Michigan State vs. Michigan Postgame Quotes
1/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement…
I think like everyone I would be happy with the win. I thought our team played very well at times. We did something we haven't been doing. We got better in the second half; we didn't turn the ball over as much. I thought that the one thing we did a poor job on was rebounding and that surprised me. Give them credit for that. They rebounded the ball and that's how they got some shots. I think the defense holding them to 37 percent for a team that shoots it as well as them. I thought it was outstanding, then they got some second shots. I didn't feel our guards did a very good job rebounding the basketball, so we are going to have to improve in that area. But, you look at what we shot, 52 percent, 45 if we look at getting McQuaid some more shots. He made a couple of threes and it seems like nothing to most of you but you should have seen the team reaction to him in the locker room there, they are all so happy for him. I thought we got a lot out of our bench. McQuaid, Goins and Winston did a good job you want know ahead of time of that Nick Ward thing (foul trouble). I think we could have hurt them with Nick but there was an offensive defensive trade off. We had an issue with our out of bounds plays and we are struggling a little bit so we replace him on those and it's hard to get him back in. We played good enough and he probably feels the same way, to win the game and it wasn't like we shot the lights out or did this or that so we still have a lot of room for improvement and we are going to try and improve a lot in the next couple of weeks. The turnovers may have been one of the big keys, making free throws. Give Derrek Walton credit, he did what seniors do, he kind of took over that game and just got to the line. He did an unbelievable job of it; I thought he played awfully well. I thought we did a decent job on Zak Irvin, we put a lot into him or he just didn't have one of those days. There were a lot of good things and a lot of things we have to work on.
On Sophomore Matt McQuaid's shooting…
I don't know how many shots he got up, five, not a ton. The 3-3 from three and every one of them looked good. You have to get some confidence somehow and confidence is earned and not given. The kid has worked hard at it. I think what I liked most was the way that the team felt about it for him. We got a lot of different guys that played well whether or not anyone wants to believe this or not but the crowd did a good job for us. Everyone did their job for the most part, other than a couple of mistakes on defensive coverages. I thought everyone did their part. This is a good shooting team, we were very effective and I was happy with McQuaid and our effort in that respect.
On defensive execution on the perimeter…
I am so confused on how these teams are all doing this including us. You see a performance like Indiana does to us, then you see North Carolina just kills someone and then they get beat by twenty. I have been saying this for months to our media that I just can not believe the flows and for example Indiana, how good they shot against us, they didn't make any against Michigan. Michigan made every shot against Indiana. They had some good shots that didn't go in but I think that's what happens when you do a decent job early and they don't get hot. We didn't do that against Indiana and Indiana didn't do that against Michigan. I look at it as we did a pretty good job and that they missed a few shots. I thought that both teams played hard, consequently it was a game down to the wire
On the freshman getting involved tonight and Michigan guard Derrick Walton's performance…
I have always liked Walton because he is a good player. He has that intangible that I love he is tougher than nails. Tough kid, shot wasn't quite falling for him so he figured out a way to get to the scoreboard and that's what good players do. I thought his performance was almost heroic. He played well defensively and missed a couple of shots that I have seen him make lately but he has been shooting the ball really well lately. Finding another way is something I told Miles towards the end. We put him in some one-on-one situations and Miles tries to use his athletic ability to climb there but the problem is that you wont get any fouls called if you are gliding. He needs to learn how to use his feet and go up and get fouled. It is something that we need to work with him on and I think Walton did a good job with that. He is a four-year player and today he played like one.
On forward Miles Bridge's reaction to his assist to guard Matt McQuaid…
You only get one or two a week, I told Miles if you get more assists it wont be something that's never happened to you before. You know what the cool part of that was is that Miles could care less about that assist. What he cared about was for McQuaid. I told Miles he has to become more of a leader. He is our best player and to do that you have to bring all of the guys together. He is not great at that yet but he is sure making an effort. If you would have watched him in the locker room, he was so happy for the other guys. That is why I said he is a different kind of great player, one that I am lucky to be coaching.
On at what point a player's performance becomes heroic…
When you find a way to win and you rally your team. Walton Jr. talks to people and talks on defense. You know what, he is in all honesty, he is in a good program, well-coached and is a senior. When those three things happen and guys keep getting better every year those kind of things happen. I have been a fan on him since they recruited him and it hasn't changed any. I love the way he plays and how hard he plays.
