Post-Game Quotes vs. Eastern Michigan

Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement:
Well, first of all, don't get enamored by the score. I thought we did … you always have this pupil versus the teacher whenever you play one of your former assistants. Let me promise you that the pupil out coached the teacher. I did not appreciate the way my team played and I did appreciate the way that I got them ready. I did not think we were ready to play early. [We faced] a team to shoot 47% from the three, a team to shoot and out-rebound us at home. We did some good things, we wore them down a little bit, when we had guys that took inside shots. He [Malik Hall] was very good when he wants to shoot, fall away shots, very average. I thought after a rough start, Malik Hall played one of his best games, rebounded well. Almost had a double-double. Didn't turn over one turnover, handled the ball over quite a bit. Thought our two best defenders, and this is scary to me, was our two freshman. You know, Max [Christie] wasn't totally outstanding and I thought Jaden Akins was. But we just didn't [get] the consistent play over [from] our point guards. We had moments where we had brilliant plays and then we had what are ridiculous plays. So, I'm not real happy with the win. I'm too late in my career to just sit and say 'I win a game, let's feel good about it.' Too much of that last year. It's about getting better every game, doing a better job, improving on the things that you did not do as well the last game. So, I guess you can look at our turnovers as an improvement, from 20 to 10. I thought Eastern [Michigan] and Stan [Heath] did a phenomenal job. His team is physical, couple of those guys just pumped us really. [Colin] Golson was really great, loved him. And those guards are hard to contain, especially when we're not playing the help defense we normally play, and that falls on the head coach. So, all in all, it was a win against a team that I think is going to win a lot of games. I told Stan before the game he's lucky. Being in the [NBA] G-League, he's learned how to put teams together and I think he's done a really nice job. He's had some kids out, Benelli's been out, a couple other guys, but when he gets everybody back I'm really proud of the job he's been doing there and I think he's going to be a very good coach at Eastern Michigan. The guy at Michigan State better start doing a better job, and that's me.

Redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser's injury issue and him not playing tonight…
Well, he's got a pull, strain I guess it is, in his calf. At the Butler game, you know, he just couldn't get any lift. That was part of the reason why he missed a lot of those wide-open three's. So, I talked to my trainer, we had an MRI and it's just a little, no tears or anything, just a strain. But with three games coming up in three days, I made the choice to say, 'Hey, I just can't play you tonight, Joey.' I mean he understood, he suited up so in case a couple guys got hurt, he could've played. It probably wouldn't hurt him. But he didn't practice the [past] two days, he didn't practice today. So, hopefully by tomorrow we can get him practicing and change this a little bit, but that was the only reason, nothing big. Nothing, uh if it was, I didn't do it because of who we were playing, I did it because I'm not a big load management guy. I don't really believe in that. I just believe in it's a little bit tight, it's a little bit hurting, I want to make sure we get that thing well before we play three games in three days.

On Malik Hall getting the start, what he saw and how did Malik take on that role…
I'm scared when you said pretty good, you must've evaluated the same thing I did the first. I didn't think Malik … Malik is one of the better players on my team. He can play different positions, he can guard different people, it sure didn't look like it early. I think that Malik got upset with Malik. He was different in the huddles, and he was different on the floor. Last three quarters of that game, he could've been our best player. Marcus [Bingham] did some great things until the other guys played good. But Malik Hall, he drove it, he shot a three, he made some post moves, he defended a lot better. He helped on some people. You know, I said that should be the strength of this team. Those two four-men are experienced. They're good. One shoots it a little better, one does other things and guards a little better. It's a good ying and yang, one-two punch. So, I was pleased, if I had to rate who played well, he would be one near the top of my list. I'm always pushing Marcus, we all know that. Some of you might not like it, I hate to say it, but it doesn't bother me because he's got so much to give, and when he does the things that he needs to do, he's very effective and very good. When he does the things that he wants to do, he's not as effective and he's not as good. He played probably damn good till a couple of stretches, and that's the consistency that you would hope a senior has. So, I'm going to push him on that, too. So, I didn't appreciate that.

Marcus and his devotion to play in the paint…
Like I said, I thought he played real well when he was shooting that jump, power moves, and running the court. He gets into those fade shots, and I think he made one out of five, you know, and I don't know why because, you know, you don't see him get a shot blocked very often. He's got a beautiful jumper, and he did a great job down low, but, you know, as soon as things started going well, then you forget where you came from. And if he remembers where he came from, kid could be, that was a twenty-some point night for him. I just think that he has more to give and I'm on the side of I don't think anyone could convince me anything else.

