Abel Mehari
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With the Non-conference concluding tomorrow against Arkansas State, the Gophers are focusing on the main task before the Big Ten schedule.
Coach Richard Pitino, Dupree McBrayer, and Jordan Murphy express their thoughts on tomorrow's game, the Big Ten schedule, and the football situation.
Coach Pitino
"We have a huge game tomorrow. Arkansas State has already beaten Georgetown at Georgetown, and they were up handily (before) Georgetown came back. They played TCU very, very tough for about 35 minutes; they did same last night at Alabama. So, it one of those mid-major conference sneaky games for us. They play were hard, their coach does a very good job, got a lot of interchangeable parts, so it going to be a challenge for us. There a lot of elements that go into a game like this that make it difficult; you got to be engaged, they can’t be thinking about Christmas. For us, nobody is enabled to go home, the local are able to but we still have to practice (on) Christmas evening. It’s a little bit easier in the sense of they don’t have to get on planes, but this always a difficult game for us so we have to be ready (and) not look ahead to the Big Ten, we just have to focus on getting better and trying to beat a good Arkansas State team."
This group is good at keeping that focus right?? Are you concerned that might drift off before Tuesday?
So far, so good with that but their always a concern with that. You at it, there always some funky scorers throughout the country. Nebraska has it, Michigan State had it but they have some injuries; you got to get them to understand that this opponent is front of us, they can beat us, there a very good team, they were top 30 in the RPI before yesterday, but I don’t know where there at today, but these guys are pretty good.
Update on Amir Coffey
"He’s good to go. Practiced yesterday, feels good, (and) says that he’s at 100 percent, so he’s good."
You talked about that injury, obvious being lingering but can play through those things.
"Yeah, I think the biggest thing is to get him to communicate. When you’re young, they don’t understand that I’m not a believer in fighting through it. No, I want you healthy. I want you at 100 percent. So, if you are dinged up at all just communicate with us. As long were all on the same page, hey you need some time off, we’ll give you time off. We have a good group with that, guys aren’t eager to get out of practice. So, Amir has been very mature about it and he’s been good, so just communicate with us and we’ll be good."
Dupree has his best with Amir out of the lineup. With Amir returning, do expect his role changing at all?
"No, I don’t. The whole role thing, I don’t know what that means? If you have the ball, do something good with it. When you’re on defense, play defense. I don’t necessarily think roles change; I think all five guys’ roles on the court are to be a threat offensively, (so) no I don’t. We need him to score; Dupree has the natural ability to score. A lot of those guys do. Nate, Amir, talked with the bigs a lot about, we need to get production out of you from a low post offense standpoint. We have pretty good balanced scoring so everybody needs to be ready to make a play. "
How much Dupree has played better compared to last December?
"Much better, much more confident. When we recruited him, I was probably the only one last year who kept saying Dupree is going to be a good player and everyone just looked at me funny. He hasn’t arrived, but he had a young body frame, the whole deal, and I just thought once he got confident, he’ll be able to do it. He was thrown into the fire last year, where this year he’s extremely confident, extremely confident in a good way. And, he’s got game, he grown up playing, he got some abilities with long arms and length to go by people and kind of change in mid-air, very good passer as well, so I think he’s definitely an improved player by far."
You mention that Dupree put some weight this season, how important is it in terms of field goal percentage?
"It’s going to keep getting better. He probably put on 20 to 25 pounds since he’s been here; next year is going to be a huge year from offseason standpoint. But I think it gives him the confidence to physically be able to bang, and obviously once the Big Ten starts it changes even more from a physicality standpoint because every game is so physical. So, it will interesting to see how he does there, but putting on weight gives him confidence and putting hours in the gym has given him confidence as well. "
With the football situation, are there teachable moments, does that come up during team meetings?
"Yeah, obviously it’s a big story, (and) there always teachable moments, when you have so many sports teams, everything that goes on here their so many teachable moments. I’ve haven’t gotten to all the details of that but getting everybody to understand that every action that you do affects all of us. And, obviously, we learned that last year, the hard way. And, I’m sure football is learning that as well. So, the biggest thing is whenever you’re going through that stuff, you got to stick together and you got to understand that your actions away from everything is going to affect everybody. So yeah, we’ve learned from it, we learn it the hard way last year and it’s a challenge and you got to educate your guys as much as possible."
Dupree McBrayer
How do you guys make sure you don’t drift ahead of Tuesday’s game against Michigan State, making sure that the focus is on tomorrow night?
"Just take it day by day. We look past any other team, we have a good Arkansas State team coming in (Friday) so we try not look past them."
You’re coach mention you put some weight on this season, how important it is to improve your game?
"It’s improved my game in going to the basket and finishing with (the) contact; taking the bumps and so that’s really helped."
What other aspects of your game do you need to improve upon during the summer?
"A lot of shooting, a lot of ball-handling, being able to go both ends, try to finish with my right hand a little more. Just a little bit of everything and not trying to be one-dimensional."
Is there a general excitement on this team heading into the 18 game Big Ten schedule?
