Michigan State University Athletics
Post Game Quotes: Penn State
1/4/2024 10:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement…
I've got to be pleased with my team. I was surprised, not going to lie to you. I like the job that Mike [Rhoades] has done, I watched him play some real good basketball already and those guards are really good. We did an unbelievable job on (Ace) Baldwin, I mean he was 0-for-7. We did a pretty good job on (Kanye) Clary; he went 5-10 but he went 10-for-10 from the line. You know Malik Hall, it's back-to-back games now and everybody knows that was an important position to get better at. Tyson's (Walker) been solid. A.J. (Hoggard) and Jaden (Akins), I mean Jaden played really well, but they got in foul trouble, and I think it affected A.J. a little bit. Second half, none of our guys really did what I wanted them to do. That was the only disappointment and I understand when you're 30-up, but I still want to play the game the way the game is supposed to be played. A guy that wouldn't get a lot of credit is Mady (Sissoko). The job he did on those ball screens - because they are really good coming off them - was phenomenal. And then he gets 12 boards, I think that's back-to-back 12-rebounds for him. Despite early we missed some layups, but in general, as I told Mike after, we might not be as good as we played, and they're not as bad as they played. So, we had a combination of things. He's done a great job with that group and our defense, I think, was deserving of my credit that I give to them because I don't usually give it out very much. But, holding them to 10% from the 3 and 32% from the field was really good. If it wasn't for fouling too much, which was a concern of ours, 14 offensive rebounds, that is a concern even though we out-rebounded them. We only had five turnovers the first half, we had seven the second. This is a team that turns people over 17, 18 times a game. So, all in all, very pleased with what we brought and we've had good practices, we played good against a very good Indiana State team and tonight we did the things that you've got to do and now we'll see if we can go on the road.
On center Xavier Booker…
We're just trying to get him some minutes, get him acclimated. It's not easy. It's not easy on him. But we get him 14-15 minutes tonight and it just gives us some tape to evaluate and some more stuff to talk about on things he's got to do. On the offensive end, there's no issues. On the defensive end, he's just got to improve. He knows it and we know it. There's nothing like game situations to figure that out. So yeah, we're trying to get him in there, sometimes the team we play dictates what we can do, but we're going to keep working at it.
On Tyson Walker and the transition offense the last few games…
I forget how many steals we had the first half … 11, and we only had 13 for the game. I challenged Tyson to get a double-double with steals and points and he said I put too much pressure on him, he didn't get one the second half, typical East Coast guy. But anyway, those steals and what he creates is amazing. He just gets his hands on a lot of stuff and got our fast break going, our fast break is where were at our best. Fast break points today was 20-8 and they're a good fast break team so I'd say if there's been an improvement on this team, our defense has helped us get our break going. Now the only thing left is to do a better job rebounding the ball because we have not rebounded like a Michigan State team and part of that is we are not as big as most Michigan State teams, especially on the perimeter, but we've got to improve in that area.
On how Malik hitting shots early helps the team…
Well, it does a lot because now we have an inside-outside. He's kind of everything he's inside, he's outside, he's versatile. He made some great post moves, he made some dribbles in there he made a couple of threes. The versatility, that was phenomenal. That really makes a difference in our team, Jaden is shooting it so good, A.J. shooting it better, Tyson, enough said.That really makes a difference.
It gave something for those old people to cheer about. The alumni Izzone, we had a little lull there and I kind got on them about getting on and they were unbelievable how they reacted. I say I get a lot of things at the University and I've been part of some good things and I've given a part that people have given me. But nothing, nothing in the world like having Paul Davis and Kalin Lucas there. Nothing in the world like having 1,500 or whatever there was there, a thousand former alums. Some of them were those have been there for the first one (Izzone members), so that means they're 28, 29 years, so I told some of them, 'You have to get in a little better shape, gotta take of yourself a little better.' God Bless them. They were unbelievable and they came from a long distance, some of them. And they were walking around this campus, as I said, you media wouldn't appreciate it, but there's not a lot of places ... there's not a lot of places that have that. As I told them, they were part of building it, now we've got a lot of fans that are part of renting it and we're going to get on them to build it even bigger and that's gonna be the chore of the next couple of weeks.
Was this how he vision the team in the beginning of the season with leadership…
I think more, I keep going back why we missed a bunch of shots, a bunch of free throws. Tonight, we shoot 77% from the free throw line, 48% from the three, we were shooting 61 from the free throw line. Then the injuries with Malik in the Wisconsin game, and Tyson, learning how to play without Jaxon, and trying to play some freshman. If you look around the country not many people are playing freshman, which to me is sad. Those are all things a part of the learning curve, and we hit some good teams that played good, that Indiana State team is going to win a lot of games, JMU, Houston, and Ole Miss are still undefeated. You look around the country, I thought Arizona was the best team we played, and they just got beat by 20 by Cal. If you think I slept at all this week with all these teams being much older and got veterans, they're better than you think. We played 14 different teams; we haven't played anybody twice. That's 14 different preps, my staff deserves a lot of credit for that. They really do.