About 3 games in 3 days and if they have the depth to handle a tournament like Battle 4 Atlantis...
If Joey comes back, we do because I think we've got two point guards, not as much depth on the perimeter as far as our wings. Hopefully we'll get Pierre [Brooks] a little bit more time. Our fours and fives, I think we have as much depth as anybody. I just think we've got to play better, play smarter, and play more consistently. Can we start the game, be good in the middle and finish the game? That takes discipline, it takes leadership, it takes better coaching and better leadership on the floor, so we have to work on both of those things.

About blocked shots and steals…
Well, I'm sure Stan [Heath] would probably agree, he has had a few problems with turnovers too, as we have. Maybe it's my fault, he worked for me, so maybe he took that bad thing, poor guy, should have worked for somebody else. The turnovers they made got sloppy, too. I know we were involved in some of those turnovers, but I think they over-penetrated a couple of times. Those guards are hard to guard, he has done a good job with those guys. As far as the blocked shots, I mean we did block. Marcus (Bingham) is a shot blocking machine. I thought Jayden Akins did get a couple. If we are going to be really good, we have to get consistency out of Marcus, got to get our point guards playing a little more solid. They did not turn the ball over bad tonight, but we made a few bad decisions. The other problem that we have had is that Gabe has been playing really, really well, but he's not rebounding well and, at this place [MSU],if I go back to the wings from Peterson, to Richardson, to Alan Anderson, to when Valentine played here and Ager, I mean we had wings that rebounded their brains out. Even lately with the guys we've had - Miles Bridges - that's a big thing, to get one rebound. What I'm looking for is for players to be mad at themselves, to challenge themselves, to make sure that they're not OK with mediocrity. That's hard now a days because it's harder for us to push them and it's harder for them, so it's a hard thing. He's capable, he's had an unbelievable spring, summer and fall, and today was one of the few days that I thought he let his offense and missed shots affect the rest of his game. He didn't defend very well, but he's been my most consistent, best player. I just have to get him to rebound a little better. God, he's long, he's athletic, he could be great at it, he could be one of the best I've had.

About freshman guard Max Christie…
Max has been solid, we have to get him a few more shots earlier. I did not think he had enough shots earlier. I think he is growing defensively but we felt like he gave effort the whole time. He did go in there and at least try and knock a few balls loose, got two offensive rebounds and two defensive rebounds. I've been really pleased with Max, he doesn't do a lot wrong, he runs his stuff, he does his job. I thought he missed a few shots that he normally would make but that one three in the corner when we moved the ball so nice, it would have probably taken the house down. It was one of those great plays where the ball was moved by four different people. I'm really pleased with Max, and I have to admit I was really pleased with Jaden Akins. He did a lot of good things too. What he's doing is, I have asked him to be the next Charlie Bell for a while, defend, rebound, he's got some blocked shots, he defended really well, he rebounded. How many (rebounds) did he get? Zero, so he didn't rebound as well but he was in there and I thought he played with energy and passion. I loved the way he played. We have some work to do, we're not a great basketball team yet, but I think we have the makings of what could be a very good basketball team. If we get a little more out of our points, a little more out of our wings and Marcus just trusts the fact on what he can do well, he can really be a force down there. Some of the defensive lapses when you saw guards going around us, our bigs weren't stepping up, too. I mean, we have a system, it's got to be followed. We have some slippage, and we will try to correct that tomorrow.

On what a perfect game for A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker would like…
20 points, 10 assists, no turnovers, guard somebody. What's a realistic perfect game? I just want them to make the right decisions and not go for home runs all the time. A.J. made some nice plays and then he made some that weren't. So, I think the home run is the big thing I'm trying to get them not to do. They're on-average three turnovers a game and that's too many for a point guard. I think A.J. had really improved his defense on the ball, off the ball. Sometimes we have to get better, but I do think some of the defensive lapses, they are really good at refusing balls screens. So, we had some slippage, some of it you understand, some of it from veteran guys you don't understand. None of it can be tolerated if we are going to go from good to great.

Junior Forward Malik Hall
What made the momentum of the game shift in their favor after the first few minutes…
I think, honestly, we kind of took it personal. We kept coming back to the huddles and Coach [Tom Izzo] kept yelling and nothing was really changing. So, I think we decided as a group that we needed to do something to change and everybody needed to pick up the energy a little bit so we could move forward and end in a win.