“Like I said before just taking it by a game to game (and) were not really worried. After Arkansas state, that’s when we’ll prepare for Michigan State.”
Do you feel that this team is ready for the grind of the Big Ten?
"Definitely, I think we’re ready to make some noise."
What are you the most excited with the way you guys are playing this season?
“Everybody is unselfish, everybody is sharing the ball, everybody wants to see one another do good and were sharing each other’s success. You look at the guys on the bench, you look at the guys on the floor when somebody scores were yelling our lungs out for them and that’s the most important part.”
Does your mindset of scoring change with Amir returning to the lineup?
“No, because Amir is unselfish, so it kind of the same way. Coach wants me and Nate to be a bit more aggressive, Amir likes to pass but we want to see Amir be a little more aggressive.”
Do you look at yourself as a leader on the court?
"I show glimpses but I don’t see myself as a vocal leader. I see myself as an action leader, (just) go out there and try to take action. Nate, Akeem, and Murphy, those are the guys who are more vocal but I try to take a little more action."
Jordan Murphy
We just with your teammate Dupree McBrayer about keeping your confidence heading into the Big Ten schedule. What the key in keeping that confidence heading into tomorrow night against Arkansas State and not look ahead to Tuesday night?
“We’ve been talking to our guys about this, staying focused on this game. It’s a really good were going against tomorrow night, top 30 in RPI so I think we understand the magnitude of this game but keeping the back of our minds that this part of the season is right ahead and we need to keep preparing for it."
Is there an overall excitement heading into the Big Ten schedule?
"I think so; some of the guys are excited and looking forward. But again, we still have to take care of business tomorrow so most of the guys already know that."
Do you look at this game tomorrow night as tune up or any other game heading into the Big Ten schedule?
“We don’t think of it as any other game but we know that we have to pick up our energy, keep working hard and (maybe) work even harder than before, it just things like.”
Can you Dupree’s game from last season to this season?
“I think he’s matured a lot from that aspect. What shots to take and what shots are better for him, he’s making himself look good right now and our frontcourt is looking really good. I’m really proud of those guys for maturing, hitting shots and just being big for us down the stretch.”
Do you think the size he’s put on will help in Big Ten play?
“Oh for sure, he’s gained like 20 pounds since he got here and I think that will definitely help come the Big Ten season.”
Just the general vibe with all of smiles compared to last season’s non-conference slump. Is it just night and day?
“It is night and day. Guys are just having fun, everyone is smiling, everyone is having a good time playing with each other, we really have a good chemistry and I feel like were just bonding really well.”
Coach Richard Pitino, Dupree McBrayer, and Jordan Murphy express their thoughts on tomorrow's game, the Big Ten schedule, and the football situation.
Coach Pitino
"We have a huge game tomorrow. Arkansas State has already beaten Georgetown at Georgetown, and they were up handily (before) Georgetown came back. They played TCU very, very tough for about 35 minutes; they did same last night at Alabama. So, it one of those mid-major conference sneaky games for us. They play were hard, their coach does a very good job, got a lot of interchangeable parts, so it going to be a challenge for us. There a lot of elements that go into a game like this that make it difficult; you got to be engaged, they can’t be thinking about Christmas. For us, nobody is enabled to go home, the local are able to but we still have to practice (on) Christmas evening. It’s a little bit easier in the sense of they don’t have to get on planes, but this always a difficult game for us so we have to be ready (and) not look ahead to the Big Ten, we just have to focus on getting better and trying to beat a good Arkansas State team."
This group is good at keeping that focus right?? Are you concerned that might drift off before Tuesday?
So far, so good with that but their always a concern with that. You at it, there always some funky scorers throughout the country. Nebraska has it, Michigan State had it but they have some injuries; you got to get them to understand that this opponent is front of us, they can beat us, there a very good team, they were top 30 in the RPI before yesterday, but I don’t know where there at today, but these guys are pretty good.
Update on Amir Coffey
"He’s good to go. Practiced yesterday, feels good, (and) says that he’s at 100 percent, so he’s good."
You talked about that injury, obvious being lingering but can play through those things.
"Yeah, I think the biggest thing is to get him to communicate. When you’re young, they don’t understand that I’m not a believer in fighting through it. No, I want you healthy. I want you at 100 percent. So, if you are dinged up at all just communicate with us. As long were all on the same page, hey you need some time off, we’ll give you time off. We have a good group with that, guys aren’t eager to get out of practice. So, Amir has been very mature about it and he’s been good, so just communicate with us and we’ll be good."
Dupree has his best with Amir out of the lineup. With Amir returning, do expect his role changing at all?
"No, I don’t. The whole role thing, I don’t know what that means? If you have the ball, do something good with it. When you’re on defense, play defense. I don’t necessarily think roles change; I think all five guys’ roles on the court are to be a threat offensively, (so) no I don’t. We need him to score; Dupree has the natural ability to score. A lot of those guys do. Nate, Amir, talked with the bigs a lot about, we need to get production out of you from a low post offense standpoint. We have pretty good balanced scoring so everybody needs to be ready to make a play. "
How much Dupree has played better compared to last December?
