Post Game Quotes: Nebraska
1/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
Well, strange game. I thought the execution in the first half was superb. We got Bryn Forbes shot after shot after shot. The poor kid just didn't make them. They were wide open shots. I thought we did a good job there. I worry when I change the lineup. I either put in a team that can score and can't defend - this is the first team [opponent] that shot over 50 percent. We picked a bad time - we've been shooting 75 [percent] from the line, we go 12-21. That was a killer. Probably the biggest killer was when we had a five point lead ,and we just made some incredibly different decisions. Once again, we didn't play good enough, play hard enough, execute well enough and play smart enough. Those of you watching would say, 'Well, we didn't foul a lot today.' We got that cause we just said 'Oley.' We just let them drive right to the basket. I got to find a happy medium in there. I swear we got some good shots, we just missed some good shots. Give them credit, they drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove. We couldn't make a free throw, we couldn't execute. I thought we got a good shot at the end and it just didn't make it.
On Bryn Forbes' confidence…
He just had 20 [points] in a half a week ago. I did, I did see that. I don't know why. He had good shots. I'd give Bryn those shots every day of the week, and I know no one feels worse about it than him. They're shots that he makes. Those are the best shots he's had. Early on, we executed right off the jump ball. We executed pretty well and shots didn't go our way, we didn't guard as well. They got some fast break buckets, too, but, yeah, I don't think it's his confidence in his shooting, he's always confident, he just - he's just not the strongest guy, so I think defensively he struggled a little bit, but he had good shots.
On this team's confidence...
Of course my team's not feeling comfortable right now. You lost three in a row in a baseball game and you wouldn't feel comfortable. I don't mean that as harsh as it sounds. Look, we've gone through a lot with this team, you know. I get so many letters on why do you play Tum (Nairn Jr.), well, it would have been nice to have him tonight. We just can't guard the things we need to guard. We're 16-4, I said that when we were 16-3 that we're not throwing in the towel. The last two games, if you ask me - and please, the Nebraska people here, they did a hell of a job. Good coach, good team. But, we were up. And we didn't play smart enough. And then we just didn't play smart enough at Wisconsin. Calls went against us there, tough calls here. We didn't play smart enough, and we lost. We did execute. We did do some positive things. We did some things that I think are going to benefit us. It's hard to keep changing the lineup, and don't even ask me why I do it. I don't have a choice right now. It's hard to do that and let everybody be comfortable. Zel [Denzel Valentine], he played okay. Moving from the two guard to the point guard and having to guard different people is a tough deal. I haven't lost the team. Haven't lost the locker room. Nobody is upset about this and that, we just got to get more guys playing a little bit better and maybe a little bit smarter.
On if there was a switch to Denzel Valentine on the Nebraska possession after the Cornhuskers went up two …
They just drove and jumped into him and threw it over him. It's hard. There are some things that were hard. But yeah, we switched with Denzel, he's our best defender. Give Shields credit, he's averaging 13 and hit 28. (Iowa's Peter) Jok's averaging 13 and he gets 27. (Wisconsin's Bronson) Koenig is averaging 13 and he gets 27. Right now, we're missing that lock down defender and for the most part, depending on who we put him on, it's been Tum (Tum Nairn). We are missing that lock down guy right now. I'm playing Denzel a lot of minutes so he's probably tiring right now, too.
On if tonight's lineup was his new version of a shortened bench...
No, it wasn't the shortening of the bench. It's moving guys. We just didn't think (Matt) McQuaid could run the break as well so we put Denzel in there and we thought we'd have our three best perimeter guys out there. It was probably our three best offensive guys, but it might not be our best defensive guys. You've watched Bryn Forbes, some of you since high school. He had good shots. He won't miss those shots again. I feel sorry for that kid. He's hurting more than anybody because he knows those are shots he should have made. Shooters got to make shots, rebounders got to get rebounds. What we don't have right now is a lock down defender. I was hoping (Gavin) Schilling could be that guy. I'm not trying to shorten my bench or lengthen it; I'm just trying to play who I can play. Marv struggled in the last game with some things and he's going to have to earn himself back in there. JB (Javon Bess) had done it the other way. He's been in everyday working on his free throws, and the poor kid just missed them. That's just the way it was. When you've got a lead, you've got to take care of the ball, you can't make bad decisions, and we did. When that happens, that lead went from four or five up to six or seven down like that. When those things happen, we've got to be smarter than that. That's going to fall on my shoulders.
On Matt Costello's injury…
He rolled his ankle and we couldn't put him back in. We tried at the very end and he just couldn't move. DD (Deyonta Davis) actually did some good things, but he just doesn't understand that when he's a help guy he's got to block some of those shots in there. He was too worried about his man, who was for the most part a non-scorer. He was 0-for-2 and (Davis) was guarding him like a glove. We need him to be the help man. That's part of growing and he'll be better than that.
On if opposing players step their game up because they're playing at the Breslin Center…
Oh, I think there's definitely truth to that. There's blood in the water right now, so the sharks are coming. We're going to have to have blood in the water the other way and that's kind of what you have to do. I don't think there's any question, but I think part of it is not having that lock down guy to put on somebody to cool them off for a little bit. I really can't afford to with Denzel, he was so afraid of getting in foul trouble. So afraid, especially when he got that foolish one in the first. The guy was 0-for-2, I don't know if he could make a shot, and we fouled him. That was a tough start because then he gets a little reserved. We did some good things guys, we just didn't make some shots, we didn't make some free throws and we gave up too many layups.
On if he feels he knows how to reach this team…
Yeah. It's a very good team and there are really a lot of good guys. Everybody's pressing a little bit. We're just going to have a do a better job as a staff. I know how to get to this team and this team will bounce back, but it's been shaken. There's no question about it. It should be shaken. We've lost, in my mind, two games - Wisconsin, hands down we should have won. This one, they probably outplayed us more, but we still had that lead and a chance. The crowd was so good. They tried to hard. My apologies to every single one of them. That might have been the loudest, lengthiest, pick-me-up I've heard since I've been in the Breslin, and that's 25-years or whatever. They were unbelievable, and we didn't answer the bell. We're hopefully going to do a better job for them on game day.
Redshirt Junior Guard Eron Harris
On the overall feeling of how the game went…
We felt pretty good coming out, but coach "Izz" talked about a checklist of things you have to do if you want to win. You need to play hard, you need to play tough. Lastly, you need to play smart. That's the thing that we haven't been doing lately. It seems like we keep knocking things off, but then there's something else that we need to sure up.
On the losing streak...
It's just like life. You're going to go through hardships until the very end, until you get to the good. We have a group full of guys that are going to grind. We just need to keep each other up right now. Teams in the past have gone through worse than us. We just need to stop the bleeding soon though. We need to keep our heads up.
On how the team will bounce back…
We're down right now but our coaching staff is figuring out what is going on, we're trying to figure out what's going on. We're going to bounce back.
Senior Guard Denzel Valentine
On how the game was lost late in the second half…
We kind of just lost focus at the end. We didn't make plays and they made plays.
On what needs to be done to finish games stronger…
We just need to play for one another, be hungry and have a sense of urgency. We need to do the little things. We haven't been doing the little things right.
On the teams struggles from the free throw line…
We need to shoot better from the line and that's a huge thing if we want to win games. We kind of messed up on that, and we can't do that if we want to win big games.
On the upcoming game against Maryland on Saturday…
We need to come out and be ready to play. Maryland is a great team and has good players. We just can't make late game mistakes. We've been playing well enough the last few games. We just haven't played smart enough.
