Post Game Quotes: Louisville
12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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MSU head coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement
I got a feel for Louisville. I was so impressed by them for two-thirds of that game. Our big keys to the game where I thought we had to rebound well, ended up we did, but we didn't early. 50-50 balls, we just needed to have the energy, and I was worried we were going to let that crowd motivate us, instead of vice versa. I thought we did a poor job. I thought they got every loose ball early. Big credit to Rick (Pitino) and his team. The ball was loose, they got balls on missed free throws, they got balls everywhere. Everywhere the ball bounced they got them. How we bounced back to be down whatever we were down in the first half was a blessing. In the first half we had 13 turnovers, I think it was three minutes into the half, and the rest of the way we only had three. That was a big difference. Great coaching on my part to set up that go-ahead basket by Kenny Goins, one of our walk-ons. That was as surprising to me as it was to you. But we had some guys that played better. I told you we were struggling with our guards guarding people, that's still a problem right now. We have a lot of work to do, but considering what this team has been through I thought it was an unbelievable comeback against a very talented, a very big, and a team that those guards played very well. To hang in there and fight our way through was a credit to our crowd. I told the guys before the game, learn something from football. Play the entire 40 minutes. Play that entire time. Play 40 minutes. It took almost all 40, but I also told them that the energy we needed, make sure we do things to energize the crowd. I'm not sure we did, but then again, I think the crowd energized us. We talked about how this place, David Thomas was in my locker room, I said we won 53 in a row when you were here, because the team got the crowd going, the crowd got us going, I thought tonight was one of those nights like old times. That was a typical Louisville-Michigan State game. White knuckler right down to the end. I feel fortunate to win. I almost feel like we stole it, and you got to do that in order to have a great seasons. You got to win some games. I wouldn't say we didn't deserve to, because we fought back, but I thought they played awfully well for a long period of time in that game.
On Kenny Goins' strong game...
I think Kenny was fresh, and trust me on this, nothing wrong with (Javon Bess), nothing wrong with Marv (Clark), but that team was so big. It was like an NBA team. That was the biggest team we've faced in a lot of years, and they were 7-0, 6-10 almost all night long. Even the guards were pretty good sized. I thought (Damion) Lee did a great job. Him and (Trey) Lewis hit some big time shots. The difference in the game was that Kenny did do a hell of a job on the boards, and that was the difference. That and the fact that we didn't turn it over as much over the last 15 minutes.
On Louisville's size...
We started screening for them a little bit better in the second half, and we started moving the ball. We got it into the middle a bit. We did a much, much better job getting it in there. We got Bryn (Forbes) and hit some big time passes. Kenny did some of that, too. A lot of positives when we got the ball moving. We were either stagnant or they made us stagnant. I don't know which one. I'll have to watch the film to decide. I'm sitting here happy with a win, and more impressed by Louisville than Michigan State at this point. Just because I think they played so doggone hard.
On Louisville able to stop MSU early...
They did a lot of good things. Very, very well coached team. They did a lot of good things. They trapped us. We started adjusting to it as the game went on. (Deyonta Davis) had a little bit of a problem adjusting to new things on the run, and that's hard as a freshman. So did Matt McQuaid. That's part of the growing process. Denzel said to the team after the game if you can learn from a win, instead from a loss that normally happens, make sure to take advantage of that. I think we learned a lot about our team, and I think we learned a lot about executing and missed free throws, different things that almost cost us.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo
On the back and forth shots made...
Well you could look at it the other way, too, we made a shot and then they made a shot. There was that stretch where we couldn't get even with them I thought we would never get even. We had to get the crowd into the game. They made some big plays. [Damion] Lee and [Trey] Lewis made some big plays, but it was a physical game. It was a tough game, and it was a big game to win.
On [Denzel] Valentine's shot in the corner from [Matt] Costello...
That was part of the negatives, we didn't run that much. That hurt us. I didn't think we were moving the ball that good all night either. I mean, 17 assists on 23 baskets, but that second half, once we started getting inside and outside, I thought we started hurting them. We started screening it more, and we starting slipping it more. We started getting into the middle more, and we did a better job. Denzel [Valentine] made a lot of big shots and so did Bryn [Forbes]. That's what they're there for. They're hometown boys that made big tonight.
On the defense...
They were just driving us to death. We did struggle a little bit and part of the reason was DD [Deyonta Davis] just doesn't understand yet how you have to help on guys that aren't shooters. I thought that they took what we do well and hurt us, and I didn't think we did the same to them. In other words, they're bigs are not great shooters. We really only had one day of prep, so that really didn't help for our young guys, but in that stretch we did get a block, we did get a steal, Kenny [Goins] had some big plays and some rebounds. That place was electric. Not many places where they show football highlights at a basketball arena. I was more fired up than the fans were about it. I think that got me going. It was one of those nights where we had a lot of help from a lot of people.
On other guys stepping up...
Kenny [Goins] made some big plays and in all honesty, DD [Deyonta Davis] made some big plays. It's hard for him right now, there are a lot of things he has to learn. His head is spinning right now. So is Matt McQuaid's, but that's what happens when you're a freshman. We did have different guys step up and different guys made big plays. Eron Harris hit a big shot. We need to practice now, believe it or not we haven't had a chance to really practice much in the last two weeks. We need some practice time to work on some things and learn from this game.
