Post-Game Quotes: Bowling Green
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2010
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MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement...
This was a bizarre game to me. I give Lou (Louis Orr) a lot of credit. His team played very well the first half. It's hard to be mad at anybody, because it was everybody who turned it over. Some of our more solid guys turned it over early. I've learned one thing. I might be the dumbest scheduler in America. My team is tired. It's not an excuse. I told you at the beginning of the year that Kalin wouldn't be Kalin until the middle of December, or end of December. Poor guy is drained. He asked not to play the second half. His foot was a little sore, but that wasn't the problem. He was just wiped out, unless we needed him. I think I have a couple of guys like that in the locker room. We are just lacking energy right now. We gave them some practice time off. Getting home at three or four in the morning, the Maui trip, is all just one big excuse, but I have to tell you this time it's a fact and I deserve the blame for that. On a positive note, I thought we had some guys who played pretty well. (Keith) Appling had some very good moments. Austin Thorton played a little bit better. Korie played well. Draymond Green might be the best sixth man in the world. Our rebounding was a positive. Our defense was actually a positive. We shot pretty well from the three at the beginning. We have to get them healthy right now. We have to get rejuvenated. It is not going to be easy because we don't have any time to do that. Second half was much better than the first half and that is what we will try to build on.
On Kalin Lucas' foot...
The only surprise this season is that it hasn't been bothering him more than it has. It is not like he came out. He just said I can come in if you need me. I think he was just a little mentally drained and physically sore. You can tell that it is not a lack of conditioning, because he has conditioned as well as he can. It is not a lack of effort. It is not a lack of practice time. When he accelerated his wheels were spinning like a car in the U.P. It just wasn't going. He was smart enough and unselfish enough not to play unless we needed him.
On Payne starting to understand the game more...
You can see there is a lot of talent there and he is coachable and receptive. It is just going to take some time. The four and a half months he had off just hurt a kid like that who needed to get stronger. He's getting better. He has had two better games in a row. He just doesn't understand that there is a whole other level, another gear you have to play in. He needs a fourth gear and he has only got three in his body right now. We are trying to get him in overhaul and get him that fourth gear so he can go a little bit harder all the time. I was pleased with his performance.
On playing zone...
It helps to have a zone. I think it helped to play a zone because we didn't really play one all year. It will be a lot bigger zone that we will face in New York. We are going to have to take care of the ball better, but that will be an ongoing story. We will have to make shots the first half. The first half we didn't shoot it well at all.
On Draymond Green...
Last year we ran our offense through him. We played him at point forward. He is not a forward. He is not a center. He is not a guard. He is just a hybrid and he is the best hybrid in America, I think. I am going to play him as the sixth man because I think that is what's best for the team. He is man enough to handle it. We laugh about it and joke about it. It really does take a man to do that. I am going to make sure that this is the best sixth man in the world and he is going to play starters' minutes. I don't think there is any question who was the best player on the floor today.
Bowling Green Head Coach Louis Orr
Opening statement...
If the game was 21-minutes long, I could have said, "We lost, but we gave a great effort". In the first half, except for how it ended, we couldn't have played better. We held Michigan State to 29-percent shooting, created turnovers and played at our tempo. I've been in this business a long time and I have a lot of respect for Coach Izzo and Michigan State. It is a 40-minute game and you have to keep going for the full 40 minutes to give yourself a chance to win. Our guys gave a great effort but just didn't play well enough for long enough. When Michigan State gets going, they are hard to stop.
On what Michigan State did in the second half...
Draymond Green is one of the best playmakers at his position that I have ever coached against. We knew Michigan State would go 1-3-1 at times, and we wanted to match up. But they countered that and threw it to the side so we had to cover the low post guy. The way they shoot the three, I thought we defended pretty well until the last stretch. Green made plays and the Spartans made shots, but you have to keep defending and not let them find their rhythm.
On what worked in the first half and not in the second...
In the first half, I thought we did a good job of covering the 3-point range. We also did a decent job of rebounding the ball. For us, transition defense, defensive rebounding and guarding the 3-point shooter was key. It was tough when they hit those corner guys for those threes. Once MSU started making shots, it was contagious. It would have helped if we would have scored more points and executed better. In the second half, our turnovers hurt us and we didn't ever find a rhythm in the offensive end.
On Michigan State's defense...
Michigan State is a very good defensive team, but I thought we hurt ourselves a lot. We have to play inside-out. We got the ball to some people around the basket, or we tried to, and we either didn't finish the play or we got the ball in the paint but ended up shooting from 15- or 18-feet out. I can't quite figure that out. A couple of times I thought we had layups but we ended up with jump shots. Offense has been a challenge for us at times. Again, we defended in the first half, and when you do that you give yourself a chance to win. So what hurt us in the second half was our defense and our turnovers.
On his team's shot selection...
I don't think shot selection was the issue today. At the end when you are down 20 or 30 points, you are just fighting for your life. I thought we had some looks that we should have converted. Michigan State is a good defensive team, but sometimes you need to make tough shots. Generally, we get to the free-throw line more than nine times, which is another area where we usually score. I commend our players for how they played in the first half, but the game is 40 minutes long. You have to keep doing what you are doing well for 40 minutes or more.