On if there is a moment where you think the player might have this kind of game…
I don't mean to be a jerk but he was 4-12. He is good at getting to the line. I don't mean that any way but it is not like he was hitting jump shots and you are saying wow this guy is taking over. I mean at the end he had to do what he had to do. Part of that we deserve a little credit because the defense was good enough on those three-point shooters and when you do that you are going to leave some lanes open for the drive. You know what, I think he does a great job of, is he finds a way to get fouled. Some people just try and find a way to get a shot off, he finds a way to get his body in there and I mean that respectfully. He does a very good job and he draws fouls. Miles has to learn how to draw fouls, Cassius (Winston) does a good job of that he is just not as strong as Walton is. Cassius will be and he did a very good job of doing that and he is going to get stronger and better as we go.
On Alvin Ellis and Matt McQuaid's progress…
McQuaid doesn't need to make a lot of progress. Ellis does and he made some good plays. I felt bad because Alvin, he threw the ball away twice on layups and that's just the way we are, one good, one bad and we are subbing for a good and a bad. The thing with Nick and Kenny (Goins), we just have to get Nick the ball a little more. When he started off, he got the ball two out of the first three possessions and he scored. They did a decent job getting around it but we did a poor job getting to them. There are a lot of things that we need to get better at. We are going to keep working on them.
On Bridges' assist…
We are just seeing Miles, and trust me when I say he is not the same player he was, but he is getting very close again. By now, he should be getting a lot better than he was. We are just trying to get him back to where he was and I say that just because of the time he missed. Getting better with the ball, we really wet to him in the post a couple of times, we haven't done that yet this year and he responded. The one-on-one that we worked on, it was just what we went to and I think we can improve on that. It's going to be fun. There's a lot of tings that I think we can still do with this kid now that he is healthy and ready to go.
On the reason why the best qualities of the team came out during this game…
Well there's definitely pressure on these kids. That's no secret to anybody. Our crowd made a difference. It is just the way it is. I'm not saying they don't all the time, but it made a big difference. The players said it at halftime. I think in life, everybody gets complacent, me included sometimes. Sometimes it's okay to struggle a little bit; it makes you re-look at what is important and what you have to get back to. I thought we had a good week of practice. I thought my assistants did a great job of really covering things. We tried to do it without taking up all of their time. We tried to do it with short meetings and film sessions. It's not an easy cover when you have five guys that can shoot for a team that hasn't been through that. Think of our last two games - we played teams with two posts as big as we are going to play against and then we go against two bigs who stay out in the three-point line half of the time. That's a difficult transition for young guys to make. I thought we were good defensively. I didn't think we were great, but they had some looks, they missed some shots. Maybe our crowd helped in that, too.
On if there was a special speech before the game…
No, those young guys aren't speaking to anybody. They are just focusing on what we have to do other than speaking. I did remind Cassius before and I reminded him when he came out that that's what these games are all about. If you really miss that, and it's the same for them, it's fun when you can impact 500,000 people. It wasn't the 15,000 that were there that you can impact. I know Magic (Johnson) was tweeting stuff and I know Draymond (Green) was calling me and yelling at me about things. That's what they do and I am sure that their guys do the same things. It's an important game. I think both programs respect each other and that's what makes it a good game. You win that game and it's not like football where you get to gloat for 365 days. I don't think we are going to do any gloating now or after next week, no matter what happens. I think we are looking at this as it's getting us a chance to do things that we still think we can do this year and accomplish.
On Nick Ward and Michigan's offense…
I don't know about the offensive boards but on the offensive end. What happens sometimes that's so hard to explain to people is it's not always Nick's fault either. If you have a great guy getting over ball screens, you don't need a great center to help out of those ball screens. If you don't have as good a guy getting over ball screens, then you need to put more pressure on that guy. Kenny is the best at it. Tum is the best at it from a guard position. There are just times that certain line-ups, certain match-ups aren't as conducive. Some of it, I thought he was on his out-of-bounds plays, if you noticed that's when we subbed some. It's harder for freshmen to pick up certain things. Today, in all honesty, Nick did nothing wrong. He is still playing 16-18 minutes. Whatever he played and he was 6-for-6 and 1-for-2. It bothers me that he didn't have a defensive rebound. There was someone standing around there that we took him out early. I can only imagine what those freshmen are going through. The first rivalry game. You could feel it was thick in the air. I told you last week that if both teams are playing for a championship, it's big. But if both teams are playing for survival, it's just as big or even bigger sometimes.