On the team being balance even with key starters not scoring as much…
Well Jaden and A.J. got into foul trouble. We really kind of got off slow, we missed some layups. That does say a lot when those guys didn't do much and kudos to Ty, Malik, and Tre Holloman played pretty good. The only guy that didn't play good was the Izzo kid, I don't know what he's doing taking those Steph Curry shots. Other than that, I don't have a lot of people to get on.
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Michigan State Graduate Forward Malik Hall
On how his offense helps the team get going …
It's actually something me and AJ were just talking about during the game. I feel like it makes everyone else a little bit more open. When you're worried about me in the post and then you want to think about doubling guys like AJ, Tyson, Jaden and Tre who is spotting up, it makes it hard to defend. They are shooting at really high percentages and shooting it well. It definitely makes it more difficult to guard as a team.
On getting off to faster starts …
It is something that we put an emphasis on. We practice it hard. After the first couple games we wanted to make sure we are coming out where we are hitting the other team first, whether that's offense, defense, rebounding or physicality. We just want to set the tone and I think we've been doing a great job at that.
On how important his confidence is for the team …
It's a big thing, especially going into Big Ten play. Coach has been harping on it to some of our young guys about how crazy the Big Ten is. Every game is a battle. Every game can be close, literally every single game. That confidence just helps us flow into the next one, and just helps us go and keep everything else lighter.
Michigan State Senior Center Mady SissokoÂ
On the importance of rebounding personally …
Everybody has their individual goals. These last five games, rebounding has been very big for us in helping us with our running game. Personally, it's something that I have to do. When I'm on the court I have to rebound and run.Â
On what he's been working at improving on …
I got to help the guards a little bit. They drop sometimes and I have to find the window and make myself available. I got to drive and go up strong and finish strong. That is something I have to improve on.
Michigan State Graduate Guard Tyson Walker
On if getting out and scoring on the fast break is how they want to play …
We definitely want to defend, but getting steals helps us run even better. Coach challenged us at the beginning of the game after we gave up some easy ones, to play defense, and we finally turned it around. Us running always helps us with the offense by making shots and getting the crowd into it.Â
On the team being ranked drastically higher than last year in steals …
We are not a real gambling team, but we are more active with our hands on the ball. It can just lead to deflections, and we got a lot of speed now to go get the loose balls.
On Hall's play turning a corner as of recent …
Malik always does an amazing job on defense. He's like the quarterback on defense. He does everything. On offense he's just being more aggressive, working on that shot and now he's got it back.Â
On Sissoko's recent play …
He's rebounding the life out of the ball. That is just what we need. Those rebounds he wasn't getting before, he's getting at the top of the rim. It's just good that he's being aggressive. He's trying to score down low, but he doesn't really care about it, he just wants to be a force on defense.
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Penn State Head Coach Mike Rhoades
Opening Statement...
All the credit to Michigan State and Coach Izzo. They played with great urgency today, being down 0-2 in the league. We didn't know what we were going to get today, and they whooped us, gave us an old-fashioned whooping. There's a lot from this game that we must take and understand what it takes to fight in the Big Ten, especially on the road. This has got to become a great lesson for us so, just a disappointing effort, disappointing 40 minutes. I thought a couple of our guys fought really hard but credit to Michigan State, I thought they shot the heck out of the ball and played a great game today.
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On how he prepared the team for Michigan State...
Well, you talk about it, everybody thinks they know until you have to deal with it. I always say every battle plan you think is going to work until you get attacked. We did not respond. I thought in the second half we responded better but you've dug such a hole and it's part of being a first-year program, it's part of having all these new guys. Everybody thinks they know what it is playing on the road in the Big Ten until you do it. I've watched a lot of Big Ten my whole life, this off-season I studied a ton of it, but even for me you come to Michigan State and a lot of other places, and you've got your hands full, and we sure had our hands full today. We've got to learn from it without a doubt.
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On the turnover discrepancy...
Honestly, I just thought they - and I don't mean this like we got fouled - they beat us up, they took the ball out of our hands. Walker took the ball from our guys around the basket and other guys. We were not strong on drives; we were holding the ball away and coach Izzo's team collapsed on the ball and really made you pay if you are not strong with it. It's one thing to have turnovers, it's another thing to have turnovers that lead to easy baskets, I think they scored 20 points off of our 14 turnovers. We've been doing a great job. I've been super proud of our guys. After our first game of the year of really taking care of the ball, we didn't today. I also believe because we had some personal and team adversity, instead of getting tougher we were complaining, and we were soft. We got soft. We've got to get tougher. Sometimes you got to get embarrassed, sometimes it really hurts, like today, to make sure you understand what you need to do to be better. You can't turn the ball over when you go into someone else's arena, they make you pay.
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On how Michigan State's transitions...
That's where they are at their best. That's the other thing; that you have to get yourself going with confidence. You see a couple of shots and you get yourself going and then everyone thinks that they can become shooters, and then you make 10-21 from 3. I don't think that they (MSU) shot like that all year long. That is allowing a team to build confidence from your mistakes, and they took advantage of that. It got them going and it got some of those guys into a flow and those guys started making plays.
