Michigan State University Athletics
Tom Izzo Tuesday Press Conference
3/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 27, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
"Well, I can't tell you how excited we are to get back to the Final Four. It's I think an incredible feat for this team. It's something we dreamed of, set a goal for. How realistic that was in the beginning of the year, I don't know. But it's here and we're going back. I think we have just as good a chance as anybody to win it, to be honest with you.
We are playing a team in Arizona that is playing as well as anybody in the country right now. They have won I think 19 out of their last 21 games. After some problems early, when everybody picked them as the number one team in the country and probably the most talented team in the country, they've bounced back from all the adversity and are playing that way. We know we are going to have our hands full.
In Duke and Maryland, we've gotten a chance to see Duke in person in the last couple of years. Maryland, we have not. But I think all three teams have great athletes, have very good defensive teams, have very good quickness and it's going to be a heck of a tournament. I think it's going to be one of the better team tournaments here in recent years.
We're healthy. We're going to practice today here for the first time and we took yesterday off. We've watched a ton of film on Arizona and as I said earlier, they have very good guards. They have a seven-one center who can do things both offensively and defensively. They have two forwards, one athletic like Jason Richardson in Jefferson and one power guy more like Hutson and maybe Anagonye, or, actually more like Randolph, left handed. I think they can hurt us in a lot of different ways so it's going to test our defense. I think they will also test our rebounding ability because they are a good rebounding team and I think it will test our athletic ability because this one of the more athletic teams we've played.
How has David Thomas been dealing with all that is going on back home?
"It's been hard on David. He knew a little about his mother earlier in the year and that, we're hoping, will work itself out. His cousin had been, you know the hardest thing to deal with because he lived with him. I don't know how many years, a good portion. It got real bad, took a bad turn for the worst the night before the game in Memphis and he came up to the room and we talked for a while there. He is dealing with it. Sometimes we forget that the athletes are just as human as we are and they have the same problems we do. It's just that when they effect them, it's hard to stay focused and balanced. I know that has been very hard on him, but I also know that he was able to go home one day when we came back from Memphis. I think that helped a lot. He spent the day in the hospital with his cousin. We try to hang with him and try to deal with it the best we can, which is a lot easier than for him to have to deal with it. He's done a pretty good job and I think we've tried to keep him in contact with the people back there the best we can."
Coach you played Gonzaga, America's team and Temple with John Chaney, America's coach. Now Lute Olsen, a sentimental story, you're playing the role of a villain. Are you embracing that at all?
"Yeah, the problem is this time it's hard to joke about something when something tragic has happened in this final scenario. The other two, I'm a guy that could pull for Gonzaga because I like the way they play. I'm a guy that admires John Chaney, for what he has done for college basketball and people in general, and Lute Olsen has done a lot for this profession too. When you talk about the Dukes, Kansas, North Carolinas, and Kentuckys, it seems like Arizona should be thrown in there. The problem is, when you are in the Midwest, and they are playing a lot of late night games, you don't see them. They are kind of distant enough that they are not something you see everyday. He's done an incredible job there, under some trying situations this year and I admire him. I think great people have a way of dealing with adversity and bouncing back and it seems like he has."
Last year you were the favorite, this year, you are just one of the favorites. Does that bother you?
"No, it really doesn't. I'm sure we are not the favorite to win it all or not one of the favorites. I think we're the team that won it last year this year and maybe as you look at it now, I think Duke is still the favorite, I really do. I think Maryland could beat Duke and Arizona could beat Michigan State and vice versa all the way around. I think it is a toss up in a lot of ways. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Duke, and in saying that, it does not bother me one way or another. I think we learned with the pressure of being number one, we've dealt with the pressure of being the favorite. We've dealt with pressure being the underdog. Everything has its pluses and minuses. Sometimes it was nice being the favorite, sometimes it's harder. I'm not going to worry about it either way. We are going to go out and try to play our game and see if we can play one more game after."
What has carried over from last year's experience?
"Well, in our meeting yesterday, I did talk to our seniors a lot about that. They have to talk to the freshmen and sophomores, especially the freshman because I do think when you go to the Final Four, the number one factor is whether you can focus in and deal with distractions. That is the way it is the whole year then it is quadzipled when you get to the Final Four. There is so many of you guys all around, that anywhere you turn, someone is going to have a microphone or lights in your eyes. Some guys deal with that better than others. I asked the seniors to talk to them, because when a coach tells them it's the same old, same old, but when a player tells them I think they'll get something out of it. We're going to try to deal with it that way, we're going to try to stay on a schedule. At least we have routine now of when we go in, when we practice, when we give them some free time, and what happens on Friday and Saturday. I do fell a little more comfortable than I did my first time going when I really had no clue what to do. Yet unfortunately we still got to play the game on Saturday. That is really all that matters."
