Michigan State vs. #16/15 Wisconsin Postgame Quotes
2/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
Wow, I feel like I've spent my entire career talking about memory-making moments. Senior day for me is the toughest day of the year. It always has been and probably always will be until I'm done. Last night, I laid there and I called my equipment man Dave Pruder and I told him, 'Don't tell anybody, but if we get way ahead or way behind, I'm putting Eron (Harris) in. It's going to be his one shining moment.' I was able to do that. It felt like everything that's good about my job. Sometimes there's a lot of things that aren't as good. I've learned a lot about this team this year. Three weeks ago, or whenever we played Nebraska, I opened up the white elephant and admitted it to you to put the pressure on them. I put it on myself and they responded. And as I told them just now, the greatest memory making moment for the next 60 years, you're going to understand that when your back is against the wall and your neck is on the line, you can do one of two things. You can give up or you can grind. And we grinded, if that's such a word. I'm very proud of them for that. There are some things we did well. We made some mistakes. Wisconsin is a veteran team. They're a good team. They're struggling a little bit for whatever reasons. That is a very good basketball team. (Bronson) Koenig is an unbelievable player. It seems like when things were on the line he'd make shot after shot after shot. I think we did a good job defensively even though they shot 43 percent and 27 from the three. We were worried about the rebounding and we out rebounded them. We were worried about the offensive rebounding. They did have 15 and scored some points. For us, 11 turnovers is awesome. Cassius Winston, not only what he did, but I was telling my assistant, 'Put him on Koenig.' I told Cassius after, 'Did you ever think that day would come?' and we laughed. Nick Ward, after a great start offensively and a poor start defensively, bounced back. Miles (Bridges) was a rock. He had a lot of things to do. Josh (Langford) made some plays. Getting (Matt) McQuaid to bounce back and be somewhat of the player we all knew he could be and saw last year was big. All in all, this team is 10-6 right now with a chance to win some more games. It's awesome for them and a memory maker for me and so was today.
On beating Wisconsin in several key statistics...
There are just a lot of things that we did well. They're not an easy team to cover. They're very physical and those guys have experience down on the block. Every time we'd double down, they'd hit a three. I think they did some things well. Give Greg (Gard) a lot of credit. Where they looked awful against double teams a few weeks ago, they've struggled and made adjustments. The way they moved (Nigel) Hayes around, it was harder to double. I just thought we left guys down on an island there and they did their job. We needed a good game in a lot of areas and we got a good game in a lot of areas. In rebounding, defense, turnovers, and assists, we did a lot of good things. I couldn't be more proud of my guys.
On the significance of the consecutive NCAA tournament appearances streak…
Who knows what will happen? I'm not sure if I'll feel comfortable on anything until things happen. We put ourselves in a position where I can look in a mirror and say we deserved some things. The significance is what you just said, when you can be consistent year after year? Nobody's kidding anybody, guys. I haven't been able to say it, but we are a shell of a team. You know it and I know it. It's been hell on those freshmen. It's been hell on us. We handled it. We've handled it. We've survived it. It doesn't mean that we're done yet. It doesn't mean that we can't accomplish some things yet. It doesn't mean that we're over the hump. It just means that we learned how to deal with some pressure. I've learned a lot from them. I've admitted that this is a learning year for me too. I've never gone through anything like this and I'm proud. That's it. I'm proud of the consistency. What happens from here, who knows, but we've still got some games to win.
On having to take Miles Bridges out of the game due to foul trouble…
I thought I needed to get Miles back in the game as soon as I took him out. Kyle Ahrens hit that big, fast-break three and Cassius pushed the ball so well. Don't fool yourself, Tum (Nairn Jr.) did some things well too. He guarded that kid most of the night. It was unbelievable what he did too. We had a lot of guys who did a lot of things. It was hard with Alvin in foul trouble. With Josh, we were playing with two small guards at times and they were playing big at times. I was going to hold Miles there as long as that lead didn't get down too much. When it got down to six or seven, I got a little nervous. I thought my chance to get Eron in was slipping. I thought my chance to win a game was slipping. I put him back in and he hit a couple big free throws and got a couple rebounds and we found a way to win the game.