On how he is handling his freshmen being leaders…
Well when they get 15, 13, 16 and Josh (Langford), that's the other thing, we need him in there but sometimes we have four freshmen in there and we don't have anyone to help them. They can take care of their own but they can't take care of the others. I thought Alvin did a pretty good job of giving us that, but we need Josh too. Those three are our leading scorers. Two of them did a pretty good job on the boards. It's different. I looked at the Kentucky game last night and I saw one team playing three freshmen a lot, maybe even four. One team played four juniors and seniors a lot and one freshman and even at Kentucky, they got them. I heard John's comments after the game. It is what it is. That's why I am proud of this team for bouncing back because it's not easy either when you lose three in a row and people aren't happy with you, coaches aren't happy with you. It's part of the growing process that I think will really help this team. Now we will see. We sustained a little bit better for a game. We did a pretty good job on the turnovers and not giving up six or eight points. We gave up three a couple of times, they made some good shots. But we did a pretty good job and now we will see if they can do that and carry it over into the next game.
Michigan head coach John Beilein
Opening statement…
Really good way to spend Sunday afternoon. Really a great basketball game. I loved the way our kids competed. Really worked their tail off, they're always a challenge, wherever you play them, to score on and then we just really couldn't get good looks. They just shot down a lot of things that we do. They had a really good defensive plan, it worked really well. So we could still stick in there, they didn't kill us on the boards like they have sometimes up here. We did a great job, for the most part, on some of their primary guys. At the same time, Matt McQuaid's play, he hasn't been shooting well, we left him open three times, you can't do that. It was only a matter of time before he started shooting better, we made him healthy. We lost each half by four points, that's two or three possessions. They won big in two halves and that's the story of the game. We're really anxious to watch the video and see how we can get better. Got to play through physical contact, got to play through physical contact, we did not do it in the first half. I can't wait to show it to our guys, not to berate them, just show them what we're talking about. If you're going to play in the Big Ten, if you're going to play in the NCAA tournament, you're going to play in the pros, what you can do when you have some type of physical contact on offense, you can't settle. We did it and it cost us.
On the play of Zak Irvin…
He did not practice the past two days with the flu. He did not go to practice at all, not an excuse, he's not making excuses. He told me at half-time, coach I'm fine, but he did not practice on Thursday, he did not practice on Friday… didn't even come to practice on Friday, Saturday he did not practice as well. But he practiced 15 minutes. We were just trying to save him and hopefully he could do alright but it was obvious he wasn't himself.
On playing Zak Irvin less minutes…
We were trying to, but Muhammad [Ali Abdur-Rahkman] was in foul trouble as well. I think when I look back at it, it will probably be the right thing to do but all of a sudden… he's one of our best passers, he's one of our best scorers, he plays three different positions for us. It's hard to take him out of there, as long as he told me he felt right. If he felt he was dizzy or anything he wouldn't have been in there.
On the half-court offense…
They're just really good at being physical with their defense without fouling. We did get to the foul line a ton, so I do like that we did that, but basically terrible quality at the foul line. So they were just really physical with us. In the first half a couple of our guys, when there was a wall in front of them, there's a mover, a counter mover just keep on going, we stopped. So it's like I said, we can talk about it forever but when they see it on video, they'll learn from it and we'll get better. Because we have to get better, it's not just Michigan State, anybody… As we grow as a team with a couple of our young guys, they're going to learn and just get better at it. I'm excited about the opportunity to improve.
On Derrick Walton Jr.'s play the past few games…
He's been up there three times and lost one in overtime and then this one today. I think he understands this rivalry as good as anybody out there, but he's doing it in all these games out there. I know he feels bad about it but we got to be ready for Ohio State now and we got a week to try to fix some of the things we need to fix. I don't know if we can do it in a week but we'll try to.
On if this is Walton's most consistent play…
I really can't judge that. We go through four years, one hundred and some games. He's playing well right now, as well as he's played, let's just say that.
