Post-Game Quotes vs. Rutgers
1/6/2021 12:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
I'm very proud of our staff and very proud of our team…I think we won the game in the two days of prep and I give all my staff credit for that. I thought the players really – and I don't know if it was the lift of beating Nebraska, you know, there was getting to be a little weight on their shoulders (from losing three straight) – but I thought tonight we played Michigan State basketball. We defended, we rebounded, we ran. We made some mistakes and we turned the ball over – it was just ridiculous. But to outrebound that team by 20; (Joey) Hauser gets 14 (rebounds); the job that I thought (Thomas) Kithier and Malik Hall did on Ron Harper – who I think is one of the better players in this league – just didn't give him any shots. I thought, you know A.J. (Hoggard) played good. He had his moments, his freshman moments, but still did some good things. Rocket (Watts) came in and really gave us some lift, especially defensively, but pushing the ball, he's starting to get that. Gabe (Brown) hits a shot and then Josh (Langford) takes over a little bit at the end. Aaron Henry is about as efficient and playing about as well – other than the turnovers – as I could ask for in the last two games. He's starting to get that thing down where he's getting a two-foot stop in the paint and getting shots up. He's done a hell of a job in working on his three, but he's been very efficient and not taking many. He still doesn't get to the line enough. Getting to the line and too many turnovers will give us something to work at.
That was a total team win and it was needed. It was really needed to win a game the way Michigan State wins games and we think we can clean up some of those things offensively. And if we can keep our defense, which travels, then we have a chance to take some steps forward.
On MSU's defensive effort…
I just thought what we wanted to take away, the game plan, the way we switched, the things we did, I thought that was one of our better defensive performances in a couple of years, personally. Now, it definitely was the best of the year because it was against a quality team that had size inside and those guards are great, and we did a heck of a job on (Geo) Baker, (Ron) Harper (Jr.), really did a good job on (Montez) Mathis, didn't want to give him any looks, and I thought a pretty good job on (Jacob) Young, he's 5-for-18, but he hits three on layups on our turnovers in the first half.
On the difference in the defensive effort tonight…
I think growing as a team, I think having a feel, and I think Aaron Henry is playing at a whole other level. We'll all marvel at his 20 points, (but) the last two games, he's been unbelievable defensively, and he got into some people tonight, he knocked some balls loose, it's just his whole demeanor right now, he's even more coachable, not that he hasn't been this year, he's just doing the things he needs to do to become a great player, and he's got a ways to go, but I think that starts it.
I thought (Joey) Houser and (Thomas) Kithier did a pretty good job, and Josh Langford, even though he had a little bad stretch in there, he had some good stretches. You bring Rocket in, defensively, nobody's better than Rocket. I wish I would've played Marcus (Bingham) a little bit more, he's been practicing good, Mady (Sissoko) had a couple of blocks, so just the whole defense was better. It's not too many times I get to name 10 guys, you know, usually I'm trying to find one or two that played well.
On Aaron Henry…
I think it's his consistency. He's in the gym more, he's working more, I think he's growing up. I think it's the process. It's really sad, because it's probably the norm…for the last 10 years, it's that instant gratification, everybody needs someone to be good so quick, and he's really going through the process. You think back, it took Morris Peterson until when to get there, you know, his fourth year. It takes other guys' time. We're just such a fast-twitch society right now, everybody wants it, but I think he's growing up, he's maturing, I think he's starting to understand, and I think he's starting to trust people more. I mean, we've been working hard on those two-foot jumpstops in the paint, he's really doing it well, and it's getting him so much more under control, and then defensively, and he's starting to act like a captain more too, so if I give him too much more credit, I'm going to regret it, so I'll just cut it off there, but I am proud of him, because that's what's supposed to happen, and when player-coaches are on the same page, that's what does happen.
Michigan State junior forward Aaron Henry
On what a win against a ranked team does for confidence…
It was it was good to get one tonight. The way we did it. I felt like we defended it, you know, kind of got back to the some ways that are standards here in Michigan State in terms of defense, but we still have a long way to go. We're not complacent; we're not satisfied and Rutgers is a great team, and to be able to play defense like that I feel like it takes a certain level of awareness and a locked-in-ness, I guess you can say. And we had good focus this week. It means a lot to our team but you know we have, we can't be complacent at all, and I'm not complacent myself.
