Post-Game Quotes: Michigan State vs. Northwestern
1/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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MICHIGAN STATE HEAD COACH Tom Izzo
Opening Statement...
Every time I think we're taking a step forward, to me we take a step back. The performance today was one I wasn't very proud of. Coming back here with an incredible crowd that was ready to explode, we get off to a good start. I think Dwayne Stephens said it best or maybe Kobe Bryant or LeBron James in an article. People do not like to embrace who they are. They always want to be somebody different. We all want to be somebody different; we all want to have a better job or a better girlfriend or boyfriend. It's just the way the world works. Until we embrace the way to be successful, it doesn't matter where you are or what you are or who you are, you have to do some things. We've been an incredible team at rebounding and defending for the 20 years I've been here. This team wanted to be a little more of a pretty boy team and it's cost us a couple times. We want to be a shooting team. I've looked at a couple of other teams around the country ranked in the top five. Every team has to defend and rebound. We defended and rebounded and we ran, we scored points at ease. We were up nine and up 14, playing well and then I thought we decided to go one-on-one. Give Chris [Collins] a lot of credit, he did a better job. We've lost three games this year that I thought we should have won and today we won one that I thought he deserved to win. I thought he did a great job of rallying his guys. We just didn't perform like you have to perform. I don't know what to say about it. I was hoping to come up here to say a lot of good things and get ready for a war at Maryland. Now I'm going to say a lot of bad things and get myself ready for a war at Maryland. To use Matt [Larson]'s Duke personality, it's a good week; we won two games.
On why his team's defensive rebounding was better in overtime...
Yes, it stepped up because [Denzel] Valentine decided he was going to guard somebody. B.J [Branden Dawson] decided he was going to guard somebody. The only guy that guarded very well was [Travis] Trice; he had to do a lot today. We didn't do anything that we worked on in practice. We did early and we just kind of faded. A lot of times you hear about these great starts being good, but sometimes great starts give you the mindset that it's going to be an easy game. That's what it looked like to me. There wasn't one minute of that game where I felt good. I did not like the way we were performing. I love the way we practice now. We practiced pretty hard for two days. We didn't go as long; we have so many injuries. They did what I asked them to do, which wasn't as much. We didn't rebound the ball. We have a couple guys that just look odd. Zel [Valentine] looks odd. [Matt] Costello looks odd. It's not their attitude, it's just they can't get their first wind much less their second wind and I don't know why. We're going to get them tested to see if there is something really wrong. When you look at them, they just don't look into it. I don't mean that they don't care. I just mean it's so obvious. Those two guys aren't like that, so I am concerned about that. It's not from overworking I'll tell you that. We have been so average as far as two a days and all of that. Everybody always asks me how good we're going to be after Christmas. We just couldn't do any of it. It's just the way it is and we need to realize that our identity at Michigan State or better yet the identity of 95% of successful programs - Wisconsin, Kentucky, Duke, Arizona - defend, rebound and get runs to score easier points. I thought we were a clinic at it early and I thought we went in the tank. I thought some of it was substitution again. I told you there would be a change in the lineup, there will be. It's nobody's fault. It's just all of a sudden we're in there with too many non-shooters. That I have to fix.
On whether it was a message to keep Denzel Valentine on the bench...
Yes, he was ailing but it wasn't a message. It was a statement. You know me, I don't pull a lot of punches, I wasn't happy. That hasn't happened very often with him. Some guys play and let their offense dictate their defense, but his face is flushed. I mean we're in the first huddle and he's just out of it. That part I feel bad for him. Did you think he played a little harder when he went back in? Me too.
On whether there are issues of toughness and how he will change that...
Oh it's going to be fun. I'm going to have a fun week. We have six days, and it's going to be six of the craziest days we've had. I thought we didn't play well against Maryland and there are some injury issues. That's the way it is. Sooner or later, you have to reach down and get something out of it. We'll get tougher; I'm not worried about that. I'm going to change that with our lineup right off the bat. I'm going to change that with how we practice. It's been a miserable Christmas for me because we didn't do any of the things we did for 19 years. It's nobody's fault, but we didn't. Today we got our lunch.
On why there are such wild swings during games...
Partially substitution if you take a look at it. It's partially substitution. When we get up, everybody thinks it's my turn to score. There hasn't been many times in my career that I've complained about shot selection from a team. We took a couple of ridiculous shots today. To me, it's totally disrespectful. Not to me. Not even to our players, but it's disrespectful to the other team. It's like I can just do this. That team punched us in the mouth. That team deserved to win the game, we just won.
On what Northwestern was doing that they were having trouble defending...
