Gopher Basketball
-Has tremendous respect for Tubby Smith, and how they played tonight
-Said they lost to a very good team
-Minnesota is so big and strong, and that caused problems for the Hawkeyes, as all of Minnesota’s big men can score, and all of them can offensively rebound
-Jared Cole’s foul trouble caused problems for Iowa
-Trevor Mbakwe is one of the better big men in the conference…said that he’s a tough player to play against because he’s got a motor that just never quits
-He thought the Hawkeyes tired as the game wore on
-Said Iowa executed better to start the second half, which allowed his team to get back into the game
-Was very happy for Eric May and the way he played today (16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
-Said the reason he picked up the technical was because he was complaining about one thing in particular, but refused to comment further, saying he didn’t believe he could comment on it
-Said their perimeter and on-the-ball defense was better tonight, but it wasn’t where it needed to be
Gopher players Ralph Sampson and Trevor Mbakwe:
-(Trevor) Knew Iowa was going to come into the game and try and make a statement, especially after Minnesota’s win over Purdue, potentially a letdown threat. Noted that consistancy has been a problem all year long
-(Ralph) Said that defense wins championships, and playing solid defense gets the crowd into it, which they feed off of
-(Trevor) Everyone knows that any game in the conference is going to be a tough game, regardless of who you play, and that it’s great to be back to .500 in the Big Ten. Said they still have a chance in the conference race, since everyone’s going to have a few losses in Big Ten play
-(Trevor) Said that Tubby does a great job of motivating the players
-(Trevor) Talked about how it’s been kind of a wild week, and that it’s been the story of his career. He mentioned that it teaches you to focus on the things that you can control.
-(Ralph) Said it’s been a challenge to put two halves together, and that they were surprised by Iowa’s play coming out of halftime, which caught them off guard
-(Trevor) Said that Rodney Williams’ play in the first half, it really got the crowd into the game, and really got the team fired up with his big dunks
-(Trevor) Mentioned that on this team, anyone can pick up this team on any given night, mentioning Hoffarber’s play against Purdue, and Nolen’s play the past few games as well
Minnesota Head Basketball Coach Tubby Smith:
-You knew a team like Iowa would come ready for play
-He has a lot of respect for Fran McCaffrey and the way his team plays
-Thought the Gophers played very well defensively, but credited Iowa for their patience during the game
-They did a good job on Blake Hoffarber tonight shutting him down
-Good balanced scoring, Mbakwe was his same old self tonight on the rebounding
-Said that each game is tough, regardless of who you play, and that each game is just as important as any other game
-He said the team started to have issues with concentration at certain points in the game, and that’s what caused some of the lapses in the game
-Said they believe their strength is in the front-court, as they are sound and athletic. Said Ralph is as athletic as any big man in the country
-The team can’t afford for Iverson to make silly fouls in the game
-Said Hoffarber and Nolen had good games, with six assists combined and one turnover. Added that they lead by example
-They need to stay positive and find the good in games like this, adding that the team stayed poised and composed during the game tonight
-They no longer have the depth to put teams away
-Ralph has the skill set to do what he did today, with seven blocks. Added that Ralph is starting to really take pride in his shot-blocking abilities, and that he should be able to use those abilities to move on to the next level and play for a long time
-Said they need to work on not blocking shots out of bounds, saying that Bill Russell always had that ability to keep those balls in bounds and at times even pull balls down