On what was different defensively tonight…
I just felt our approach was better, you know. We know we had to do; we were being held accountable as players from head to toe. Every player was, and we were challenged and then we responded well and I'm proud of our team. We still have to continue to get better with things and just not being satisfied and with the win like this against a good team like that. I mean yes we can celebrate for the 30 minutes in the locker room, but you know we have a quick turnaround this weekend.
On the emotional swing of the last few weeks…
I feel like it's important for the leaders, Josh (Langford), Frosty (Foster Loyer) and myself having been here so long and having gone through ups and downs throughout seasons to understand. We were was as low as we can get I felt like at one point and just happened to be on Christmas day and just having that type of leadership and being able to respond like that, in a situation like this, it shows a lot. It's a testament to what the coaches put before us, and how we follow the game plan. I'm just happy that we got the win tonight, and we showed some growth.
On what happened offensively to be able to pull away in the second half…
We scored in some ways tonight; we got we got shots to go in, but we turned the ball over way too much. I feel like, you know, that gave them some easy opportunities on the offensive end yes transition defense was a huge, huge point of emphasis this week and defense period was. If we want to be a completely greater defensive team I feel like we can't give those types of run outs early on offense turning the ball over. I feel like those two things go hand in hand.
On if it felt like MSU led the whole game…
I mean, it looked like that on the scoreboard, but just the intensity of a Big Ten team like that, anything can happen in the short span of time. I kept trying to be aggressive and push the defensive end and just hold guys accountable to just being good in all areas on the boards, running our lanes and just defending, and I felt you know we did a decent job of that.
On the difference of his game offensively the last two games…
I look to stop momentum on both sides of the court. Rebounding as well, running my lane; things I can control. You can point at the shooting; you can point at certain things but just me being a player, and on the court on both ends. I try to be as good as I can for the guys on the court with me I'm trying to hold everybody accountable and, and we just got to continue to get better.
Opening statement…
I'm very proud of our staff and very proud of our team…I think we won the game in the two days of prep and I give all my staff credit for that. I thought the players really – and I don't know if it was the lift of beating Nebraska, you know, there was getting to be a little weight on their shoulders (from losing three straight) – but I thought tonight we played Michigan State basketball. We defended, we rebounded, we ran. We made some mistakes and we turned the ball over – it was just ridiculous. But to outrebound that team by 20; (Joey) Hauser gets 14 (rebounds); the job that I thought (Thomas) Kithier and Malik Hall did on Ron Harper – who I think is one of the better players in this league – just didn't give him any shots. I thought, you know A.J. (Hoggard) played good. He had his moments, his freshman moments, but still did some good things. Rocket (Watts) came in and really gave us some lift, especially defensively, but pushing the ball, he's starting to get that. Gabe (Brown) hits a shot and then Josh (Langford) takes over a little bit at the end. Aaron Henry is about as efficient and playing about as well – other than the turnovers – as I could ask for in the last two games. He's starting to get that thing down where he's getting a two-foot stop in the paint and getting shots up. He's done a hell of a job in working on his three, but he's been very efficient and not taking many. He still doesn't get to the line enough. Getting to the line and too many turnovers will give us something to work at.
That was a total team win and it was needed. It was really needed to win a game the way Michigan State wins games and we think we can clean up some of those things offensively. And if we can keep our defense, which travels, then we have a chance to take some steps forward.
On MSU's defensive effort…
I just thought what we wanted to take away, the game plan, the way we switched, the things we did, I thought that was one of our better defensive performances in a couple of years, personally. Now, it definitely was the best of the year because it was against a quality team that had size inside and those guards are great, and we did a heck of a job on (Geo) Baker, (Ron) Harper (Jr.), really did a good job on (Montez) Mathis, didn't want to give him any looks, and I thought a pretty good job on (Jacob) Young, he's 5-for-18, but he hits three on layups on our turnovers in the first half.
