Post-Game Quotes: Minnesota
2/9/2019 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
People would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to hear the speech I just heard from our '79 team. Those guys were unbelievable and reminded us that they too, in that year, went 4-4 to start out and almost didn't make the tournament. So everybody goes through some adversity. I guess what I'm proudest of is that we practiced hard the day before a game, which isn't supposed to happen. I don't know how serious the Kenny (Goins) injury is, but an injury that lost him for the game. He's our leading rebounder and we haven't been rebounding well. But I'll give Nick Ward credit. I've gotta figure out how to keep that going. Earvin ("Magic" Johnson") told him that too, so I'm sure it'll mean a little more coming from him, which is fine with me. We only outrebounded them by five, but without Kenny, (Minnesota's) a good rebounding team. Impressive stats were 27 assists on 31 (made) baskets. Jud's (Heathcoate) up there having a beer with Gus (Ganakas). He's so selfish that he wouldn't let us score 81, so he let us score 79 so we'd remember the '79 team. That was impressive. I thought our defense was a lot better. We didn't shoot as well from the (free throw) line again. In the first half, I think we were 5-11 and they had banked two three's in. That's a lot of points. Instead of being up 18, we're up 11. When people start banking three's in, including the first one of the game when you haven't been guarding the three real well, a lot goes through your mind. But I'm proud of my team, proud of them and my staff. It wasn't a lot of fun around here this week, and I told them that, because they work so hard, they deserve to have some fun today. I think that's what they did. The crowd again was phenomenal. We went into the game with one key. It was to defend, cut out, rebound and run. Cassius (Winston) and (Matt) McQuaid, between the two of them, had 17 assists and no turnovers, coming off a game where we had 25 turnovers. We had nine tonight. We just focused in and just did some things better. I thought our defense was even better than the stats that turned out. Guys did a heckuva job.
On McQuaid's aggression and performance tonight…
That's the first thing Earvin said. Matt's dad came up and came to practice yesterday. Matt shot the lights out at practice, so I'm gonna see if he'll get an apartment for a month or something. It made a big difference. Matt shot really well yesterday and he shot even better today. Got a little crazy there a couple times. I guess I don't blame him, he's been in a little bit of a slump. Nick (Ward) was great, Matt was great, and Cassius (Winston) really did a lot of good things. He (Cassius) was just limited in minutes because of that foul trouble. That was scary because I felt comfortable playing him with two fouls, but not once Kenny (Goins) went down. I just didn't know who we were gonna have left. I didn't feel comfortable, so we did it the way we did it.
On Goins injury…
They did x-ray it. That's the good news. They x-rayed it immediately. Took him away because they thought it mighta been cracked. It wasn't, so that's the positive news. The other positive news is that it's on his left arm. Negative news is that I don't know. He couldn't go back in. I think if it would've been an emergency late in the game, he probably could have. But he said he didn't have enough strength in his arm to make a pass. So I said just guard and get a rebound, to hell with passing. Didn't go that way, so I don't know. I won't know anything probably until tomorrow. But at least I know it's not broken, cause there was some fear of that.
On the early playing time of Foster Loyer and Thomas Kithier…
Foster did some really good things. He's growing. It's hard to do what I'm expecting him to do. And Kithier continues to do a lot of good things when he gets his chance. We even got Marcus (Bingham Jr.) in there some. I think he showed where he was able to get up and down and do some things. We played a lot of people and a lot of different people. We made some mistakes with that, some coverages we blew. But in general, and McQuaid was unbelievable defensively. Nick was far better than he's been. We did get something out of (Kyle) Ahrens. We're making some progress with the freshmen Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown. I wish I'd have given him a few more minutes. But Foster did pretty good. We hung in there with a mass unit lineup. That was good.
On the 24 minutes Cassius played tonight…
Well it could be beneficial for him. It ain't very damn good for me, and I'm selfish, so I'm a little worried about me. I say that kiddingly. We can't have him in foul trouble. But we vowed we were gonna get him down into the low 30's today, one way or another. So they force-fed me. I thought DJ (assistant coach Dwayne Stephens) did a good job of moving those guys around. But I never like to have a guy like that sitting that long. He did get a good rest. For me, it'll give him a good excuse to practice harder tomorrow. Him and Matt (McQuaid) forced a few things late. I think frustration, I don't blame them. In general, out-rebounding them by a few without Kenny (Goins) and not have many turnovers was encouraging. The other encouraging things was Nick (Ward) working and Quaido shooting.
On defensive performance and McQuaid's play on both sides of the ball…
That is a big key. I thought the other big key was Nick. We put a lot of pressure on Nick because we decided we were flipping coins to put him on (Jordan) Murphy because he's been playing so good. Murphy didn't get any shots. I give Dewayne Stephens a lot of credit. It was his scout. We decided to play him for the drive and a certain way, and we got a lot out of it. It was good preparation by our guys. I thought our guards dug in there pretty good. Their bigs are good and they're missing a big too. Personally, I thought Minnesota was playing pretty well. They got beat by Wisconsin, but they had had a couple of big wins. The way the whole league is right now, there's just a lot of strange things that happen. I'm hoping that Kenny (Goins)'ll be healthy and I think we'll be able to build off this. Not off the game as much as off the practices.
On challenging best three players on his team and on the court…
When the ('79 team) players spoke, when Earvin ("Magic" Johnson) spoke, when Jay (Vincent) spoke and when Gregory (Kelser) spoke, but when Jay Vincent spoke, 'Coach (Izzo) is a little old school. He's in-between, he's not Jud. He's kind of an in-your-face guy. I just want you young guys to know that I had to go through that too. Everytime Earvin made a mistake, Jud yelled at me. Everytime Gregory made a mistake, Jud yelled at me. So at least Tom is equal opportunity. When you guys make a mistake, he yells at you.' I thought that was pretty true. Remember this: this day in age, you almost gotta defend everything you do. My kids do something wrong, they're gonna be held accountable. My players do something wrong, they're gonna be held accountable. If I do something wrong, I was held accountable. That's what we're missing, we're missing accountability. It's gonna be a cold day in the place below before I let that go.
On Magic being in attendance…
I think so. I know I do. I just sat there and kind of watched in amazement. I told him he could sit up in my wife's box and another box if they wanted to go there, but just like always, just like always, when he goes to the NCAA tournament he didn't want to sit in a box. He wants to sit with his fellas, as he calls them, and that's what I love about Earvin. He's done so much for this place that, yes he has given a lot of money to this place, yes he has given us a lot of national attention in a lot of ways, but what he has given to us the most you couldn't put on paper or on a checkbook. When he talks to those players, I mean they were 15 guys sitting there and 30 sets of eyes focused right on him. He looked at them and said it's not like this everywhere and you better appreciate it, I think I better appreciate it, we all better appreciate it.
On how Nick Ward played better after Illinois…
The good news is that I have learned that Nick, I don't know if he handles success as well. I told him at halftime you have to get a double-double, that's our goal for him. He ended up needing to get one more rebound, so I still got something to get on him about, so I felt good about that. Nick had some rebounds in the first half like he did early on, you know two hand rebounds, above everybody. Nick is an interesting guy and maybe having Earvin and Gregory and J kind of called him out in a positive way. Nick has to realize that he's been a lot more consistent this year, but if Nick and Cassius aren't consistent with Josh gone, we aren't going to win as many games. If Gregory and Magic weren't consistent, I would like to see that team, no insult to those other guys, but I'm just saying. I thought Nick's performance today, even defensively, I mean we aren't going to give him credit defensively, but some of that one for four on Murphy was Nick guarding him and he deserves a lot of credit for that.
On the engagement level of Nick…
If I had the answer to that, I wouldn't let it happen. He has been a lot more engaged this year in every way, shape, or form. That's the accountability thing I was talking about for my own self. This has been the hardest year for me from this standpoint. We are playing two more games. The TV schedule is even crazier and when you have two and three games a week and you have to take a day off and then you have to practice hard, and you say I don't want to practice hard the day before the game. I got trainers telling me something about these guys, it really is more difficult. I have to do a better job of figuring it out, but I threw caution into the wind a couple days ago and said you know what, we are just going to get after it. We are going to get after it and if we get beat because we are too tired, that would be a good reason to get beat. We are not going to get beat because we aren't playing hard enough. I think that was the lesson of the day and we will see where it takes us.
On importance of Cassius and Nick…
It's no secret that Nick and Cassius got challenged. They are right, you are right. He must of stole my speech to them from two days ago. They are the best two players on this team, two of the better players in this conference. Your best players can't just play good, and sometimes they just can't play great. When you lose a guy like Josh and Kenny, they have to play at a level where they may have never been at. I think both of them understand that, I really do. It's a grind and they grinded this week, if that's a word, and they did. We have some success with it and now we are going to have to figure out how to manage everything and keep working at it. It was fun to watch them play today, it was fun to watch the fans get into it, it was fun to look over and see some elderly men now, 40 years past their prime, jump up and down like college kids. That makes my day.
On the line between when something is right, and something needs to change…
I can play it like a parent, like a boss in a company. Experience helps you, you look at different things you have gone through. Somebody asked me, have you lost three in a row very often? We have not done this on a regular basis. 11 times in 24 years. I think your experience to call people, talk to people, and try to figure out why. What's the reason? The reason was obvious to me when we weren't defending the three, went from a plus 13 rebounding to a plus one and rebounding means you don't run, and if you don't run, we are that type of team that has to run. It really wasn't einsteinic to figure out what was wrong. It was just look at the situation and go back to your roots and that's why if anything you do there is a million times where you forget where you came from. At times I try to forget where I came from, but I mean that sincerely you forget what got you to where you are. I think when you have success over and over, and this is what is so much harder. It has been so long since I gave my social media commercial, but you hear so many good things, I thought we got a little fat and sassy. I really did. I just did not think we did the things we needed to do. I think they understood that too.
On challenging the players on his team and what it means to him…
A day where I said we didn't practice well, now when I said we didn't practice well, to show you how dumb I am, I incriminated myself. I run the practice, it's my practice and so I incriminated myself last week maybe on purpose. We all got together, and we practiced. Allen Iverson might not be static about it, but I think he would have been proud of the effort that he gave. I think we are going to understand and learn from that. Hopefully we will keep rolling but remember that this team has been really good. We had a bump in the road as one guy told me, and it was a big bump. We had some bizarre things, shooting away at the line and turning it over more than a bakery. We didn't do what Michigan State does, we didn't defend, we didn't rebound, and we didn't run. Anytime you lose your identity you lose a lot. And that '79 team that came back today, we huddled up at the end and Earvin said Gregory do what our battle cry was, and it was all about potential. Gregory almost screwed up how he spelled it, so I had to help him a little bit. The potential word is a word that we all know is out there and who is going to meet their potential. My job is to drive my guys until they meet their potential.
Michigan State senior guard Matt McQuaid
On what it meant to have the 1979 Championship team back for the 40th reunion…
It means everything, that's why you come to places like Michigan State. You don't get this anywhere else; this place is special. We are so grateful for all of them to come back and watch us play. It's something I will remember for the rest of my life.
On how it felt to stop the three-game skid and get back to winning ways…
It felt good. We got back to what we do which is defend, rebound and run. We haven't been doing that the previous games, and tonight I felt we did a really good job at doing all three. We helped each other out and played Michigan State defense. We can always get better and improve, and it starts on the defensive end. We have to build off this win.
Michigan State junior guard Cassius Winston
On how it all came together…
It started in the gym with our practices. We had really good practices this week and put some emphasis on some things that we believed that we needed to work on, and that showed in the game. We see the results and we want this feeling after every game, we got to keep working and keep that mentality. You know we are going to push and grind through it.
On how it feels to be one of four Michigan State players to reach 600 assists in their career…
That's crazy. It's such a blessing to be in this situation and have my teammates around me. To be one of four is special because this is a special place and it's such a huge honor.
On playing Michigan State basketball with the 1979 team in town for the 40th reunion…
It was huge. They built this place and started the legacy here, and it was amazing to be able to play in front of them. They motivated us because they told us how they were in a similar position after losing a couple games in a row. They had a meeting and got back to what they do, playing to their full potential and it helped them get to a national championship. We have to play as hard as we can, and the sky is the limit for us.
Michigan State junior forward Nick Ward
On the importance of Magic being in the house…
He's an NBA legend, so anything he says I have to listen. It's an opportunity of a lifetime and I had to take advantage of that and play well. To play in front of a great like him, it's something I will never forget.
On what it took to get his game back on track…
I just had to go back to being Nick Ward and play the game the way I know how. The crowd helped me, as well as my teammates and coaches, and that was a big part on why we got back in the win column. We have to keep this consistency going to Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement…
Credit to Michigan State. They were clearly the better team. We're offensively in such a funk right now. We're going through it. We just got to make sure that… every team in this league goes through something like that. We have not been through it yet… a stretch like that. We haven't lost two in a row. Now that we're at three in a row, we've got to make sure we do our very very best to get back to work in practice and prepare for a really good Nebraska team. We can't get in our own heads because this will happen in the Big Ten. It's a long season with a lot of great opportunities so we've got to get our offensive confidence back. We're pretty easy to guard right now. What happens is you let a team like Michigan State out of the break and you're going to struggle defensively.
On guarding Ward…
They dive their big very very quickly and it makes it difficult. We were trying to do it a couple times and got it slapped out. He made some tough shots too. He's got kind of an interesting release. So, he's a good player. They've got other good players on the court.
On Magic, atmosphere and other effects making team play worse…
I don't know if it's Magic Johnson's fault we didn't play well. We didn't play well. We're struggling offensively right now. Michigan State's good. We've got to be able to get our confidence going. Like I said, I think we're easy to guard right now so we just have to do a better job of getting confidence and getting back in the gym. Michigan State went through it, got out of it. Purdue went through it early… Wisconsin, Indiana. Everybody's going to have these parts of the schedule where you have to get over yourself and get back to work.
On outside shooting and relying on Jordan Murphy…
Well it's hard with Eric (Curry) out. We're a better team when Eric's playing. From a rotation standpoint, and from a ball movement standpoint, we were allowing them to push us off the block and not fighting for that post position. We need Eric back. We're clearly a better team… just a more complete team with him back. So, hopefully he'll be back for Nebraska.
On Michigan State defense…
They're good defensively. They're a good defensive team. We're not hitting shots from the outside. I think we're easy to guard right now all around. We've got to be able to knock down shots. We've got to be able to go outside and we're not doing that right now.
On Matt McQuaid scoring…
It's important because (Josh) Langford's out and that's scoring right there. A guy like Aaron Henry will get there, but he's young. McQuaid needs to shoulder that load a little bit for them and he's capable of doing that. He's a good defender. Obviously Cassius had eight to nine assists and zero turnovers so not a lot of resistance from our part.
On whose job it is to get Minnesota team back on track…
I would say it's my responsibility and I'll gladly accept it. Hopefully we get healthy.
On common trends of Minnesota coming up short…
It's been a little bit different. Today was different than Purdue and Michigan and Wisconsin. This was a little bit different. This had more of that Illinois feel where we were kind of out of sorts. Where I thought Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan I think we had opportunities to win the game. They jumped out I think 20-5 and we cut that lead, but we acted like we were down more and we need to show a little more poise there.
Opening statement…
People would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to hear the speech I just heard from our '79 team. Those guys were unbelievable and reminded us that they too, in that year, went 4-4 to start out and almost didn't make the tournament. So everybody goes through some adversity. I guess what I'm proudest of is that we practiced hard the day before a game, which isn't supposed to happen. I don't know how serious the Kenny (Goins) injury is, but an injury that lost him for the game. He's our leading rebounder and we haven't been rebounding well. But I'll give Nick Ward credit. I've gotta figure out how to keep that going. Earvin ("Magic" Johnson") told him that too, so I'm sure it'll mean a little more coming from him, which is fine with me. We only outrebounded them by five, but without Kenny, (Minnesota's) a good rebounding team. Impressive stats were 27 assists on 31 (made) baskets. Jud's (Heathcoate) up there having a beer with Gus (Ganakas). He's so selfish that he wouldn't let us score 81, so he let us score 79 so we'd remember the '79 team. That was impressive. I thought our defense was a lot better. We didn't shoot as well from the (free throw) line again. In the first half, I think we were 5-11 and they had banked two three's in. That's a lot of points. Instead of being up 18, we're up 11. When people start banking three's in, including the first one of the game when you haven't been guarding the three real well, a lot goes through your mind. But I'm proud of my team, proud of them and my staff. It wasn't a lot of fun around here this week, and I told them that, because they work so hard, they deserve to have some fun today. I think that's what they did. The crowd again was phenomenal. We went into the game with one key. It was to defend, cut out, rebound and run. Cassius (Winston) and (Matt) McQuaid, between the two of them, had 17 assists and no turnovers, coming off a game where we had 25 turnovers. We had nine tonight. We just focused in and just did some things better. I thought our defense was even better than the stats that turned out. Guys did a heckuva job.
On McQuaid's aggression and performance tonight…
That's the first thing Earvin said. Matt's dad came up and came to practice yesterday. Matt shot the lights out at practice, so I'm gonna see if he'll get an apartment for a month or something. It made a big difference. Matt shot really well yesterday and he shot even better today. Got a little crazy there a couple times. I guess I don't blame him, he's been in a little bit of a slump. Nick (Ward) was great, Matt was great, and Cassius (Winston) really did a lot of good things. He (Cassius) was just limited in minutes because of that foul trouble. That was scary because I felt comfortable playing him with two fouls, but not once Kenny (Goins) went down. I just didn't know who we were gonna have left. I didn't feel comfortable, so we did it the way we did it.
On Goins injury…
They did x-ray it. That's the good news. They x-rayed it immediately. Took him away because they thought it mighta been cracked. It wasn't, so that's the positive news. The other positive news is that it's on his left arm. Negative news is that I don't know. He couldn't go back in. I think if it would've been an emergency late in the game, he probably could have. But he said he didn't have enough strength in his arm to make a pass. So I said just guard and get a rebound, to hell with passing. Didn't go that way, so I don't know. I won't know anything probably until tomorrow. But at least I know it's not broken, cause there was some fear of that.
On the early playing time of Foster Loyer and Thomas Kithier…
Foster did some really good things. He's growing. It's hard to do what I'm expecting him to do. And Kithier continues to do a lot of good things when he gets his chance. We even got Marcus (Bingham Jr.) in there some. I think he showed where he was able to get up and down and do some things. We played a lot of people and a lot of different people. We made some mistakes with that, some coverages we blew. But in general, and McQuaid was unbelievable defensively. Nick was far better than he's been. We did get something out of (Kyle) Ahrens. We're making some progress with the freshmen Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown. I wish I'd have given him a few more minutes. But Foster did pretty good. We hung in there with a mass unit lineup. That was good.
On the 24 minutes Cassius played tonight…
Well it could be beneficial for him. It ain't very damn good for me, and I'm selfish, so I'm a little worried about me. I say that kiddingly. We can't have him in foul trouble. But we vowed we were gonna get him down into the low 30's today, one way or another. So they force-fed me. I thought DJ (assistant coach Dwayne Stephens) did a good job of moving those guys around. But I never like to have a guy like that sitting that long. He did get a good rest. For me, it'll give him a good excuse to practice harder tomorrow. Him and Matt (McQuaid) forced a few things late. I think frustration, I don't blame them. In general, out-rebounding them by a few without Kenny (Goins) and not have many turnovers was encouraging. The other encouraging things was Nick (Ward) working and Quaido shooting.
On defensive performance and McQuaid's play on both sides of the ball…
That is a big key. I thought the other big key was Nick. We put a lot of pressure on Nick because we decided we were flipping coins to put him on (Jordan) Murphy because he's been playing so good. Murphy didn't get any shots. I give Dewayne Stephens a lot of credit. It was his scout. We decided to play him for the drive and a certain way, and we got a lot out of it. It was good preparation by our guys. I thought our guards dug in there pretty good. Their bigs are good and they're missing a big too. Personally, I thought Minnesota was playing pretty well. They got beat by Wisconsin, but they had had a couple of big wins. The way the whole league is right now, there's just a lot of strange things that happen. I'm hoping that Kenny (Goins)'ll be healthy and I think we'll be able to build off this. Not off the game as much as off the practices.
On challenging best three players on his team and on the court…
When the ('79 team) players spoke, when Earvin ("Magic" Johnson) spoke, when Jay (Vincent) spoke and when Gregory (Kelser) spoke, but when Jay Vincent spoke, 'Coach (Izzo) is a little old school. He's in-between, he's not Jud. He's kind of an in-your-face guy. I just want you young guys to know that I had to go through that too. Everytime Earvin made a mistake, Jud yelled at me. Everytime Gregory made a mistake, Jud yelled at me. So at least Tom is equal opportunity. When you guys make a mistake, he yells at you.' I thought that was pretty true. Remember this: this day in age, you almost gotta defend everything you do. My kids do something wrong, they're gonna be held accountable. My players do something wrong, they're gonna be held accountable. If I do something wrong, I was held accountable. That's what we're missing, we're missing accountability. It's gonna be a cold day in the place below before I let that go.
On Magic being in attendance…
I think so. I know I do. I just sat there and kind of watched in amazement. I told him he could sit up in my wife's box and another box if they wanted to go there, but just like always, just like always, when he goes to the NCAA tournament he didn't want to sit in a box. He wants to sit with his fellas, as he calls them, and that's what I love about Earvin. He's done so much for this place that, yes he has given a lot of money to this place, yes he has given us a lot of national attention in a lot of ways, but what he has given to us the most you couldn't put on paper or on a checkbook. When he talks to those players, I mean they were 15 guys sitting there and 30 sets of eyes focused right on him. He looked at them and said it's not like this everywhere and you better appreciate it, I think I better appreciate it, we all better appreciate it.
On how Nick Ward played better after Illinois…
The good news is that I have learned that Nick, I don't know if he handles success as well. I told him at halftime you have to get a double-double, that's our goal for him. He ended up needing to get one more rebound, so I still got something to get on him about, so I felt good about that. Nick had some rebounds in the first half like he did early on, you know two hand rebounds, above everybody. Nick is an interesting guy and maybe having Earvin and Gregory and J kind of called him out in a positive way. Nick has to realize that he's been a lot more consistent this year, but if Nick and Cassius aren't consistent with Josh gone, we aren't going to win as many games. If Gregory and Magic weren't consistent, I would like to see that team, no insult to those other guys, but I'm just saying. I thought Nick's performance today, even defensively, I mean we aren't going to give him credit defensively, but some of that one for four on Murphy was Nick guarding him and he deserves a lot of credit for that.
