Post game notes: Pitino on Nate Mason's injury, not playing D, lacking depth

Here you go - not verbatim as always, but the general points:

Kermit Davis:
• Our team, we're a loose team, we have a lot of fun, but when you blow the whistle they are focused. There was no doubt in their mind that they were going to win the game.
• Do you think this was an upset? I don't think so, we have a lot of respect for MN, but our record speaks for itself. It was a pick'em game, I don't think our players think it's an upset by any means.
• We're a good rebounding team, it's an emphasis every time we play. The changing of defenses, it gets people sometimes. Some teams don't get in a good rhythm of offense that way.
• We're totally different than we were last year, and we were a good team last year. I took this program over 15 years ago, and my biggest goal was for this program to be like Butler. I have a ton of respect for their program. It's going to be a heck of a basketball game.
Reggie Upshaw
• Reggie Lynch in person - reminded me of our center when I was a freshman. The 1-3-1 was probably the reason we won today, it threw off their guards, it threw off Mason and he wasn't able to get in the paint and make plays for others.
• We knew if we played our game, we'd be able to walk away with the win.
JaCorey Williams
• Reggie Lynch started the game off with a great impact for the team, changed the game a bit, but when we went to the 1-3-1, that was kind of our bread and butter.

Richard Pitino:
• Give credit to MTSU, they were the better team tonight, they played extremely well. When Nate got banged up, he tried to tough it out, they got to sub and go to their bench. We cut it to 4, give them credit, we couldn’t stop them. We talked about defending and rebounding, we couldn't do either one.
• Take aways - They didn't seem effected by anything, it didn't feel a whole lot different, just the timeouts were longer, their approach was good. They ran out of gas, Nate was hurt, probably give you a little more confidence. I didn't feel like we were nervous, we just couldn’t get stops
• On Nate - He hurt his hip, I don't know when he did it, he was trying to fight through it. I thought we were attacking it pretty well in the 2nd half, we just couldn't get stops. I didn't necessarily have a problem with the offense, I had a problem with the defense. When you can't sub, it's really really hard, he needed a break.
• MTSU did a good job blocking out, they were being physical with our guys, they're a big strong physical team. They kept subbing and subbing and getting sharper
• I will - now with time, I told our guys - this tournament is tough, you do some unbelievable things over 33 games, and to flip it like we did, they deserve a lot of credit. They raised the expectation so quickly. DaVonte will be back. I looked down yesterday in practice - it will be nice going in there with some depth.
• Reggie had some silly fouls, Upshaw is just a talented players, there are a lot of teams in the Big 10
• I don't think it's serious, but I don't know…got a lot of time to recover. I expect him to play in October.
• I yelled at the ref and he gave me a technical. I deserved it.


Jordan Murphy:
• Is this a #12 seed - I don't know how they determine seeding to be honest. They're a really good team.
• Foul trouble - it affected us a lot, Reggie got 2 early ones, Eric got 2 early ones, I think I got 4. That kind of affected us.
• Akeem is one of our big leaders, he's a good shooter, it's going to affect us in some way, we tried our best without him.
• Take aways - just the whole environment, it's a pretty high intensity game. It's a different type of year. I'm going to take away a lot from this whole experience
•

Amir Coffey:
• On defenses - it kind of slows you down at 1st, so you have to make a play pretty quick
• On 4 O -boards - they boxed out well, they keyed in on that
• When within 4 - excitement, made a little bit of a comeback, tried to take it back and get the lead, but we just didn't get there

If Pitino is going to blame depth for this performance, he has the off season to change that. The Diedhiou and Gilbert scholarships are sitting there. You absolutely cannot count on Fitzgerald next year coming off his second ACL surgery especially when it happened in the Fall.

I thought something seemed to be up with Nate beside a poor game.
Thanks for the write up, as always.
I guess I'm glad to have the opportunity to be crushed by a loss in the tourney. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel that way...

EG#9 said:

If Pitino is going to blame depth for this performance, he has the off season to change that. The Diedhiou and Gilbert scholarships are sitting there. You absolutely cannot count on Fitzgerald next year coming off his second ACL surgery especially when it happened in the Fall.