On the adversity...
We beat a good team. That's a top 10 or 15 team and that team is going to get better. I do feel good about that. Some things that I was worried about are still rearing their ugly heads. The effort-related things I'm not as worried about because we have shown a lot of effort, but the penetration on the guards is a concern of mine. I just keep hoping that my theory isn't right that good shooters don't guard.
On Bryn Forbes...
I thought the first half he wasn't looking for a shot, but the second half he really looked for a shot. He did a much better job. We need Bryn [Forbes] to get 11, 12, 13 shots, and we need Denzel [Valentine] to get shots. Tonight one got 11 and one got 15 or 16 and yet, 54 shots isn't quite enough. We need to get more shots. We need to get other people involved. We need to get inside more. We have so many things to improve on. What I love about this team is I think our ceiling right now, we have a high ceiling. As we practice more, we have to get Marvin [Clark Jr.] involved and get Javon [Bess] involved, we have to get the ball inside a little more and have more consistency, and we have to guard somebody. Teams are shooting 42 percent or more against us in the past four games now and that's un-American. We have to change that.
On Kenny Goins...
Kenny [Goins] is a very intelligent kid. He is a very smart kid. He has had that hernia and he hasn't been able to do much in a long time. He missed eight weeks. We are trying to work him back in because he's been on the scout team this whole time. He just wants to get back in shape. I can't enough about him for this game. I think it's great. We have got to get a rotation down in there. We need all of our guys, and we need to use our depth. We are not using it like I want to. I am proud of Kenny [Goins] and I think the guys are happy for Kenny [Goins]. To go from a walk-on to a scholarship guy and still never change his attitude on anything - that speaks volumes for him.
On stop and free throws...
The stops and free throws are something that we will be able to learn from. The biggest thing that will help us in March was that was a war, a war against a team that pressed and was huge. It's always great in non-conference if you can get a bunch of different teams that do a bunch of different things. We've had a couple of zone teams, we've had a couple athletic teams like Providence, we've had very experienced teams like Kansas. We're playing a lot of different kinds of teams and all of that helps in March. I just want to make it to Saturday right now. The hell with March. I am just going to go for Saturday and try to win another game and cheer on my football team.
On what Denzel [Valentine] gets from a game like this...
I think all three of us learned something, the coaching staff, Denzel [Valentine] and the other players. I kept saying to the guys that no one was screening for him. I thought we made some decent adjustments at half time and our staff did a good job coming up with some things. We moved the ball a little differently, got him on the point, got him off the point; I have to move him everywhere. Louisville did a hell of a job, I keep saying it because I mean it. They did a hell of a job on him. I thought he took two shots that were frustration shots, a guy drove by him so he was going to get a layup, but once he realized that they were bad shots I thought he settled down and took a lot of good shots. Denzel [Valentine] is a smart player, and he is an unselfish player. He is a winner. Winning time, he rose up. That's what makes him special. He is playing a lot of minutes in the last four games and he normally doesn't get beat off the dribble which I thought he did this game, but I think there were some reasons for it too that will get ironed out.
Senior Guard Denzel Valentine
On Louisville's strong effort...
They played really well; they. They brought the toughness, physicality, rebounded well and made plays. But credit to us, we came back, guarded, made plays when we needed to, made stops when we needed to and grinded out a win.
On the amount of different players stepping up to make a contribution...
That's what makes us such a good team. Somebody different can step up every night. Eron [Harris] comes in and sparks us in the second half. In the first half DD [Deyonta Davis], and late in the second half Bryn, and Tum Tum [Nairn] also came up with big defensive stops. Every guy contributed and that's what you need out of a championship team. We made plays when we needed to and that's what makes us a good basketball team.
On his first Big Ten/ACC Challenge win...
That's crazy. Matt and I were talking about that earlier. We wanted to come out and win. We have a game Saturday too and we didn't want to ruin our week by losing this game.
Senior Guard Bryn Forbes
On the slow start in the first half...
That's something we need to work on - putting two halves together. The first half we started out very slowly. They punched us in the mouth and luckily in the second half we responded.
On the teams tendency to have better second halves...
We're not going to get away with not putting two halves together. A lot of times we play much better in the second half. Louisville is a very good team and we got away with that.
On what the team did differently in the second half to win the game...
In the first half they were getting a lot of rebounds, but in the second half we were just trying to show our toughness. They gave us a good punch in the first half. We stepped up everything we did in the second half, especially our defense.
Freshman Kenny Goins
On the team's ability to grind out a tough win...
All that matters in the end is a check in the win column. That's really all that matters and it's on to the next game now.
On the depth that the team has featured...
We knew at the beginning of the season that was going to be our strength. We can play anyone, top to bottom on the depth chart. When it just comes down to it we can just wear teams out. We did it today and we did it a few times in the tournament over Thanksgiving.
On finding his role with the team...
It definitely helps being comfortable. You can see that the coaches are starting to have confidence to play me in these big-time games. I'm really starting to settle in after taking a year off.
