Post-Game Quotes: Binghamton
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State Men's Basketball Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement...
I bet you wish you were in Indy; I'm going to Indy, so everyone should be going to Indy. Well, real quick, you know there was some positives in the game. I felt for Binghamton, watching them on film they are a really well-coached team-I mean that sincerely. They run a lot of good stuff they just missed shots. I thought we did defend well today. I thought offensively they did a better job on us than we did on them. We did miss some shots, we had some open looks. That was the only disappointing thing of the day for me was that we did miss some open shots, we missed some layups. Coaches have goals just like players. You know, you hope to shoot 50 percent, and then you're shooting way more than that, we just kind of missed a ton of layups at the end. Then the 7 for 26 from the three; with the threes that we got, it was disappointing. But to have 24 assists on 30 baskets and only have nine turnovers, and holding them percentage wise down defensively, those were big pluses. I keep saying I'm not going to play as many people and I keep doing it, so blame me for that because it's still creating a problem for us to have some cohesion out there and sometimes I let my heart override my head; and I guess I have to be a little more heartless. But we're going to keep working on that and improving on that. I said we had to make it through Wednesday and start working on ourselves. But then all of a sudden with the NCAA rules, we had to take off Thursday, so we had a one day prep. So I am looking forward to tonight, to going down to Indy, coming back, and having the hardest, toughest, best, longest practice of the year here tomorrow. We're going to start working on us. We have been working on everybody except us - so we are going to start working on us.
On possibility of being ranked No. 1...
Yeah, I mean as we all know what you are ranked in December, that's not bearing of what you will be ranked in February and March when it really matters. But if that happens, I think it's a feather in your programs hat. It's always good to have your team ranked high, I think there was a long time where we had to learn to be the hunter, and then we have become the hunted, some. When you are ranked one you are hunted and I think this team needs to know what it's like to be hunted. So, it would be great. If it works out for our football team tonight, that would be iconic. Because I don't think there is a basketball team one in the country and then a football team. But you know what I love about this football game tonight? Those football coaches, you know they have that week to prepare - you know how much I love my guy. But, they get it a little bit easier. They are never in that one and done pressure that basketball is always in. Tonight, we are kind of in that. Tonight, if we lose we go to a great bowl game, but I think it's great that Mark Dantonio is taking his program to the point where they are in one and done time. They are in the Elite 8. You know we were in Syracuse last year, they're in Indy this year with the exact same on the line - a trip to the Final Four. It's about time these football guys start using the same analogy that basketball does - so they are getting a little smarter and I am proud of them for that. I will be down there cheering on our Spartans. So that number one ranking, if it happens it would really go well as long as our football wins - then it will really be something special. We have been ranked number one before, I think it is a plus for the program but I know we are not the best team in the country right now in my mind. But other teams are playing a little sloppy like us at times, but someone has to be it and if they give it to us, I'm going to embrace it.
On finding a rotation...
My players would agree with this wholeheartedly, they are doing a good job, but the coach is not doing a very good job because that is what I keep telling you and I keep not doing it. Kenny [Goins] broke his nose in the other game so we didn't know how much he wanted to play his first game back, some of it, we are trying to get DD [Deyonta Davis] and Marv [Clark Jr.] and Eron [Harris] up to par. It was interesting today because Matt McQuaid looked like a fish out of water if you ask me. He was sick last night, and I asked my trainer how bad he was. Everyone handles being sick differently, and I learned with him [McQuaid] that he doesn't handle it very well. He shot an air ball up there that didn't hit anything but a media member. Normally that would be okay, but he was sitting in the second row so that was a little disappointing. We are just still trying to find some guys and get them in there. Tomorrow is a big day for us. We just have to get some practice time in on us and it will help me shrink that group down. Put the pressure on me to do a better job.
On Marvin Clark Jr...
I didn't like everything that I saw. Marvin [Clark Jr.] has to realize that he has to defend and rebound because he's not that big to play power forward. His stats might be better, but I don't evaluate that. I am not into the analytics that much. I appreciate blood, sweat and tears. If I'm not seeing that, I'm not that happy. Marvin [Clark Jr.] gets nine points and six rebounds in 17 minutes which looks good, but he's a big key. He has to get better. I thought we got more out of Javon Bess in some ways, he didn't shoot that much but he got six rebounds and played excellent defense. That position right now is still up for grabs.