Click to expand...

What exactly are you suggesting he do? If those guys are working hard and not doing anything wrong other than not being very talented players, I don't think he should run them off.

underground629 said:

What exactly are you suggesting he do? If those guys are working hard and not doing anything wrong other than not being very talented players, I don't think he should run them off.

Click to expand...

Agreed. If they are good supporting teammates, work hard in practice, behave themselves off the court and get quality grades, they should remain part of the team, period.

Thanks GL. I too thought Nate was limping which must have affected his overall game.

underground629 said:

What exactly are you suggesting he do? If those guys are working hard and not doing anything wrong other than not being very talented players, I don't think he should run them off.

Click to expand...

This. I do hope one/both of them transfer for their own benefit because they're not going to play next year. But you can't just run them off.

EG#9 said:

If Pitino is going to blame depth for this performance, he has the off season to change that. The Diedhiou and Gilbert scholarships are sitting there. You absolutely cannot count on Fitzgerald next year coming off his second ACL surgery especially when it happened in the Fall.

Click to expand...

Diedhiou can't transfer that easily, think about it, as soon as he is no longer enrolled his Visa expires, on the last day of finals he would no longer be in this country legally, for him to transfer he would already have to have a school and be enrolling pretty quickly, you can't say it isn't looked at that closely anymore.

Coaches "run off" guys all the time. Fran McCaffery has ran off more than than one guy a year for the past couple years. Hoiberg at Iowa State ran guys off regularly. Both coaches actually ran off JUCO's during/after their first year in the program! The practice of running guys off has been commonplace in major college basketball for as long as I can remember. Tubby and Monson both ran guys off (Kerry Woolridge anyone?). I can't believe suggesting Pitino could/should find a better use for the Gilbert/Diedhiou scholarships would be a controversial opinion. He's complaining about depth...he's got two guys on scholarship he won't play.

EG#9 said:

Coaches "run off" guys all the time. Fran McCaffery has ran off more than than one guy a year for the past couple years. Hoiberg at Iowa State ran guys off regularly. Both coaches actually ran off JUCO's during/after their first year in the program! The practice of running guys off has been commonplace in major college basketball for as long as I can remember. Tubby and Monson both ran guys off (Kerry Woolridge anyone?). I can't believe suggesting Pitino could/should find a better use for the Gilbert/Diedhiou scholarships would be a controversial opinion. He's complaining about depth...he's got two guys on scholarship he won't play.

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Here's the official transcript:

Richard Pitino
Amir Coffey
Jordan Murphy
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Middle Tennessee - 81, Minnesota - 72
THE MODERATOR: Joined by Minnesota studentathletes,
Amir Coffey, Jordan Murphy, and Head
Coach, Richard Pitino.
If I can ask Coach to make an opening statement, and
then we'll have questions for the student-athletes,
please.
COACH PITINO: Well, give credit to Middle Tennessee.
They were the better team tonight. They played
extremely well. I thought that, you know, when Nate
got banged up, tried to tough it out in the second half,
they were able to keep subbing and go to their bench.
And obviously that got to us. We were not very deep
late in the season and that caught up to us. They -- we
cut it to 4, and I think Upshaw made a big play, hit a 3.
That really hurt us. Give them credit. We couldn't stop
them.
We talked about defending and rebounding. We didn't
really do either one. So, you know, Kermit does an
awesome job. That doesn't surprise me. They're a
really good team.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Questions for the
student-athletes, please.
Q. Either one of you guys, did you expect them to
be changing defenses? You knew about their 1-3-
1. What kind of problems did it present as far as --
AMIR COFFEY: Yeah. We kind of went over those
defenses in all the walk-thrus and practices that we
had, and, you know, the things with those defenses
kind of gets you late in the shot clock, kind of slows you
down at first. You have to make a play pretty quick.
Q. Your team only had 4 offensive rebounds. What
do you think led to that?
AMIR COFFEY: Out rebounded us. They boxed out
and took that away from us. That's usually something
that we're good at. They keyed in on it.
Q. You guys played night-in-night-out against big
physical teams. Is this a No. 12 seed in your mind?
THE MODERATOR: Jordan, take this one.
JORDAN MURPHY: All in all, they determine seeding.
Whether they're a 12 seed or any number of seed, I
don't really know how to answer that question. So, I
mean, they're a really good team to their credit, so, I
mean, I really don't know.
Q. Jordan, how much do you think foul trouble
impacted the play of your forwards?
JORDAN MURPHY: I think foul trouble affected us a
lot. Reggie got two early ones. Eric got two early
ones, if I'm not mistaken. May have made us a little bit
less aggressive going down the stretch. So it really
hurt us. Got 4 in the second half late. That kind of
affected us as well.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the studentathletes?
Q. How big an impact was it that Akeem wasn't
able to play again for you guys on and off the
court?
JORDAN MURPHY: Akeem is one much our main
leaders, so of course it's going to leave a big impact,
volume shooter. I think he's a good 3-point shooter.
It's going to affect us in some way. Other guys have to
step up. I mean, we tried our best without him so,
yeah.
Q. What was the feeling on the bench after you
guys brought it within 4 late?
AMIR COFFEY: We made a little bit of a comeback
and just didn't get over the hump. But, you know, when
we were in that comeback, we were excited trying to
get over the hump, trying to get it up and take the lead
but just didn't get there.
Q. Richard, you got a young team --
THE MODERATOR: Ask for the student-athletes. He'll
take questions in a moment.
Q. Sorry. Amir, Jordan, what do you two hope to
take away from this experience or what do you plan
to take away from this experience?
JORDAN MURPHY: Just the whole environment, I
Rev #1 by #274 at 2017-03-16 23:23:00 GMT page 1 of 3
guess. I mean, this is a pretty high intensity game. We
played in games like this before. It's a different time of
year, teams are going to give you the best shot no
matter what. I'll take away that. Our guys will take
away a whole lot from this experience.
AMIR COFFEY: This time of year seeding doesn't
really matter. Every good team makes the tournament.
You have to play hard no matter what seed you're
playing or who you're playing.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the studentathletes?
Thanks, guys, you're released.
Questions for the Coach, please.
Q. Same question for you Richard, lot of guys
coming back, lot of guys that come out for the first
time in the tournament. What do you hope they
take away from all this?
COACH PITINO: You know, I don't -- they didn't seem
affected by anything. None of it really felt a whole lot
different. These guys played in a lot of games. The
only thing that felt different were the timeouts were
longer. Other than that, their approach was good. You
know, we just kind of ran out of gas. When Nate
started -- he was hurt and couldn't sub guys out. That
was very, very difficult. So, probably give you a little bit
more confidence that you were there, you know, and
you just know how to deal with things.
But I didn't really feel like we were nervous. I thought
we were ready to go at the beginning of the game. We
just couldn't get stops.
Q. Richard, what was Nate's injury there, and also
do you feel like their matchup affected him in any
way that early?
COACH PITINO: You know, he hurt his hip. I don't
know when he did it, but it was in the second half. He
was trying to fight through it, you know, as best he
could. The defense, their defense? I thought we were
attacking it pretty good. Shot 54 percent in the second
half, which we couldn't get stops. I mean, you let them
shoot 48 percent, you give up 81 points, I didn't
necessarily have a problem with the offense, I had a
much bigger problem with the defense and the
rebounding. I kind of liked the way we were attacking it
for the most part.
You know, Nate had a couple turnovers, obviously, but
again, when you can't sub, really, really hard because
he needed a break.
Q. Coach, could you follow-up that rebounding
question? What did Middle Tennessee do that kept
you guys away from getting your rebounds?
COACH PITINO: They did a good job of blocking out.
Give them credit. They were really blocking out well,
being physical with our guys. You know, some of it is
probably on us, sticking in the backs a little too much.
They're a big, strong, physical team. We were getting
tired and they were -- they kept subbing and subbing
and getting sharper as the game went on. It's not the
ending you want.
Q. Are you able to put this into perspective yet,
given the turnaround you had overall this season?
COACH PITINO: I will, you know. Obviously, I will.
Now probably -- now isn't the time. I told our guys after
the game, listen, this tournament is tough because, you
know, you sit there for five months or whatever and you
do some unbelievable things over 33 games. To flip it
like we did, our players deserve a lot of credit to be
able to do that.
I know that now going into next year -- you know, they
raised the expectations so quickly. And next year it's
going to be even more, obviously when you have
almost everybody back and you got some exciting
recruits coming in. Davonte will be back.
I looked down yesterday during practice and I said I
looked at Jarvis, Davonte, and Akeem, wow, it will be
nice going in there with that depth. Obviously, that will
help. I've been in some tournaments before. I kind of
know the way it works. Our guys won't feel that way.
But I think in a couple days they'll be very proud of the
way it is. They won't feel it now, but eventually.
Q. With the interchangeability of their two bigs with
JaCorey and Reggie being able to play from the
outside and moving in, is that difficult to replicate
in terms of the flow of their offense versus a
traditional team where the guys tend to stay more
down in the blocks?
COACH PITINO: It's a tough cover. We put our 3-man
on JaCorey Williams, you know, this week because you
don't have anybody who can really simulate it. I
thought Reggie was bothering him at the beginning
and some silly fouls. UpShaw, he's a talented player.
There's a lot of guys at our level in the Big Ten that
want a guy like that. They're able to make plays and
Upshaw was able to do that.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach?
Q. I know it's early, but back to Nate Mason. Do
you think that's any kind of serious injury or could
it be lagging or just got banged up a little bit?
COACH PITINO: I have no idea. I don't think it's
serious, but I don't know. He's got plenty of time to
recover. I know that. I expect him back next October,
but I don't know. I'm not sure.

