Post-Game Quotes: Indiana
12/29/2022 6:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On how MSU managed the tempo of the game…
We felt like, when you watch Indiana play, they are an extremely efficient quarter-court team. They shoot 51% from the floor, almost 37% from behind the arc, they make free throws. They are into timing, controlling the tempo, and they just want to get you from quarter-court to quarter-court. We knew that our press was going to have to turn things up a little bit for them. Are they capable of handling pressure? Yes; but it didn't allow them to pick us apart in the quarter court, so I thought our kids did a good job. We changed our press a couple of times just to give them different looks, but for the most part I thought our kids did an excellent job of controlling the tempo. They had to play our way, and I think we had around 28 points off of turnovers. That's a team (Indiana) that averages 12 turnovers a game, and I think they ended up with 21. I thought our kids were really speeding them up, and they were having to play faster than they usually do, which I thought was important for us because of the style that they play.
On the performance from Taiyier Parks…
I think the thing with Tai, I think her confidence is where it needs to be right now. She has earned it. She's smart, she's heady, she's got great hands, and that was the best I've seen her defensive rebound. She was finishing in there, she was hitting her free throws. There was just a presence about her, even down the stretch when we were going to our switching defense when we were switching one-through-five. People were telling me that we could put in a smaller player, and I just knew that she was going to do a great job out there. I didn't want to take her off of the floor. I thought she had a presence about her, and we needed her tonight.
On the atmosphere at the Breslin Center…
They were great. They were loud. I think that there were a lot of kids here. Over the holiday break, these games are usually well-attended, but It did feel really, really good to play here, because when you go to Indiana it gets really loud in their gym when we play them. So, it was our opportunity for our fans to give us what we needed down the stretch, and I thought they were a big factor for us and our energy. We brought the energy ourselves, but our fans really did too, so it was important for us to hear them as we continued building our confidence down the stretch.
On the balance MSU has found at the center position…
I think both of them are really viable kids. They bring their own uniqueness to the spot. Isa (Isaline Alexander) might do one thing better, but Tai (Taiyier Parks) does something else better. I think it's nice to have two kids that you can rely on to give their best in their opportunities. Based on how they're playing; Tai played a lot longer today because she was really in her zone and played extremely well, but they've both really gone back and forth with that with each other. They are supportive of each other, so I don't really think it's a bad thing. We have two really good options down there, and they have both helped us in a lot of ways.
On if it feels like the team has turned a corner…
I felt like we had turned a corner in some of those other games as well. There's no moral victories, you want to see it on the scoreboard, but I think we have been playing well. We had to recalibrate a bit after we lost Gabby (Elliott), who was in the starting lineup, but it has been cool to see some of the other kids step up. I mean Tory (Ozment), she's just a blue-collar, tough kid. You can rely on her for different things. Then you can put Ju (Julia Ayrault) in there. I thought Tai (Taiyier Parks) and DeeDee (Hagemann) were huge for us. They caused a lot of problems on both sides of the ball.
On the importance of building on Thursday's win…
You can never be too high or too low. I think as coaches sometimes, you might think that you aren't very good, or you might think that your team is better than they are. You just have to stay consistent. I think we found the ability to play downhill really well today, so we didn't have to shoot the ball from behind the arc as much. I also think that was something that we needed to do against Indiana with the way they play. I think our kids did a good job of just being in the moment, and that's what we're going to have to do. Tomorrow is going to be another day. Northwestern is going to get ready for the next one, Indiana is going to have to go get ready for the next one. The league is so good that you can't afford to have any letdowns at all. You can't get so excited about this one that you end up laying an egg on the next one. There are opportunities for that to happen, but I think since we've had enough bumps in the road and enough close losses, our team really does not like that feeling. Today was a good opportunity for us to put the foot on the gas and steal one so we could get back right.
On how MSU managed the tempo of the game…
We felt like, when you watch Indiana play, they are an extremely efficient quarter-court team. They shoot 51% from the floor, almost 37% from behind the arc, they make free throws. They are into timing, controlling the tempo, and they just want to get you from quarter-court to quarter-court. We knew that our press was going to have to turn things up a little bit for them. Are they capable of handling pressure? Yes; but it didn't allow them to pick us apart in the quarter court, so I thought our kids did a good job. We changed our press a couple of times just to give them different looks, but for the most part I thought our kids did an excellent job of controlling the tempo. They had to play our way, and I think we had around 28 points off of turnovers. That's a team (Indiana) that averages 12 turnovers a game, and I think they ended up with 21. I thought our kids were really speeding them up, and they were having to play faster than they usually do, which I thought was important for us because of the style that they play.
On the performance from Taiyier Parks…
I think the thing with Tai, I think her confidence is where it needs to be right now. She has earned it. She's smart, she's heady, she's got great hands, and that was the best I've seen her defensive rebound. She was finishing in there, she was hitting her free throws. There was just a presence about her, even down the stretch when we were going to our switching defense when we were switching one-through-five. People were telling me that we could put in a smaller player, and I just knew that she was going to do a great job out there. I didn't want to take her off of the floor. I thought she had a presence about her, and we needed her tonight.
On the atmosphere at the Breslin Center…
They were great. They were loud. I think that there were a lot of kids here. Over the holiday break, these games are usually well-attended, but It did feel really, really good to play here, because when you go to Indiana it gets really loud in their gym when we play them. So, it was our opportunity for our fans to give us what we needed down the stretch, and I thought they were a big factor for us and our energy. We brought the energy ourselves, but our fans really did too, so it was important for us to hear them as we continued building our confidence down the stretch.
On the balance MSU has found at the center position…
I think both of them are really viable kids. They bring their own uniqueness to the spot. Isa (Isaline Alexander) might do one thing better, but Tai (Taiyier Parks) does something else better. I think it's nice to have two kids that you can rely on to give their best in their opportunities. Based on how they're playing; Tai played a lot longer today because she was really in her zone and played extremely well, but they've both really gone back and forth with that with each other. They are supportive of each other, so I don't really think it's a bad thing. We have two really good options down there, and they have both helped us in a lot of ways.
On if it feels like the team has turned a corner…
I felt like we had turned a corner in some of those other games as well. There's no moral victories, you want to see it on the scoreboard, but I think we have been playing well. We had to recalibrate a bit after we lost Gabby (Elliott), who was in the starting lineup, but it has been cool to see some of the other kids step up. I mean Tory (Ozment), she's just a blue-collar, tough kid. You can rely on her for different things. Then you can put Ju (Julia Ayrault) in there. I thought Tai (Taiyier Parks) and DeeDee (Hagemann) were huge for us. They caused a lot of problems on both sides of the ball.
On the importance of building on Thursday's win…
You can never be too high or too low. I think as coaches sometimes, you might think that you aren't very good, or you might think that your team is better than they are. You just have to stay consistent. I think we found the ability to play downhill really well today, so we didn't have to shoot the ball from behind the arc as much. I also think that was something that we needed to do against Indiana with the way they play. I think our kids did a good job of just being in the moment, and that's what we're going to have to do. Tomorrow is going to be another day. Northwestern is going to get ready for the next one, Indiana is going to have to go get ready for the next one. The league is so good that you can't afford to have any letdowns at all. You can't get so excited about this one that you end up laying an egg on the next one. There are opportunities for that to happen, but I think since we've had enough bumps in the road and enough close losses, our team really does not like that feeling. Today was a good opportunity for us to put the foot on the gas and steal one so we could get back right.
Players Mentioned
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