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This is an environment where you have to come in and be focused.
Dan Monson -
I think we've got a little bit of an identity right now that we didn't have in the beginning of the season. Back then, we didn't know how to win. I think we have guys right now that understand what they need to do. Now we have some semblance of a team. It took a while for our guys to figure it out. That put us in a whole, but we're better now.
Dan Monson
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That was the first time any of us saw Vince back. His timing and his energy and his confidence were back. We went into this year knowing we were going to have to ride him, but he was kind of a broken horse.
Dan Monson -
They came in and got into an offensive rhythm. Games like these aren't won or lost at the end against great teams. You can't let a team go on a run and expect to win.
Dan Monson -
We think we're better, but we have to go out and prove it here.
Dan Monson -
For having four guards out in a game that you need guards to make decisions, I thought Adam Boone did a great job on the one-man press break. I was proud of our guys, taking the game plan and implementing it. It wasn't for as long as I wanted, but at least coach Williams had to break a sweat for a while.
Dan Monson -
We've got to go win basketball games right now to try to create who we want to be. And I think we're close.
Dan Monson -
Players come and go, but kids learn how to win and they pass that down to the bench. Until somebody defeats Wisconsin, Illinois or Michigan State I don't think you can say that team is better because they've never proven it.
Dan Monson
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We're a different team when he's playing like that.
Dan Monson -
He lost some timing when he got hurt. Our defense is not going to be able to create for him as much as it did last year. He gets a lot of his baskets in the open court, and we're not going to be able to get that for him as much this year.
Dan Monson -
We had enough offense to win this basketball game. We just didn't have enough defense.
Dan Monson -
Our defense has been feeding off effort and attitude. We had three guys on the same page before, but not five.
Dan Monson -
They've had different paths to travel. As they try to create a legacy, I'm hoping they can build off this last month... . Obviously the month of January kind of skewed some things. But that doesn't mean the end of February and March can't change all that.
Dan Monson -
I think 8-8 (in the Big Ten) would get you in. We would have to go 7-2, which is extremely difficult. One game doesn't fix you. Can we go out and duplicate that nine more times?
Dan Monson
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When you have a chance on the road, and we had many, you've got to finish it. Right now, (we're) a team that didn't take it by the throat and finish it when they had an opportunity.
Dan Monson -
For whatever reason we were obviously in some foul trouble. I don't want to talk about the fouls anymore.
Dan Monson -
We got caught in the middle a lot, and those guys made us pay.
Dan Monson -
We have to get some shots to go in. We haven't shot 40 percent yet in five league games. That's pretty difficult to weather.
Dan Monson -
It was a one-play game, four or five different times, and we just didn't get it done. We just need to get some wins to build some confidence. Our guys are just really hurting right now.
Dan Monson -
We had to go with a lot of different lineups and had a lot of different issues because, for whatever reason, we were obviously in some foul trouble.
Dan Monson
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We have to base the decision on what's best in the long term. I think he's a big part of the future of this program. I think he's a really good player and a very multi-dimensional player.
Dan Monson -
I don't know if we have to win the Big Ten tournament, but that probably depends on who we play and how far we go. We have to worry about Saturday first.
Dan Monson -
We scheduled success in 2004-05. We came out of that believing in ourselves after winning 10 in a row in the non-conference. Any Minnesota team should have won those 10 games, but it didn't come easily.
Dan Monson -
We need to play a little better, especially on the defensive end. They came in and got into an offensive rhythm.
Dan Monson