Locker Room Notes:
Guard Nate Mason, Junior:
On trying to find a rhythm…
“We were getting good looks, but just missing shots. Even in the second half, we got great looks, but just didn’t get as
many shots as we were supposed to.”
On making a run in the second half…
“It was very encouraging. We felt like we could win the game after that, but the outcome was different.”
On the takeaways of their loss…
“It’s just motivation for next year. This is going to sting right now, but we know this is going to help us out next year. Just
add that on our shoulder.”
Forward Reggie Lynch, Junior:
On Middle Tennessee’s defensive performance…
“This team is very good at making the clock run out on offense for us and they got to the boards better than us.”
On facing a six-point deficit at halftime…
“We stayed confident throughout the game and we made our two runs to cut it close again and we felt that we could break
through, but they made a couple big shots and it got away from us.”
On the team’s performance this season…
“We don’t believe in moral victories, but honestly I’m so proud of this team and this is probably one of the most historical
Gopher teams. It’s obvious that this team made a huge improvement over the season.”
On the confidence going in to next season…
“If you have a team that’s picked 13th in the preseason and ended up 4th, there has to be some recognition that the team
has improved. With one of our key players, Devonta Fitzgerald, out and still getting the 4 seed in our conference, and with
him coming back next year, we have a lot of confidence that we will be a great team.”

I think Gilbert has more talent than some are crediting him for.

EG#9 said:

Coaches "run off" guys all the time. Fran McCaffery has ran off more than than one guy a year for the past couple years. Hoiberg at Iowa State ran guys off regularly. Both coaches actually ran off JUCO's during/after their first year in the program! The practice of running guys off has been commonplace in major college basketball for as long as I can remember. Tubby and Monson both ran guys off (Kerry Woolridge anyone?). I can't believe suggesting Pitino could/should find a better use for the Gilbert/Diedhiou scholarships would be a controversial opinion. He's complaining about depth...he's got two guys on scholarship he won't play.

Click to expand...

But would they "run off" someone in this political environment? As I understand it if Diedou is no longer on scholarship here, then his visa could be invalid and he could be considered an illegal immigrant. That's not the kind of tag you want to put on a kid in "Trump's America" just because you want to free up his scholarship.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

jovs said:

Diedhiou can't transfer that easily, think about it, as soon as he is no longer enrolled his Visa expires, on the last day of finals he would no longer be in this country legally, for him to transfer he would already have to have a school and be enrolling pretty quickly, you can't say it isn't looked at that closely anymore.