On Nick Ward's effectiveness…
You know, Nick is a load down there. Nick's going to be such a good player. He's got such a long way to go and he is going to be such a good player if that makes any sense at all. He's gotten better, he's more coachable, he understands things, and he can take it now. He understands that we all are in this together and that we are trying to make him better and I just love the way that he responded. That's one thing that I will say about this team. I'm not the easiest guy to play for. Everyone knows that, great. It's not the easiest to play in a system where you have gone 19-straight times to the NCAA tournament and it's slipping away and there's pressure on. Those things are harder than all you guys think or know. Nick Ward was one of those guys that after the Michigan game, we benched him and he stepped up. He has been, consistently, a much better player since. He still has some lags in his defense at times, stepping up on those ball screens, but at least I know that it matters to him now and I'm really proud of him and what he's done. Hopefully, the best for him is yet to some too.
On Kenny Goins…
We were on Kenny too because it seemed like he was getting pushed around there and DJ (Dwayne Stephens) was on him and I was on him and everybody was on him. He's another guy that withstood it and that's what you should do. If you're getting beat, you should get ticked off. Sometimes it takes me or DJ to get ticked off to get him ticked off, and when he gets ticked off himself, he will become a lot better of a player. That's all a part of the growing process that we're working on, but Kenny Goins did a good job. To get four players in doubles (figures), I don't think I've talked enough about (Matt) McQuaid. He made some big, big, big, big, big plays and some pretty good defensive plays. He took a giant step tonight and so did (Josh) Langford. Foul trouble just hurt him. Man, I had a lot of guys that played good.
On the freshmen being the stars of senior night…
Well I felt a little bad for Alvin (Ellis) because they were playing so good and shooting so good, but he just wasn't in the game that much. He was in constant foul trouble. I didn't realize that, so good thing for the freshmen.
On the team learning to play with both Miles and Nick out there together…
Great point. I mean, everybody thinks too that people come back and all of a sudden you can play with them. Miles is starting to come. What I mean by that, is that we were working harder on him gripping the ball, getting to the basket, getting fouled, he gets nine free throws tonight. Nick goes 4-for-4 from the line. You all know we lost games early because Nick couldn't shoot a free throw to save his life. He is working on it. All of these things are life lessons; that's what I really get excited about for these guys. They're going to realize, whether it be in basketball or life, that if you put your nose to the grindstone and you get some things done, what you put in is what you get out. Nick Ward, I give Dwayne Stephens a lot of credit, has spent a lot of time on those free throws. He made some big time plays and if I get Nick to play a little better defensively on those ball screens, he is going to be a hell of a player.
On Matt McQuaid…
The last four weeks, he has been practicing better and he has been making more shots. It has been fun to watch too because the players, if you guys interview any of them, have been pulling. Miles just gets so excited when Matt McQuiad hits a shot because they all know how good he can shoot and they all know the slump he has been in. But his defense was better and he rebounded, I don't know how many tonight. He probably couldn't get as many, he only got two, because (Cassius) Winston hogged all the rebounds. That enormous body of his gets seven rebounds so that's pretty good too. I think McQuaid just kept working at it and never stopped coming in and never stopped watching film. This will be a great lesson for, maybe fans won't understand it, but players that are in the system, and believe it or not, for coaches like me. I've learned a lot from these guys so far. Now we have to figure out a way to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow, start working on Illinois because they are playing very well. They've won some big games lately and they're tough at home. We just have to keep getting better, win, lose, or draw, we have to keep getting better. I think we will.
