Post-Game Quotes: Ferris State

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement …
You'd think that after 30 years I'd be smart enough to not sub like we subbed. I think I hurt our momentum, but we went into the game with one thing that we needed to do. Nobody has raised their head above anyone else. As you saw tonight, maybe Kur (Teng) and Jase (Richardson) maybe played as well as some of our veterans. So, when nobody does that you give everybody a chance.

I was disappointed in our bigs being able to guard somebody. I thought Jaxon Kohler played well other than guarding a little bit, but I thought he and Coen Carr were good. Our best lineup was when I had the three small guards in with Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler. Who knows, they went small, too. With a 17-point lead early and then we were just subbing. We had a thing we wanted to see; we wanted to see different lineups; we wanted to see guys guarding different people. We did what we wanted to do, and I'm sure that hurt us a little bit, but you have to give a little credit to them too.

Honestly, I was really happy for Mykel Bingham, I've known him since he was probably five years old. He played really well, and he went through a tough time last year. I give that coach a lot of credit, he didn't let him play and it reminds me of Morris Peterson. The kid looked like a real player tonight, so I guess holding people accountable works once in a while. I'm really happy for him.

I'm happy for our guards, both Jeremy (Fears) and Tre (Holloman). Between the two of them they had 17 assists and two turnovers, and nobody made any shots. We had 16 offensive boards, that's a lot, but the kickouts, we just missed wide open threes. So that's going to happen and now it goes for real. We got a lot done, we got a lot of tape to watch and a lot to figure out, we have a lot of bodies and a lot of moving parts. There may be some lineup changes. Guys are going to play well, but it is not about the best players, it's about who plays the best. So, it's pretty simple and I think I've done a horrible job of holding my own guys accountable. So, it'll be interesting to see what the next four or five days look like.

On using a smaller lineup with Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler…
It was matchup dependent. I thought (Xavier) Booker could guard those guys and they went around him, and the guy that really struggled tonight – as you know he broke his nose again. He hits his head in the wrong places, (Carson) Cooper, more than anybody I've ever seen. The poor kid, I feel sorry for him. But tomorrow he goes, and they crank it around again. I don't know if that's why but he's kind of holding his nose because it hurts. He wasn't himself; I think Tre was a little sick, but Tre played pretty well. We just went by lineup tonight, but it was also because some of the other guys weren't playing very well.

On when the team was running…
I think we are bigger, we're more athletic, I think our running game can be good. We had 30 fast break points; I thought that was good. The biggest one is all those great offensive rebounds that kick ups, those are the three that should fall. It's hard to complain about missed shots, I'm more worried about some of those bog guys not rebounding. Book had two, Coop had two, Frankie Fidler had none. It looks like he led us in scoring, but there's a long way to go before he is going to help us win games.

On an Izzo Toughness Scale …
You should call me after tomorrow's practice, I'll give you a good view of that because tomorrow should be fun. The coaches aren't happy, so we'll see mental toughness and physical toughness.

On Jase Richardson and Jaden Akins…
Honestly, I don't know, I think Jaden needs to get himself going. He came off wanting to get him shots and get the ball on the floor and getting in there and not going anywhere. I think he wants to prove to the world that he is a passer, and I need to prove to the world that he is a shooter. We'll talk to him about it, but ironically yesterday he had his best practice in a month. He did play pretty good defense most of the time, but offensively not running the lane like he should. Jase goes in there and gets the shot because he's just running, and you have to run. We'll see, it's hard to evaluate everything until I see the film, so tonight I'll look at a lot of the film and see. They created some problems; we created some problems. There were times we looked really good and there were times we looked really bad.

On players capitalizing on opportunities…
Well, it takes me a lot as a coach when I see them, but it depresses me a lot as the coach when I see some other guys that I think should be there. So we'll see, as we know, we can't call people out in public anymore, but we can praise the ones that did well and the other ones but, guy's gotta play better in effort related things, run your lane, guard your person, get some rebounds. We missed some wide open shots tonight.  I got no problem. Coen (Carr) even missed the dunk 'cause he was too high up. But he did make some incredible plays and was some incredible passes to him.  So there were things we were gonna build on, but they had some guys play better and they go to play better on a market system basis.