"Much better, much more confident. When we recruited him, I was probably the only one last year who kept saying Dupree is going to be a good player and everyone just looked at me funny. He hasn’t arrived, but he had a young body frame, the whole deal, and I just thought once he got confident, he’ll be able to do it. He was thrown into the fire last year, where this year he’s extremely confident, extremely confident in a good way. And, he’s got game, he grown up playing, he got some abilities with long arms and length to go by people and kind of change in mid-air, very good passer as well, so I think he’s definitely an improved player by far."
You mention that Dupree put some weight this season, how important is it in terms of field goal percentage?
"It’s going to keep getting better. He probably put on 20 to 25 pounds since he’s been here; next year is going to be a huge year from offseason standpoint. But I think it gives him the confidence to physically be able to bang, and obviously once the Big Ten starts it changes even more from a physicality standpoint because every game is so physical. So, it will interesting to see how he does there, but putting on weight gives him confidence and putting hours in the gym has given him confidence as well. "
With the football situation, are there teachable moments, does that come up during team meetings?
"Yeah, obviously it’s a big story, (and) there always teachable moments, when you have so many sports teams, everything that goes on here their so many teachable moments. I’ve haven’t gotten to all the details of that but getting everybody to understand that every action that you do affects all of us. And, obviously, we learned that last year, the hard way. And, I’m sure football is learning that as well. So, the biggest thing is whenever you’re going through that stuff, you got to stick together and you got to understand that your actions away from everything is going to affect everybody. So yeah, we’ve learned from it, we learn it the hard way last year and it’s a challenge and you got to educate your guys as much as possible."
Dupree McBrayer
How do you guys make sure you don’t drift ahead of Tuesday’s game against Michigan State, making sure that the focus is on tomorrow night?
"Just take it day by day. We look past any other team, we have a good Arkansas State team coming in (Friday) so we try not look past them."
You’re coach mention you put some weight on this season, how important it is to improve your game?
"It’s improved my game in going to the basket and finishing with (the) contact; taking the bumps and so that’s really helped."
What other aspects of your game do you need to improve upon during the summer?
"A lot of shooting, a lot of ball-handling, being able to go both ends, try to finish with my right hand a little more. Just a little bit of everything and not trying to be one-dimensional."
Is there a general excitement on this team heading into the 18 game Big Ten schedule?
“Like I said before just taking it by a game to game (and) were not really worried. After Arkansas state, that’s when we’ll prepare for Michigan State.”
Do you feel that this team is ready for the grind of the Big Ten?
"Definitely, I think we’re ready to make some noise."
What are you the most excited with the way you guys are playing this season?
“Everybody is unselfish, everybody is sharing the ball, everybody wants to see one another do good and were sharing each other’s success. You look at the guys on the bench, you look at the guys on the floor when somebody scores were yelling our lungs out for them and that’s the most important part.”
Does your mindset of scoring change with Amir returning to the lineup?
“No, because Amir is unselfish, so it kind of the same way. Coach wants me and Nate to be a bit more aggressive, Amir likes to pass but we want to see Amir be a little more aggressive.”
Do you look at yourself as a leader on the court?
"I show glimpses but I don’t see myself as a vocal leader. I see myself as an action leader, (just) go out there and try to take action. Nate, Akeem, and Murphy, those are the guys who are more vocal but I try to take a little more action."
Jordan Murphy
We just with your teammate Dupree McBrayer about keeping your confidence heading into the Big Ten schedule. What the key in keeping that confidence heading into tomorrow night against Arkansas State and not look ahead to Tuesday night?
“We’ve been talking to our guys about this, staying focused on this game. It’s a really good were going against tomorrow night, top 30 in RPI so I think we understand the magnitude of this game but keeping the back of our minds that this part of the season is right ahead and we need to keep preparing for it."
Is there an overall excitement heading into the Big Ten schedule?
"I think so; some of the guys are excited and looking forward. But again, we still have to take care of business tomorrow so most of the guys already know that."
Do you look at this game tomorrow night as tune up or any other game heading into the Big Ten schedule?
“We don’t think of it as any other game but we know that we have to pick up our energy, keep working hard and (maybe) work even harder than before, it just things like.”
Can you Dupree’s game from last season to this season?
“I think he’s matured a lot from that aspect. What shots to take and what shots are better for him, he’s making himself look good right now and our frontcourt is looking really good. I’m really proud of those guys for maturing, hitting shots and just being big for us down the stretch.”
Do you think the size he’s put on will help in Big Ten play?
“Oh for sure, he’s gained like 20 pounds since he got here and I think that will definitely help come the Big Ten season.”
Just the general vibe with all of smiles compared to last season’s non-conference slump. Is it just night and day?
“It is night and day. Guys are just having fun, everyone is smiling, everyone is having a good time playing with each other, we really have a good chemistry and I feel like were just bonding really well.”