Tom Izzo Weekly Press Conference Coverage

Michigan State Head Men's Basketball Coach Tom Izzo met with the media on Tuesday afternoon at his weekly press conference, talking about the Spartans, and the team's upcoming road contest at Indiana.

Opening Statement…
Well, as I said earlier in the year, I felt like it was going to take six to eight games in the league to figure out where everybody was because of the bizarre scheduling. I haven't changed my mind on that, nor have I changed my mind on how good the league is. It was good to be able to bounce back and play very well for a large percentage of that game against Wisconsin. We've got a couple of days to prepare for this week, we've had some good practices and that's been really good. I think we're getting better play out of Gabe (Brown), Aaron (Henry) and a lot better play out of Rocket (Watts), which has been a big positive. But the league right now is so good and we're still in a place right now where some teams have played four or five home games and some teams have only played two or three. So, it's very hard for media, fans and even players to figure out where anyone's at right now. So, we're looking at this kind of like a separation week one way or the other. We're either going to win some games and separate ourselves, or we're going to lose some games and not separate ourselves and I think that's going to give us a better indication. Home teams are 41-7, which is ridiculous. Is it the parody of what's going on with teams all over the country? I think it's the most confusing when they say that there's a ton of teams that could win it all. We have 12 teams in the top 50, which means we have 12 teams capable of making the NCAA Tournament and we're just going to beat the hell out of each other.

As far as Indiana goes, they're a big and strong team. They're starting 6-10-6-11. (Justin)Smith, who was a power forward last year and is now playing the three-spot. They're rebounding the hell out of the ball, they're not shooting well, but they are rebounding which reminds me of some of my earlier teams. Yet they have four players in double figures, so they have good balance, yet no one real big. Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis, a kid we recruited hard is averaging 14.8 points per game is having a hell of a freshman year, I think he's one of the best freshmen in the league. Justin Smith is a guy that's a senior who has really played well, he's averaging 12 points and five rebounds, he's playing great defensively and he's also a great offensive rebounder. Joey Brunk the transfer at 6-11 is scoring eight or nine points and getting seven or eight rebounds. They have a lot of guys between that 12 and seven range as far as points and guys at six, seven or eight as far as rebounds. The guys who have killed us the last couple of years were Devonte Green and Aljami Durham. They're still in double figures and probably two of their best shooters. This is one of the best teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line 26 times a game. So, they're getting a lot of dribble penetration with their guards, I think guys are helping which besides them being real big, is why they're a good rebounding team. When you drive the ball and rebound like that, you're going to get fouled more. We're going to have to do the job in transition, rebounding and defending without fouling. So, topsy-turvy man, I don't know if you guys have any idea as to where the teams are in the league, I sure as hell don't. I think after this week, you'll have a little bit better of an idea as to where the whole conference is at if you ask me.

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