On the grit factor of the team …
I wouldn't have graded the grit or mental toughness or physical toughness if we want to grade it, I wouldn't grade it very high. How would you grade it?  I mean, what you saw is the same thing I saw. Coen Carr I'd grade that a A plus. I thought he went in there and just scrapped, got every loose rebound, got every loose ball. some guys got a D minus. Listen, all you wanna do is do the things you can do effort wise. The other things, the missed shots, they'll come. I ain't worried about that, but guarding somebody and rebounding the ball.  I mean, we still didn't rebound them by a ton, but we should out rebound them by more than we did. And I like their team. I think he'll compete, especially if (Mykel) Bingham can play like that.  He played very well. We actually did a pretty, pretty good job on (Ethan) Erickson. He's two for 11, one for six.  You watch him on film, the kid's a hell of a player. Really is a good player. He reminds me of the Smith kid from Purdue.  I mean, he's got a little stuff to his game and he can really shoot it. Good player.

On how the team will perform against higher ranked teams…
I need them to be stressed next Monday. I don't need them to be stressed about Kansas. Remember, I know we are the team that lost the opener last year. Kansas is like Annie Em. That thing's floating around and I don't even see that thing. I have no interest in Kansas. I have an interest in playing Monday night. It'd be a good question to ask them, but you gotta play with more grit. You're all asking about grit and I think that's a pretty good evaluation on your part. There were times we went in there and knocked balls loose, got rebounds, just kicked it out missed shots, that can get depressing, and like I said, don't forget, blame me for some of it. We went in knowing what we wanted to do. We had four different lineups we wanted to really look at, playing with each other and that's hard to do. And we did it, but I think we paid some of the price too.  It's not all their fault, I get blamed for some of that too, and should, but I did what I wanted to do. I mean, they are exhibition games for a reason. You're trying to see how guys respond, how guys react, who steps up, I think there was some real positive things tonight.  It's just that the negative things bother you more.

On sophomore forward Coen Carr's energy….
I think Lorenzo (Guess) did a great job with him in the weight room. He was always strong, but he really had a hell of a summer in there. I just think he's accepted the fact that I'm not a great shooter and I can do it other ways. I can run the lanes, I can hit the offensive boards. He's putting the ball on the floor a lot better, going around people and becoming a better passer. Coen's been fun to coach because he's a high energy guy. And not only is he a high flyer, but he's a high energy guy, and now with added strength in that, I think he's playing more aggressively and that's been encouraging. And that's been that week for a month and a half to be honest with you.

Closing statement …
We haven't been shooting the ball great, but some of our best shooters have been Tre Holloman and he didn't shoot very well tonight. Xavier (Booker) didn't shoot very well tonight. Those guys have been really good shooters for us and if they make a couple of those. Frankie (Fidler) didn't really take many, he got seven shots up, but he passed up a couple shots to drive it and it is what he does. He gets fouled and that's good for us. I thought he passed when Jaden Akins gave him a hell of a pass one time. He just passed it up and I don't want that to happen either. I want my shooters to shoot the ball when they got it. So we'll look at our break. I think we'll look at our defense and be a little disappointed, but now it's for real. I don't think right now anybody's looking by anybody or worried about any other games because nobody knows who has what. I'll start looking at a film on them. They might have nine transfers in, who knows? So it could help them. It could hurt them, but I just gotta worry about us, playing the way we can play. I don't need anything extra. I need Jaden (Akins) to play like the kind of player Jaden (Akins) is. Same with Frankie (Fidler), same with (Xavier) Booker. Book has played better, some of the overseas, he was pretty good. Tonight he just existed, I thought, and I need him to be a star.  He still has 10 points existing, which is pretty good. But the other thing's gotta get better.

