Michigan State University Athletics
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Tom Izzo Weekly Press Conference Coverage
1/7/2020 3:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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 Big Ten matchup with Minnesota on Thursday night.
Opening Statement
Well, you know after looking back, any weekend you win games is a good weekend and you beat Michigan it's a better weekend. But those two wins last week are kind of gone. And the beauty of this conference right now is there isn't a lot of relaxing. I'm a little confused, I'd say we're two or three, four games away from really figuring out where the conference is. The two games early create a problem, you know, Wisconsin, Minnesota, were playing so bad early. And now, Wisconsin might be playing as well as anybody and Minnesota is playing much, much better than they were.
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You look at where we are, and this is a big week. I'm going to say that every week, it seems like, but a Thursday, Sunday, it's another closer, especially Thursday at midnight or whatever and then on Sunday it's an early afternoon game. So quicker turnarounds, which I say creates some problems for youth right now, but maybe the last week helped a little bit.
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But Minnesota is 2-2, they could be 3-1. They had Purdue beat at Purdue. They beat Ohio State soundly. The (Daniel) Oturu kid, second leading scorer in the league. We recruited him a little bit. I knew his high school coach. Another bad decision by my staff and me, I guess, because he has been a beast. He's 19 points, 12 rebounds, and he's playing very, very well. But they had four players in double figures. The kid (Marcus) Carr who transferred there a year ago, has probably been the surprise of the league. He's averaging 16 points, seven assists. But he's been kind of an electrifying point guard, he can shoot a three. He's one of the rare guys like a Mateen Cleaves, he's stronger. He actually seeks and enjoys contact, and he'll get to the rack a lot. He's shooting a ton of free throws. He was 10-for-10 in one game. He's at games in the 30's. He's at games in the 20's. With (Gabe) Kalscheur, you know, another kid that we really liked. They've got a great shooter and the kid (Payton) Willis, who came from the same school as Mady, has been a very good shooter. So, they've got a little bit everything, they've got a fifth-year transfer who is playing the power forward and I think they got five starters as good as most teams in the league. And two guys, (Daniel) Oturu and their point guard (Marcus) Carr that are really, really good. So, it's going to be a good for us but don't look at Minnesota, or people shouldn't, like maybe Minnesota was a couple years, or even what they were at the beginning of the year. They're a completely different team now. The kid (Payton) Willis, who is now probably going to start, he was starting then got hurt and didn't play in I think three of the last five games, or two of the last five he played again the other night, yeah three of the last five. But he played the other night and I'm sure he'll either be starting or playing a lot against us.
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Opening Statement
Well, you know after looking back, any weekend you win games is a good weekend and you beat Michigan it's a better weekend. But those two wins last week are kind of gone. And the beauty of this conference right now is there isn't a lot of relaxing. I'm a little confused, I'd say we're two or three, four games away from really figuring out where the conference is. The two games early create a problem, you know, Wisconsin, Minnesota, were playing so bad early. And now, Wisconsin might be playing as well as anybody and Minnesota is playing much, much better than they were.
Â
You look at where we are, and this is a big week. I'm going to say that every week, it seems like, but a Thursday, Sunday, it's another closer, especially Thursday at midnight or whatever and then on Sunday it's an early afternoon game. So quicker turnarounds, which I say creates some problems for youth right now, but maybe the last week helped a little bit.
Â
But Minnesota is 2-2, they could be 3-1. They had Purdue beat at Purdue. They beat Ohio State soundly. The (Daniel) Oturu kid, second leading scorer in the league. We recruited him a little bit. I knew his high school coach. Another bad decision by my staff and me, I guess, because he has been a beast. He's 19 points, 12 rebounds, and he's playing very, very well. But they had four players in double figures. The kid (Marcus) Carr who transferred there a year ago, has probably been the surprise of the league. He's averaging 16 points, seven assists. But he's been kind of an electrifying point guard, he can shoot a three. He's one of the rare guys like a Mateen Cleaves, he's stronger. He actually seeks and enjoys contact, and he'll get to the rack a lot. He's shooting a ton of free throws. He was 10-for-10 in one game. He's at games in the 30's. He's at games in the 20's. With (Gabe) Kalscheur, you know, another kid that we really liked. They've got a great shooter and the kid (Payton) Willis, who came from the same school as Mady, has been a very good shooter. So, they've got a little bit everything, they've got a fifth-year transfer who is playing the power forward and I think they got five starters as good as most teams in the league. And two guys, (Daniel) Oturu and their point guard (Marcus) Carr that are really, really good. So, it's going to be a good for us but don't look at Minnesota, or people shouldn't, like maybe Minnesota was a couple years, or even what they were at the beginning of the year. They're a completely different team now. The kid (Payton) Willis, who is now probably going to start, he was starting then got hurt and didn't play in I think three of the last five games, or two of the last five he played again the other night, yeah three of the last five. But he played the other night and I'm sure he'll either be starting or playing a lot against us.
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