Post-Game Quotes: Green Bay

POST-GAME QUOTES: Michigan State 104, Green Bay 83

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement...
Unfortunately, this is where I get a bad rep because I should be happy about a game and I can't say that I am. I am not totally disappointed. I think the first half...first five minutes they played better than us, but remember now that they banked in a three and hit one from almost half court on the loose ball. They did the things that they had to do. I was impressed with them. You go to bed last night, and you watch the game. Belmont beats UCLA. This team scored 100 points on Belmont so it is what I continuously say to players, coaches, media, and fans. Basketball is a little more screwed up. The three point shot and fouls screw up basketball. That is an equalizer. I thought after those first five minutes we played some of our best basketball. We were running, and I think our running game...and again give them a little credit. They played Friday night in Omaha, Nebraska and then traveled here yesterday. The way we run when we are running is impressive. I thought Nick (Ward) did a better job and Cassius (Winston) was really good early. In the second half Nick played okay for parts and Josh (Langford) played better. I thought the rest of our guys… it wasn't our freshmen that gave up the lead and didn't do the things they needed to do. As I told my team, you learn a lot about your team in those big games and you learn a lot about your team in games that you should win. What I didn't like was that we have to learn how to finish. First finish games, finish practice, and finish seasons. I didn't like the way we finished the last couple of seasons so our motto has been let's try to finish every event, every day that we are doing. Today we did not finish and we are going to address that. For me, it is the greatest time of the year. It is not because it is Christmas. There is no school, there is no finals, there is no excuses. Most of the girlfriend's are gone. Most of their buddies are gone. We get four days to practice with no rules, no anything. We are going to practice, we will do the opposite of my fellow Hall of Famer, Allen Iverson. We are going to practice, we are going to practice and we are going to practice. We are going to get better because this team has a chance to get better. There are times where Cassius is as good as anybody. Josh, and getting (Matt) McQuaid back in there. Aaron struggled early, but he played a lot better later on. If Nick plays like that and can consistently do that, it is going to be good. We have individual goals...the last thing I will say, for players, you want a guy to get a double-double. You want a guy to get a triple-double. Cassius at halftime was close to that. Nick was close to getting double digits in rebounds and as well as he played, if he doesn't rebound better it is not going to help him and it is not going to help us. All those things are what I talk to a team about. How did you play in the big games and the consistency should be that you play at that level. We had some goals for what we hold teams to defensively. We blew that. What we hold them from three point line. We blew that. What we hold them to in total points. We blew that. I got enough to earn my money this week and I promise you I am going to earn it.

On the freshmen…
We did get some time. I said that is one of the things that I wanted to accomplish this week. Those poor kids in the 16 days had not practiced hardly at all because of the way that the schedule was. I do think that we got some things out of them. It was nice to see Foster (Loyer) make his free throws and make some shots. Gabe (Brown) made some shots. I thought that Aaron did do a good job, and getting Marcus (Bingham Jr.) in there and getting them a few more minutes. I didn't look at how many minutes everyone got. It is one of those games where I try to play everybody. Some schools do that and some schools don't and we get ripped for it sometimes. Those kids work their tail off every day and as long as I am here I am going to play some of those guys that have done so much for us in practice. We got something out of it and we got better. Finals week isn't a good time to get better. Especially for those freshmen. They come in and it is hard. Most of you guys went through finals week. The way I see some of you guys writing, most of you guys probably struggled in finals week. I know the feeling and I know what they went through and it's a tough week for them.

On the running in the first half…
It changes us both ways. Nick ran both ways but when Nick is running, now the wings are getting out wider and Cassius was getting the ball and we decided that… one of the things you do as a coaching staff...so why did we not be as successful against Louisville? Or why did we not be as successful against Florida? Well those teams pressed us a little bit. We knew Green Bay was going to press us a little bit. Instead of doing what we did in those games, we said we are going to attack the press. We are going to try to get it out quick and go instead of setting up for it. I think that served us well, but I think one of the reasons it served us well is because they were walking on their knees too. The only good thing about Green Bay as far as that goes is that they play 12 people all the time. Those guys coming in, even though they were tired from the trip, it is not like they were just playing seven guys. So, I was impressed with the running game in the first half for us.

On Matt McQuaid…
I don't know is there a quarterback controversy there. I'll tell you something cool about my job. Two days after when we starting practicing this week, I said to Kyle (Ahrens), I want to meet with you later and I was going to talk to him about what I was going to do with those two guys. He said 'Well I just left you a note up there that I want to talk to you'. "I said really and I didn't know what he wanted to talk about". Him and (Matt) McQuaid had already gotten together and came to me to say that McQuaid should start because it was his starting position and he is fine coming off the bench and I should think nothing of it. Don't make it a quarterback controversy or nothing else. That is the way he wanted it. Him and Matt talked about it. There is one time where there was a player coach team and they solved something that I didn't even have to deal with. Not that I would have had a hard time dealing with it, they are both great kids. That is a pretty classy move on both their parts to do that and think what is best for the team, what is best for their friend. Those are the kind of things that make you feel good about where you are and what you do.