Click to expand...

It's easy enough to transfer as an international student. I work in international ed at a college and help students do it all the time. With that being said, he deserves to stay at the U and keep his scholarship. And really, at this point, I can't see him getting a full scholarship elsewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mchiller said:

And really, at this point, I can't see him getting a full scholarship elsewhere.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't see any team willing to tie up a scholarship for two years for one year of Diedhiou.

"Run off" doesn't have to be the term we use if it hurts people's feelings. How about "kindly nudged to a different situation"

College basketball is a business and while bootings kids out wouldn't be super savory, Gilbert and Diedou clearly aren't going to play here. They might play somewhere else. You don't have to get rid of one of them, but having two scholarship players who can't play hurts the team. People gotta stop having so many feelings.

And for the people who said we need an extra big, let today show that another wing/perimeter guy should be higher on the list of wants if we do go grad transfer shopping.

You can only play two bigs at once. You can play four guards if you really want to. But you absolutely need four playable ones if not five when you get deep into a season like this.

He shouldn't need to run anyone off to have depth next year. He'll have Fitz a senior, Gilbert a Junior and Hurt as a Sophomore. He'll have a senior and Junior starting guard and SHOULD be able to work the lineup to get solid minutes out of his Freshman guards.

The Dorsey transfer and the Johnson inneligble have hurt our backcourt depth just as the Konate and Gaston scholarships hurt our front court the last two years. It would be nice to have a JUCO or grad transfer to bring in as a guard next year as you don't want to have a 3 man rotation for two spots again.

EG#9 said:

Coaches "run off" guys all the time. Fran McCaffery has ran off more than than one guy a year for the past couple years. Hoiberg at Iowa State ran guys off regularly. Both coaches actually ran off JUCO's during/after their first year in the program! The practice of running guys off has been commonplace in major college basketball for as long as I can remember. Tubby and Monson both ran guys off (Kerry Woolridge anyone?). I can't believe suggesting Pitino could/should find a better use for the Gilbert/Diedhiou scholarships would be a controversial opinion. He's complaining about depth...he's got two guys on scholarship he won't play.

Click to expand...

I believe the NCAA recently made it a little more difficult to 'run off' guys if this website is accurate.

http://informedathlete.com/the-facts-about-guaranteed-multi-year-ncaa-di-scholarships/

The Facts About “Guaranteed” Multi-year NCAA DI Scholarships

Posted June 12, 2015
In our June newsletter, I wrote a brief paragraph about a new NCAA Division I rule that becomes effective this Fall and which has the effect of “protecting” Division I student-athletes from having their athletic scholarship cancelled or not renewed for any athletics reason.

Winasota Gopher said:

He shouldn't need to run anyone off to have depth next year. He'll have Fitz a senior, Gilbert a Junior and Hurt as a Sophomore. He'll have a senior and Junior starting guard and SHOULD be able to work the lineup to get solid minutes out of his Freshman guards.

The Dorsey transfer and the Johnson inneligble have hurt our backcourt depth just as the Konate and Gaston scholarships hurt our front court the last two years. It would be nice to have a JUCO or grad transfer to bring in as a guard next year as you don't want to have a 3 man rotation for two spots again.

Click to expand...

I'd be pretty shocked if we got many meaningful minutes out of Fitz. He'll be so far removed from basketball and barely a year off of his second ACL surgery.

Gold Vision said:

I'd be pretty shocked if we got many meaningful minutes out of Fitz. He'll be so far removed from basketball and barely a year off of his second ACL surgery.

Click to expand...

