was a big part of the system, being that I already played it last year
On how many games they'll have to win to get to the Dance: I'm not sure how that works, it's too confusing. I'll give Joe Lunardi a call tonight (joking).
DeAndre Mathieu
We took care of the ball today, that's why we got such a big lead
I don't really follow anything about the tournament, I just know if you win, you get in.
He just told us we were fine, everyone makes runs in this league, and it was our turn next.
On the importance of Austin Hollins - Austin is going to carry us, we go as far as he goes.*
Maverick Ahanmisi
It feels good, I've had fun here for 4 years, it was a fun experience going out like that. I'm going to miss the barn, I had to hold back some tears.*
Oto Osenieks
It was really sad for me, kind of disappointed because I didn't get to play. It really meant a lot to me that Coach Pitino put me in today.
Next year, he said I could do video coordinator stuff. I'll be helping at practice...
On who's decision it was to stop playing - It was mostly my decision, I was talking to a lot of people, and it would be tough to play at this level with this knee.
It was really sad and emotional for me to say goodbye, it was tough not to cry.
I think we're taking a medical leave. I'll still be on scholarship next year, just not playing.*
Richard Pitino:
• Obviously, a good win for us. It was tough having 7 days off this time of year, the guys are so eager to get on the court. The best thing you've got to do is play. Mentally, more than anything, I think the guys handled business. They were sick of seeing me, and I may have been sick of seeing them too. We play them again on Thursday, and one of the hardest things to do is beat a team 3 times
• The reason why we announced is because we wanted to honor him tonight. If we wouldn't of had that opportunity, we would have waited. I wanted him to have his opportunity to get a jersey, speak to the crowd. I didn't want to show up PSU in anyway, but I wanted to find a way to get him on the court. He's a really good kid. Hopefully he has a career in coaching, he'll be with us next year if he gets his medical.
• We've always done that (speaking after the game) - I always thought it was great for these guys, they'll never forget it. IT's good for them, to throw them out in front of 10, 12K. These are memories they'll remember for the rest of their lives.
• It was hard. We wrestled with do we start them or not? Mav wants to play, he doesn't want to start and being subbed out after 30 seconds. Malik wants to play. Mav played 13 minutes, he took advantage of every minute because he shot it 8 times (laughing). I've got a lot of regrets this year, but I need to find him more minutes, somehow somewhere.
• On Mo Walker - He comes in, he demands the ball, and our guys look for him. He's become a good FT shooter too. He's a big target, I think he's going to have a huge off-season this year. He's going to get in unbelievable shape, I think he's going to be one of the better bigs in the conference. He lost 60, it's hard to do, it wasn't me, he deserves the credit. I didn't need to stay on him every day, it wasn't an issue. He enjoys feeling good about himself.
• That Purdue game comes to mind, we were up 19 and gave up the lead. It's them growing. We're old, but we're not all that experienced. Mathieu was at a JUCO, Mo hardly played, Joey was in the Missouri valley. I think we handled their run pretty well today.
• I think they're really good, I think Pat does a great job, he took over a really difficult situation. He's a great recruiter, he's great coach. They played WI tough, won against OSU, we continue to have respect for him.
• We played 3 games (at FIU in the conf. tourney last year), that was a lesson for me as a young HC, we had to win the tourney, I don't know if we have to win this to go to the NCAA. Maui taught me a lot too. We hopefully will play 4 games in 4 nights.
• Austin has been playing really well in practice too. He works so hard every single day. There were no adjustments that we made. It's huge to have him playing like this.
• We need to cut down on the TO's, that's always been our issue. When we don’t' turn it over, we're pretty hard to guard.
• Andre Hollins was just sitting for fouls
• I think it's definitely mental, more than anything. They need to understand that it's a very well coached group. We'll fix whatever mistakes we can make. We have never won a BT championship. I had no idea that it only has gone on since 1998, I thought they had them for like 100 years.
• I think when you get this far, there aren't many secrets anymore. I put in a lot of stuff early, but don't put in a lot of new stuff anymore.