On Foster Loyer…
Some of it is going to depend on lineups and different things. Foster is going to figure out how to play but it was hard to try to figure that out in those six big games. We played some teams that...Texas, the most athletic team we have played. UCLA, huge guards, 6-5. Those things sometimes will make a difference until he gets his thought process. He is smart enough, he will figure it out. I don't know what it's going to take, I just know that I am going to keep trying to get him some minutes but I am also going to get Matt (McQuaid) some minutes there and see if we can keep it going. A true point guard can really push it and Matt has been running the lanes pretty well. We have been getting the ball up, we missed some shots and they made some tough shots early. When we really started running we got the ball inside a little more. It's funny because there are a lot of teams out there playing seven guys right now and I have never done that and I have had a couple of coaches call me and say you will be better off in the long run because you are playing more people but sometimes in the short term it isn't always warm and fuzzy so that is my balancing act and talk to my assistant's about. Eventually we are going to get down to eight or nine guys and make a couple tough decisions. Hopefully we can give them a chance to make that decision a little easier by how they play good or how they play bad.

On the play of Gabe Brown…
Don't mind me laughing it is so funny as a fan or a media member and I mean this with respect. Because a guy hits two threes or three threes it is not going to change my opinion. I am with them morning, noon and night. I see them every day. When he is constantly doing that it will change. Right now, Aaron Henry is the first freshman that is going to be given an opportunity because his practice play has deemed that. What is cool about Gabe, I brought him in last week because every freshman is disappointed, I mean read the papers. I read something this morning on another Big Ten school that almost blew me away. Very good coach, struggled and lost a game yesterday, a former player had to come to his rescue. Players practice...I think we have got about 45 practices in. If you have certain play in 45 practices and you player better in a game or worse in a game and for Gabe the practices are going to make a decision on what I do. In Gabe's case I asked him to go into scout team this week like I have of many great players here. Morris (Peterson) was on it forever. You know what, he got so much more competitive. He started going after those big guys. I swear as dumb as it sounds, that is kind of an insult to most kids. I will never forget the story Jud (Heathcote) told. When they were playing Indiana State for the championship, the day before practice Magic (Johnson) didn't practice one minute with the starters. He was the scout team guy and he played Larry Bird. Sometimes when you do things, players can react in this of age with Twitter it's always a joke. Everybody is upset about it. Just think about the questions that you guys have asked me. Gabe scored three and what about this guy. You know what, I have got some really good veterans that have earned the right to play and have earned the right to make a few more mistakes than somebody else. When they constantly do things in practice and games they will move up. Until they do that I am not changing nothing. People can be mad, and people can be excited but not to be ignorant I am so tired of Twitter...and that is not a bad question that you asked, but just think about it, one game nobody asked me any questions about him last week or the week before or the week before. One game he hits three threes and shazam, we've got Magic Gabe Brown so it's kind of an insulting answer… I didn't mean it that way, but if I don't say it that way I will have one hundred thousand people out there...Do you know the good news though, I told them at half time if you want to be a player coached team you better coach each other. I told them at the end of the game, ah ha, you need me because you didn't do a very good job of that so I guess I get to keep my job for another day anyway.

On the stretch of games…
It was Cassius (Winston) who said that we need to hold each other more accountable on a daily basis. That was a very profound thing to say, but a very hard thing to do. I must have said that in 10 huddles today, who's holding who accountable. That's hard to do, especially in this day and age, where everybody takes everything so personal. We are going to learn about our team. We learned about them when we played good teams, we learned about them during a comeback, we learned about them in a bad loss at Louisville because we didn't take care of our business. Now we're going to learn about them with a big win. I guess what it says is that we're constantly learning about them and we're constantly trying to show them that you have to play the game, not the team or score. You have to play the game on a consistent level, night in and night out. Today we played the game half way. We're going to shoot for a full game next game and hopefully we'll fall closer. We weren't bad, I'm not mad at anybody, but we didn't do the things that would obtain the goals that we have on our goal chart. We're going to hold our guys accountable.

On Nick Ward's transformation…
He's made a great transformation. Since last April, since he decided to come back, I've been proud of Nick. I've been proud of him with school, I've been proud of him off the court, I've been proud of him with the weight he lost again, with the time he's put in. You stay in games if you can play defense, so I'm actually prouder of him with his defensive stuff. Yet, second half today, we started getting sloppy. If you wonder why he's out sometimes, it's either the free throw shooting or the defense. If you're matching baskets like we did in the second half and the game was tied at halftime, that's not a good deal for us. I think Nick offensively is better, but I don't think he's that much better. I think he's better defensively and better with his conditioning, his body. He's done a better job taking care of himself and he can run longer better. Today, in that first half, he was getting up and down and we were getting up and down, Cassius was getting up and down. Second half we were back to kind of walking and waddling, and that's what we did against Florida. We've got to do a better job of that. The film will show that tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be better conditioned. We'll get more practice time in, and that's going to help us out a lot I think.