On knowing what's it like to get there and is it to your advantage.
"Yeah, I think it is. I hope it is as exciting for them because sometimes there is that fine line whether you want them too excited or not excited enough. It seems that for the most part the regional this year was a little quieter, but maybe that is expected. I think that for the players that have been there before, it will help once you get there. I think they will be able to focus in, they will be able to understand what is going on, handle things a little better and realize the task at hand is still the game."
How does being picked as underdogs work as far as motivation?
"I heard Charlie say that and I had to kind of agree that I don't think that is totally true. We were one in the country, I think we were in the top five of the country the entire year, maybe you guys would know, you guys vote. I don't think we dropped out of the top five. As I said in the beginning of the year, that Duke and Stanford, Arizona. I think I listed three teams that were head and shoulders above the rest when the year started. Then some things happened. Duke, for the most part, had maintained the lofty level. Some of us had moved up and down a little bit. But for the most part, I think we have as good of chance. I don't think we are the favorite, but I just think we have as every good of chance as anybody. I'm not going to use this as a motivating factor, like nobody is giving us any respect. We've been in the top five all year, no body is giving us any respect, we're the number one seed. I think, Charlie, when he made that statement might have been on something. He forgot what was going on."
Jim Boehiem commented that Michigan State plays on every play. How hard is it to get guys to play hard on every possession?
"Yeah, you do because you can only be on guys so hard and so long. That is why it is so critical and if you look at the Final Four again and these teams, every one of them has a couple of key seniors. Duke has got Battier who gets in people's face. He is after them. Each team has some veterans that have been through the wars and that helps some because for Zach (Randolph) and Marcus (Taylor), I've enjoyed watching the change in them. Zach in that last game, takes off less plays. That is a process though, it's not just going to happen over night. We're going to want it to happen over night, but I think it doesn't. When I watch films of other teams, I do think that we can compete on every play, especially defensively. That does make a big difference. As you say, how much pushing and prodding can you do before it wears off, not as much of it is just the coach, a lot of it is the coach and the players."
Illinois played very physical and was called for a lot of fouls. Can you play that way if they are calling the same way?
"No, we can't. I don't plan on playing that way personally. I plan on playing physical, but if you watch that game, I think Bill Self said himself that they fouled a lot. Physical is one thing, fouling is another, and clubbing is a third. I think that it was ordered in that game and he was the one that said it that maybe there were too many fouls and everything. I don't plan on playing that way. We plan on playing physical like we always do. I think we have adjusted pretty well. I still think Al (Anagonye) gets caught here and there. For the most part, I've been pleased with how we've responded to the way it has been called."
About not being picked to win even though it is your third straight trip to the Final Four. Is that a motivating factor?
"I'll be honest with you, yes and no. I really don't look at that as a motivating factor with this team. I look at the teams that are in it, I picked some of those teams at the beginning of the year, I picked some of those teams at the end. I don't look at that. If we were going into a conference and we had sixteen games to play maybe I would use it. This weekend, I think everybody knows that every team there is a very good team. I look at what each team has done. I look at where certain teams are. I'm not in to the odds makers but I bet every game is probably thought of as being very close. I would think Duke is the favorite. I'm not going to get caught up in that this year. Maybe if I had a real young team, I would more. With the veterans I got, I think they understand what it is like to be there and what has to happen anyway."
How special would back-to-back titles be?
"I said to this team as we've always talked a million times about setting something in the sand, and this would really do it. Winning four championships in the Big Ten is something. The home record and the senior class, all those things are impressive but when you start winning back to back championships if that was possible, that is about as elite as it gets. I don't think many teams have done it. I think that it why it is so difficult, especially in modern era. I guess Duke is the only one. Everybody knows what their program is thought of. When I look at it, it would be an incredible accomplishment, but there is a lot of work to do to even think about getting there."
Rebounding..
"I take a lot of pride in the rebounding. Sometimes I think we are just looked at a team that rebounds. I think we are still scoring 79 or 78 points a game. We are still shooting almost fifty percent from the field. I think we do some other things well. The rebounding stat has even been mind boggling to me at times. We've done a little better job. It's not like we have any phenomenal rebounders that are better than somebody else. We do is rebound with five guys on the defensive end, our guards get involved. I think we get a lot of loose rebounds and tipped rebounds. I don't necessarily think we are any better or necessarily tougher than anyone else. It is just that there is a mentality to go and get it and with that mentality it's been pretty successful for us."
