Post-Game Quotes vs. Nebraska
1/5/2022 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement...
Guys, I'm frustrated with [the turnovers]. There's four facets of the process of playing a game. There's the practice side of it. Then there's the game day shoot-around and you really see it; the team's focused in on what they're doing. Then there's the pregame, when they get here early. Some guys sit and think, some guys go out and shoot, but you get yourself mentally ready to play, and then there's the game. Those are the four. [We had] two great practices and a very good game day they shoot-around. According to my staff, I don't see what goes on before the game, but … everything was good and then we entered the game. I give Fred [Hoiberg] a lot of credit. His team has been through a lot. They probably got three or four wins they should have had, if they'd made a free throw or got a call in that North Carolina State game. But I told my team, when you're shooting 60, 70 percent of your shots that are threes; some of those [Nebraska] guys, one had 75 percent and he made 20 percent of them. He's not dumb. [Hoiberg] knows they can shoot it. And tonight, they made some shots early, and they made some shots early because we turned it over as well and they got open looks. That got them going. We bounce back, but I'm sitting here disappointed. We shot 52 percent in the field 47 percent in the three, 68 from the line, and Malik Hall, my one of my best free throw shooters, was only one for five. We out-rebounded them 40 to 27. Gabe Brown was the brightest spot while only scoring 14 points, but I thought Gabe was all over the court. We worked hard on our weak-side defense. We worked hard on help defense. I thought that was Gabe's best game in a Spartan uniform if you look at everything, and I thought Max Christie was awfully good and I thought Malik Hall was pretty good. And Tyson [Walker] wasn't bad. Kind of [wish he'd] look for a shot a little bit more. And then we kind of drifted down a little bit, so I don't know … I don't want to say any more until I look at the film. But the eye test wasn't very good. It's disappointing because what you do as a coach is you try to look at your practices, you try to get a feel for your team and the practices and the pre-game shoot around. I told the team that after, sometimes you don't practice well and in the game you play your tail off. Sometimes you practice well and you don't play well. But kind of hope now, 14 or 15 games into it, with one of the best starts in Michigan State history, we mature enough. But we're lacking a little bit in that, and I've got to do a better job, we just got to do better job taking care of the ball. We take care of the ball and get a couple of free throws … there are probably a lot of positive things. They shot 45 percent, but how many of those were on turnovers for touchdowns. Â
How puzzling the recent number of turnovers have been...
What's puzzling is when we'd be 20 up on a team and I'd be sitting next to Jud [Heathcote] … they'd go on a little run and he'd say, "We're going to lose this game." I look under the scoreboard and I see we're up 15 with two minutes left, I didn't know what he was talking about. Now that was puzzling. That was 28 years ago. So no, nothing has been more puzzling. And some of these turnovers … I give them a lot of credit, they turn over teams 16 times a game on the average, but give them credit. They do a great job, you just said it. Some of those were bizarre happenings that I got to get fixed and that's me. I mean, I'm the one that's got to fix it.
On how much rebounding contributed to the win despite turnovers...
There were some good things we did, I mean they moved the ball well, and we struggled on offensive rebounding, we only had 11, but I think we scored 16 second-chance points. [There were] times that fast break was okay. I didn't think we broke as well as we've been. I thought our defense, believe it or not, was pretty good. They had a couple of shots later, they have shot 20-something percent from three, but I just thought that there were some positives. I mean, I don't know if we've shot 52 and 47 percent this year in a game yet, that's encouraging. But I if you get 66 shots … if you get to 10 more shots that's 66 shots and then you're shooting 75 percent. That's 10 more points easy. These turnovers have been a problem all year. We remedied a little bit there, and then went to Northwestern and had the same kind of turnovers you know, where you're sitting there scratching your head like, "What are we thinking?" So we're gonna have to figure it out, do a better job because eventually it's going to get us and we'll be ashamed, because we're shooting well now, and we've been defending well. But it's hard to tell how our defense was tonight. I think Gabe [Brown] was great, but it's hard to tell because they have so many breakaway baskets or breakaway threes of of turnovers, so that's hard for me to measure it, but I do give Nebraska a lot of credit. I mean, they've turned everybody over 16 times a game so we just helped their average. Â
On sitting Marcus Bingham Jr. early in the game...
I do sub sometimes, but I usually let my position coaches deal with things … as you can tell, I'm a lot calmer this year. I just didn't let those things bother me, but if a guy doesn't play with any energy they're probably not going to play. They [assistant coaches] must have decided that he wasn't playing with enough energy. It's a shame, because Marcus [Bingham Jr.] has been really good. It's all part of this new era where "I'll do what I want when I want," and maybe they will, it's just not gonna be here.Â
On Gabe Brown's performance...
