Post Game Quotes: Oakland
12/18/2023 10:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Opening Statement…
Let me talk about our team first. That was a very good win for us. I give my staff a ton of credit; we got back from the game against Baylor and just went to work. Yesterday we had two-a-days and got a lot done. I thought the job that the staff did was as impressive as the team. A couple of bright spots - our four guards had 19 assists and zero turnovers - that's phenomenal. Our three centers had 19 points and 17 rebounds. That's two games in a row where we gotten some scoring there. Malik Hall did a hell of a job on (Oakland forward) Trey Townsend, he had 17 points but not a lot of them were on Malik. I thought Malik did an incredible job on him. After a slow start, we shot the ball pretty well, we got a break going of our defense during the stretch right before half and in the second half, Tyson (Walker) took over. How impressive is that? In two and a quarter years, he gets 1,000 points. I'm so happy for him. Jaden (Akins) is starting to shoot it better, that's encouraging. (Jeremy) Fears did a nice job with three assists and no turnovers. A.J. (Hoggard) I thought defended very well again, just letting the game come to him. I thought he did a great job. As far as Oakland goes, it's difficult for me. I'm a huge (Greg) Kampe fan. I don't know if it's 21 games in a row now, it's almost not fair. I pull hard for him all the time except when they play us. There's been so many big games, and so this for me was a big game. We were concerned about it. Didn't sleep much over it. He does a phenomenal job; just at a place that don't get the ink most do. I look at guys like (Chris) Conway who improved a ton, we did an incredible job on (Jack) Gohlke. he's been shooting the lights out, he took 18 threes against Ohio State and made six of them. The (Blake) Lampman kid, a great kid from Haslett, he improved so much. I'm a Rocket Watts fan, I loved Rocket when he was here. I think Greg and Rocket deserves a lot of credit, he played so much more under control, so they did a better job with him than I did. He's under more control, solid defensively, didn't force things. I told him afterwards it was fun to watch him even though I was ticked off there at the end when he hit some big shots. That team is good enough to win games, but what we're starting to do is imposed our defense. Now, the rebounding, still concerning. Offensive 16 boards against us. I thought our guards did a little better for a while then I think they went in the tank. Our two centers did a better job, Malik has to do better than one rebound, but he had to cut out a horse; I'm telling you Townsend is a good player. I am thrilled with the win, I think we beat a very good team that a lot of Big Ten teams struggled with. Xaiver got beat by them, it's a team that's going to get better now that Lampman plays more. He was out a ton of time, but he played the last two games. I think our defense was the difference up until the last three to four minutes, which is kind of sad too. I don't play guys much, didn't even get Nick (Sanders) and Steven (Izzo) in the game. Again, I think my team and staff did a great job.
On if the defense effort is the reason the offense is starting better…
I think so. A.J. (Hoggard) has been a big part of that. I do think our defense has gotten better, so our offense gets better. That stretch before the half we had three or four breakaways for layups, dunks, threes were all because of our defense and rebounding. I thought Coen Carr got some tipped rebounds, but you can see he's not strong enough yet because (Trey) Townsend pushed him around a little bit and we have to get better at that. We will. He will, as he's an unbelievable kid. Yeah, our defense gets our running game going, and in the last couple of games, we're starting to get it together.
On how much better this team can be when the centers are producing…
I think a lot better. You got to have some kind of inside threat. Mady (Sissoko) is getting some of his because he's getting three or four offensive rebounds now. He's been a horse in there. It was just a week and half ago, I wasn't very pleased with him. That's the great part of college, you can challenge people and he responded. Nobody is happier for that than I am, two great guys and they're getting better. Hopefully we get one more to join them. We're getting a little more out of (Xavier) Booker. He's making progress, not as fast as you want, Twitter wants, or as I want. We're going to stick with what we're doing and keep him on the scout team and let him get better. I was so happy he hit a body. People can laugh, but that's steps. Everybody's got to take steps as long as you're improving. Right now, I love the progress Booker is making. I think the smartest move I made was put him on the scout team. He's getting reps. We all know he can shoot it. He had a block. He hasn't blocked many shots. Baby steps. They're not backward steps, they're forward steps.
