Post-Game Quotes vs. Eastern Michigan

Post Game Quotes

Eastern Michigan vs. Michigan State

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement
So, opening night. Exciting, especially for Josh (Langford) and Joey (Hauser) who haven't played in a couple years and I think that was a little bit of a tribute to the nine turnovers between them. But there was some serious positives and there were some, you know, a few negatives. And those negatives were things that got to correct we got to get better at and turnovers are one of them. Second half, I think we had 12 or 13 turnovers and that's kind of ridiculous. But when you play a lot of different people and you're playing a lot of new people, that's going to happen for a while. I was very, very, very impressed - Foster played awfully well. And he had some of my impression. Aaron Henry, maybe had his good a game. He was too unselfish tonight. Got to get in more buckets. We got to get him more shots. But some of those he passed up he led us in assists he rebounded well he played good defense. He acted like a true captain, I was very impressed with the camaraderie of our team. You know, Rocket (Watts) probably little frustrated, but didn't play frustrated and that was encouraging. I thought Gabe (Brown) struggled a little early, and then he played better. Joey went through that three-minute stretch where he kind of let things get to him, but that's gonna happen to Josh and Joey for a little bit. But I love the way Joey bounced back second half. You know, probably had an average game, and he was one rebound away from having a double-double, so he and Josh the turnovers will get better. Joey was sucking up to the head coach. He threw me two passes on the bench. And that's not going to get him more playing time, but he thinks it is so out there a little chit chat with him. But in all fairness and honesty, I was pleased by how he and Josh played considering the time off they've had. And Marcus Bingham was another bright spot, you know Kithier's solid as a rock, which he's going to be, but Marcus Bingham did some good things. Still trying to track down that one shot that Mady (Sissoko) blocked, so I think you can see where down the road Mady is going be an intimidating guy here and one that's going to help us. So a lot of good things with Foster, and a lot of work to do for Saturday night.

On his health and approach to coaching the game...
Yeah, the only people happy were those zebras, those officials, you know they were happy because I sat there most of the game. I do want to say this I want to take my hat off to the Eastern Michigan and Coach (Rob) Murphy. He could have canceled out of this game when he lost those big guys to COVID, and he played it, and I'm greatly appreciative of that. And he played it well. That was not an easy game for us because changing in midstream like that with the shooters that he has, and then having a guard smaller guys and we were still playing some bigs, so I think it was good experience for us. I hope it was good for them but a lot of guys would have just maybe leaked out and not and not played the game. They could have canceled out yesterday or today. And so I take my hat off to him the whole Eastern Michigan staff for what they did. Me personally, I feel pretty good thanks to our medical people. And everybody out there, and I see you wearing your mask. They tell me to tell everybody to keep masking up and stay safe. It's a little crazy out there, and I want to make sure everybody's healthy.

On Foster's increased confidence this year...
I have been seeing this all summer and all fall, except for the last two weeks. Poor guy. The last two weeks hasn't made a shot. We're almost joking about it because he's probably the best shooter, and he just wasn't making shots. And to his credit his competitiveness, he made shots, and we got him good shots. I think that was a double plus, and they probably were, maybe not guarding quite the same way and when it's this early in the season it's a chess game for everybody. And that zone is hard to go against. If he doesn't make those shots, we probably really struggle, so that kind of opened some things up got some other guys going. But they do a hell of a job with their zone. He's good every single year he's been there, and so I'm just happy we were able to attack it the best he could still; shoot a decent percentage. And Foster, as you say, played better defensively than he did in the first two years, and I think that keeps him on the floor a little bit more.

On the pregame stance on social injustice...
Well you know we looked at the Ubuntu; I think it's called. Doc Rivers - it was a battle cry that he had for his team three, four years ago. And that's what it means you know on the back. And the players just right away we talked about united and that's kind of what we wanted to do. The Coaches' Association talked about playing both anthems, and I just think it's the right thing to do. I think our players handled it both ways. I think we were really focused in on the things we had to be focused in on. It was a classy thing done by our people here, along with the way the arena was and everything. And you're right, the social injustice and the things that we've got to keep that in the back of our minds and not let it drift away like it does other years and little things we're doing we're going through some more things with the uniform, so we're all we're all united on this I think that's the important part.

