Post-Game Quotes: Iowa
1/18/2023 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On Michigan State's effort…
I don't think our effort was bad. We certainly fought and battled; I thought our effort was good. Our problem is that down the stretch, we have opportunities to seal things with open layups or open shots and we don't hit them. I think that's the difference; executing down the stretch on the offensive end. We had every opportunity to win that game. Caitlin Clark, she's an amazing player. Our problem was our post game was nonexistent on both sides of the floor for most of the game. (Monika) Czinano is really good, but we let her go 11-for-11. We tried to double for a little bit in the second half. It's like what (Tom) Izzo went through with Zach Edey, where if you double, they have four good shooters around, so it's like you have to pick your poison. You can dig for a little bit, but then they 'laker cut' and fill, so now they are one-on-one on the block. We didn't do a good enough job of getting her off the block. I thought she always had at least one foot in the paint. That was a big key for us; don't let her get angles and push her out. She just had too many opportunities and she didn't miss a shot all night.
On the team's final shot in overtime…
We drew it up and we've run it in practice many times. If you need a two you do different things, or if you need a three you might do different things out of it. She got the ball on the block and had to wait for DeeDee to cut, but she didn't. It was outside of the area we wanted to get it in, but we still had time. I look at it like there were a couple other plays before that could have gotten us better opportunities compared to the options we had down the stretch. So, what we were looking for was a two-point attack. We drove and tried to put pressure on them to get a layup or and-one. But, we traveled. We've run that many times, so it is nothing new. We just didn't execute very well.
On Abbey Kimball's significance…
I mean, we need an efficient scorer; just someone that can make a shot. In that first quarter, we weren't doing a great job of that. Abbey has a long way to go sometimes on the defensive side of things, but she is a shooter. She is someone that when she shoots it, she has a lot of confidence. She is able to knock some shots down and help us push ahead. She's been getting more minutes. She was dealing with mono early, then a back problem. She is just starting to get healthy.
On the team's efficiency Wednesday night…
Consistency is important. That's been an issue at times, especially for our offense. If you look at our starting lineup 1-for-4, 1-for-5, 6-for-21, 3-for-10, 5-for-12; that's not great. It really truly isn't efficient when you look at the numbers. Efficiency on offense is something we have to continue to make happen. When Julia Ayrault came in she had some opportunities with the pick and pop, and when those balls didn't go down we went in with someone else. Tory Ozment, I thought she was really good on both sides of the ball and really helped us down the stretch when we really needed her, especially in the third and fourth quarter. We just need to get more efficient. It is the name of the game.
On discussing the team's ceiling…
You just get tired of talking about the ceilings, and you make plays and you get the job done and I think that is what we talk about. We have lost three overtime games and two of those we were because we were flat and disinterested and decided to play late. Purdue and Wisconsin, it was too late, and here I thought our effort was good but our consistency wasn't great on offense. Thirty-seven percent AND 30% isn't really great. Iowa is good, but defensively they have a different approach to it. They can get under every ball screen and we can get any shot we want, we just need to make them. We also didn't hit open shots.
On Michigan State's effort…
I don't think our effort was bad. We certainly fought and battled; I thought our effort was good. Our problem is that down the stretch, we have opportunities to seal things with open layups or open shots and we don't hit them. I think that's the difference; executing down the stretch on the offensive end. We had every opportunity to win that game. Caitlin Clark, she's an amazing player. Our problem was our post game was nonexistent on both sides of the floor for most of the game. (Monika) Czinano is really good, but we let her go 11-for-11. We tried to double for a little bit in the second half. It's like what (Tom) Izzo went through with Zach Edey, where if you double, they have four good shooters around, so it's like you have to pick your poison. You can dig for a little bit, but then they 'laker cut' and fill, so now they are one-on-one on the block. We didn't do a good enough job of getting her off the block. I thought she always had at least one foot in the paint. That was a big key for us; don't let her get angles and push her out. She just had too many opportunities and she didn't miss a shot all night.
On the team's final shot in overtime…
We drew it up and we've run it in practice many times. If you need a two you do different things, or if you need a three you might do different things out of it. She got the ball on the block and had to wait for DeeDee to cut, but she didn't. It was outside of the area we wanted to get it in, but we still had time. I look at it like there were a couple other plays before that could have gotten us better opportunities compared to the options we had down the stretch. So, what we were looking for was a two-point attack. We drove and tried to put pressure on them to get a layup or and-one. But, we traveled. We've run that many times, so it is nothing new. We just didn't execute very well.
On Abbey Kimball's significance…
I mean, we need an efficient scorer; just someone that can make a shot. In that first quarter, we weren't doing a great job of that. Abbey has a long way to go sometimes on the defensive side of things, but she is a shooter. She is someone that when she shoots it, she has a lot of confidence. She is able to knock some shots down and help us push ahead. She's been getting more minutes. She was dealing with mono early, then a back problem. She is just starting to get healthy.
On the team's efficiency Wednesday night…
Consistency is important. That's been an issue at times, especially for our offense. If you look at our starting lineup 1-for-4, 1-for-5, 6-for-21, 3-for-10, 5-for-12; that's not great. It really truly isn't efficient when you look at the numbers. Efficiency on offense is something we have to continue to make happen. When Julia Ayrault came in she had some opportunities with the pick and pop, and when those balls didn't go down we went in with someone else. Tory Ozment, I thought she was really good on both sides of the ball and really helped us down the stretch when we really needed her, especially in the third and fourth quarter. We just need to get more efficient. It is the name of the game.
On discussing the team's ceiling…
You just get tired of talking about the ceilings, and you make plays and you get the job done and I think that is what we talk about. We have lost three overtime games and two of those we were because we were flat and disinterested and decided to play late. Purdue and Wisconsin, it was too late, and here I thought our effort was good but our consistency wasn't great on offense. Thirty-seven percent AND 30% isn't really great. Iowa is good, but defensively they have a different approach to it. They can get under every ball screen and we can get any shot we want, we just need to make them. We also didn't hit open shots.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballRobyn Fralick Postgame Press Conference | Oakland
Sunday, November 23
Robyn Fralick Postgame Press Conference | Eastern Illinois
Thursday, November 20
Robyn Fralick Postgame Press Conference | Western Michigan
Sunday, November 16
Robyn Fralick Postgame Press Conference | Youngstown State
Wednesday, November 12