Post Game Quotes: Rutgers
2/24/2024 4:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick
Introduction…
I thought the second time around we just did a much better job of finding ways to take away some post play, second shots and keeping them off the free-throw line. We saw a lot of zone on Wednesday against Purdue, we saw a lot zone again tonight. I thought we did a good job attacking it. matchupsIt was a great team win for us tonight all around on both sides of the ball. We knew coming in that the last time we played Rutgers, they gave us a really good game. They caused some real challenges for us with their physicality, interior play and post-play. They've got some really good players that are tough
On the teams effective three-point shooting…
We shot the ball really well, but a big part of that is we took good shots. I thought we got off to a great start with that. It kept propelling us through the game and then over the course of the season. A big part of this is how we play. It's in our style, it's in our system. The three ball is a really important shot in the game of basketball. We have a lot of kids who are very capable of making them. We think it creates space, there's just a lot of elements that go with it, but I'm proud of our kids, you still got to make them. You know it's one thing to shoot them, but you have to make them. It's an important shot that we do. We've had a lot of kids step up, and I'm proud because if you look at the numbers, there's a number of kids, well across the board that are just shooting the ball better, and I give them credit for that because they've spent a lot of time in the gym to become better shooters.
On the team defensive effort this game compared to their first meeting with Rutgers…
I think we're getting better defensively. It's necessary, especially if you want to be an effective team. You have to be multi-dimensional; you have to play both sides, especially in this league. You know, if you're just one way or the other, it's typically not good enough night-in and night-out, so, we're working on it, we've talked a lot about it. I think second-time around too, you play teams you have a better feel, hopefully you can make some adjustments and take away some things that really hurt you the first time. I give our kids credit because we've done some things differently second time around, and they've done a good job at executing that.
On what she told the team at halftime with a commanding lead…
I challenged them because we've had some third quarters where we kind of sputtered, right? We've got a lead, and then we come out in the third quarter and we lost the momentum, so I challenged them, and I'm like, 'We have to win the third, we can't be a team that gives teams hope back in the third quarter. We have to win this quarter.' That just feels like a big growth area for us right now. While we started that third quarter, and really, really set the tone and did a great job.
On the 27-3 stretch…
A lot of makes and force a lot of misses. Any time in the game of basketball when you string together stops and scores consecutively and consistently, the game make changes, the momentum changes, so we must've done a good job of doing both of those.
On Mo Joiner starting 6-6 from the three…
I was really happy for her [Joiner], she puts so much time into it. When we see her make, it feels very non-surprising. She's someone who spends a lot of time on her game and her craft, but six for six is pretty sweet.
On what is making the team play well…
I think joy is just an important part of playing well. I think loving to play is an important part of playing well. At this level there's just a lot, it's every day, there's consistency to it, there's an expectation to it. There can be pressure around it and the reality is, it's got to be fun, right? That's how we all fell in love with the game to start, so can you combine that with focus. Can you combine that with togetherness when joy is foundational, how you play, who you are and how your team comes together, good things happen. We have to work at that as a staff, but they have to work at that too. That joy keeps you going. I say this all the time, I've said it up here multiple times, but it's a kids game. You fall in love with it as a kid, it really is a kids game and we've got to find ways to make sure there's always a feeling of that.
On seeing the team passing well with 10 assists on 20 baskets…
I mean, when we're sharing the ball, we're a high assist team. We usually score a lot. Those two typically go together, but I love basketball because it is the ultimate team game. When passing becomes cool on a team, sharing the ball becomes cool and finding a way to get the best shot becomes part of how everybody plays, it's really fun. And there were some wild plays for me tonight, we had some full-court passes, Julia [Ayrault] had a tip-in, I mean there were some really great plays the girls made tonight.