On standing apart from the team during the anthems…
Boy, that's you guys finding a way to figure out something, but I didn't even notice that. I just had my mind set on, a little bit of a tough day for me, a little bit more fatigued than normal and I was just trying to take in both anthems and didn't realize I was a little bit away. If I was it was for no reason. It wasn't for COVID, I promise you that.

On the setup at the Breslin Center…
Our marketing people did a phenomenal job, David Thomas was very involved, in trying to make a house a home. I think it's really important that these players are getting robbed of the fans right now, and hopefully that will come back. But we want to give them an atmosphere and the music and the DJ, and we're going to gain more and more of the cutouts, I think we're building on that. We're really going to try and make it a special place so that, especially our seniors who don't get another chance, get to do something. When Murph (Rob Murph) came in and saw it, he thought it was a really cool deal and I think that's what we're looking for, to make good not only for our team but our opponents that we play so that it feels more like somewhat of a crowd and somewhat of a situation that college basketball presents.

On Joey Hauser…
I told him that I was disappointed that he let one turnover become three and in all honesty, he got his second foul too and that's kind of why he sat. What's great is when a guy responds and in the second half, and he said he got over it. You sit out that long, man, it's hard. He was so excited yesterday and today to play. Josh was bouncing off the walls. The least I worry about is those two guys. Joey Hauser has been a rock here. He's played the hardest, you saw how well he rebounded. He goes after the ball, he plays hard. You didn't get to see his passing skills yet. Like I said, that is not an easy defense to go up against, I don't' care if they have big guys or not big guys. They do a very, very, very good job. All in all, I'm going to take the win. It wasn't a win that we kept extending the lead and that's a credit to them. I think they're going to have a good team. They get their bigs back and with the number of guards, a couple of transfers, the juco kids I think are going to be good players, I think Murph's got a good team. So Joey, he settled in a little bit, all in all, I think we're a long ways away from where we need to be. So is he, so is Josh, but that's expected after two years off.

Michigan State Graduate Guard Joshua Langford

On what it felt like being on the floor…
I'm just I'm just grateful to be to be back out there. It definitely was different because the last time I played, you know, it wasn't like this. And I also hadn't played in almost two years. It was definitely different to get back out there and a lot of emotions, you know with them but you know ultimately I'm just glad we got the win and I got a game under my belt and I can just keep moving forward.

On playing without fans…
It was definitely different, man, because you are just used to playing with fans. I believe we have the greatest fans in the country with the Izzone so you definitely miss the fans. But, at the same time, I'm a competitor so as long as I'm able to be out there, put two shoes on and play. I'm good. You know, I'm just thankful to be out there. Like I said, two years ago I didn't think I would be able to be back out there. So, it's just a blessing to be able to just lace my shoes up.

On keeping consistent and keeping the team motivated…
It definitely is beneficial for us, because like you said in your question earlier - we don't have any fans so we don't have anybody trying to get us going. We have to get ourselves going. You know, I think this is not difficult for our team, or for any Michigan State team, because of our culture - you know we cheer each other on. We help each other. You know we're vocal the bench and we're a unit. And so, you know, even though there are five players on the court, it's like we're all out there on the court. We like being together so I think it's going to help to our advantage.

On his first few shots…
I mean, yeah, but you know, I've been shooting with that line for a long time. I actually thought was going straight through the net. But, you know, this is this how it goes, man. My first shot in two years so it just is what it is Like I said, I've now got a game under my belt, and I just need to keep going.

On getting in a rhythm through the game…
Oh yeah, most definitely. I think, you know, as the game kept progressing I just got more and more into a rhythm and as I get more practices under my belt I definitely will pick up that rhythm.

