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Feb. 21, 2015
Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Feb. 21, 2015
Kohl Center - Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin Player Postgame Quotes
Bronson Koenig
On if there was any hesitation for his shooting game today:
"No, not at all. To be honest, my shots felt pretty good at Penn State too… they just weren't falling for me. I just tried to come in this game with the same mindset as every game, and just shoot when I'm open pretty much. Luckily, a couple of them were falling, but I was pretty disappointed with a couple of times that I could have finished at the rim."
On limiting turnovers today:
"I thought we did an okay job of slowing down a little bit and not letting their pressure get to us. Using ball-fakes, shot-fakes, stuff like that. I thought we did a good job of handling the pressure on the press and making them go back and play man-to-man. I thought we did a good job of making them play half court. I don't think we did as good of a job, me personally as well, of handling the ball."
Josh Gasser
On the month of February as a 'grinding' month:
"You said it. February is a grind. Once you get to the middle and the end of the Big Ten season, every game is tough and physical… you're traveling throughout the week… playing multiple games throughout the week. I think we're playing okay. We still haven't put together a full 40 minutes of good basketball, but it's hard to do in this league. We're obviously happy with the way we're playing because we're coming out with wins, but we still have to get better if we want to get what we want. We're never really satisfied."
On his 1,000-point milestone:
"It's nice. We got the win. I know it's cliché, but it's not really something that I'm thinking about at all. We have bigger things to worry about. I know Frank (Kaminsky) and Sam (Dekker) felt the same way when they got theirs. It's great, in a month or two, when my career is over, and I can look back at everything that's been going on and I'll be proud of it. But right now, we've got bigger fish to fry."
On their defensive strides in the past few games:
"We did a pretty good job today. I haven't quite looked at the numbers yet, but we did a better job in the leading scorer, as opposed to last game. We're getting better… we're definitely getting better. It's still about putting a 40-minute effort in. We still had a couple turnovers that were easy buckets for them and gave them a couple things too easily. But overall, I'm satisfied."
On the support of the Wisconsin fans:
"It makes you feel good. We have such a great fan base here… such great support to have your friends and everyone around Wisconsin in general. I love playing here, I love playing for these fans. It makes you want to work hard and play well for them. Every game is sold out, every game they come and support us, and that's what's fun about it. Getting that type of ovation when you do something well, it definitely makes you feel good."
On what it was like to defend Andre Hollins:
"It starts with the scouting report. I felt prepared in what he was going to do and what they were looking for offensively. Especially the first half, I felt like I was one step ahead and knew what was coming and what to look for. Chasing those screens on him… it's tough, it's not an easy task, but I was locked in and obviously your teammates help the situation. I was trying to do my best on him. Tonight he just missed some shots… he's a really good player. Some nights those shots might go in, but fortunately tonight they didn't."
On the difference between defending really well versus the opponents' shots just falling:
"It depends on the game definitely. A lot of it's effort… you can tell when you put effort in, usually good things happen for you. When I'm covering those guys, it's not just me at all. I try to force guys to like Frank (Kaminsky), who's a 7-footer, always in the right position, making great moves defensively and being tough on them. It's definitely a full team effort. I think today, the shots were really tough. It's one of those games where we did a good job on them. In games past, guys miss, but I'm pretty happy with the way it went."
Frank Kaminsky
On if he's looking forward to the challenges that their last few games will present:
"It'll be a good test for us. Where we are going into the tournament time, we're playing probably the toughest part of our schedule in the Big Ten coming up. We're excited for the challenge, and we're going to do whatever we can to come out on top."
On how nice it is to see Nigel Hayes be so aggressive on the glass lately:
"Nigel (Hayes) is getting on the glass and he's making things happen. That Penn State game, he really got on the offensive glass. Today, he had some lucky tip-ins, but he was definitely getting there when he got a chance to get the ball, so he's putting himself in the right positions."
On if there was any point in the second half that they didn't feel comfortable or in control:
"No, we felt in control pretty much the whole second half. We knew they were trying to catch us the whole time, and we were getting some easy buckets and scoring and running some clock on offense. It was just one of those games where we got the lead and we never looked back and tried to grind it out from there."
On if the scouting report told them that their shot-fakes and ball-fakes would work:
"Well Coach Ryan always harps on pump-faking. Regardless of who we're playing, it's just one of those things where if you pump-fake and get yourself in an advantageous position, it's better for our team. I was just able to shot-fake and they jumped so I just went around them and got some easy stuff… nothing special."
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement:
"Certainty, we lost to a really good team. That's about as good of a team in the country. They do a great job of not beating themselves, of not fouling and not turning the ball over. I thought our guys gave great energy today. I thought we were very positive and we didn't get down. We just lost to a really good team. I'm not discouraged with our effort. I thought it was pretty good. It's tough to win offensively. DeAndre Mathieu just didn't have it going. I thought there were some guys who did some good things. We learn from it and we move on to another tough game."
On the difficultly of trying to come back against Wisconsin:
"We cut it to eight or nine (points) and then Bakary Konate - we pressed. Bakary gave up four points on Frank Kaminsky. What was really tough was the way we started the second half. [We fell] down and [threw] the ball out of bounds twice and I didn't get the feeling that the guys were nervous, (but) we did that in the Michigan game doing wacky turnovers. As a coach, you tell them don't fall down, but that's why Coach (Bo) Ryan has won for so long. When you're a coach, you get frustrated with fouls and turnovers. They don't do it and that's why they win."
On how tough it is to game plan against Frank Kaminsky:
"He is one of the best player's in the country. He's a top-five pick and they put you in so many binds offensively. You trap down and he's so big he will pass over you. You help off of him and he will knock down the three. The guy's a pro. He's a lottery pick. It's very hard to guard lottery picks. He's a great player."