Redshirt-Freshman Guard Jeremy Fears Jr.

On his comfort level running the offense...
I slowly feel like I am getting back to myself. Obviously, I am thinking I am 100%, but I'm 99%, really close obviously. Next step would be just playing basketball every day, and mentally and physically get my body prepared for that. But overall, it's great to get some exhibitions underneath my belt and I slowly am feeling like I'm back to myself and doing everything I can and used to do.

On getting to play in the Breslin for the first time this season...
That was great, just being back home, the greatest fans in the world, and just being able to play at the Breslin Center and seeing everybody come out and support us and the exhibition. So, it just means a lot to me being able to be back out there with my team.

On readiness for season opener against Monmouth...
I definitely think we'll be ready, were going to make some adjustments and changes, and keep getting better throughout the week, so we have a lot of time, and just keep getting better by the day. I think we still have to clean up everything. I think we're not fully 'team' in game ready yet, obviously we have a lot of good players, and a good roster. It's a lot of people in new roles and new positions, so we're all trying to get adjusted. I think it will take a while, but they always say, 'you don't want to be the best team in November, you want to be the best team in March', so we are slowly getting better every day, and we just keep striving and learning, everything is something new every day.

On Coach's message to the team after the game...
The season is on its way right now. Next week, is basically the first game we have to pick it up, and just play together, we still have a long way to go. So, it's just don't be satisfied we haven't done anything yet, and just keep getting better.

Freshman Guard Jace Richardson

On his first opportunity to play at MSU and what it means…
Growing up, coming to Breslin, it meant a lot to me especially just being a kid. So checking in for the first time wearing that white Spartan jersey and being in front of the Breslin crowd was great.

On what he thinks it is going to be like for their first official game…
It's going to be a lot more energetic. The team is getting ready for next week. We are just going to take away things from this game and get better.

On his takeaways from tonight's game…
The team is just getting better, learning from what we did and learning from our mistakes from this game. Going back to the film and practices and just getting better.

On lineups he thinks worked the best…
I felt like when it was me, Trey and Jeremy a lot of us could play point and the guard position, so just having the three of us on the floor I feel like we have a lot of play making ability.

On his biggest strength…
I feel like it's my play making ability. I feel like I can get myself open shots and then create for my teammates.

Sophomore Forward Coen Carr

On preparedness through the first two exhibitions...
We feel very prepared, but I feel like our defense has to pick up and we all know that so we're just going to get the film from this game and try to get better for the next one.

On feeling like a secret weapon playing a small line up at the forward...
Yeah, for sure. I think I'm kind of like an X factor for the team, especially coming off the bench, just coming off with that spark and energy. We might have a down first half, but just coming in and always bringing that energy to get our morale and energy up.

On developing his confidence...
I feel like going through it for a year, seeing things and seeing how last year's team was, just being in the fire going through that experience. I feel like that's helped me a lot.

Junior Forward Jaxson Kohler

On his strong rebounding performance...
Rebounding is a part of my job and I want to show everybody that I can do my job very well. I take great pride in getting rebounds whether they're defensive or offensive but this year I think one of the things I can take the most pride in just as much as scoring is getting rebounds.

On the amount of blocks today...
We can get a little more than that, but it's something to keep in mind. If you're always thinking you need to get a block shot then you can become a little jumpy and that's not what we want, we want to stay down. We know this team, we know we have some guys that used to pump fake a lot and that's what we want, we want to stay down, and wall up. So we aren't too worried about blocks, we just want to play good solid defense.

Was this game a little extra rewarding for you given your season last year and the offseason?
It was about a week ago that it really hit me that I made it past what I did last year. Last week was the time to acknowledge that and embrace that, but right as we start preparing for this game it's like okay, good job, go play now. Get locked in, get focused, and out there tonight I wanted to make sure I could just throw a pass and help the team win and do the best I can.

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Coen Carr

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

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