Post Game Quotes
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tom Izzo...
Opening statement...
Well, I'm proud of my alma mater the first half, I'm very disappointed with my team the first half. I'd have to blame me- I keep doing this or think I've done it since the first year I coached to try to do that substitution better and to make sure I get everybody in the game and get everybody a chance to play and we had a nine and 11-0 lead, and we were playing pretty well and then that second group went in there with those three freshman and transfer and (Gavin) Schilling and it looked a little like bad news bears there for awhile. We just kind of put our heads down, dribbled the ball, didn't pass the ball, didn't move the ball, didn't guard anybody. I give Northern credit, they made some great plays. A couple guys hit a couple shots and all of a sudden they hit three 3-pointers out of four, and then we kind of regrouped at half time, talked about it, subbed a little different the second half, and we played better and they didn't play as well the second half. I thought we had our rebounding back and got our break going, but we got a lot of work to do. You can see at times we can make shots, but I thought we settled for 3's sometimes, I thought we turned the ball over too much the first half, but only ended up with 11, so we only had three in the second half. Rebounded a little better, it was nice that Denzel (Valentine) didn't mean to rub it in, but for guys that were close to getting something special -- we had talked about it this morning that he's got to look more at the being the overall guy, and I thought you look at his stats and he's 6-13 with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, with only two turnovers and one was a foolish one. I thought that was a great start for him and (Bryn) Forbes really started getting in the groove the second half, so we got some work to do. Harris- you know he's, remember what I told you the first day, I said shooters are notorious non-defenders -- it's like a right and they are born if they can shoot, I guess they don't guard anybody and we had that problem early and came back a little bit and hopefully, you know, we've got to get that ball moving. DayDay [Draymond] would not have been proud of us today the way I thought we dribbled it, but all in all I thought Northern played pretty well the first half. I don't want to take anything away from them and I think a kid got hurt in the second half and that hurt them a little bit. They're not real big, which, you know, won't be bad in their league. It's a little worse against us, but that was a tough matchup for us too because we had centers guarding guards and a couple times they went through us like water through a tin horn and that wasn't very good. So all in all I got something out of it, they got something out of it and we move forward.
On Deyonta Davis' edge...
You know, that surprised me too, and I didn't even talk about Deyonta, but DD I thought was solid and maybe consistent as most guys we had, you know. He was blocking shots, he played with a little emotion, a little excitement. I don't know where that came from, but I'm going to bottle it and use it, and I don't know what his final stats were as I'm looking here, but 5-7, 2-3 from the line, 4, 12 points, one turnover, decent job defensively, I thought DD played pretty well. You know, (Matt) McQuaid didn't play bad for a freshman and neither did Kyle (Ahrens), but DD was definitely the star of that class and showed you that he can block shots, he can get the ball on the post, he can pass the ball, he can rebound it pretty well, but he's still a little weak and that's what we're going to continue to work on, but I was pleased with his performance.
On Javon Bess...
Yeah, you know he gets nine rebounds and he was pretty active and he gets 11 points. He is shooting the ball better. I don't think he guarded as well -- we didn't guard as well as a team, but that's a hard team to guard. They've got three guys that can really penetrate, and so we need a little more work on that, and I think Javon will be able to do what he did tonight, I think he'll be able to actually help him, yet he's still not one hundred percent back laterally and so guarding a guard instead of guarding a normal four man is a little harder on him tonight and there was a couple times that hurt him, but another good experience guarding a team like Northern for him and, and what Bill Sall did with his guys was good. They spread better than we spread the court -- he's going to be a good coach there, I'm really excited about my alma mater's chances to get back to the golden era.
On Deyonta Davis' emotion...
That would have been one technical welcomed, and I don't want to tell Deyonta that but, I mean, that really would have been. He's got to learn and he's got to learn. At least he showed some emotion and even talked a couple times in the huddle, so we're making progress here and he's actually, that was a good start for him. You can see where he can cover some ground, he's long, he can do some things that we haven't had a guy that can do in quite awhile, but to think that he did some things tonight, you know, AP (Adreian Payne) didn't do until his junior year or something, I think this is going to be a good one. A good start for him.
On the leap that Bryn Forbes has made...
Well, confidence is a killer and you know when you're better physically to be able to deal with things I think that gives you some confidence. It's like how you are yourself- the reason there's mirrors in the weight rooms so you look at yourself and feel good about yourself, and I think he definitely feels better, a little heavier, a little stronger. I said, the first press day, it's nice to see arms instead of noodles on his shoulders, and he's done one heck of a job and he's a fun kid to coach. Frustrating at times because you always want him to play harder and a little better defense, but he has come a long way. I'd say that's a very true statement. And those two together -- I mean Zel (Denzel Valentine) has the ability to see over things and just find him and he's one of those guys that just runs to the three-point line and I think he'll start opening stuff up in the middle, too, because they're going to have to cover him a little bit better and that is going to help our inside guys. We still have a couple issues with passing the ball. We've got to find another guard that can make a few passes and I think we did a good job of that, but all in all I thought Bryn, Zels, Deyonta and other bigs weren't bad. We got work to do, but I'm telling you it's been a bizarre time since summer and this game will really help us getting some film, looking at it, and to break it down. We've been playing against each other for what seems like an eternity, and I think this will be good for us. From what I hear, Ferris (State) was an NCAA team last year, so I think that will be a step forward and be better, and so the progression of this could be perfect for us.
On the lineup for the second half specifically (Gavin) Schilling and (Matt) Costello...
Well, they played well together over in Europe- sometimes it depends on the other team's lineup. This was not a good lineup for those two to play together, but I was amazed I thought Schilling guarded who was hurting us -- Perez- Schilling guarded him better than some of our guards guarded him. Schilling can move his feet, he can do some things, he just sometimes clubs people like that caveman guy, you know, kind of carries that club and goes around and clubs people, I mean he looks at the official -- my god I could have called a couple of those and that's what he's got to work on, but as far as his speed and moving his feet, he's doing the things he can do. He's covering ball screens, better than anyone on our team, he covers ball screens better than most guys anywhere. He's very good at it. He's strong and I think he too needs some confidence a little bit. (Matt) McQuaid and Kyle (Ahrens) did that a little bit tonight at times. Eron (Harris) definitely did that, but understand too, Eron hasn't played in a year and a half. So you get out there in front of people for the first time, there's scoring, things lighting up in his eyes, so he'll get better. I thought his improvement in the second half was good.
On Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. being more aggressive ...
Yeah, and then he doesn't shoot that when he's worked on his shooting. He's been in here at 6:30 in the morning every day. I told him the home crowd doesn't try to trick you. It's opposers. When (the crowd) says three, two, one then you know that it's three, two, one. And he said, `What do you mean?' It's three, two, one, shoot the ball. So Tum, he's making those shots, too, so I have no problem with that, but he has been a little more aggressive. He can still guard anybody.
On the playing rotation...
Right now, with (Tum Tum), (Denzel Valentine), and Bryn (Forbes), we're really solid there as Matt (Costello) and Eron (Harris) come on. I think we'll have five, six guys that we will be able to rotate in there, and that's going to be good. And remember, we still have Kenny (Goins) and Marv (Clark) out, so it makes that four spot a little dicey right now, but Colby (Wollenman) has played well. He's done a good job, so somebody's not going to play, so that's going to be interesting. Competition is going to be fun. We'll see who earns their spot.
On senior guard Denzel Valentine...
I think (his unselfishness is contagious). I was really happy to see. I brought Zel in this morning, he was walking around, and I said, `Come in my office, I want to talk. I know it's your senior year and you've put in so much time this summer and try to prove that you're a complete player tonight.' I think he did that. He did not hunt shots. In fact, I thought he missed a couple good shots for him. He found people and for the most part he made it simple. Once in awhile, it's like a twitch, he's gotta do something a little fancier, but I thought very simple and basic. I can see why Bryn liked him in high school. Those passes are right there, but then going in rebounding like he did, playing two positions isn't easy. He played the point, the two and the three, so three positions. But Denzel Valentine has a chance to be a great player. He's a Draymond-ish type player, he plays with his head, he plays with his heart. Winning is important. Michigan State is important. All of the things that you want out of a guy, he brings, and if he lets the game come to him, he's got a chance to be really, really good.
On junior guard Eron Harris...
I said that Eron needs to play with the lights on and last year the lights were off, and he will. We were hard on him tonight, because he's gotta realize that where he was, he scored a lot of points, but they didn't get to the tournament. Winning is still the most important thing. As a lot of NBA guys told me, it's easy to score a lot of points on a bad team. It's harder to score a decent amount of points on really good teams. I thought in the second half he adjusted pretty well, and I'm not sure what I would've done if I sat out a year and a half and came back. The first two times he got the ball, I think he put his head down. (Mark) Dantonio would've loved to have him as a fullback, although a little skinny. He just put his head down, and I said, `What are you doing?' We didn't do a very good job moving the ball, and that was part of the reason. I think he's going to come on to be in that Shannon (Brown) and Maurice (Ager) mold. I think Zel can do a lot of things that Alan Anderson could do, so there are some similarities. We have some depth, but some of that depth is freshman depth, and we're going to have to see how that works out. I didn't think that McQuaid or Kyle looked out of place, but easier to look in place against a Division II team than it is in two weeks against Kansas. But I think baby steps, and that's what we're taking right now.
On freshman forward Deyonta Davis...
Well, number one, we had to gain him some weight. He's gained some, but actually he's lost seven or eight pounds. I don't think he was used to the rigorous going up and down. We got him up to 242 or 243 and now he's down about 235-236. But (we would) like to get him back up to 240. But keep in mind like I said earlier, Adreian Payne was 215 when he came. Deyonta's got very good legs. He's got Tarzan legs and Jane upper body. No, that's not a sexist statement, it's just factual. We're going to get him better at that, but what I love about Deyonta is that I saw film in that last (high school) game. We were on the road, and he looked awful. He didn't play very hard, he didn't do the things. He had a very good high school coach, in my opinion, and he did a great job with him. But Deyonta, his motor still isn't always running. Sometimes it's on idle. I think that's the biggest thing that DJ (Dwayne Stephens), DJ has lived in his hind quarter for a while now, and we'll probably live in it most of the year, but you can see where this kid's got a chance. He's got a great jump hook. He can shoot the ball. He's a little flat at times, but he's getting better at that. He can handle it. Great passer. That's part of his game you haven't really seen yet. I didn't realize how good he was at it. I think he's going to grow, playing against Gavin and Matt. And Matt has really done a great job at trying to tutor him, along with DJ and Mike (Garland). What we're doing now is speed that process up, and he's got a chance.
On senior guard Bryn Forbes...
It is special, because I think what Bryn did, he'll have his moments still, but he showed some confidence. Missed a couple shots, but didn't quit shooting. He missed one, got kicked back out to him. He let his confidence dig in on the next one. He's always ready to shoot, but doesn't really force shots. He's working on his defense. Like I said, those shooters don't like to guard that well, and we're working on it. He's gotten better at it, and I think he will get better at it because it matters to him.
On Bryn Forbes and Denzel Valentine...
And right now for (Bryn Forbes) and (Denzel Valentine), I looked over at Carlton (Valentine) one time, and I was thinking to myself, no wonder you won two state championships. I was thinking how lucky he was, because they're both good kids, and they're both good guys, and both guys that spend a lot of time in the gym and they're both coachable. You can ride them, you can get on them, you can pat them on the back and do a lot of things with them and they respond for the most part. And now, I'm proud at the way they worked this summer. It's nice to see that being rewarded.
On senior forward Matt Costello and junior forward Gavin Schilling...
You didn't see it with Costello and Schilling as much tonight. Those guys played very well in practice lately. Costello played very well in Europe, but I think part of it is the groups we had different players playing, and we didn't see the ball much in that first half with those guards putting their head down and going for first downs instead of trying to make other people better.
Michigan State Player Quotes
Senior guard Denzel Valentine
On the different lineups that MSU used in the first half…
We have a deep team and we're going to have to get used to playing with different lineups. I'm glad we can have these two exhibition games so we can get our jitters and everything out of the way.
On what the biggest difference was from the first to the second half…
In the first half I think we just settled too much from three. Northern (Michigan) also did a good job of playing defense. They turned down our screens and were in the passing lanes a little bit. So credit to them because they did a good job.
On what he saw out of the freshman, who made their first appearance on the floor…
Yes, they played pretty solid. DD (Deyonta Davis) responded and had a good game. (Matt) McQuaid, Kyle (Ahrens), those guys all played really solid. I'm really looking forward to what those guys can bring in the future.
On what the team needs to work on heading into their next exhibition game on Monday…
I think we need to get some rhythm going to the basket in the first half. I thought we played pretty good defense out of the gate, but when we make subs we just need to keep that energy. Overall, we just need to try and get better game by game.
Sophomore forward Javon Bess
On his assessment of the team's overall play…
I think we started off pretty good and then we lost a little bit of energy. So we can't start off like that. We need to put a whole game together. The way we played in the second half, that is how we need to play the entire game.
On the many lineups the team featured throughout the game…
I just feel like we have a lot of guys and a lot of weapons. I think we're still figuring out lineups. I don't think we have anything set, so we're trying to see who plays good together. Just because we have so many new players and new guys playing together, we need to mix it up a lot.
On how it felt to get back in the flow of the game after being off for so long last year… It felt great. I just kept telling myself to be positive because things were going to come. I just felt great. I'm blessed to be out there and play. I felt like I haven't played since highs school, so I'm just glad I got out there and played.
On what the team needs to do to improve moving forward…
We've got a long season ahead and a lot of improvements to make. Defensively we struggled today, so we have a lot of improvement in that area. It's a journey, so we have a long season ahead.
Senior guard Bryn Forbes
On the chemistry of the team gradually coming together as the game went on…
Yes, I think we just needed to find our chemistry. There were so many guys being thrown in and out. We had to keep playing with new groups. We didn't have one set group, so we were scrambling it up a little bit. I think in the second half we started to hit our stride a little bit. We were happy about some things. Denzel (Valentine) was throwing me some great passes - I think he had a triple double. He, Tum Tum (Nairn Jr.) and even E (Eron Harris) were all finding me all over the floor. All the guards and the bigs did a great job of passing.
On the negatives that came out of the first half…
We had a terrible first half. There wasn't actually much that we did right in that first half. We didn't shoot well, we didn't defend well, we didn't do anything. We picked it up in the second, but we shouldn't have had it happen like that.
On correcting issues before the season begins…
We have another exhibition than we play our season opener, then Kansas. So things are really going to start rolling here soon. Kansas is a top-10 program, so we are going to have to work on some things and get it together before then.
Freshman forward Deyonta Davis
On his evaluation of the team's performance…
It was kind of slow in the first half, but in the second half we really picked it up. We just started playing as a team in the second half.
On the progression from the first half to the second half...
We started building our team chemistry. We started feeding off each other.
On how excited the team was to get the season underway…
We were very excited. At the end of every breakout we yell "Natty," that's what we all want. We need to grind in order to get that.
On how he felt he did personally in his first collegiate game…
I did well, but I could have done much better. It's just the first game.