On ball movement…
Well, I think the ball movement is almost just a depiction of how we want to be as a team playing together; playing for each other. Realizing that it's not necessarily about us as individuals but it's about us as a unit. You know when we play together, you know we are better.
Great championship teams, they know how to play together and know how to play for each other. I think that's one thing that we want to kind of stand on for the rest of this year. Obviously we had too many turnovers, but, you know, we'll work the kinks out with it. Ultimately, that's just what this team is: we're gonna look out for each other. We're going to share the ball and going to play for one another.

On getting the chance to play…
I think, you know, you used the great word 'unusual', but at the same time. I think we were all excited to just be able put out jerseys and be able to play. With everything that's going on with the virus, everything is up in the air. I'm almost 100% positive that early on, we weren't necessarily sure that we were going to have a season just because of how everything was. Just to be able to be on the court is definitely exciting. And I think the consensus is that we are all grateful to be able to play.

On Foster Loyer's contributions…
That means a lot. Um, but just like I said in my, my previous interview, this is who Foster is. You know he's gonna lead us; he's gonna do his job. And I'm just happy for him because, you know, it's kind of difficult playing behind Cash [Cassius Winston] because he's such a great player. But one thing about Foster is that he stays consistent, you know, day to day, day in and day out, coming in and doing this job. I'm just happy for him to see him get some reward with the consistency that he's put forward. And so, that's who Foster is – that's Foster Loyer for you. That's who he was when he came, and I think this is who he going to continue to be. I'm not trying to put pressure on him but at the same time, I have faith in him.

On building team chemistry…
I think chemistry was great. I think you see with it with the system, the amount of assists we had as a team. You know, like you said. Around this time, we probably would have had a few exhibition games already. So this was kind of like an exhibition game. I feel like we all like being here and everybody just wants to come in and do their job. You know, we want to be patient with ourselves, but we don't want to make the excuse that we haven't had the same 'normal season' that we always have. Because at the end of the day, everybody's going through the same thing. You kind of want to give yourself grace, but at the same time, continue to put the pedal to the metal and just keep pushing forward. Not, you know, give any room for excuses.

Junior guard Foster Loyer

On how it felt to play as well as he did and make shots like he did after earning the start...
Yeah, it's just nice to be back out there after however many months it's been since we played our last game. It was nice to just be back out there with the guys. I thought we did a really good job throughout the game moving the ball, they run kind of a tough match-up zone, and our guys did a great job of finding open shooters and whatnot, and I was glad to see a couple go down.

On Coach Izzo and some of the coaches mentioning this offseason and preseason on him looking more comfortable and what was key to that...
I think that's just a mindset thing; I think that's embracing your role and just doing whatever you can to put yourself in a position to succeed. For me, it was a lot of work this summer just to bear down and get that confidence back in shooting the ball and being the facilitator that I know I can be. Different games are going to be different, Aaron Henry might not have got as many looks tonight, or things like that. But, I think this team does such a great job of just being unselfish and we're going to make sure the open guy finds the ball and be confident in our teammates.

On when he found out he was getting start tonight and if he approached this week in practice any different than in past...
I officially found out I was starting yesterday, kind of towards the end of practice, and it was exciting, I knew it was a big responsibility, we needed to come out and get off to a good start. But I think approaching wise, my mindset going forward, I think that's something that each and every day you've got to approach it the same way of looking to get better and get better as a team, as a person, just looking and doing what I can to succeed, and what I can to help my team succeed. So I think it was more just of the approach of having that mindset of 'I'm going to go out there and be me. I'm going to just play within myself and do what I can do to help our team.'

On if after finding out was starting did he call or reach out to anyone outside of the team to get advice on starting or process it at all...
No, not really, that's something that I think I've been working for this entire summer, and if it wasn't the case, then it wasn't the case, and I wasn't going to let that bring me down. I think, no matter what role, whether I'm starting or coming off the bench, I think it's my job to come in and do what I can do, whether that's facilitating or making shots. I did send a text to like my family and whatnot, but other than that, I just kept to myself and it was all business.