On Matt McQuaid traveling to get Eron Harris in at the end of the game…
Yeah it ticks me off too because of the turnovers. I was trying to keep those turnovers down. I just didn't know any other way to get him in and keep him by, too, so that he wouldn't get hurt, and still get a chance to kiss the head. It worked. Thank God for the officials and thank God Wisconsin was okay with it. I think it was a big deal to Eron. Only me and (Dave) Pruder (Equipment Manager) knew about it and we made him dress. One of the great moments in my Michigan State career was that moment.
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard
Opening statement…
Obviously I knew Michigan State was playing better and has improved, same time I thought we competed a lot better than what we had on Thursday night. The numbers tell the story. To be able to go 13-for-25 from the foul line and not be able to convert there, along with being 17 of 36 in the paint for the game. That puts a premium on everything else when you're not able to convert at a higher rate offensively when we're having the ball that tight to the rim. Then they made the plays. [Miles] Bridges made plays, [Nick] Ward converted, [Cassius] Winston hit a big three, [Matt] McQuaid hit big shots. They had an answer that we, when we got into six, then have a point-blank attempt and two free throws and then we come back down, they answer with a three at that time, Winston hit a three. The fight was much better tonight, obviously or today, in terms of that regard. We got to get better at converting, that simply and that will help our defense. I'll have to look through the film to know exactly what went wrong defensively, where exactly the break downs were. I have an idea, but I'm not going to speak to it too much until I watch the tape and dissect exactly where.
On if Ethan Happ is rushing things…
At times he is and at times we're so consumed with, 'Are we going to get a hit or are we not,' that we decide just to make it to make the basket. There are times we contort or don't go through contact, we try to avoid it and then you don't come out with either. You don't come up with the basket or the foul because you avoided the contact and you're taking your eyes off the basket. It's something we've got to continue to get better at. It's been an ongoing… We've got to improve.
On Nick Ward's performance today…
Well, he's a big body. He's a load. He goes 9-for-12 versus 4-for-10 in our five man. That tells it right there that he was able to convert and he got a couple in transition. I thought once we settled in, we got the ball as deep or deeper and had golden opportunities. I'll compare it with the film and the shot chart and all that. I thought we got the ball exactly where we needed to have it, maybe more so than what Michigan State had with their bigs at times. The difference was they put the ball in the basket, we didn't.
On being disappointed with the play on the post…
Yes. I think we came out of a timeout too at that point in time, I'll have to look. I thought the first three was too quick, we didn't go in, the second one was maybe a little bit better. The second one was Bronson's [Koenig]. That was a pivotal point too because we had made that run, we had them to six too, like I said. We had two opportunities, I think in consecutive possessions to be able to crawl closer. Had the ball point blank and also had two free throws.
On the importance of bench points for Michigan State…
Well, McQuaid, when McQuaid has 15 and Winston has 10, there's 25 of the 30. On my bench I thought too many defensive mistakes. [Brevin] Pritzl hadn't practiced in two days because he sprained his ankle, that was evident. Also, I wanted to make sure I had three people in mind who we were going to play through. Happ, [Nigel] Hayes and Koenig, and we did that. I think we went through our veterans, through our leaders, guys who have gotten us to this point and then everybody else has to play off of that. We got the looks we need to get, it wasn't like we had a bad shots. I mean, we took a couple bad ones here or there, but we got the ball about exactly where we had talked about getting it.
On miscommunication on the defensive end…
Some of it, I think ball screens. We got confused on the ball screens. I thought also too we started so well because we had touched the post and then some guys were getting tired and asking for a little break. When we subbed, we didn't keep the same philosophy offensively. We shot the ball too quick, we didn't play inside-out like we had previously to get that early lead and then that allowed them to get some momentum. We shot it quick, a couple of those came off the rim, start a fast break and that ignited that. Ward got one, Bridges may have gotten one. I saw there quickly that what we were doing offensively helped them in transition.
On what happened when Michigan State extended their lead even with Ward and Bridges out…
I'll have to go through the film. At the end of the second half, we got better defensively because the last 13 possessions I think they went 3-for-12. I know that was one of the stats thrown at me at halftime and we made that run over the last 13 (minutes). We were able to get the ball inside and convert it and did a better job of that. Then obviously through that moment in the second half, I'll have to go through the film and walk through it to see exactly what happened specifically.