On Deyonta Davis...
Dwayne Stephens and I, we figured that Deyonta [Davis] did not really bear and give the effort that he needed to. Dwayne Stephens laughed at me with three minutes left. He said that Deyonta [Davis] did not play really hard and got 10 rebounds already. I think that tells you how talented of a kid he is. We need to get guys playing at a different level. Never am I going to come up here and applaud someone who had effort issues or mistakes. In [Deyonta Davis'] case, he was giving about a 2/3 effort. The kid is talented, and we are going to get it out of him. In his defense, he hasn't had a chance to practice. I told him tomorrow, `saddle up, it's going to be a big day for you Deyonta.' I might borrow those pads from [Mark] Dantonio tonight, if they're winning pads. I'll bring them back and use them with Deyonta [Davis]. He's got a chance to be a special player.
On Eron Harris....
I'm not looking to do anything on Eron [Harris] because today we gave him more minutes and he had more shots in there for a while, and I think he just as to continue to figure out when it's a shot and when it's a drive. He does get to the line and that's been a positive. He didn't shoot as well from the line, he was shooting 80 percent, but he made a little progress defensively which excites me. If he plays better defense I can keep him on the floor and if I can keep him on the floor he's going to find a way to be good offensively. So him and Marvin Clark [Jr.] are the two guys that I think have to step up a couple of levels if we are going to go from good to great.
On Denzel Valentine...
Assists are very important to Denzel [Valentine] and if guys are fumbling dunks, I just see his face go down. We have to talk to him about that and we have to work on that. He wasn't disinterested. He was so good in the huddles, he was pretty good defensively, but he didn't seem to have the same flash the second half after guys missed a couple of easy shots. Denzel [Valentine] gets a double-double, and we aren't happy with him, what a great world we live in. He was not as sharp the second half but it was not all his fault. If a couple of his assists would have fallen, he would have felt better. That's kind of a neat thing to have on a team when you have 24 assists on 30 baskets, that is a coach's dream, to have a team that is unselfish like that. Denzel [Valentine] should have had 10 or 11 assists today. It was a neat teaching moment in the locker room after the game because I always tell them that I need them to accomplish my goals, to win a national championship, they need me for some things, but they need each other. To a Tum Tum [Nairn Jr.] or a Denzel [Valentine], the assist is better than a basket. It's really the ultimate team game and that's why I think we need to learn that we need each other a little more and know that we have obligations to each other. We are going to get better at that. It's still a fun team to coach, and it's an exciting team to watch. I promise you today; I am not going to let any of this bother me on the flight down to Indy, I am going to just enjoy our game, enjoy their game, and see if Michigan State University and our athletic department can do something that very few do. That is to be at a pinnacle of success in two sports in the same year. Should be a fun day.
Binghamton Head Coach Tommy Dempsey
On how playing tough competition can help them going forward...
"You get an opportunity to try to execute against a very big, physical, defensive-minded team. I thought we actually executed pretty well, we just couldn't put the ball in the basket. You come in thinking, you know, if you make some shots you can be competitive. But when you shoot like we did, it just gets out of hand. But it's more of a credit to them and how fast and physical they are. It's not something you see every day."
On the Michigan State team...
"The speed that they're playing at is the best I've seen in a while. Getting the ball up and down the court, they don't take bad shots, they play very well together, and they're physical in the post. But I think their biggest quality right now is just the speed that they're playing at. The speed of their wings getting up the court, and then obviously (Tum Tum) Nairn can fly the ball up the court. They put pressure on your defense for forty minutes. That wears teams out."
On his impressions of Binghamton's play...
"I thought we played really hard. I thought we defended them fairly well. It's hard when you're not scoring, because we're back in transition on almost every single possession. But I thought our guys were running back and getting on defense well. I thought we played very well; we just couldn't put the ball in the basket."