On Matt McQuaid being back…
He's a calming influence. He was the first one that spoke up in the seven-player meeting last week. We did not hold each other accountable. I do love player-coached teams, I really do. I really believe that Matt is the one guy that just has a pulse. If he's not making shots or something, he doesn't fall off the deep end like some guys do. He's got some of the most experience and he's been through some tough things with the injuries he's had. I think getting Matt back is going to help. We've got to keep running. We got up 75 shots tonight and we still had 14 turnovers. To me, that was good. If we can get the shots up near 70, we'll keep everybody happy. The minute we have one guy move up, when are we going to have all five? Kenny really struggled in that first half, and he's been so good. So we're just looking to get more consistent.

On the player's rotation…
I'm not trying to add guys now necessarily because I know you're only going to be able to play so many. You've got to have eight and then you've got to have one or two in case you have an injury. I want to make sure we have enough bodies, but I think the biggest chore that our staff has done a very mediocre job with, or I have in the past couple years, is getting a rotation that I can get the minutes straightened out. I think right now I've got seven or eight in there, and if I've got one of two more who are going to play spot minutes, that's the way it's probably going to be. Can I get Cassius two breaks in the first half? That might not change his minutes that much, but it might change the length of what he plays. DJ (Stephens) and I are really going to have to work on that this week, now that we kind of have everybody back.

Junior Forward Nick Ward

On his performance vs. Green Bay…
First of all, I have to give all the glory to God. Second of all, my teammates. You know they threw the ball to me every time, and they made great passes and great plays which allowed me to score that ball, so thanks to my teammates and my coaches for pushing me. So, I'm just trying to play to the best of my ability every time I step on the floor.

On outscoring Green Bay in the paint 48-16 and how they were so successful offensively and defensively…
Well our goal was to come out and hit em' right away. Hit em' in the post or whatever way we were able to exploit that.

Senior Guard Matt McQuaid

On the team's performance today…
We started a little slow, but picked it up in the middle of the first half, started running a lot better, playing better defense and rebounding and that started the fast break and we were executing a little better. Give them credit they hit some tough shots but, you know we have to do a better job and tomorrow we're looking forward to getting better.

On what you take from a game like today where everyone's coming off finals and teams can struggle with games like these…
Yeah, I mean coach always emphasizes how tough these games are and just staying focused throughout the week leading up to the game. And we have to do a better job coming out like you said earlier and we've gotta continue to build off of these.

Junior Guard Cassius Winston

On if MSU gained control in the first half off of 11 straight shots missed by Green Bay…
Yeah definitely. You know you put that many stops together and that plus our transition just makes a lot of shots easier and get a lot of good looks and blow a lot of games open.

On what the team is looking for when Foster is on the floor…
I mean I don't think we looking for anything. Every time he comes I tell him to hold it down. You know what I'm saying? Do your thing, play basketball and keep the team moving. Be aggressive, just make plays. I don't think anybody's trying to limit him or anything like that, we just want him to play as confident as he can, take care of the ball and just hold it down.

Green Bay head coach Linc Darner

Opening remarks…
I thought we did a pretty good job at the beginning of the game. I thought we got off to a really good start. We got up five and then it kind of all went south on us there for the rest of the half. They made a heck of a run on us. That's a hard game for us because we'd play fast and then they'd play fast and they're just faster. But, I thought our guys did a great job of battling, competing and staying respectable in the second half.

On this MSU team...
I think they're really good. I think they've got a chance to make a great run at it. They've got a point guard who can really go. They can score inside and they can make threes. It's a tough matchup. I think their bench is just going to get better and better as they keep playing. I think they're as good as anybody that we've played this year, and anybody I've played when I've been at the Division I or Division II level in exhibition games or a regular season game at Green Bay. They're tough, they're good. I expect them to make a great run at it this year.

On how Nick Ward running the court the way he does helps MSU...
It's a big difference. He moves better than what you'd think. He's a load down low. We knew he was going left, everybody in the country knows he's going left and it's still hard to stop. Film doesn't do it justice sometimes because (Cassius) Winston's a lot faster than what you think too. He was really good at pushing it, but Ward runs really hard. It could be a great learning experience for us because we want to play at that tempo too. We told Manny (Patterson) "You'd ought to watch Nick (Ward)." We told PJ (Pipes) "You ought to watch (Cassius) Winston." "Wings, you ought to watch their wings." They run hard every time and that's why they're so hard to guard.

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Players Mentioned

Gabe Brown

Aaron Henry

Foster Loyer

Matt McQuaid

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

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