On feeling like he was in the first half with playing and shooting so well, how did he balance taking shot or finding other guys...
I think that just comes from playing with your teammates each and every day. Like I said, we have such an unselfish team that when a guy does get it going, we're going to look for him, we're going to try to find them. But at the same time, I think it comes just from having that confidence of, when I'm open I'm going to shoot it and I'm shooting it to make it. So when my teammates were able to find myself, a lot of times it was out of the middle of that zone. I thought our four-man, guys like Aaron (Henry), Malik (Hall) and Joey (Hauser) did a great job of moving the ball and being that facilitator, because each game is going to be a little bit different, but I think it's just having that confidence to step in and make the shot when you are open.

On if or when his confidence ever went down...
I think that's tough, it's not necessarily I lost my confidence, I think when you're playing that role of just kind of been in the game due to be more of a ball mover and do things like that, I think you kind of lose sight of what you do well, things like that and you're just trying to fill your role and not make any mistakes and play error free and I think that's tough, just because as a guard and a guy that's going to get the extra pass for my teammates and whatnot, you kind of have to have that mentality of being aggressive. And so I think it's been a transition getting kind of back to that, I'm just looking forward to these next couple of games and it was great to get to win tonight.

Redshirt-junior forward Joey Hauser

On thankfulness for getting back out there and playing tonight and what were the first few minutes like back on the court after so long...
Yeah, it was different being back on the court and it's been a long time. As you can see, I was kind of struggling to get in the flow of the game struggling to kind of find myself there, I think I was rushing a little bit too much, but I'm thankful for my teammates, they really picked me up, my coaches stay on me about just sticking to what I do best, and I'm really thankful just for everyone in this program that has really helped me to make sure I'm keeping my head high and not talking about a bad play or something like that.

On during time off what did he work on his game and if had chance to show some of that tonight, or is that going to show up later as he gets more comfortable this season...
Some of the things I've worked on were just being versatile, I think that's something that I can really do, being able to shoot the ball at my size and be able to take guys off the dribble is something that I want to be really good at. I think with tonight, they played a zone, so it's a little bit different how we were running things, I didn't shoot quite as many perimeter shots but I got some shots down low, my teammates found me and did a great job finding me on some of those cuts. So, I don't know if I showed everything that I've been working on, but it was a great start. It was an interesting zone that we played so that made things a little bit different.

On Marcus Bingham helping him get going a little bit with some passes to him cutting down the lane and if that's something they've worked together on in practice or if just happened tonight...
With all of our bigs, we're rotating every day in practice so you never know who you're going to be with, you never know who you're going be against, so me and Marcus hadn't played a ton together in practice, but he found me in a couple nice cuts, and he did get me going and I know he kind of pumped me out there and it kind of snapped me out of whatever was going on. So, that was awesome.

On overall first impressions of how he did tonight and what was conversation like with Coach Izzo on the bench...
He just told me to keep my head. Obviously, I was turning over the ball too much, they kind of had me playing the middle there in the zone, and I wasn't doing a great job at it. So, he got after me a couple times and he just kind of asked me what was going on and just made sure that he let me know that he had my back. But that I need to pick it up and get playing so, that's kind of what he was telling me and that's what the rest of my teammates told me, just kind of picking me up and make sure I didn't hang my head down.

On being around the program the last two years and seeing the maturation of Foster Loyer and how much did he benefit from that zone and hitting shots early on and finding a rhythm, and if what he's seen out of Foster this summer...
Yeah, I mean Foster is a great shooter, we've all seen it, and I think what he did this summer was he really worked on his body. He wanted to be able to play long stretches, he wanted to able to defend, and really run this team, and he's done a great job during the preseason, and whatever we kind of had of that and I was a little bit different this year as well as summer, but since the season started, he's done a really good job. He stepped up in that role. He hadn't been shooting it all that well of late in practice, so it was great for him to knock down, I don't however many he had, five or six threes or whatever, but it was awesome to see him get a rhythm there and that was really cool.

On what it was like playing…
It was amazing. You know, it was everything that I didn't expect – we had no fans, no Izzone. But you know, we have to learn to play in these types of environments. I love the recordings and I can't wait for this one to come up.

