Post Game Quotes: Wisconsin
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| USATSI Photo Gallery
Michigan State Men's Basketball Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
Well, I will be honest with you…That was a big win against a very good team and they're playing so much better than the first time we played them if you ask me. The improvement they've made and I think we played a game the way you have to play a game when it gets to the end of the year. Defense, I thought was unbelievable at times, we did a heck of a job on Vitto Brown and Hayes [Nigel]. I thought we did a very good job on [Bronson] Koenig too, until the very end. The only guy we couldn't stop with a fishnet was [Ethan] Happ - he did a hell of a job. We just seemed a little slow in there, but he did a hell of a job. Our defense throughout that whole game...they were in the 20s…our percentile, they we in the 20s from the 3-point range…They hit a couple at the end but I thought the only two areas we didn't do a very good job on was our post-defense; it wasn't very good. And really our rebounding wasn't very good. Every lose rebound they got they seemed to kick out for a 3-pointer or get to the foul line. But, I feel bad at the end that I had to take those guys back out, but those guys matter to me and I try to play them but it just didn't work out this time. But I can't speak enough about the job that [Greg] Gard has done there - his team, we have watched them. We think that we're a better team than when we played them there because of [Denzel] Valentine and things like that because he had just gotten back - but, we think that they're a lot better team than what they were last time. And some guys just didn't play as good tonight - Hayes looked a little tired, he looked like Costello, a little tired. I think this time of year, I don't know if that was it or what.
Overall, I'm really proud of the defense we played. We got our break going early, we got some running. I thought we executed better, our ball screens against a team that usually runs you off the 3. I thought we got Forbes there. We got a little sloppy with the ball when we got tired - we get a little sloppy when we let our guard down. And that was a big thing to me right now. When you get near tournament time, any kind of tournament-the 'my bads' and one mistakes that you could accept during the year become much more critical. And that is the only reason I wasn't as pleased as I probably should be winning a game like that because we had a couple of those things happen.
On improved defense by Deyonta Davis…
Well, Deyonta has grown up a lot since the first game, number one. We did it a little more 'helpy' and thought we would put him on him some and Denzel- which he did a heck of a job. But, Deyonta wanted to press up and make his length bother him, and get some help from the wings which I thought we did a great job. Deyonta deserves a lot of credit, and Eron Harris deserves a lot of credit. And Denzel. Denzel, sometimes we had him on Hayes, sometimes we had him on Brown and he did a pretty good job as I said. We covered things very well defensively I thought.
On Big Ten play and upsets…
So many teams have to lose; I mean no one can lose two games a night. Somebody has got to beat somebody. If one team that's at the top beats another team, you know if there's upsets like tonight, that would be great if there could be three of four of those. Then I would see the crack. I'm more disappointed in some of the opportunities that we've had but let go, but I can't worry about that now. To be honest with you, I've just been focusing right now on this team getting better. It's a time of year where you have to get better. And it's a time of year where you don't let the 3-point shot dictate your game- let your rebounding and your defense dictate your game because as much as scoring is up and all this stuff that everyone talks about. You know, last year we played Georgia and they scored a lot of points. We played Oklahoma and Louisville who average a lot of points. Those games were all low scoring games because it gets tournament time and I'm not saying the officiating will change but it will get a little more smash mouth with possessions when turnovers matter. And that's what we're trying to build for- to make those things matter right now. So to get us ready, if something happens…I can honestly say that I'm not looking. I wasn't jumping up and down when I heard the announcement that Maryland lost. There's just too many teams that have to lose and we dug ourselves our own hole. Although, there has been times when we helped other teams; so maybe some teams will help us now. So if that happens, it happens but we have a lot of work today before we worry about that.
On assists…
You know, I forgot to mention that last time so I'm glad that you mentioned that, because last time it was off the charts in the last game. This team, verybody gets defined by something. It's been toughness for a lot of our teams, and our defense for a lot of our teams. This team maybe it could be their 3-point shooting, which is kind of a footprint that they are laying here. But, probably the best footprint that should be laid is the unselfishness of this team. This has been this way all year- 27 something games. They've almost averaged more assists in each game than other team I have ever had and that is incredible. That speaks volumes of Denzel. Because he leads the way with his unselfish play, but I'm just mad at him because I think he got a little tired and could have had more rebounds. But the unselfishness goes second to none. But it also means that people are making shots. And so I thought that the screening was better. I talked to Bryn about that this morning. He came off tighter and I thought he did a phenomenal job of that tonight.
On this being possibly being the best shooting team…did you expect it…
Sure, more teams are shooting 3s and more teams have 3-point shooters. I struggle to think that it's the freedom of movement as more teams are shooting more from the free throw line, and I think we just have better shooters than we have had and more of them. With Bryn, Eron, Zel and McQuaid those are probably four shooters that shoot it better than everyone we've had in a long time, maybe since (Maurice) Agers. Now we have more than a couple of them and I think that we have an unselfish person running it with 24 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds and good defense. Id say that I always want more from that kid because I think he has more to give.
On if Denzel pass first is by design…
No, you have to realize that teams are going to take away Denzel too and they have done a good job of putting pressure on him. I think what we have done a good job of now is we use Eron Harris at the point some and move Denzel around and we were going to try and post him when Hayes wasn't guarding him but Hayes had him a lot and we ran him off ball screens so we did that. He can run anywhere from post to point to the wing and he is versatile and its easier with Eron and Tum playing and he's getting more minutes and he played four or five and if I can get him up to 10 minutes then I think we will be okay.