We don't need many, just like 5 - 10/game in all reality. Do you want Coffey playing less than 30 mpg?

mchiller said:

It's easy enough to transfer as an international student. I work in international ed at a college and help students do it all the time. With that being said, he deserves to stay at the U and keep his scholarship. And really, at this point, I can't see him getting a full scholarship elsewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

How about a D2 or NAIA school? He wouldn't have to sit out and his size would really mean something at some of those schools.

it's a double-edged sword. If you "run off" some kids, you run the risk of getting a reputation - which could impact future recruiting. Is it worth the short-term gain if there are long-term fallout?

barring injuries, the Gophs should be plenty deep next year. Bring back Fitzgerald, add the two FR, and I could see a real nice 8-9 player rotation. Here's a thought - do you redshirt Hurt next year? that way, if they can get the little brother, you could have the two of them play together for a couple of years. I think Hurt could benefit from a year of development and strength work.

Gold Vision said:

I'd be pretty shocked if we got many meaningful minutes out of Fitz. He'll be so far removed from basketball and barely a year off of his second ACL surgery.

Click to expand...

I was thinking that as well but the fact that Pitino mentioned him being back next year may indicate that he feels that he is healthy and will be able to contribute.

These are human beings you're talking about.

I've been a long time reader of this board. And clearly mason was not himself today. He had one drive to the basket and it hit the side of the backboard. No penetration from our pg really hurt today

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

short ornery norwegian said:

it's a double-edged sword. If you "run off" some kids, you run the risk of getting a reputation - which could impact future recruiting. Is it worth the short-term gain if there are long-term fallout?

barring injuries, the Gophs should be plenty deep next year. Bring back Fitzgerald, add the two FR, and I could see a real nice 8-9 player rotation. Here's a thought - do you redshirt Hurt next year? that way, if they can get the little brother, you could have the two of them play together for a couple of years. I think Hurt could benefit from a year of development and strength work.

Click to expand...

I think Gilbert will probably go-without being forced out. No playing time today again and Sharpe saw action. Gilbert is a good enough shooter to get serious playing time at a smaller school. If we can get a JUCO big- that would be ideal in my view. This team is ready to go on a big roll next year if they can find a solid backup for Lynch to go with Fitzgerald, Washington and Harris.

short ornery norwegian said:

it's a double-edged sword. If you "run off" some kids, you run the risk of getting a reputation - which could impact future recruiting. Is it worth the short-term gain if there are long-term fallout?

barring injuries, the Gophs should be plenty deep next year. Bring back Fitzgerald, add the two FR, and I could see a real nice 8-9 player rotation. Here's a thought - do you redshirt Hurt next year? that way, if they can get the little brother, you could have the two of them play together for a couple of years. I think Hurt could benefit from a year of development and strength work.

Click to expand...

I like the idea of redshirting Hurt if he's not ready to give us 15 solid minutes, assuming Fitzgerald is ready.

gopherchris said:

I've been a long time reader of this board. And clearly mason was not himself today. He had one drive to the basket and it hit the side of the backboard. No penetration from our pg really hurt today

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

A 1-3-1 does just that, Mason's bread n butter is inbetween the elbows, there are 4 people within 2 steps of the elbow in a 1-3-1. He needed to assert himself when they were missing, unfortunatley for about 16 minutes, they didn't miss.

I didn't mind Pitino's offensive gameplan. They showed they were going to switch on the weave so we should have gone away from that in man to man situations. HIs zone break, like usual, was pretty successful in getting open shots, we just didn't hit them. I think we were 3-13 in the first half from deep, that's not going to break a zone, doesn't matter what you do.

Defensively, our guards couldn't help out on the back side and get back to the shooters. Not sure why, we just had guys that didn't make the extra effort or didn't talk through the high ball screens. No Springs might explain SOME of that, scared might explain some of that, unprepared might explain some of that, tired legs might explain some of that.

Then, Mid Tenn hit a ton of shots. They didn't miss the open three's we did, they made the contested twos we didnt. They played better in a game that Vegas had pegged as a toss up.

Bad game to have a bad game.

bga1 said:

Gilbert is a good enough shooter to get serious playing time at a smaller school.

Click to expand...

No he's not, why does everyone keep saying that? He litterally shoots at a 30% clip, even worse from 3.

bga1 said:

I like the idea of redshirting Hurt if he's not ready to give us 15 solid minutes, assuming Fitzgerald is ready.

Click to expand...

Now thinking of it, maybe that was the plan before Fitz injury

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk