Post-Game Quotes: Florida
12/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo
Well in hockey my star of the game would have been Bryn Forbes. He missed every good shot he took; I thought he took all good shots. The job he did at cracking down the balls and playing hard and going to get rebounds - all the things that we have been pushing him to do for the last two years. I am really, really, really proud of Bryn. I thought (Matt) Costello did his job, and we got a little bit more out of Marvin (Clark Jr.), but we struggled. We put a lot of Zel (Valentine), and he struggled tonight in a lot of ways. As he (Valentine) said tonight to the team, it was nice to see some other guys pick it up. I was worried about the rebounding, but we out-rebounded them, and yet we missed some good shots. The opening tip we ran a heck of a play and had Bryn wide open. I thought missed some good ones, and I thought some guys forced some. We didn't move the ball like we normally have and those turnovers - they (Gators) had six or eight steals in the first half and that led to a lot of baskets. I thought we did a pretty good job on half court, but not as good of a job on full court. Disappointing, in a way, because you want to play better in the big games, especially in front of an incredible crowd and everything, but at the same time I remember beating Penn State by two and losing to Wright State with a national championship team, so you don't always play your best and people are coming at us now. I think this is going to be a good break for us because Zel looked really worn and a couple of the other guys did, but it's been a really good three or four weeks, and now we get a break for finals.
On an old school win with defense...
It was. I'm not sure Mo [Peterson] would have missed some of those wide open shots, but it was a knock-down, drag-out, very physical game. Casual passes kept them in it and then their one kid really went off, (Chris) Chiozza, did a heck of a job there in that stretch getting three 3's in a row.
On what Izzo said to Valentine during the game...
Not much. He had a couple good shots early and then a lot of bad shots. I haven't seen that before. I was disappointed in our shot selection, but I thought every one Forbes took was good. The ball just wasn't moving. We do have a lot of assists, but we just didn't have any baskets. Zel (Valentine) is human, he is allowed to have a bad game. But I think the bad shooting affected the leadership, and he wasn't quite himself out there. We found a way to almost win without him in Italy, and we found a way to win a game when he wasn't at his best tonight. I think that is going to help this team as we move forward. They're (Florida) good. They struggle a little bit in the half-court offense, but their break and their pressure and their steals are good. I was impressed with Florida, personally.
On the team being worn out...
I think they were, and I think Denzel was more than anyone. He's been going and going, and he's had to play a lot of minutes. I talked to my boy Day Day (Draymond Green) this morning, and he played 50 minutes last night and I asked him if that was going to hurt him today. I won't tell you exactly what he said, but the answer to most people would be `no.' I think it was a good learning thing for Zel. I mean, you can be tired, but you can't let that affect everything. I just thought he wasn't himself. What happens too is they (Florida) game plan; they come off of screens, and they did a good job. I was impressed with Florida. They are going to win a lot of games this year. I think if we wouldn't have turned it over and game up those interceptions for touchdowns it would have widened that gap a little bit.
On handling the No. 1 ranking...
I said it to my family last night, I said it to my president this morning, right now, they are having to deal with so many things. Following football and all that, the ranking, we have finals and we've played an enormous amount of games in a short period of time. We've traveled everywhere as far as distance. There have been some things. The ranking, what it does is, I hope it doesn't make us that sassy, because we're not that good yet, but what it does, is it gives other teams ammunition to come in here and play at a different level. And I think that happens, too. We're learning to adjust. We've just beaten four or five really, really good teams - big teams, athletic teams and shooting teams. You look at all these teams from Providence to Boise (State) to Kansas to Louisville and now to this team. Those are good teams. Like I said, Florida is going to win a lot of games. I'm really pleased in fact with our best player not playing very well. A little disappointed that where I saw it affected every part of the game, and I don't want that to happen. But his boy (Bryn) Forbes, Sexton sidekick, for going 1-for-7 (from 3-point), he was my star of the game by far. (Matt) Costello, even Javon Bess kept a lot of balls alive. We did a good job on (Dorian Finney-)Smith. Hit a couple, but our team recovered, and we played most of that first half without Tum (Tum Nairn Jr.), and that wasn't good with all those jets they had for guards. (Kasey Hill) was quicker than god. Kasey Hill was going around everybody. He went around them, came back, went around them again, and just make a layup after that, and he did. Without Tum in there, it made it difficult. But they had their big guy in foul trouble too, so that balanced that out.
On hitting some key shots down the stretch...
A couple shots we hit were inside, outside shots, and we ran some plays and got them inside, outside. Costello got the ball down there, but I'm not thrilled at how we played, but I'm smart enough to know that they had a lot to do with it. I liked this team on film, and I liked them more in person, which means that if we didn't play our best, it's because of them partially, but we still found a way to win, and I think good teams have to find a ways to do that. I'm going to take the win and run with it. I'm going to go home, and enjoy my 2000 guys that are coming over. I'm going to enjoy some time off, because I think this team needs it with all the traveling they've done, and then I'm going to enjoy pulling for all the teams we snuck by so they hopefully have great years, including Louisville and Florida.
Sophomore Guard Lourawls `Tum Tum' Nairn Jr.
On Florida's ability to stick around all game and give them their best shot...
As the No. 1 team in the country, every night we're going to get someone's best shot. We prepared for that, and we were able to take those punches and those hits and just find a way to win.
On the 2000 National Championship team being in the building for the game tonight...
It was definitely a blessing having them in the building and in the locker room before the game. There were a lot of emotions flowing through us before the game. I just think it was a special atmosphere tonight.
On the difference the crowd made in the game...
We can't win without Spartan nation. The `Izzone' was incredible, and they are every single game no matter who we play. But tonight I thought they were extra loud, and extra crazy. They gave us a major boost.
Senior Guard Bryn Forbes
On the team's ability to find a way to win...
We weren't really making shots and some guys were struggling offensively, but we could defend and play our hearts out and that's what we did. We can't have our best night every night. Some of our players were either in foul trouble or things weren't clicking. I think there were a lot of guys that stepped up tonight though. Marvin (Clark, Jr.) stepped up, Matt Costello, JB [Javon Bess].
On finding other ways to contribute despite his offensive struggles...
When my shot wasn't falling, I knew I had to do something for us to get a win. I had to get loose balls, I had to rebound, I had to do different things like that. Those things just had to be done to get a win.
On the team's effort throughout the game...
It was more fun than any other win we've gotten because we really left everything out on the court. Every game you try and do that, but tonight we had no choice.
Senior Forward Matt Costello
On the team's defensive performance...
I really have to credit our defense, especially the last four minutes we really picked it up. It was Michigan State basketball, just flying around helping your brother out.
On playing tough defense in front of the 2000 National Championship team, who prided themselves on defense...
It means everything. That's what we were talking about before the game was the respect that they earned and they deserved. We had to come out and play hard to get that win.
On tenacity that Florida showed all night...
They just came at us all night long. One of the things that hurt us was that we just weren't hitting shots, especially early so we knew we were in a fight. They just kept coming and coming, and it was difficult, but we ended up pulling it out.