On playing Michigan State again in the near future…
You don't know when you have these quirks in the schedule of playing somebody so quickly. The big benefit is that the kids don't have to relearn the scouting for it. I think they've got enough short-term memory, but Michigan State is good. I mean, for all the people that follow them, their two big guys are out and they're playing with freshmen out there. I give them a ton of credit right now and we got to get better. We have to adjust to Miles [Bridges] being in and out. They are a really good team with a super coaching staff, great talent, they're a good team. Whether it's nine days from now or 29 days from now right, it's going to be a heck of a challenge to beat them as it always is.
On if the turnovers were self-inflicted…
No, I thought that their defense was terrific, their defense was terrific. We'll look at it and we'll try to find a way to do some things better. They're good, they're just really good at it and they've always been good for years and years and years. When we have been able to beat them, our offense was really clicking and really good. It wasn't tonight and credit Michigan State.
On the mutual respect with Tom Izzo…
I don't know, I have it. You can ask Tom that question. I'm not like one of those guys, I mean, we're going into these games, we respect everybody, but they are the enemy for 40 minutes. Then you go back and this is college basketball and you've got great rivalries and so many things happening. I was excited talking to Mark Dantonio, I've never talked to him since I got here and he's a heck of a coach as well. These are great rivalries, this is good, you're all here, the place is packed, why? Because you've got two great programs going at it and it's a great experience. I just embrace it as an opportunity. Those 40 minutes, not close to a war, but there's a lot of two enemies going at it. Now, afterward, maybe they feel differently, that's the way I feel about anybody. Wherever I've been there's been those other teams that you're always trying to get. I'm more about the bigger picture of a win or a loss to a team does not make our season. It makes it what you're doing at the end of the year and is your team getting better as you go through the year.
On the freshmen play from Michigan State…
They just isolated him [Miles Bridges], and he just took it right at us. Right now that hasn't been a strength for us, just guarding the dribble, just guarding a guy one-on-one. They had great spacing on it, they got shooters out there. I thought one of the most impressive plays was the fast-break where we were loaded up and this freshman is going to charge into us and we're going the other way. He threw a direct, perfect pass to McQuaid in the right corner. I mean, that's exceptional, exceptional play and there's very few who can do that. He's not playing like a freshman. [Nick] Ward is such a good player and then they do a good job with that with their post guys. Cassius [Winston] was tremendous tonight, a big difference maker in the game, the way he got to the basket, got through our ball screen and made some big plays.
On the play between Ward and Moritz Wagner…
You'd have to look on TV what happened. I think it's normal as people are going to their benches, they're crossing. They pulled them together in our huddle which probably created more of a thing. They got control of it. Both kids cleaned up, if there was anything going on, on both sides. But I wouldn't make too much of that.
On Wagner picking up his fourth foul…
That technical foul, no I don't think so. No I do not think so. It was their defense that was so good in this game.
On Michigan State's defense on the perimeter…
They really guarded a pick and pop up on Wagner really well. They really were good at it. Now that's part of ours, if we're not driving hard on a pick and roll and making their bigs guard us, if we're just throwing it back to 'Mo' to get another action, it doesn't fool anybody. So that's something they were really good at that. Individually right now, on some of our guys, they have great individual defense, they just really played it. They're a little deeper than we are right now. So they had some fresh bodies on us and it bothered us.
On Wagner's role in the offense when he's in foul trouble…
Well I don't know if there's that type of difference. He's got a high skill level and it allows us to flow through some things, but he's also learning defensively. He's still a work in progress and there's going to be - we've talked about for two years now. He's going to make plays where you say, 'I can't wait to watch him develop.' And then you'll see other things and say, 'Why is he still doing that?' He's learning, a very willing student, wants to get better. He'll be upset, very passionate about his teammates and he's a great guy to coach. At times he makes our offense and our defense much better.
On changing the team's success on the road…
It's all been the same story. There's a few in the first half or in the second half, went two or three possessions that we're just not as good as we need to be. All these games that we have lost on the road - and that's college basketball - but this team is going to have great challenges down the road. I don't know how many we have left but that's the way it is. Maryland's been able to do and Wisconsin's been able to do and a few other teams have been able to do that and we're one of those.