On playing in an empty arena and motivating yourself…
I mean, a player like me - I've played in played in empty gyms before, or not a lot of people were there other than my dad and my mom. It may be different for other people in the backgrounds that they come from, but we still have to play basketball with the conditions that we're in. So we have to wear a mask, space out as much as we can, and follow protocol, but you know, as far as leading goes you've still got to do what you have to do. You can't make an excuse or come unprepared. That's inexcusable.

On the number of assists the team had…
Yeah, I mean, to be able to create and distribute against a zone like that I mean, it's not the easiest thing to do. I tried to get guys good shots and get them open and get them going. Being a leader on the team I feel like that's important for me to do. Doing that, it's just letting the game come to me and just going with the flow. Not forcing anything, but against a zone like that where they're trying to pack, they're trying to make interior passes and get out on the break. I think they did a decent job of getting back, I mean that's something that maybe we've got to run harder and try to beat, but you know as far as that goes, it wasn't easy. You know, some things may have looked easy but it was definitely an important thing for me to try to get guys open and available tonight

On playing against the zone…
It played into some guys' strengths and whatnot. A guy like Foster [Loyer] - if you give them the space, that's going in. A lot of guys on our team are crashing the boards, but other guys like Gabe [Brown] and Josh [Langford] too - able to be knock-down shooters and just find their spots. Guys like the bigs knowing when to seal and just knowing that the right times to do certain things. I think it just played to some guys playing styles a little bit, and some guys that didn't maybe play as well, you know, it kind of goes that way too. But I felt like everybody played their roles and did a good job.
On how the team adjusted to playing for the first time in a while…
It was it was a different environment for sure, but I felt like we handled it really, really well. We still have places to grow and things to get better at, with a win like this and when going into a game like Saturday's nothing shy of it but, I felt like we handled it well and I felt like we can get better. We know what we didn't do well on the bench, we know what we didn't go on the court, or in the locker room preparation-wise - things we want to do different from all areas. I think everybody did their job and did what they're supposed to do.

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Rob Murphy
Opening Statement…
"I thought our guys did a really good job of competing. We talked about energy, effort, and execution all week. If you bring a lot of energy and effort it gives you a chance and keeps you in the game. Anytime you force a team into 18 turnovers, especially in their building, that means you are playing really good defense. I was concerned coming into the game not having six players, but I give Ty Groce a lot credit. He never played the five in his life. He did a really job as best he could in anchoring our zone. I thought we played really good in the first half. 19 19 we gave up back to back threes. It kind of opened up the game. They had a 13-0 run and we regrouped at halftime, we told them not to play the score, we just wanted them to play each possession. Just to keep the game within reach with hopes we could come back and steal it in the end. Those guys competed. We played them even in the second half. I was really pleased with our play tonight."

On being down to six players and how it affected preparation…
"They were out for COVID reasons, contact tracing. None of the guys tested positive. But we had a manager test positive so after doing the research on contact tracing; where guys were and who the manager worked with, we ended up having six guys out. Our guys tested again last time, and everybody was negative but unfortunately because of the CDC rules and regulations and what we are following at Eastern Michigan, we were unable to bring those guys. We also missed out on Coach Kevin Mondro as well. It was his scout and we learned that he, along with the six players so unfortunately for us, we didn't have three centers, a couple forwards. We needed those guys to help anchor our zone and rebound the basketball and finish inside. But again, our guys fought. We came into this building last year with a record of 9-1 with our whole team and a bunch of confidence. It didn't bode well for us. We ended up losing by 40. It wasn't a game after the first six or seven minutes. I give our guys a lot of credit for coming in and competing with the Number 13 team in the country on their own floor. I am very appreciative of their fight for 40 minutes."

On expectations of Yeikson Montero…
"He's a really effective scorer for us, now. He's become a better shooter. He's able to play in the post and I think because of his toughness and his belief in himself he's able to manufacture points. I give him a lot of credit defensively. He fought because he's undersized playing the forward spot because guys were out, and we had to shift some things. Having Ty at the 5 and Yeikson at the 4 I thought they did a really good job of fighting against guys who were much bigger and taller and more athletic from Michigan State."

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Players Mentioned

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Foster Loyer

Cassius Winston

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