Post-Game Quotes: Michigan State vs. Texas Southern
12/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement...
A very disappointing loss, but I'm going to do something that I was told not to do when I got into this coaching profession. Don't look at a player, that loss falls strictly on me. My job is to get a team ready to play. I made a coaching mistake. It was interesting; I got up early this morning and watched the documentary of Vince Lombardi. As you get older, you start worrying about people liking you, and I did not work my team. I did not work them like I normally do. I put a lot into the Oakland [University] and Eastern [Michigan University] thing and I got just what I deserved. It wasn't like we took days off, but we didn't practice as hard. I'm too worried about my little guys getting tired. It's a shame, but I have to give Mike Davis all the credit in the world. His kids played harder than us, they shot better than us, they rebounded the ball not quite as well as us, they turned us over more, they made big plays, they made their free throws. They got to the free throw line. Our whole game plan was to stop penetration. We didn't do that. We talked about getting guys in foul trouble, then we got [Denzel] Valentine in foul trouble right off the bat. Just not enough bodies left. We didn't shoot it well, and we had some great shots. You live by the three [pointer], and you die by the three [pointer], that's another good lesson. In general, the losses all go to the head coach, this one should have an asterisk next to it to say that he solely did not do his job. For all the guys that told me to never, ever in the history of the world admit that it's the coach's fault. Here me out - that was a coaching loss, and I take full responsibility for it. I plan on rectifying it at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.
On MSU players... My best players didn't play very well, of course, but I'm supposed to be the best coach and I didn't coach very well. I'm taking more of a hit than the players. Travis [Trice] struggled and Denzel [Valentine] struggled. Give them credit, too. The kid [Jason] Carter, this is his second game because he was ineligible. He came back and hit the big three. We didn't adjust to the fact that he could pick and pop. We had so many different lineups in there with Colby [Wollenman] and JB [Javon Bess]. My freshmen got a lot of growing up to do, especially Marvin [Clark]. He's got to grow up. He didn't do anything that wrong; he just wasn't dialed in. I warned him and I said, `I'm not afraid to lose,' and I lost.
On Javon Bess... He was so tired, he hasn't played. He didn't know the stuff. Colby [Wollenman] did alright, it's not Colby's fault. The best players didn't play well and the best coach didn't coach well. That's why we lost the game. It really wasn't Colby's fault, it really wasn't. If you think about it, we had wide open threes. I give Mike all the credit in the world. He did a hell of a job, but we did have some wide open shots. We had layups. That one with Gavin [Schilling], that's a dunk and it just goes right threw his hands. We just needed one basket. We missed some plays, but I didn't think we were ready. We got in foul trouble, and then we subbed. I'm going to jump on the officiating. Big call when we were eight up or 10 up. I thought he [Gavin Schilling] was straight up and down, and they got two free throws out of that. That was a big play, but there's no play bigger than the coach not having his team ready to play.
On practices up until today's game... We practiced twice. We played Wednesday. We practiced Thursday and Friday. It was just kind of a sissy practice. Do your thing, do what you have to do, but was there energy? Yeah, there was some energy. Do I have to get on them harder? A little bit. I kind of pulled back because I just kind of figured that you can't use all your bullets up, you can't use all your arrows up. Sometimes you have to rely on fighting through and winning the game the hard way and we didn't do that. I think I'd rather go down using everything up, personally. I'm going to continue to say this, `Headlines: Izzo's fault.'
On crowd... We haven't gotten to the point yet that we can pack the place for anyone yet; I guess. The crowd in general, they were so good trying to get us back. They really were. Is it the same as the students? Of course not. If I rated the crowd as a seven; I'd have to rate me as a negative number. They tried their hardest. I thought two, three, four times when we had to make big stops, they did. They [Texas Southern] hit that big three and went up one, and it kind of took the wind out of everyone's sails. The way the team came to play today was not right. They didn't screw off in practice; nobody missed curfew. It's a big boy's game, and the big boys didn't show up.
On preparation for Monday's game... I'm not going to emphasize anything but that we're going to play harder, play smarter, and we're going to come ready to play. How I do that? I'll probably sit up all night thinking about it. This is inexcusable to not play, to drop balls, to fumble balls, to not stop dribble penetration, to know that when they're on the sideline, they're going to drive baseline. We went over it 100 times, but, in my good days, we would've gone over it 200 times. Tomorrow, we're going to go over some things 200 times.
Texas Southern Head Coach Mike Davis
Opening statement...
I thought we showed some patience offensively. I think with the schedule we play, if we don't play like that we get blown out. We played a really good Gonzaga team last game and lost by 40; but I think they are a Final Four team for sure. We took quick shots and didn't block out. The same thing goes with the Florida team, who's playing really well right now. From the standpoint of our patience, offensively we really moved the basketball. We only had 11 turnovers all night and all 11 in the first half. I'm just proud of my guys for playing hard and playing with courage. We got two guys in now with Jason Carter and Joshua Friar. This is Jason's first game and Joshua's second. Both guys played well for us.
On what the win does for the program...
It's great for the locker room, but it's my job as a coach to keep us up. Last year, I got a lot of texts when we we're losing in non-conference and this year the same. I got a text after we lost to Gonzaga just saying keep your head up. No one thought we we're going to beat Gonzaga. It's my job to make sure our basketball team understands what we're going to do. What we are trying to do is be all in every possession. Every possession we need to block out. I thought that tonight we did that. I thought Michigan State just came out and kind of played. They missed some shots early, and they just kept missing shots.
On how important it was to stay loose on the bench...
It's really important for them to see me loose and having fun. I can get upset sometimes, and it kind of makes them nervous. I just tried to make sure that no matter what happened I moved to the next play. I was fighting for them, but at the same time loose and allow them to play the game because we're not fragile. We lost a lot of games, but we just need to get ready for January 3. Our main goal is to be ready by January 3. I got out guys thinking that that is our first game. These games right here just prepare us for January 3. We've been playing tight in every game. We've played in and I think we played tight again today at the beginning, but we loosened up real quick.