Michigan State guard Matt McQuaid
On playing with more confidence…
I played with a different mentality today. Every time I get the opportunity, I'm going to take it. Every time I come off the screen, I'm going to take it. I feel like I did that. My teammates gave me some great passes. I was just given the opportunities and I just knocked them down.
On ending a three game losing streak…
Three losses are tough. I am so proud of our team and how we came together. That was a big win for us. We can use it as momentum towards the second half of the Big Ten schedule. We can really use this to our advantage and I'm proud of how our team came together after those three losses.
On the upcoming road games…
We're really focusing on the road games, hitting our gaps, and other day-one stuff. We're just trying to get back on track with that type of stuff and playing with passion. We're slapping the floor and we need to keep that consistent.
On offensive consistency...
Everybody is clicking. That gets the offensive side going. We can feed off each other and score more points.
On playing Michigan again next week…
They're a good basketball team and we see them next week. So we need to take care of our next one and then get ready for them.
Michigan State guard Alvin Ellis III
On playing Michigan again next week…
We can enjoy this win. We know we see them down the road in about a week, but we're going to enjoy this win.
On breaking the losing streak…
It was really important, especially against a team like this. We needed the win. We knew we needed to focus in on defense and that's what we did tonight.
On the defense...
We just knew that we really needed this game in order to be contenders for the Big Ten outright. We have to win every game from now on and we need to be a tougher team from now on.
On going on the road…
We know what we can do. We know that we can do it. We just need to put our mind to it and do it. We need to be physically and mentally locked in and not make any mistakes.
On closing the game out on free throws…
It was great. We've been working on free throws every day. We weren't shooting well early in the season, but we kept working and we shot well tonight
Michigan State forward Miles Bridges
On the importance of the win...
We really needed that game. Everybody stepped up. It just boosted our confidence all the way up.
On how the team was able to pull away…
It started on defense. We weren't rebounding well and we were making dumb turnovers. Once we started rebounding and playing defense, that's when our offense got going and we never looked back.
On the message at halftime…
Rebound, rebound, rebound. That's all coach is preaching to us. That and defense is what won us the game.
On why the team is playing better defense…
Just focusing. We have to pay attention to every detail and do all the little things like box out and stay in our gaps. If we do that we will win the game 9 times out of 10.
On defending Zak Irvin…
He's a great player. He was one of our main focuses. Josh (Langford) and Alvin (Ellis III) really took that to heart and that's what they do. They play good defense. Once we took him out of the game, that's when we got it going.
On spreading out the offense…
Everybody brought it. You couldn't just double team one person, double team Nick (Ward), or double team me. Everybody was on fire today. Even Tum Tum (Nairn Jr.) hit a shot. We just played a great game.
On going on the road…
We just have to keep doing the things we have to do. We have to get defensive rebounds and focus for 40 minutes. Those are our only focuses.
On playing Michigan again next week…
We just have to get passed this win and move on by tomorrow because we have to see them at their house and they're very hard to beat there.
Michigan State guard Cassius Winston
On playing Michigan…
With a rivalry game, no matter what you say, there's a lot riding on this game. No matter what our record is, it just so happens it's a big game because of what our record is. If we didn't win any games this season or if we won all of our games this season, this game would be one of the biggest games. It's a big win for us because it's a must win.
On playing Michigan again next week…
They're a team. We have to fix our mistakes. There were a couple things we could have done better. We have to think about the things that we did well and keep going.
On his offensive contribution…
I was a lot more aggressive tonight. All week they've been telling me to be more aggressive. So tonight I was more aggressive with getting to the basket and making things happen.
On the driving forces of the team…
Our energy and our focus. We pride ourselves on stopping them and then everything will take care of itself. If we get stops and we play hard on defense then everything else will just fall into place.
On defending Zak Irvin…
We focused hard on that end. We played hard and we tried to slow down their best player and take away his options. We're going to win games that way.
On going on the road…
We definitely have to bring it on the road. We have to focus on that. We have to bring the energy from the jump once the game starts.
On the crowd…
It was crazy. Those people were looking for a show and we provided it. It was a lot of fun for them and a lot of fun for us.
On playing in big games…
It was huge. It adds into the intensity. It adds into the pride. You have to find a way to control it and don't let it get out of hand so you can play like this and have a good game.
