GopherLady
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Hey guys - I'm sorry, but I have so much to do before heading out of town tomorrow that I don't have time to go through my recordings of the players interviews and transcribe, I tweeted a few comments out, but I do have Pitino's notes. Here they are:
Richard Pitino:
• That was obviously and entertaining game. You need to give Furman and Niko a lot of credit. They played really well. I'm happy for him, I know he'd like to win. He's a good guy and he's from here, I know that it meant a lot for him to play well. He's a great coach. For us, that's what we needed. I was on these guys, and they looked at me like "why is he on us?" it's kind of an epidemic right now that college basketball teams are losing to these other teams. We were blowing out teams…but it could happen. This was great for us.
• We're so good statistically right now, and that's not really a good thing for our team. I thought those last couple games, we were playing for assists and steals, and I told them, they have to play the game. DeAndre wasn't playing the game in the 1st half. If you don't play what's given to you, you may not get 9-10 assists, and you have to get 20 points. Nate Mason is a calming influence. Joey was tremendous. We needed everyone to band together. DeAndre and Nate made great plays in the 2nd half.
• It's happening so much, Kansas was getting blown out by Temple. It's happening everywhere, and it's happening in the Big 10. They were aware of that, that message has been clear to them. Give Furman credit too, I feel like the ball bounced off a guy's head one time and it went in, I really believe that. Niko runs a lot of stuff that Florida runs, some of it was great execution by them, some was really tough shots. I think I need to go back and watch the film, they shot 63% but I think we were playing good D. We needed to press on them. They will be very good in their conference.
• I like to say I predicted Nate Mason being like this, but you can't simulate playing in front of 12,000 people.
• I think our fans this year have been so good in the NC, not that they were bad last year, but they are much improved. They were great tonight. There should be no reason we don't fill this place up. They show that we have a great fanbase.
• Nate is a pretty underrated freshman, he's never on the lists because he doesn't have 4 stars in front of him, but he's doing it. He did it vs. Louisville. I think it's time to start talking about him as one of the better freshman in the Big 10.
• Andre Hollins - I was worried he wasn't going to play with his turf toe. That happened after the last game, he didn't practice Saturday or Sunday.
• Mo did the same thing vs. St. Johns, he was playing bad and didn't respond, he showed great growth this game.
• Elliott did a lot of great things, he plays so hard and wants to win.
• I'm going to point to this game vs. Wilmington, not wait for the Big 10. They almost beat Louisville, they know us inside and out.
• I feel like I have a better team this year than we did at this time last year. We didn't blow teams out last year. This was tough for us to win. When they hit those tough shots, we were like "oh my goodness." They were hitting back breaking shots. I feel like we're ahead of where we were last year.
• Nobody would predict Texas Southern would beat Michigan State at Michigan State. There are some teams that are good team. I thought Furman was a good team today, we weren't playing all that bad, they were making good plays. Everybody is talking about it, and kids aren't able to hide from that.
• This was good for us tonight, I think we thought that we could just turn everyone over. Now we're giving up the 3, how do we react? Furman responded really well. Early in the game we weren't blocking out, so I'm pulling guys out. How do you respond to getting pulled.
• Gaston - he's done 2 practices. After Seattle U, we were too consumed with getting Gas in the mix. He has no idea what he's doing, nor should he. It's not his fault. He wasn't able to watch practice because he had class, we weren't allowed to watch film with him. He's got a long way to go. It's going to take some time. Bakary is starting to play better, he's practiced for like 60 times. I think Gas is going to be a good player. He doesn't need games…no, he needs practice and to understand what he's doing.
Richard Pitino:
• That was obviously and entertaining game. You need to give Furman and Niko a lot of credit. They played really well. I'm happy for him, I know he'd like to win. He's a good guy and he's from here, I know that it meant a lot for him to play well. He's a great coach. For us, that's what we needed. I was on these guys, and they looked at me like "why is he on us?" it's kind of an epidemic right now that college basketball teams are losing to these other teams. We were blowing out teams…but it could happen. This was great for us.
• We're so good statistically right now, and that's not really a good thing for our team. I thought those last couple games, we were playing for assists and steals, and I told them, they have to play the game. DeAndre wasn't playing the game in the 1st half. If you don't play what's given to you, you may not get 9-10 assists, and you have to get 20 points. Nate Mason is a calming influence. Joey was tremendous. We needed everyone to band together. DeAndre and Nate made great plays in the 2nd half.
• It's happening so much, Kansas was getting blown out by Temple. It's happening everywhere, and it's happening in the Big 10. They were aware of that, that message has been clear to them. Give Furman credit too, I feel like the ball bounced off a guy's head one time and it went in, I really believe that. Niko runs a lot of stuff that Florida runs, some of it was great execution by them, some was really tough shots. I think I need to go back and watch the film, they shot 63% but I think we were playing good D. We needed to press on them. They will be very good in their conference.
• I like to say I predicted Nate Mason being like this, but you can't simulate playing in front of 12,000 people.
• I think our fans this year have been so good in the NC, not that they were bad last year, but they are much improved. They were great tonight. There should be no reason we don't fill this place up. They show that we have a great fanbase.
• Nate is a pretty underrated freshman, he's never on the lists because he doesn't have 4 stars in front of him, but he's doing it. He did it vs. Louisville. I think it's time to start talking about him as one of the better freshman in the Big 10.
• Andre Hollins - I was worried he wasn't going to play with his turf toe. That happened after the last game, he didn't practice Saturday or Sunday.
• Mo did the same thing vs. St. Johns, he was playing bad and didn't respond, he showed great growth this game.
• Elliott did a lot of great things, he plays so hard and wants to win.
• I'm going to point to this game vs. Wilmington, not wait for the Big 10. They almost beat Louisville, they know us inside and out.
• I feel like I have a better team this year than we did at this time last year. We didn't blow teams out last year. This was tough for us to win. When they hit those tough shots, we were like "oh my goodness." They were hitting back breaking shots. I feel like we're ahead of where we were last year.
• Nobody would predict Texas Southern would beat Michigan State at Michigan State. There are some teams that are good team. I thought Furman was a good team today, we weren't playing all that bad, they were making good plays. Everybody is talking about it, and kids aren't able to hide from that.
• This was good for us tonight, I think we thought that we could just turn everyone over. Now we're giving up the 3, how do we react? Furman responded really well. Early in the game we weren't blocking out, so I'm pulling guys out. How do you respond to getting pulled.
• Gaston - he's done 2 practices. After Seattle U, we were too consumed with getting Gas in the mix. He has no idea what he's doing, nor should he. It's not his fault. He wasn't able to watch practice because he had class, we weren't allowed to watch film with him. He's got a long way to go. It's going to take some time. Bakary is starting to play better, he's practiced for like 60 times. I think Gas is going to be a good player. He doesn't need games…no, he needs practice and to understand what he's doing.
. 
