Post-Game Quotes: Central Michigan
12/18/2020 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MSU Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On way that team was able to buckle down and close it out in the fourth quarter...
When you're a coach and have been doing it as long as I have, and came up the way I have, you recognize what this game is to an opponent, certainly someone like Central Michigan, in-state, and especially of who we're playing in non-conference, and who I saw we were playing in the first part of the Big Ten schedule, I was most nervous about this one. I know that might sound a little crazy to some of you, but they have good enough guard play, and they've got that hybrid, tough four-five man that can pick-and-pop, and set so many ball screens, that we had to adjust a lot. The difference I thought was in that fourth quarter, defensively, we started to lock down and switched up what we were doing defensively, we put Tory (Ozment) on Micaela Kelly with her length and kind of said no-look, no-touch, almost a semi box-and-one and try not to let her get touches. So both her and Molly Davis, who I thought really hurt us in the first half; I thought we did a much better job on her in the second half, I think she only scored a few points in the second half, but both of those guards can score and were really hurting us in the first half. So I thought it was the way that we really buckled down defensively, and I thought Tory was a big part of that, especially on Micaela Kelly.
On Alyza Winston and Nia Clouden combining for 40 points again and how good can that tandem be...
I don't think this was Alyza's best offensive performance either, I think she played hard but it wasn't one of the better performances offensively, so yes, I think those are really nice one-two punch and you can see they both have that little elevate, pull-up jumper; they can shoot the three; Alyza is probably a better three-point shooter than Clouden, but Clouden is probably a little better north-south driver, and they both can get to the free throw line, so those kids are going to be a big part of what we do moving forward, and I'm proud of the fact that they want a big moment like that, I mean Nia Clouden has ice in her veins, and she was really big down the stretch for us.Â
On Taiyier Parks' big second half, with seven points and four rebounds, and big contribution to helping MSU win game tonight...
She has great power, there's no question about that, we felt like we could go to her. I think with Tai, you just kind of have to see what happens with her sometimes in the game, I don't think you can establish 'okay we're definitely going inside,' because I think that makes her a little nervous at times, so for me, I just think that when she was in there we wanted to utilize her, we ran some sets that allowed her to get a cross-screen, pin and seals, just simple plays, and I thought she did a really good job being aggressive and holding her seals in there and being powerful on boards as well. We needed her presence today for sure, she didn't play much against Iowa due to an injury and a health issue, so she had some fresher legs probably than some of the other kids. I guess, and she just kind of imposed her will. And so when she was in there, we decided we were going to run some of our quick hits and get her an opportunity inside and see what they could do with that, and I thought she did a great job establishing herself in there.
On Nia Clouden's continued improvement in passing and being a great passer which helped to key run in fourth quarter...
I think she does a really good job surveying the floor, especially in transition. Some guards they think score only, where Nia has really done a good job when she drives now of reading secondary help, and I will tell you that's probably the biggest difference, her freshman year she didn't always see it, her sophomore year she got a little bit better at it, but I think now as a junior she really understands where the help comes from and she can set people up whether it be inside-out or shovel passes to the bigs; and that's just part about being a really good guard, it's great to be a scorer, but what are you doing for your teammates as well and I thought Nia played a really good all-around game for sure.
On Janai Crooms doing a little bit of everything, and what she brings to the floor with that versatility...
She really knows the game, she's got a really high basketball IQ and a good basketball feel; when she drives, she knows where the help comes from, she's a big guard, I think Janai is someone that gives to her teammates, she plays with a lot of energy and passion. What she's fighting right now, I think this is the most minutes she's played for us, is that conditioning because she was out for two months with the surgery with a pin in her foot. So, I don't think you've seen the best of Janai yet, and in fact I know you haven't. I think she brings the ability to score over guards, she's a playmaker, she can really score in space and can get down hill and create opportunities for other people.
On what makes this team so resilient with being neck-and-neck with opponent going into the fourth quarter and finding a way to win both times...
Well, I think the consistency certainly of our guard play has helped us from a scoring standpoint, but I would also say that our bench depth makes a huge difference, and hopefully we even get a little bit stronger. I think during this COVID pandemic, we wanted to make sure we had an offense and we have the depth that we need, and we can go small, you've seen we can start, Drekia (Mardrekia Cook) and even go to her at the five if we have to, or we can play small ball, or we could put Kendall (Bostic) at the four, and we could put Tai at the five, and now you've got a bigger lineup in there. We're hoping to get (Alisia) Smith and Jayla (James) eligible, but Smith will add a lot in terms of size, she's 6-3 with length there and mobility. So I think we can morph a little bit, into what the other team is doing from an defensive standpoint, I don't think we were great tonight but I thought down the stretch, we were able to put in combinations defensively and do different things that affected our Central down the stretch.