On if Deyonta guarding (Khakil) Iverson helping him…
I think that is helping and you have to realize that he is doing a great job with his length and it was DJ's idea to put him on him and put some length on him. We are cheating with our guards and can push him up more. Don't get me wrong Deyonta is doing a great job but it's a mixed bag of nuts but we are cheating on people and moving people around. It's almost been fun trying to scheme our defense in different ways. I am going to stay up all night trying to learn how to scheme our post defense because tonight it was Ole. But Deyonta did a good job, Zel really helped and when Eron helped and didn't let a guy penetrate and they didn't get as many shots in the right positions it was a good job by Deyonta and a good job by our whole team.
On the focus on one player to not beat us…
In the five losses someone else not their star players had career nights like Davis, Gesell and Shields and Jok and they were picking their way on us. I think this is more of a team that we are starting to realize that you get so shot happy and a lot of 3-point shooting teams do, we bare down on our defense and we get to tournament time and one bad shooting night and you are out and we want to make sure if we have that one bad shooting night we survive that by an incredible defense night. I thought we were very good defensively tonight. Don't look at those couple of early games for Wisconsin, this team is a lot better than when we played the first time and we are too but they are much better. I think that Hayes wont have another night like tonight, some was us and some was him. But we look forward and we have a game on Tuesday down in Columbus, another team that has been Jekyll and Hyde a little bit and I'm just looking forward to it. I feel good about it but our defense deserved a lot of credit tonight.
Senior Guard Denzel Valentine
On the defensive pressure applied on Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig…
I think our coaches had a great game plan. They put us in the best position to succeed. We watched personnel over and over again and we knew what they were going to do. We went out there and executed.
On the importance of the great start in the first half...
We had a good start, and I think that was a part of being ready to play and being focused and being mentally prepared. We were the hungrier team today and we wanted to win more.
On the need to stay focused after this win...
We need to realize we have more wins to get. If we want to be the best team in the nation, best team in our conference and play for something bigger like a championship we need to take care of what we can.
Freshman Forward Deyonta Davis
On his defensive performance in the paint…
I stuck to the scouting report, kept my hands up and didn't let them go baseline. I just stuck to the scouting report. My length was a reason they weren't able to score.
On the ability to shut down Wisconsin's best players …
Like I said, it's really all about the scouting report. We stuck to it and that was that.
On how the team will stay focused after this win…
We just need to keep the same mindset as we did tonight. We need to keep our composure, work as a team and get results.
Junior Guard Eron Harris
On the defensive pressure put on Koenig and Hayes …
We just followed our coach's plan. We've been working on our game plan for the past few days, locked in watching the film. We were really trying to learn these players' tendencies and I just think we're dedicated and dedicating ourselves to really locking in on people. We really use that term a lot. It's not easy but it says something about us and our coaching staff. That's not a bad team. Wisconsin is a good team every year.
On his level of focus …
I was so locked in, I didn't even notice it. [The Breslin Center atmosphere] Everybody keeps talking about it, but I wasn't even thinking about that at all. I was so in myself and focused on the people on the court I wasn't even thinking about that.
On what the team will do to prepare for Ohio State on Tuesday…
Rest is good. We are going to be able to rest until Tuesday, so we need to be able to come out there with energy. We need to stay locked in from now until then.
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard
First of all I want to credit Michigan State and Tom's [Izzo] team and how they played. I thought they were very dialed in from the start. We tried to take away some of the things that they've been good at, transitions is obviously one of them. Early we dug ourselves a hole that we couldn't quite get out of. We tried to claw back, but then we would make a mistake, whether it was on the glass or on the perimeter. Obviously, Michigan State is playing really well right now. We'll learn from this and we'll continue to grow and get better. I like the way they fought, even when things weren't going as well. There was no quitting in our guys in terms of them continuing, especially Ethan [Happ]. I was impressed with how he [Happ] started rough and then he brought the competitiveness that he struggled with last week against Nebraska. He really showed me something here tonight.
On Michigan State's assists…
When you have 45, Denzel [Valentine] out there with everything he does, he has half of their assists. He makes the team so much better in terms of the level that he plays and the other four guys around him play. It's obvious he is healthy now. He is in a groove and he is playing at a high level. I thought for the most part that we did a decent job on him. We made a couple of mistakes when we didn't stop him on a ball screen, but he had some tough ones, as did Bryn Forbes. How Denzel [Valentine] is able to operate and run that team at his size, how he's able to handle the ball and his shooting. His shooting has improved immensely over his career. He was not that good of a shooter when he first got here. It's a credit to him and how unselfish he is and how he's grown as a player.
On the crowd…
It's one of the better environments in college basketball. This league has a lot of them, but it wasn't them, it was those guys in the white jerseys that were the real problem for us.
On Michigan State's defense…
I don't know how much different it was than what we saw at our place. We were able to make some 3's at our place and get to the free throw line. We left a lot of points at the rim, not only Nigel [Hayes]. We were 4-of-12 in paint in the first half and 8-of-15 in the second half, so I thought we finished better. The problem is we dug ourselves such a hole and it's so hard to get out of something like that, especially on the road against a team like this. We figured they would really try to squeeze Nigel [Hayes] and make it hard for him to get to the rim and do what he does well.
On not finishing at the rim…
I thought we turned down some chances in the first half to attack the rim or we didn't throw it in. I think four of our first seven possessions we shot 3's, which I like to make sure we get to the free throw line and if the 3's come as a result of touching the post, fine. You know you're always going to get a thrust from them and we needed to stem that off by finishing in the paint, especially early.
On Denzel Valentine…
He can do so many things. His leadership ability, his shooting has improved, his ball handling has improved. I don't think he was a point guard four years ago. He has a big impact on our team like [Frank] Kaminsky had on us last year. He's a hard matchup. He is a guy that is kind of like a utility knife; you can use him in a lot of different places. He's unselfish enough. It all shows how much of a complete player he is.