On the difference in the defensive effort tonight…
I think growing as a team, I think having a feel, and I think Aaron Henry is playing at a whole other level. We'll all marvel at his 20 points, (but) the last two games, he's been unbelievable defensively, and he got into some people tonight, he knocked some balls loose, it's just his whole demeanor right now, he's even more coachable, not that he hasn't been this year, he's just doing the things he needs to do to become a great player, and he's got a ways to go, but I think that starts it.
I thought (Joey) Houser and (Thomas) Kithier did a pretty good job, and Josh Langford, even though he had a little bad stretch in there, he had some good stretches. You bring Rocket in, defensively, nobody's better than Rocket. I wish I would've played Marcus (Bingham) a little bit more, he's been practicing good, Mady (Sissoko) had a couple of blocks, so just the whole defense was better. It's not too many times I get to name 10 guys, you know, usually I'm trying to find one or two that played well.
On Aaron Henry…
I think it's his consistency. He's in the gym more, he's working more, I think he's growing up. I think it's the process. It's really sad, because it's probably the norm…for the last 10 years, it's that instant gratification, everybody needs someone to be good so quick, and he's really going through the process. You think back, it took Morris Peterson until when to get there, you know, his fourth year. It takes other guys' time. We're just such a fast-twitch society right now, everybody wants it, but I think he's growing up, he's maturing, I think he's starting to understand, and I think he's starting to trust people more. I mean, we've been working hard on those two-foot jumpstops in the paint, he's really doing it well, and it's getting him so much more under control, and then defensively, and he's starting to act like a captain more too, so if I give him too much more credit, I'm going to regret it, so I'll just cut it off there, but I am proud of him, because that's what's supposed to happen, and when player-coaches are on the same page, that's what does happen.
Michigan State junior forward Aaron Henry
On what a win against a ranked team does for confidence…
It was it was good to get one tonight. The way we did it. I felt like we defended it, you know, kind of got back to the some ways that are standards here in Michigan State in terms of defense, but we still have a long way to go. We're not complacent; we're not satisfied and Rutgers is a great team, and to be able to play defense like that I feel like it takes a certain level of awareness and a locked-in-ness, I guess you can say. And we had good focus this week. It means a lot to our team but you know we have, we can't be complacent at all, and I'm not complacent myself.
On what was different defensively tonight…
I just felt our approach was better, you know. We know we had to do; we were being held accountable as players from head to toe. Every player was, and we were challenged and then we responded well and I'm proud of our team. We still have to continue to get better with things and just not being satisfied and with the win like this against a good team like that. I mean yes we can celebrate for the 30 minutes in the locker room, but you know we have a quick turnaround this weekend.
On the emotional swing of the last few weeks…
I feel like it's important for the leaders, Josh (Langford), Frosty (Foster Loyer) and myself having been here so long and having gone through ups and downs throughout seasons to understand. We were was as low as we can get I felt like at one point and just happened to be on Christmas day and just having that type of leadership and being able to respond like that, in a situation like this, it shows a lot. It's a testament to what the coaches put before us, and how we follow the game plan. I'm just happy that we got the win tonight, and we showed some growth.
On what happened offensively to be able to pull away in the second half…
We scored in some ways tonight; we got we got shots to go in, but we turned the ball over way too much. I feel like, you know, that gave them some easy opportunities on the offensive end yes transition defense was a huge, huge point of emphasis this week and defense period was. If we want to be a completely greater defensive team I feel like we can't give those types of run outs early on offense turning the ball over. I feel like those two things go hand in hand.
On if it felt like MSU led the whole game…
I mean, it looked like that on the scoreboard, but just the intensity of a Big Ten team like that, anything can happen in the short span of time. I kept trying to be aggressive and push the defensive end and just hold guys accountable to just being good in all areas on the boards, running our lanes and just defending, and I felt you know we did a decent job of that.
On the difference of his game offensively the last two games…
I look to stop momentum on both sides of the court. Rebounding as well, running my lane; things I can control. You can point at the shooting; you can point at certain things but just me being a player, and on the court on both ends. I try to be as good as I can for the guys on the court with me I'm trying to hold everybody accountable and, and we just got to continue to get better.
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