Inside The Lockerroom
11/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Michigan State Basketball Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Northern Michigan
Nov. 13, 2004 - East Lansing, Mich. - Breslin Center
Final Score: Michigan State 98, Northern Michigan 56
Head Coach Tom Izzo - Michigan State
"I was fairly pleased with our effort. There were a few things we went into this game wanting to do. I thought we rebounded better, especially on the offensive boards. But, I think the best thing we did was play unselfishly. The guys passed and moved the ball very well. I think this shows how they would react to getting limited minutes among other things. I think this shows how this team has come together to appreciate each other."
"I also think the way we have gotten to the free throw line the last two games has been a big plus. The way we have been able to keep turnovers down is another positive."
"We did a poor job of shooting the ball. I think this is the best shooting team I have ever had. We shot decent from outside, but our inside game was pretty poor. Not just the big guys, but no one could get shots in."
"I thought Northern played well early, which was kind of opposite to the game the other day. They did a good job attacking us and running the floor early, then we just wore them down by our movement of the basketball."
"This game meant a lot to our staff because we got to play different guys that we wanted to in different scenarios."
"It has almost become that guys are as comfortable with making an assist or an extra pass to set up a three as they are at taking the shot."
Head Coach Dean Ellis - Northern Michigan
"I think you're going to see a lot of Division I schools playing Division II schools in the future with the new rules. I don't know if it's that great of a deal for a Division I to win by 40, but it sure is a good opportunity for us. I don't know how Tom feels about the performance today but I've seen a few things on the stat sheet that I think he'll like with 56 rebounds and six guys in double figures. So they've got to be a little happy with their performance today. From our standpoint today was just a tremendous opportunity and a lot of our guys stepped up big today."
On if some of the players were better than he saw on tape...
"I think they are all better. I know Tom's disappointed with how they came out in the second half but they went to the boards and got the tough rebounds. They shot great. We played zone and we had to, to try to slow them down a little bit. We had to go man for a couple of possessions in the first half but we couldn't get back. They started banking shots and when you're shooting like that, you've got a great chance of winning.