I was really proud of his game, he was having fun. He was having energy, he was playing hard. We were a little disappointed in Gabe [Brown] last week because he just wasn't bringing it defensively. The beginning of the year Mike Garland went back and dissected a tape from when we played UConn, and I came in and looked at the tape … Gabe played so much harder, and some of that is that you wear down a little bit, but so we talked about it. To his credit, he does want to be a complete player … he started handling the ball better, he started making some better passes. His defense was great. He had a couple of great rebounds. Every rebound that kid gets, I want to give him, he deserves it. But yeah, I'd say that he did well, and I thought Max Christie really stepped up, he had to guard [Bryce] McGowens, and [Bryce] McGowens was five of 16, so I thought Christie did a hell of a job on him. He had to be one of our best defenders. I won't give him credit that he wasn't all over the place like Gabe was, but I thought he did a pretty good job too.Â
On how recent successful offense has contributed to the game...
I don't think we're running quite as good as we were earlier, which is surprising. But when you don't, defend as well … I mean, I've heard people talk about Purdue's [loss] the other night saying they're not defending like Purdue, well Michigan State is not defending Michigan State. There lies the problem with this modern social media era. When you give credit to something, it bites you. So I think we were okay offensively, okay defensively, and I'm going to reserve the credit I give my team until March, and then we'll spread it all around. But I do appreciate the effort out of guys. And I thought Max [Christie] gave good effort. I think we are moving the ball a little bit better. But if Nebraska struggles on something, it'd defensively, they've given up a lot. So I don't know if it was [our] great execution. We're gonna find out now, because we get into the meat of our schedule.Â
On Max Christie's performance...
I'm really proud of him. If you know him at all, which, unfortunately, because of COVID, practices don't get open enough. Unbelievable kid, he just works his tail off and he picks up things like 'that.' He learns to listen and he listens to learn and when you talk to him, it's like, engraved in his head. I am shocked how good he's been defensively. He's rebounding the ball. He had that tip-in dunk. When you're rebounding the ball, when you're defending the best player, when you're scoring 21 points, when I want the ball in your hands at the end of the game from the free throw line, that's a pretty complete player. For about eight or nine games … this kid is a lot better shooter than we saw, he was shooting 25 or 6 percent, and then they step up. Him and Joey [Hauser], when they step up- and Joey has in the last three games, but he didn't play very well today either. But really he's, been unbelievable. He didn't play very well, but he still goes for eight rebounds and five assists. I thought he really moved the ball well, passed the ball well, but for some reason, we're just off. And I don't know why. I mean, maybeyou look at records … in this day and age, who knows why. But I got a lot of work to do in the next two days and I plan on getting to it as soon as we're done with this press conference.Â
How Max Christie has grown in confidence through the season...
I never saw him lose his confidence other than maybe one week where he was a little down and you could tell and I that's when I told, "Michael Jordan misses shots and other people miss shots." He's very hard on himself which is a great quality until it works in the reverse, and it was for about a week, but he just got in there, kept shooting, made a few little adjustments on a shot. He was swinging the ball a little bit in but his shot has looked good ever since I've seen [the team] shoot. So I love the way he approached it, and he's in your every day, taking care of his body. He just does everything the right way. And so Max [Christie] deserves what he's got. And you know what? This is almost a miracle today. He struggled the first half of the season to shoot. He didn't quit. He didn't transfer. I mean, it's amazing. He just went back to work. I think doing that, failing a little bit, was good, and he just worked his way through it. He's still got some work to go but man, that's a joy to see that and for me to appreciate that. Â
How the team has been focusing on more defensive steals and having active hands...
Active hands is one thing that we've tried, in fact, we were disappointed early because we really wanted to- when that ball was at those elbows, or they were cutting and doing some things and they were seeing that bias, we really worked hard on getting our hands up. You know, Mike [Garland] was talking to me about it today, that that's an area where we have to keep improving. So we really hammered on that the last week and a half since we've been back. I think we are doing a better job of it. Gabe [Brown]'s activity, it was fun to watch him, and there were times that he looked a little Draymond [Green]-ish, where he didn't actually get a steal and didn't do anything, but he stopped some things from happening just because he was juking and jiving and was all over the court, and his energy level … he played a lot of minutes, I think 32 and a half minutes, and went hard as hell, so that was really encouraging to see from him. Â
Thoughts on team feeling better especially versus OSU and most of tonight…
Yeah there's no doubt about it. Our effort is where it needs to be right now. Obviously need to continue to clean things up. Ohio State, we have to find a way to win one like that, especially at home. We get up five, we have to find a way to close that one out. Tonight, I loved our juice early, I thought we had great fight, all game long. And a very efficient start offensively, even a couple second chance baskets to keep it pretty close to even. They went on a little run at the end of the half but I loved our fight and effort throughout those first twenty minutes. Continue to go out there second half, I think it was a six point game with seven minutes left and unfortunately had a few miscues that led to threes and transition baskets, that's all that takes for Michigan State in this building. They're going to capitalize on your mistakes. We turned them over more then they turned us over but I thought they capitalized especially in that stretch off our miscues that led to pick-sixes, a couple dunks and Malik Hall hit those two big shots to stretch it to double figures. Proud of our guys for going out there and giving great fight in a tough building against a very good team.