On what he said to Tyson Walker after his 1000th point…
He's a little over two years. That's getting there a little quick. 24th-fastest at Michigan State, I thought it would be higher than that. Maybe they didn't guard anyone is Jud's (Heathcote) day. It's a treat to have a kid who barely got a shot early didn't bother him at halftime. Second half I said, 'We got to go to you more,' we set up the first play for him. A.J. (Hoggard) did a great job running it. Once he started hitting some shots, he's harder to guard. He has been everything he been and more since the injury and illness. He's been a lot better on defense. We put him on (Jack) Gohlke. When you do that, you're putting your best offensive player and making him your best defensive player, and not a peep out of him. A special guy who reminds me of Gary Harris. Hats off to Tyson, proud of him and I think all the players were. He was humble in the locker room.
On the consistency of Tyson this season…Â
"He's one of that those that you get him going. He says to me, 'coach, I come off those pin downs, they had two guys on me.' And I looked at him on the court and I said, 'well, how do you think we'd play you?' And I said, 'we'd play three. I'd be on you too.' He laughed but he's just so humble that he doesn't realize that, yeah, you're going to get attention. I thought that was the great part, he played through it, without getting many shots and didn't let it bother him. That's cool part about Tyson, he doesn't have to take 20 shots every game, he doesn't have to take 18, in fact what's really cool, really, really, cool; Tyson had five assists and zero turnovers. There was a time, I used to tell him in practice, 'man, throw it to somebody so you can get an assist and make it your fist one at Michigan State, that was probably the end of last year. But, I just love his demeanor and I love the fact that he wants the best players defensively because I know he's ready to go."Â
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On Oakland's Blake Lampman…Â
"I've been impressed. I think he's missed two thirds of their games; he's only played in four games or something like that, maybe five. But he's got a confidence about him, he's always a threat, puts it on the floor just enough to hurt you. He's solid, I was really impressed with him. I was impressed with him on film, but we didn't have as much on him, but, I walked in the locker room and I said 'damn, kid makes a lot of shots.' And he does it at game-speed. I told our team, I don't like playing against Rocket [Watts], I don't like playing against Greg [Lampe], I don't like playing against Lampman even though I don't know him as well, but I know what it's like to come home. When Michigan State caved on Northern Michigan University my third, fourth game of my sophomore year, that's still a highlight of my life, you know? Even that first half when we [Northern Michigan] were still in the game, second half it wasn't as good. But I just know what it's like to be home and to be home and I thought he did a great job. This is a good team guys. We played them a little bit better defensively and we found some holes in that defensive zone, mostly because of our break, not because of our zone offense."Â
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On the slow start…Â
"Well, the slow start, it was slow because there weren't many shots getting up. There weren't many shots getting up because that zone on the one-day prep is not an easy thing to dissect. I thought we did a pretty good job with our staff, but then you have to turn that over to the team and then you have to get your scout team to play like them in one day – that's asking a lot. We finished with eight turnovers, and I think we had four in the last couple minutes and two for sure in the last couple minutes. They hit two 3s in the last couple minutes, so, we did a pretty damn good job but, the slower start was more a fact that we couldn't figure out the zone exactly. They have some length, it's easy to tell a guy, 'fake it here and hit here,' but we just came off a game that there were 99 ball screens in. Every bit of the offense was ball screens. We just played in a game I don't think there was one. Think about that. We just played a team that played all man-to-man. We just played a team that played all zone. That's not easy for our staff, but it's really difficult for a player and the players did deserve some credit. My staff and assistant coaches deserve some credit on that too, so, what I tell our guys is, we're all really growing together a bit now. We've got Stony Brook next, and we've not only got to figure out how to win a game, but how to keep getting better, because after Christmas, things get a little bit more difficult."Â
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On the process of how Tyson Walker has become what he has…Â
"I remember sitting at breakfast with his dad and his dad said, he can score it, he can guard it, and one thing he's going to do is he's going to do is he's going to do what you tell him. Don't check his apartment to make sure his bed's made, it'll be made. Don't go pick him up for class, he'll get to class. It's kind of funny, but I'm serious, that's what he said to me. And we kind of fell in love with him right then. And that is the way that he's been. He does his job, he's starting to learn a little bit if I have a negative, and I tell him every day, I told him second half, 'you've got to take over. You've got to talk to people more, you've got to help me, help us, help you.' And that's his last kind of situation he's got to get better at. He's a good defender, he got stronger this summer, he's a good shooter, he's gotten better with the ball, he's become a much better passer, he's throwing lobs now and things. I'm just happy to see a guy live his dream like he said after that Duke game and now continue to get better."Â
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On Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman's impact on the game…Â