On being concerned with the slide at the end of the year…
No because I've always felt we needed to get better. I've never been maybe completely comfortable or satisfied with how we were. I saw some things where we needed to get better at, what we needed to get better at, and we've continued to try to work at those. I think Michigan State is playing pretty well right now. I think Purdue is obviously in first now. We have to continue to get better. We don't talk too much about the race or anything. We're coming down to the last week of the season. We've consistently talked about getting better everyday because we saw what was coming. I saw areas that we needed to improve upon as we came down the stretch and the teams we were going to play later because you're going to play better teams and more experienced teams in specific areas. That's my main concern. Not so much what is happening, what is putting us in this position, that's what I'm more concerned about. The last couple of games it's been defensively, maybe not so much tonight, I'll look through exactly. Defensively the last two games we haven't been how we've been all year. Better offensively. I don't know why we can't get them going at the same time, but we've got to get better guarding around the rim, specifically offensively the foul line, that's been all year. We've won in spite of not converting and not shooting as well as we need to at the line. The defensive end I'll go through the film and really pick that apart and see where we need to make changes or adjustments and continue to improve.
On Hayes' performance at the end of the season…
Senior, he knows the clock is ticking. Not much basketball left. Typically see seniors do that at that point in time. I thought Eron [Harris] was playing well until he got hurt. [Alvin] Ellis has stepped it up as a senior, he's obviously been thrown into a different role. Sometimes seniors, you can forewarn them, but until they really look at the calendar and hear the clock ticking, sometimes that sets off an alarm. I'm sure Nigel isn't happy with the numbers tonight, specifically the number at the very bottom, the score. Seniors typically this time of year understand there's not much left.
Freshman Forward Nick Ward
On senior night…
This was a big night for us because we got to send our seniors out right. It was a much needed win.
On doing well against a talented Wisconsin frontcourt…
I have to give credit to my teammates. It was really a team effort. I feel like we put it together, and we played well. They got into foul trouble early, so we just had to keep attacking.
On the alley-oop from Miles Bridges…
It was a pick and roll situation, and the way they play pick and rolls makes it easy to get the lob off. I was screening his man, and me and Miles caught part-way eye contact, and he threw it.
On Eron Haris being able to get into the game…
That meant a lot. I want all of my seniors to go out the right way. It hurt when Eron couldn't play, but he has even better things ahead.
Senior Forward Matt Van Dyk
On senior night…
There was a lot of emotion. I can't even comprehend it all right now, I haven't even sat down. My head is still spinning. A lot of my family showed up and surprised me by being here, so I'm excited about that. Some guys came back, so I'm excited about that. It's been a great day, it really has.
On getting a big win…
We knew going into it, it would be a big signature win that we needed. It's huge that we came together like we did. We got the lead and then they came back and made it a game, then we rallied again. We showed that we can come together through adversity against a great team and pull out the win.
On Eron Harris being able to get into the game…
That was incredible - I had no idea that coach was going to do that. I was so happy for him, because during the game, I was thinking, 'Man, Eron has done so much and he's not going to be able to kiss the Spartan head'. But when I saw him take his sweats of and I saw that he had his jersey on under, I was pretty excited for him. I knew that it was a dream of his to kiss that Spartan head. I'm happy for him.
Freshman guard Cassius Winston …
On Eron Harris…
He's a big brother to me - he welcomed me into this program. To see him go out like that, that's special. That means a lot to me.
On if there has been pressure to keep the tournament streak alive…
There is always going to be pressure. I would say more of a challenge than pressure. It's just something we have to do. We're not going to be the team that lets that die. He presented the challenge, and for the most part we stepped up to it.
On the importance of this win…
The situation we put ourselves in, every game is a must-win game. Winning against a team like that - that's a good team. We need to keep that momentum going. This is the perfect time of the year to make a run.