What impressed with MSU, besides rebounding...Â
Their transition. They're so good and that was the number one thing we talked about going into this game was transition and being consistent with our defense as far as getting back. We had a couple times where we had fouls to give and I don't think we executed. Brown had a dunk in the first half, we missed one again in the second. But they're as good as any team that we're going to see in transition. I thought for the most part, we outscored them in the break, 19 to 14 but they had some key ones in that stretch that opened it up for their team.
Defense with turnovers in the first ten minutes…
I thought we had great activity with our hands. We talk about that a lot and talk about our ball pressure. We try to make teams uncomfortable, and we've been much better in that area. We had a tough stretch earlier in the year, we were very poor in losing to points off turnovers game. The last two league games against two of the better teams in our conference, we've scored more off turnovers than our opponent. We're going to have to continue that if we're going to have a chance. That's the other thing with three or four possessions there where the ball hit every part of rim, it just unfortunately bounced out for us. You gotta have those go in if you're going to have a chance to win in an environment like this.
Max Christie impressions…
Yeah, really really good player and you can see his confidence growing by the game. He was a big key tonight and those guys hit tough shots. You gotta tip your hat to them when they make tough contested shots. Max had several of those out there. So good poise for a freshman. I think the kids got a very bright future.
Michigan State Senior Forward Gabe Brown
On Max Christie's game tonight and season…
That boy Max is a problem, but all seriousness he got to his spots and he played with confidence like he always does. He was aggressive and stayed within himself in the offense. We need that out of him. He wasn't the number one shooting guard in the country for nothing. We need that and he did a good job and I'm proud of him.
Developed on all-around performance tonight…
That's all credit to the coaches and my teammates, they've been forcing me to play more defense and be in the gaps more. Helping each other out and that's what I've been trying to do the past week is working on my defense. I feel like I did a good job, I messed up in some areas which I still need to work on, but I'm just happy I completed all the things we needed to do to get it done.
Four steals tonight, Big Ten Defensive Player of the year tape…
Maybe. No that's probably going to go to Marcus (Bingham) or Tyson (Walker), they deserve it.
Missed shots but great defense…
It gives me more energy for the team, it just takes us to another level.
Energy late in the first half, how it was needed…
We needed that because we were turning the ball over a lot and we did have some foolish plays out there which brought our energy down. It brought the fans down too because the fans give us momentum as well. My defense and the team's defense, we needed to pick that back up. So I tried to do just a good job of that and bring the energy.
Michigan State Junior Guard Tyson Walker
On having players like Gabe Brown and Max Christie on the wing defensively…
It's definitely easier because you know you got other people working just as hard as you, right behind you. It allows me to pressure the ball, knowing that I got a lot of help from both of them.
On having a stretch in the second half where took over the game…
I had lots of opportunities. I felt like I could do it (in) first half, (I had) a lot of open shots that I didn't take. So, (in) the second half I just wanted to be more aggressive, take open shots and try to get people open.
On what he has seen from Max Christie…
Just living with him, I see his work ethic every day. He prepares himself every day, he works out every day hard, working on his game, watching film. His preparation is what allows him to get better over time.
On the team's slow start…
We didn't come out with lots of energy. What helped it change was wanting to stay undefeated in the Big Ten and that right there is enough motivation in itself.
How the team cut down on the early turnovers…
We just weren't aggressive enough. We were looking too, I wouldn't say nervous, but just not ready to play in a way, just not making aggressive plays. All the turnovers were just being passive, letting the ball be knocked out. Once we fixed that, it allowed us to get the lead and helped our defense.
Michigan State Freshman Guard Max Christie
On getting over early-season shooting woes while also guarding Bryce McGowens…
I know it's all going to come with time. Even in the first half of the season, beginning of the season, when I didn't shoot as well, I knew it wasn't just going to happen overnight. So, I made sure that I stuck with it and kept getting in the gym working on my shot. I know that I'm going to reap the fruits of my labor eventually as time goes on. I think this game tonight was one of those nights where the work I put in and the trust I put in myself, my coaches and my teammates really showed.
On what team did to adjust after 11 early turnovers…
I think in the huddle, it's just inexcusable to have that many turnovers in that amount of time. We knew that arguably our biggest issue in tonight's game was the turnovers and we knew that it's not something that is a hard fix for us. We know it's something that we can fix pretty easily if you just commit to it and really put in the time and effort into making sure that we take care of the ball more. In that huddle, that's what we were talking about, just make sure we're taking better care of the ball. When we do take care of the ball, we can blow games up like we're used to.
On how his confidence has grown in each practice and game…
That's certainly something I've worked on, for sure. I'm just making sure I have confidence to do what I do. Even in this first half of the season where I may not have shot well, I wanted to make sure that I maintain my confidence because I know the work I put in. I know the effort I put into this game and I know it'll show eventually. Confidence is a big factor, I've been focusing on that in practice and games and I'm going to continue to focus on it.
On the game at Michigan on Saturday…
I know it's a rivalry, but at the end of the day, I'm just looking forward to play against them. It's going to be a great game for sure.
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