"I haven't talked enough about Jaden because he's a really good player and he hasn't played as good. Part of it's because he hasn't shot it very well. In the last week, week and a half, he's really shot the ball well. And today he just shot the lights out in our shoot-around. And when he's shooting like that, I thought everyone of his shots went in except the one off the dribble, I thought everyone was going in, and that make's a big difference in this team. Jaden's one of those guys that his offense is better when his defense gets better. He too, we get a few more rebounds out of him but he got three, it just makes us better. I still think that someday we're going to have the three best guard defensively in the country, I really do think those guys can check a lot of people and I really think offensively think they can do some things but we haven't proven that yet, so it's still a work in progress, but he is definitely still taking some strides as far as his shooting. Forget the games, I'm just talking practice, he's making a ton more shots than he was making three weeks ago."Â
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On one-day preps and its positive impact on the team…Â
"That's exactly what we talked about. We told our young guys; 'you'll have no clue.' The only difference is when you have one-day prep for the NCAA tournament, so does the other team. When the other team has 11 days prep for you and you and you have one day, that's not good. Especially as good of a coach as Greg [Kampe] is and he knows our offense and then that zone. I told our team, 'you might face somebody someday in the tournament that not only is it one-day prep but runs something completely opposite of what you're used to.' They more or less run the wish bone. My football analogy, nobody runs the wish bone anymore but they run the wishbone and it was a tough prep, but I thought our guys handled it pretty well. Coen, we talked about some things early, he looked a little lost in the middle, he's never played there. We've not played any zone. And so, it was probably good for us, it just didn't feel good."Â
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On Jaxon Kohler's timeline…Â
"The only reason he's in a boot, I'm hoping his timeline hasn't changed any, he came back, started working out, got a little sore, I think they X-Rayed and everything and it seemed to be no problem, and we just said, we're shutting it down after Christmas, we think he's too valuable, so that's the only reason. You probably saw, Gehrig [Normand] was in a boot today too, they were a little worried because he had a soreness in his foot but they X-Rayed, MRI-ed, PQD-ed, whatever they do know, they have 10,000 different ways to look at it but they came back negative and he had a little bit of soreness so as far as Jaxon goes, it's going to help us when he gets back because he can score it, he can pass it, he can shoot it, so that's going to help us too. But it's really nice to challenge Mady and Coop and it's really nice to see them respond. So, for those here that are here from Oakland, this thing isn't going to last forever, and when I say I feel for them because they have been in so many games that have been right down to the wire, tonight wasn't, and I thought it would be. I'm sure when I talk to Greg, he thought it would be. But they've got a good team and in their league, they're going to do well. I'm hoping and pulling for him, same with Rocket [Watts].Â
Oakland Head Coach Greg Kampe
Opening Statement…
I am as disappointed as I've ever been coming out of this place. The first three to five minutes of the second half really angered me, it changed the game. We let (Tyson) Walker have a one-pass wide-open three to start the second half. Our team is based on our defense, our defense in the first half was phenomenal. We gave up four run outs because we felt sorry for ourselves because we couldn't make a shot. We are not smart enough to understand that it's a 40-minute game and you can go out and shoot poorly for a while and still get it going. Those four layups were the difference in the half. We had a game plan to stop Walker, I did not care about what anyone else did, Walker was not going to beat us. We had a guy that made three consecutive errors to start the second half defensively. But, when you have a game plan to stop a guy and they throw a one-pass three to him and he is wide open, that is probably not real good coaching. So, I guess I will take the blame for that. But it was awful and it changed the game. Our inside play is really good, and we started the game with a missed jab at two feet, got the rebound and missed a four-footer and we felt bad for ourselves. That is how we played offense. We have a great three-point shooter who went 1-for-10 and you are going to have nights like that and it is no big deal. But, you don't do what we did defensively to start the second half. We were fortunate to be in the game the way we shot the ball in the first half and we still came out and did that. We got going offensively in the second half too because the pace of the game. We were not going to win a game like that. You are only going to win at the pace of the first half in this building and I thought we did all that right until that start of the second half.
On Tuburu Naivalurua's impact off the bench and playing time going further into the season…
The reason we have got a chance to be really good is because we are a great rebounding team. How many teams come into the Breslin Center and get 16 offensive rebounds? Look up those stats, I bet there aren't many over the years who have done that. He (Tuburu Naivalurua) was the jewel of our recruiting class. The problem was because of some transfer issues he didn't practice. His first practice was the day after the Ohio State game. That zone is pretty complicated and for him (Tuburu Naivalurua) to learn that zone we have him in one position. That position, is Chris Conway's position and Chris (Conway) is pretty damn important to us. So, his minutes are limited. Now that we are a month into the season and we have had this past week, we have him more on the wing and the nail. After, Wednesday's game we have a break again and then we will get him more reps in practice and pretty soon I will be able to substitute him in for multiple people. He is a guy I want to play 20-25 minutes, unfortunately, because of that practice situation I can't do that. He doesn't know 80% of our sets and only one position and that is just unfortunate. But, it is what it is.