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On way that team was able to buckle down and close it out in the fourth quarter...
When you're a coach and have been doing it as long as I have, and came up the way I have, you recognize what this game is to an opponent, certainly someone like Central Michigan, in-state, and especially of who we're playing in non-conference, and who I saw we were playing in the first part of the Big Ten schedule, I was most nervous about this one. I know that might sound a little crazy to some of you, but they have good enough guard play, and they've got that hybrid, tough four-five man that can pick-and-pop, and set so many ball screens, that we had to adjust a lot. The difference I thought was in that fourth quarter, defensively, we started to lock down and switched up what we were doing defensively, we put Tory (Ozment) on Micaela Kelly with her length and kind of said no-look, no-touch, almost a semi box-and-one and try not to let her get touches. So both her and Molly Davis, who I thought really hurt us in the first half; I thought we did a much better job on her in the second half, I think she only scored a few points in the second half, but both of those guards can score and were really hurting us in the first half. So I thought it was the way that we really buckled down defensively, and I thought Tory was a big part of that, especially on Micaela Kelly.
On Alyza Winston and Nia Clouden combining for 40 points again and how good can that tandem be...
I don't think this was Alyza's best offensive performance either, I think she played hard but it wasn't one of the better performances offensively, so yes, I think those are really nice one-two punch and you can see they both have that little elevate, pull-up jumper; they can shoot the three; Alyza is probably a better three-point shooter than Clouden, but Clouden is probably a little better north-south driver, and they both can get to the free throw line, so those kids are going to be a big part of what we do moving forward, and I'm proud of the fact that they want a big moment like that, I mean Nia Clouden has ice in her veins, and she was really big down the stretch for us.Â
On Taiyier Parks' big second half, with seven points and four rebounds, and big contribution to helping MSU win game tonight...
She has great power, there's no question about that, we felt like we could go to her. I think with Tai, you just kind of have to see what happens with her sometimes in the game, I don't think you can establish 'okay we're definitely going inside,' because I think that makes her a little nervous at times, so for me, I just think that when she was in there we wanted to utilize her, we ran some sets that allowed her to get a cross-screen, pin and seals, just simple plays, and I thought she did a really good job being aggressive and holding her seals in there and being powerful on boards as well. We needed her presence today for sure, she didn't play much against Iowa due to an injury and a health issue, so she had some fresher legs probably than some of the other kids. I guess, and she just kind of imposed her will. And so when she was in there, we decided we were going to run some of our quick hits and get her an opportunity inside and see what they could do with that, and I thought she did a great job establishing herself in there.
On Nia Clouden's continued improvement in passing and being a great passer which helped to key run in fourth quarter...
I think she does a really good job surveying the floor, especially in transition. Some guards they think score only, where Nia has really done a good job when she drives now of reading secondary help, and I will tell you that's probably the biggest difference, her freshman year she didn't always see it, her sophomore year she got a little bit better at it, but I think now as a junior she really understands where the help comes from and she can set people up whether it be inside-out or shovel passes to the bigs; and that's just part about being a really good guard, it's great to be a scorer, but what are you doing for your teammates as well and I thought Nia played a really good all-around game for sure.
On Janai Crooms doing a little bit of everything, and what she brings to the floor with that versatility...
She really knows the game, she's got a really high basketball IQ and a good basketball feel; when she drives, she knows where the help comes from, she's a big guard, I think Janai is someone that gives to her teammates, she plays with a lot of energy and passion. What she's fighting right now, I think this is the most minutes she's played for us, is that conditioning because she was out for two months with the surgery with a pin in her foot. So, I don't think you've seen the best of Janai yet, and in fact I know you haven't. I think she brings the ability to score over guards, she's a playmaker, she can really score in space and can get down hill and create opportunities for other people.
On what makes this team so resilient with being neck-and-neck with opponent going into the fourth quarter and finding a way to win both times...
Well, I think the consistency certainly of our guard play has helped us from a scoring standpoint, but I would also say that our bench depth makes a huge difference, and hopefully we even get a little bit stronger. I think during this COVID pandemic, we wanted to make sure we had an offense and we have the depth that we need, and we can go small, you've seen we can start, Drekia (Mardrekia Cook) and even go to her at the five if we have to, or we can play small ball, or we could put Kendall (Bostic) at the four, and we could put Tai at the five, and now you've got a bigger lineup in there. We're hoping to get (Alisia) Smith and Jayla (James) eligible, but Smith will add a lot in terms of size, she's 6-3 with length there and mobility. So I think we can morph a little bit, into what the other team is doing from an defensive standpoint, I don't think we were great tonight but I thought down the stretch, we were able to put in combinations defensively and do different things that affected our Central down the stretch.
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Players Mentioned
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