Good takeaways from the game, and improvement areas…
Our defense was the major, major thing that he said to us [to improve] and that most of us saw [that] as we watched. It was to help the defense, really. We were missing in a lot of our gaps. We were missing a lot of, there were people who weren't there where they were supposed to be. We were getting drove a lot. But I think we had a lot less turnovers than we normally do. That was something that Coach [Izzo] has been harping on for the past couple games. I'm excited that we started to have a little bit less turnovers this time. So, hopefully we can continue to stay low in turnovers.

On his role when usual starters like Joey Hauser are unable to play…
I think it's important to our team. Some coaches have been telling me since the beginning of the season I'm really important, I'm going to be a key to helping us win big and win good games. It's just, [I] try and do as much as I can to be the best I can when I'm on the court and then lead when I'm not on the court, and when I am on the court just do my best, and that's something that I'm continually working at.

On the improvements the team has had so far this season…
I think we've done a good job of talking to people. You know, it's kind of weird to talk about it. It's the little things I think we're doing a lot better than we did in the past two years. You know, just making sure that someone knows what's going on and make sure that we can continue to let people know like, 'Hey, this is how it's gonna be, this is what's going to happen,' or [if a player]'s upset about something, or 'This where we need to be on defense' and stuff like that. Just mostly the little things on plays in the game. When you see something, just being able to talk to a person and have them take it in, be receptive to the information.

Senior Forward Marcus Bingham
What the key to consistency for him has been…
For me, it's doing what I'm doing in practice, you know, just translating into the game. What we work on in practice, about keeping the ball moving and stuff like that, and then me being more active, getting offensive rebounds and just thinking of ways I can score in various ways… just trying to do the stuff I work on a practice.

How he is being a senior leader on the court…
Just keeping that voice of encouragement throughout the bench and throughout the huddles and stuff. You know, coach [Izzo] was really on one today, so just keeping everyone level-headed and not letting them get in their feelings if [one of the] coaches said something to them, and just telling them, 'Next play, next play,' just keep preaching that. I think that helped tonight with all the players.

On his first career double-double and potentially more in the future…
It's a goal of mine that I hope happens, and I know I'm gonna work for it. And it's coming around, you know, I'm starting to understand a lot more stuff. We're watching film and opportunities are gonna keep happening.

What it will take to be successful at Battle 4 Atlantis…
Paying attention to detail, listening to the scouting reports and listening to the coaches. The coaches put a lot a lot of work in with film and scouting reports and coverages and all different types of stuff. I never really noticed how many hours and days goes into just one coverage. So, when we're down there, and we know we're not going to have the technology that we have here and the ways that we can watch [film] and do different types of things, so just listening to them and trusting them on what we're going to do is going to help us.

Freshman Guard Max Christie
On creating shots...
I think it's mostly natural. I do work on my mid-range game a lot, and I know especially up the slot being able to elevate over your defenders when they're longer and taller, having that elevation helps me out a lot. So that's something I have worked on a little bit, but I think it's more natural, just coming off those screens, or flare screens and making sure you're elevating and getting over the defender, so I think it's more natural.

On having his first four games under his belt…
It was a surprise to me, but I feel a lot more comfortable than I thought I would for my first four games. I just feel really comfortable, I feel evolved, I feel like I belong. One thing I have learned for sure in the college game is how important each possession is, and how important limiting our turnovers is. Rebounding the ball, running with our offense, how important it is in our system, so that's something I've learned and I'm going to capitalize on. Make sure I'm rebounding as best as I can, running my lane, and not turning the ball over.

On the team making him feel comfortable…
Being a part of this team is really a blessing. They really make sure that I'm comfortable with what I'm doing. I think with the work that I've put in, it helps a lot too, just being able to know that I'm comfortable and confident in the skills that I have to go along with the team, how comfortable they're making me, how encouraging they are, it's all a combination to make me feel how I feel.

On less turnovers tonight…
It's the same thing we've been stressing: no turnovers. I think we made better decisions and we took care of the ball better. I think we executed our offense better. Normally, Eastern Michigan is a team that turns people over, but I thought we did a good job handling the ball, making the right plays. One thing that we did say is that Coach [Izzo] wanted to go for singles, not home runs, in terms of passes and plays, so I think we made the right plays. [We] just didn't turn the ball over and that contributed to our win for sure.

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Max Christie

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

Related Videos