On impact of playing tough schedule...
We had Ohio State for 34 minutes in a one-point game with a minute to go and we had the ball in our hands. Illinois we were tied, we held them to 63 points. I mean who's gonna hold Illinois at home to 63 points. Our defense is really good. It's a tie game with six and a half minutes to go and we played offense for four minutes like we did tonight. We didn't score for four minutes and it got away from us. That's going to happen in Big Ten arenas. We play those games for a lot of reasons, one is the money. Two is because Izzo and I believe the same thing, you make your team better. It's not about a coaching record or a record, it's about being good in March. And that's, at our level the only way we get to the NCAA tournament is to win three games in March. I would love to be 11-1 and not play anybody, and this team could be that, but that's not going to make us better in March so we are going to play the best teams we can play, we are going to try to make as much money as we can make, we are going to play on National TV as much as we can, that's just the philosophy of the program. I'm really angry right now, I'm angry at them and they know it and there haven't been many locker rooms this year where I've been angry at them and it wasn't about the outcome, it was about the way we played the first five minutes of the second half. It had nothing to do with missing shots. I'm not mad at (Jack) Gohlke because he's 1-for-10. I'm mad he didn't check out that kid on two rebounds. The things that will make us win I'm mad about, not about the offense.
On who Blake Lampman has become for the program...
I didn't even know his name. The first practice I was like what is your name again? I took him because Travis Bader called me on the phone and said 'I got the next me'. And I go 'yeah right' and he goes 'I'm serious'. I said bring him here and I'll let him walk on. I told him we were going to Greece that summer. It was five years ago and I told him you're not going to Greece, but you can go through summer practice. About a week after the practices started I called him into my office and said 'Would you like to go to Greece?' We were watching some tape of him the other day when he was a freshman. We watched a game and couldn't believe the difference in him physically. He's one of the hardest working guys I've ever been around, he's very intelligent and he could coach the team. When he was injured and out, during those four weeks that he was out he was coaching the team in practice. He was standing right next to me. I gave him the defense. That's how intelligent and how good he is. I love him, I love him as a person, I love him as a player, I love everything about him. I wish I had 50 Blake Lampmans. But he's worked his ass off that's why he is doing what he's doing.
Michigan State senior guard AJ Hoggard
On figuring out the Oakland zone defense…
We had to be more aggressive. We had to move the ball and not just be stationary. We had to find ways to get moving and attack the open gaps.Â
On the one-day prep for Oakland…
It was good. Being in the position we want to be in the end of the year, it's always one-day preps in that time during March. Getting a little taste of that and having a one-day prep facing the defense like that, we did a heck of a job playing and disrupting their offense. What they did against other high-major teams they've played - a win over Xavier and taking Illinois and Ohio State down to the wire - we kind of knew that we had to focus in with our one day prep by mentally locking in and playing hard. Â
On continuing to have better starts…
For me it's just not scoring, it's leading. Vocal leading and physically, playing hard and doing things I need to do as a point guard and a leader. Just doing that and helping us get off to better starts, it's definitely good for us. We are going to continue to get out to good starts like that and build on it.
On Tyson Walker reaching 1,000 career points as a Spartan…
It means a lot. That just shows you the type of player he is. 1,000 points at two different schools. 1,000 points here, after a not so hot first year, is just unbelievable. To me, just to watch it and be a part of it is fun for me. Seeing his whole transition from Northeastern to here and his success is just a blessing to be a part of. I definitely had fun watching him do his thing.
Michigan State graduate guard Tyson Walker
On if he knew how close he was to 1,000 career points as a Spartan…
I knew I was pretty close. I wasn't even trying to score the ball, just playing the game. I just can't put too much pressure on myself, I did that last year.
On facing Oakland's zone defense…
It's definitely weird. Especially how they just shaved towards me in the first half a lot. We kind of figured it out in the second half, but it's something we just got to get used to. Nobody really plays a zone like that.
On Oakland's game plan to take him away…
I felt it. I went to the bench after the first timeout a little frustrated. It was frustrating how they weren't leaving me and stuff, but it's stuff like that will happen. I will just have to figure out ways to score.
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