I thought we had trouble with most things they did. That UCLA cut-off on the high-post. We guarded it in practice and did a good job screening and a good job cutting. They did a really good job when there were mismatches. We do have five shooters out there sometimes too. You take a kid like [Alex] Olah and I watched him make seven threes in warmups. Now you spread out a little bit more and you can post up. We had Tum [Lourawls Nairn Jr.] in there and for the first time, he didn't guard as well as I thought he could have. I just thought they got confident and we weren't. At halftime, they were confident. Coming out of the half, they were good and we weren't. I'll say we lost three games that we should have won. I said the basketball gods every year have you lose some you were supposed to win and you're going to win some you should have lost. I looked at the ones we won and we blew teams out. We should have won. Today is one we should have lost. I'm going to look at it as we found a way to win; we haven't done that a lot this year. We made some plays and made our free throws. We made our free throws in the second half. [Gavin] Schilling did a very good job at the line. That was encouraging. Valentine had a couple of tough free throws. For a team that has been struggling at the line, to shoot 73, 74 percent, that was a positive. We only had seven turnovers; that might be an all-time Izzo low. We just let our guard down a bit. Good coach, good team, I love the way they play.
NORTHWESTERN HEAD COACH CHRIS COLLINS
Opening statement...
Well, obviously it is a disappointing finish for us today. I am heartbroken for my team because I felt we deserved to win the game and that's a tough feeling. You always can tip your cap if somebody outplays you, and Michigan State was good. I just thought our guys were really good today. I thought we made a lot of plays down the stretch. We made free throws, we fouled at the end of regulation, and then we had a tough time in overtime. I thought we got a little tired when it got to overtime. I thought coming back from that 11-point deficit in the first half took a lot out of us. We needed to win that game in regulation. Give Michigan State credit, I thought their veterans were big. You know - [Travis] Trice played great, [Denzel] Valentine hit big free throws, thought [Bryn] Forbes hit a big shot coming off of the screen. That's why they are a really good team; they did what they had to to win. I am really proud of my guys, we played really well. Played well enough to win, it just didn't happen. So it is tough to be in a great mood because we are not in this for moral victories, we are coming here to try to win.
On his team's progression from last season...
Yeah, I mean I feel we are getting better. I've said that and obviously the local media doesn't see it. It's a process for us. It is a new way of doing things and it doesn't make one way right and one way wrong. We have a lot of new guys that we are trying to teach our culture. You know, we had to withstand coming in. We thought was our best player was going to be JerShon Cobb and we have had him at about fifty percent this year. That's been a big drawback to what we have been trying to do, but we are getting better. The first step is you have to come into venues like this and you have to fight, you have to compete, and you have to come here with an attitude that you're going to win. What I like, is in our locker room, none of our guys are happy about playing them to overtime. We came here to try to win, and it didn't happen. So there is a lot of heartbroken guys in that locker room, which I like because that's where I need to get as we keep moving forward and keep improving. I appreciate what you're saying because sometimes when you are going along in the process, it is hard to see the same victories and small incremental improvements, but there is no question I think everyone knows our program is in the right direction, which is great. But right now, we are in these big time games and you want to win. I am glad that the future is bright and we are on our way up, but we are trying to win now too.
On Northwestern's scouting report for the game...
Well, I mean they scored 84 on us. What we tried to do was limit their three-point shooting. I mean I thought we did a good job of that. Really those three kids, to me, have really shot the ball great; you know Trice, Valentine, and Forbes. We tried to make a concerted effort to chase them off the three-point line and have them shoot two-point shots, which I thought overall we did a pretty good job. I guess we fouled them a little bit too much. They hadn't been getting to the line as much as they did today, but give them credit for attacking and finding a way to get to the free-throw line. Really when you talk about playing Michigan State, they're the standard for toughness in this league and they have been for a long time. So when you come out to play them, that is the first thing you have to talk about with your team. You have to be at a certain level physically, mentally, and emotionally to be able to compete against them. We did not get off to a good start and I thought our bench did a good job getting us back in the game. Our bench came in, we were down nine to nothing, and our bench kind of steadied the ship for us. Got us back in the game and then we settled in and I thought we played really well. You know, their transition game is really good. I thought early in the game they got out and ran on us. I think they had nine fast-break points the first eight to 10 minutes of the game, and they finished with 13. So I thought we did a better job as the game went along with getting back and trying to make them a half-court team. I thought Trice made some big shots and some big plays; he's a really good player. Valentine obviously hit two clutch free throws at the end of regulation; that was big. They're a really good team. I mean I have a great respect, I always have. I have competed against Coach Izzo for a number of years, not as a head coach but had a lot of big-time games with Michigan State from my Duke days. I have always had a great respect for what he does and how he runs his program. It is an honor to bring a team in here and play, and compete the way we did.
On the play of JerShon Cobb from the first half to the second half...
I don't know if you saw, but someone landed on his foot so he couldn't play and had to come out of the game. So that really hurt us, because he was playing really well. There was a little play on the sideline, and somebody landed on his foot and came up and he was hurting. He said he couldn't go, he couldn't play. So that really hurt us.
On what his team did differently today...
The ball went in the basket. It's the same shots we have been getting all year, we just made them today. I have been telling you guys that. We didn't run any new plays, we ran all the same stuff. We got all the same shots, we made them today. Sometimes, as we analyze the rise of computers and you analyze, there is an old adage; it's a make or miss game. You get a great shot, you either make it or you miss it, and today we made them. Guess what? The plays look a lot better when the ball goes in.
