On Hunter Dickinson's Outing

Hunter played a lot of minutes today. 39 minutes. That's a lot so give him credit. From start-to-finish, he was ready to compete. In the second half, his defensive intensity and his disposition was a lot different compared to the first half. That really keyed our victory for us. Having the big fella on both ends of the floor made us a better ball club.

On The Defensive Pressure Through Full Court Press

Our defense really helped us to victory because if you look at San Diego State, the make up of their roster from top-to-bottom, they have competitors. I knew that this was going to be a big game for us by taking on the challenge. But overall as a team, we had to come out with that defensive intensity and ask, how can we slow themselves down? That was my mindset coming in because if you just play one-on-one, they were going to take full advantage of that. They wanted to make shots. They wanted to make shots off drives. They wanted to make shots by kicking it out to shooters. I felt we needed to put the pressure on them from the start, and in the second half, that was one of the adjustments I made.

On Moussa Diabate's Health

He has an illness, man. Unfortunately, on our campus, a lot of our student athletes as well as our students in general have been sick from some catching the flu bug. I'm not saying that's what he has but I knew his temperature was a little high coming in. You know, he's such a competitor and he wanted to be out there with his teammates and he tried the first seven minutes of the ball game. When he said he couldn't go in the second half, you knew that there was something wrong and I just hope he gets better soon.

On Frankie Collins' Impact Off The Bench

That was huge. I'm sure you guys have heard me say this before but you have to stay ready in order to be ready. Frankie has been always in the right place at practice, always asking questions. His eyes get big whenever I or any other staff member speaks and when we teach anything offensively or defensively. He's willing to learn and has been waiting for his turn and he's going to get better. He's going to make mistakes just like we all do but it was nice to see that he came with that fight to provide that spark when we needed him.

On Coaching Against Brian Dutcher

It was great. Dutch is family to me and Dutch is one of the reasons why I chose Michigan. Everything that he sold me on about Michigan was true. He said back then that Michigan was going to change my life and was going to be the family you're looking for that you're missing back home. He also said that I was going to get a great education and made sure that I would get that degree. I look back on all the years that I shared with Chris (Webber), Jalen (Rose), Jimmy (King), Ray (Jackson), and others and if it wasn't for coach Dutcher then I wouldn't have had that University of Michigan in my blood. I thank him for that and see now that I had an opportunity to coach (against him) on the sidelines and when I looked down at times, said how surreal it is. Never thought that we'd get out and coach against one another.

On Hunter Dickinson Hitting 3-Point Shots

Hunter has been working at practice on all parts of his game. The opportunity was there and he just took full advantage of it. It just shows that he's taking steps forward.

On Caleb Houstan's Aggressive Attitude Offensively

Caleb has been doing great. I know a lot has been said about him making shots but Caleb is a young guy who's a freshman and a lot has been asked in his role. But he's embraced it in a tumultuous season. What's been beautiful about working with Caleb is that he's never came into a game keen on making shots. He's going to impact the game in more ways than just on the offensive end. Defensively, his intensity was there.

On Preaching A Game Where Defense Turns Into Offense

I've always been preaching to our guys that if you're open, then let it fly. Just shoot it. Let's not have a compound mistake where you go down on the other end where you think about your offense when you have defense to play. If you get that same shot again, take it. With that, we'll live with those results.

On Shooting With Confidence After A Loss

You always go back to the lab and the lab is practice to see how you come in with a solution-based type of attitude. The group that we have, and it starts with the coaches, as well as the support staff, and then players. We help bring the energy with a positive mindset with how we can come up with a solution to help. Yes, it's easy to come here after losing the way we lost in Chapel Hill and start with bad body language, pointing the fingers at everyone, yelling at the top of your lungs. That's one of the things that I've focused on is never coming in with that type of approach because that tone is never going to get you anywhere. They know what they did and unfortunately it wasn't Michigan basketball. But there's ways on how to fix it by coming to practice, walk through it, drill it, watch it on film, and see what we can improve on.

On Frankie Collins Bringing A Different Pace

“With his quickness, his toughness, and his energy, it definitely ignited us today. It’s beautiful to see a young guy growing game after game. He’s special in a lot of ways. I wish you guys could get a chance to see him each and everyday like me and the staff have had the luxury of. Seeing a young man come in with a smile on his face, taking ownership with things he feels he can improve on... how he can help serve the team. His smile is so infectious, I said to him ‘If you ever come in without a smile now, then something’s wrong with you, it’s time for us to talk.’”

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