Michigan State 76, Grand Valley State 53
11/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2009
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening comments...
To say this injury thing is frustrating would be an understatement. Give Grand Valley credit, they battled back. At times we played very well and at times we didn't play very well. We're not shooting the ball very well. That's disappointing because we've shot the living daylights out of it in practice. I will continue to say that it's not fair to the other players, it's not fair to the fans, but it's the cards we're dealt right now and all I can say is that we have to deal with it. It's been a little bit of a nightmare.
There were some good things at times early. Our break was really good. At times I thought we moved the ball well. I thought our defense was great at times. As Raymar Morgan so eloquently stated, we acted very immature and couldn't handle things. I guess I'd have to add myself to that with getting a technical in an exhibition game that I'd probably get again if that happened the same way.
On the injuries...
I think I'll have two of them back for sure. (Durrell) Summers got whacked pretty good in the eye and I'm not sure if it's cut underneath. It's red and swollen. He'll be back, but I'm not sure if he'll be back by Friday. He played in the second half but couldn't see. (Raymar) Morgan definitely won't play. It's hard to sit there with four almost starters on your bench. We're moving (Isaiah) Dahlman and (Austin) Thornton to the four.
(Chris) Allen practiced some last week. Morgan said could have played today if it was an NCAA game, but you're dealing with a concussion where you have headaches and loss of memory. I'm not putting him in that position. So we'll get the day off tomorrow because we have to, and then hopefully by Wednesday and Thursday we'll be able to get him back in there.
On the post play...
There were some bright spots. I thought (Derrick) Nix played well in the first half and then he didn't play as well in the second. (Garrick) Sherman was okay. (Tom) Herzog has some work to do with his strength, it's still causing problems. But those four guys, I don't know. We've had the most bizarre injuries. I don't even know what happened to (Durrell) Summers out there, I didn't even see it. It was getting a little bit chippy I thought.
On Kalin Lucas' play...
I thought (Kalin) Lucas played okay, with four assists and one turnover. He is not shooting it well, but he's shooting it lights out in practice. The poor guy isn't getting any assists if nobody else makes baskets. I thought Draymond Green played exceptionally well, so there were some bright spots.
On the team being out of rhythm...
We just didn't have any bodies out there. We had guys playing at different positions. It would be like taking a down tackle and putting him at split end. We've had 17 practices and I don't think we've had three with everybody there. When you take out four guys and you have three or four walk-ons of your 11 left, there are some problems. There is nothing we can do. It's not that we practiced too hard, they were all freak injuries. It's very frustrating because now we're supposed to turn it around and get cohesive when (Raymar) Morgan is out I don't know how long, but I'm 99% sure he won't play Friday, which is only three days before Gonzaga.
On Derrick Nix, Tom Herzog, Garrick Sherman and Draymond Green...
I couldn't play those guys 30 minutes against top-25 teams like we're going to face. (Derrick) Nix did some very good things, (Garrick) Sherman did some good things. The problem you have is that it's very hard to play them together. Once we get (Delvon) Roe back, we shouldn't have to play them together much. Give Draymond Green credit because he's been a man on the boards and a man in the way he's handled things. He's done a heck of a job being a leader. He's a guy that gets it.
On his expectations...
I don't even know what to measure right now. I couldn't answer very well what we are right now. I'm sure it's frustrating for our fans, but it's frustrating for the coach. I'm sure it's frustrating for the players, too. I don't get a chance to look at different line-ups and now we're into the fire. It seems like the last two years we've dealt with a lot of bizarre injuries. I've never had four starters out for the first game.
On Tom Herzog's development...
There are standards at this university and the standards are pretty high and people have to play and live up to them. We missed 14 lay-ups in our first game, so we've worked so hard with banging with dummies and doing all these things to make sure you're focused on your lay-ups. I think we're just playing a few guys who need to get tougher, stronger and more aggressive and I have no problem saying (Tom) Herzog is one of them. I need him to play better. He's working at it, but we're just going to keep going back to the standards. There is a level we need to play at and a lot of times we played to that level tonight, even though we missed some shots.
On Grand Valley...
It's been a lot better for us than playing the European or AAU teams that we used to. They do a good job with their team. I think they are sixth or seventh-ranked this year. I have a lot of respect for them. It's really a good game for us. It's definitely one of the more competitive Division II teams. I warned my guys that we were playing one of the better ones in the country. I think they do an incredible job over there. I think it's good we give them a chance to play in this type of venue.
On moving forward...
We'll get better. If you watched the second half of the Northwood game, we played very well. If you watched the first half of this game, we did some very good things defensively. We just have to hold to the standards that Michigan State has to hold to. I don't think we've shot it well, which is my biggest disappointment, because I think we've shot it better than any team I've ever had at Michigan State.
Grand Valley State Head Coach Ric Wesley
Opening statements...
We really appreciate the opportunity to be here. It's always a big thrill for our team to come over here. It's a great program. Coach Izzo does a great job and we just appreciate the opportunity. We're a young club trying to find our way and certainly playing a team like Michigan State in an environment like this will help us. We had some good moments, I thought we were pretty feisty and competitive. But obviously our offensive execution--not making free throws, things like that--don't give you much of a chance against Michigan State. I really like Michigan State's team; I know they've got a lot of injuries, a lot of guys sick. Draymond Green, I'm really impressed with him. The way he works out there and him hitting that jump shot really is going to open up his game. I just liked everything about him: his temperament, his leadership on the floor. Everybody knows [Kalin] Lucas is a good player, but I was really impressed with his effort tonight. Good news for us is that [the game] doesn't count and we can go home and get ready for our opener next Sunday.
On how his defense was able to push Michigan State...
I told our guys I thought our half-court defense was okay. Again, Michigan State doesn't have all 300 of their sets in at this point in the season. But I thought when we were able to get our defense back and get it set, I was encouraged with our effort. I really thought our bad offense really hurt us, the number of run-outs [Michigan State] got, the number of turnovers we had that led to easy baskets on their part. That was just a backbreaker. Like I told our team, when you play good teams you've got to be able to match their intensity with your own intensity on the offensive end. The number of fumbles and just silly plays, stepping on the line, against good athletes they make you go a little faster and you're out of your comfort zone, those things happen. I thought our offense hurt our defense as much as anything. The times we got our defense set I was pretty happy with it.
On how the atmosphere may have impacted his team's play...
It's not as big a difference as Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green. I think for us, I think our guys are excited to be in that atmosphere. It has some effect, they're jittery, they're hyped up, but I just think they're excited. Of course when you shoot 9-21 from the free-throw line maybe [the atmosphere] has something to do with it. But it's always a tremendous atmosphere, I look forward to it and I think our guys do too. I would give more of the credit to their players and their players' ability than anything else.
On the Michigan State team...
They're bigger, more athletic than what we can simulate in practice. A couple times we would go to the basket and they've got those big hands up there, big arms. They're such good athletes. I felt like we were always going a little faster, especially Alvin Storrs and Justin Ringler. Those guys are really our best players, and those guys were almost being too aggressive and trying too hard. I couldn't seem to get those guys slowed down and get them into rhythm. Those guys need to play well for us to be a good team.