On the engagement level of Nick…
If I had the answer to that, I wouldn't let it happen. He has been a lot more engaged this year in every way, shape, or form. That's the accountability thing I was talking about for my own self. This has been the hardest year for me from this standpoint. We are playing two more games. The TV schedule is even crazier and when you have two and three games a week and you have to take a day off and then you have to practice hard, and you say I don't want to practice hard the day before the game. I got trainers telling me something about these guys, it really is more difficult. I have to do a better job of figuring it out, but I threw caution into the wind a couple days ago and said you know what, we are just going to get after it. We are going to get after it and if we get beat because we are too tired, that would be a good reason to get beat. We are not going to get beat because we aren't playing hard enough. I think that was the lesson of the day and we will see where it takes us.
On importance of Cassius and Nick…
It's no secret that Nick and Cassius got challenged. They are right, you are right. He must of stole my speech to them from two days ago. They are the best two players on this team, two of the better players in this conference. Your best players can't just play good, and sometimes they just can't play great. When you lose a guy like Josh and Kenny, they have to play at a level where they may have never been at. I think both of them understand that, I really do. It's a grind and they grinded this week, if that's a word, and they did. We have some success with it and now we are going to have to figure out how to manage everything and keep working at it. It was fun to watch them play today, it was fun to watch the fans get into it, it was fun to look over and see some elderly men now, 40 years past their prime, jump up and down like college kids. That makes my day.
On the line between when something is right, and something needs to change…
I can play it like a parent, like a boss in a company. Experience helps you, you look at different things you have gone through. Somebody asked me, have you lost three in a row very often? We have not done this on a regular basis. 11 times in 24 years. I think your experience to call people, talk to people, and try to figure out why. What's the reason? The reason was obvious to me when we weren't defending the three, went from a plus 13 rebounding to a plus one and rebounding means you don't run, and if you don't run, we are that type of team that has to run. It really wasn't einsteinic to figure out what was wrong. It was just look at the situation and go back to your roots and that's why if anything you do there is a million times where you forget where you came from. At times I try to forget where I came from, but I mean that sincerely you forget what got you to where you are. I think when you have success over and over, and this is what is so much harder. It has been so long since I gave my social media commercial, but you hear so many good things, I thought we got a little fat and sassy. I really did. I just did not think we did the things we needed to do. I think they understood that too.
On challenging the players on his team and what it means to him…
A day where I said we didn't practice well, now when I said we didn't practice well, to show you how dumb I am, I incriminated myself. I run the practice, it's my practice and so I incriminated myself last week maybe on purpose. We all got together, and we practiced. Allen Iverson might not be static about it, but I think he would have been proud of the effort that he gave. I think we are going to understand and learn from that. Hopefully we will keep rolling but remember that this team has been really good. We had a bump in the road as one guy told me, and it was a big bump. We had some bizarre things, shooting away at the line and turning it over more than a bakery. We didn't do what Michigan State does, we didn't defend, we didn't rebound, and we didn't run. Anytime you lose your identity you lose a lot. And that '79 team that came back today, we huddled up at the end and Earvin said Gregory do what our battle cry was, and it was all about potential. Gregory almost screwed up how he spelled it, so I had to help him a little bit. The potential word is a word that we all know is out there and who is going to meet their potential. My job is to drive my guys until they meet their potential.
Michigan State senior guard Matt McQuaid
On what it meant to have the 1979 Championship team back for the 40th reunion…
It means everything, that's why you come to places like Michigan State. You don't get this anywhere else; this place is special. We are so grateful for all of them to come back and watch us play. It's something I will remember for the rest of my life.
On how it felt to stop the three-game skid and get back to winning ways…
It felt good. We got back to what we do which is defend, rebound and run. We haven't been doing that the previous games, and tonight I felt we did a really good job at doing all three. We helped each other out and played Michigan State defense. We can always get better and improve, and it starts on the defensive end. We have to build off this win.
Michigan State junior guard Cassius Winston
On how it all came together…
It started in the gym with our practices. We had really good practices this week and put some emphasis on some things that we believed that we needed to work on, and that showed in the game. We see the results and we want this feeling after every game, we got to keep working and keep that mentality. You know we are going to push and grind through it.
On how it feels to be one of four Michigan State players to reach 600 assists in their career…
That's crazy. It's such a blessing to be in this situation and have my teammates around me. To be one of four is special because this is a special place and it's such a huge honor.
On playing Michigan State basketball with the 1979 team in town for the 40th reunion…
It was huge. They built this place and started the legacy here, and it was amazing to be able to play in front of them. They motivated us because they told us how they were in a similar position after losing a couple games in a row. They had a meeting and got back to what they do, playing to their full potential and it helped them get to a national championship. We have to play as hard as we can, and the sky is the limit for us.
Michigan State junior forward Nick Ward
On the importance of Magic being in the house…
He's an NBA legend, so anything he says I have to listen. It's an opportunity of a lifetime and I had to take advantage of that and play well. To play in front of a great like him, it's something I will never forget.
On what it took to get his game back on track…
I just had to go back to being Nick Ward and play the game the way I know how. The crowd helped me, as well as my teammates and coaches, and that was a big part on why we got back in the win column. We have to keep this consistency going to Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement…
Credit to Michigan State. They were clearly the better team. We're offensively in such a funk right now. We're going through it. We just got to make sure that… every team in this league goes through something like that. We have not been through it yet… a stretch like that. We haven't lost two in a row. Now that we're at three in a row, we've got to make sure we do our very very best to get back to work in practice and prepare for a really good Nebraska team. We can't get in our own heads because this will happen in the Big Ten. It's a long season with a lot of great opportunities so we've got to get our offensive confidence back. We're pretty easy to guard right now. What happens is you let a team like Michigan State out of the break and you're going to struggle defensively.
On guarding Ward…
They dive their big very very quickly and it makes it difficult. We were trying to do it a couple times and got it slapped out. He made some tough shots too. He's got kind of an interesting release. So, he's a good player. They've got other good players on the court.
On Magic, atmosphere and other effects making team play worse…
I don't know if it's Magic Johnson's fault we didn't play well. We didn't play well. We're struggling offensively right now. Michigan State's good. We've got to be able to get our confidence going. Like I said, I think we're easy to guard right now so we just have to do a better job of getting confidence and getting back in the gym. Michigan State went through it, got out of it. Purdue went through it early… Wisconsin, Indiana. Everybody's going to have these parts of the schedule where you have to get over yourself and get back to work.
On outside shooting and relying on Jordan Murphy…
Well it's hard with Eric (Curry) out. We're a better team when Eric's playing. From a rotation standpoint, and from a ball movement standpoint, we were allowing them to push us off the block and not fighting for that post position. We need Eric back. We're clearly a better team… just a more complete team with him back. So, hopefully he'll be back for Nebraska.
On Michigan State defense…
They're good defensively. They're a good defensive team. We're not hitting shots from the outside. I think we're easy to guard right now all around. We've got to be able to knock down shots. We've got to be able to go outside and we're not doing that right now.
On Matt McQuaid scoring…
It's important because (Josh) Langford's out and that's scoring right there. A guy like Aaron Henry will get there, but he's young. McQuaid needs to shoulder that load a little bit for them and he's capable of doing that. He's a good defender. Obviously Cassius had eight to nine assists and zero turnovers so not a lot of resistance from our part.
On whose job it is to get Minnesota team back on track…
I would say it's my responsibility and I'll gladly accept it. Hopefully we get healthy.
On common trends of Minnesota coming up short…
It's been a little bit different. Today was different than Purdue and Michigan and Wisconsin. This was a little bit different. This had more of that Illinois feel where we were kind of out of sorts. Where I thought Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan I think we had opportunities to win the game. They jumped out I think 20-5 and we cut that lead, but we acted like we were down more and we need to show a little more poise there.
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