From The Locker Room
12/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
MICHIGAN STATE VS. FLORIDA
December 6, 2000
Breslin Center
Coaches Quotes
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo: "Well, I'll tell you it was a good game. Too bad you know, I feel for Billy, losing his best player. It was a physical game and you know I think that's going to happen this year, but I thought it was two very evenly matched teams. I still am very impressed with Florida. I must admit, I was impressed with our guys the way they hung there, the way they battled with Hutson as sick as he was or as weak as he was and after what we went through in practice I thought our guys did a pretty good job."
"You know for the first time all year, we got our running game going. We started to attack that press and not set up for it and that was probably my fault in the first half. I just felt we needed to feel our way through it and once we got running I think Charlie runs that right lane so well and we can see why Zach's got to keep running like that. When he runs, that guy can get up and down the court better than people think. He's got the greatest hands. There were a lot of guys who played well. For a true freshman Marcus made some incredible passes. They deserved what they got tonight."
"I still think there are a couple other guys like of course Charlie and David Thomas did a great job. Jason Andreas came off the bench and gave us a couple minutes when we really need them, got two steals. It's hard to complain about how we played because I think we did a lot of things well."
Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan: "Coming into the game we felt we had to do three things in order to be successful here. The first, was being able to get back in transition, which we did a very, very poor job in, especially in the first half, they beat us up the floor and got some easy buckets in transition. The next thing, we felt we needed to do was rebound the ball because they (MSU) were out-rebounding their opponents at this time by a little more than 22 a game. The third thing was not foul and bottom line we didn't do any of those things well enough in order to put ourselves in a position to win."
"I thought for them, both of their freshman were phenomenal, Randolph and Taylor played terrific games. I felt like Charlie Bell in the first half really settled them down when we took the lead and they were able to go into the half up eight points. They are a very, very good basketball team. I think our team certainly has a lot of learning and growing up to do and certainly we are not the same team without Udonis Haslem on the floor. If we are only able to get 13 minutes out of him it is going to be a very, very long night for us. I was proud that our guys competed and hung around."
"We did not have anything for them (MSU) we could not guard them man or zone."
MICHIGAN STATE VS. FLORIDA
December 6, 2000
Breslin Center
Player Quotes
Michigan State guard Marcus Taylor: "We came out with a lot of intensity and Florida matched it. Florida is a quality basketball team and we were fortunate to pick up a win tonight.
"The transition from high school hasn't been easy. This first month of the season, I've spent learning the system. We run a lot of plays and it has taken me some time to become comfortable. It's very demanding to play point guard at Michigan State because you are expected to do the job on both ends of the floor.
"Zach Randolph is like a brother to me. We met several years ago and we spend a lot of time together. He's a good, young post player. He has so many moves around the basket and a great touch."
Michigan State forward Zach Randolph: "I've really had to be patient this first month of the season. I knew my time would come. I played a pretty solid all-around game. I was pleased with the way I played on the defensive end of the floor because Florida has several talented post players. People want to give the freshmen credit for tonight's win but Marcus and I got plenty of support. Everybody contributed to this win. Florida is a tough team.
"Marcus Taylor is my man. We've developed a strong relationship. We enjoy spending time together in the arena and away from the game as well."