Post-Game Quotes: Maryland
2/3/2024 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Opening Statement…
I don't care if you are a coach, a player, or a 97-year-old mother. You couldn't go through that game without being tired. It was a slug like I haven't seen. I said we had to do some things, I said we had to play with a little more toughness. First half I thought we did early, then I thought they did, then it was loose ball for a while. I thought we made some crazy turnovers, but to win a game that way was not for the faint at heart, but it was good for my program moving forward on what I think we have to do. We held them to 30 percent from the field, 23 from the three, and I'm not downplaying Julian Reese not playing as much, but in some way, it made it easier for us. In some ways it made it harder because now they're putting in more shooters and we just had to cover so many people with different people, and maybe we had work done to be fair about it with some of my guys. I guess the biggest thrill was that I didn't think Malik Hall played very well in the first half. We challenged him at timeouts, we challenged him at halftime, and he responded. I think a lot of times he says, 'what do you want from me' and I said 'the second half, that's all. I'll shut my mouth. I'll be cool.' But that is a good basketball team and early on when (Donta) Scott hit those first few threes, and then he didn't make any more. Jahmir Young was unbelievable. He got to the line a lot. I thought we did everything we could do to try to guard him. I thought when shots went up, we didn't rebound very well early, and then in the second half we did. Despite the big-time, all-time Big Ten basketball games, you don't have those as much anymore. I give a lot of credit to them. They're about as physical and tough as a team that I've played in a long time.Â
On concern that emotions drag things out after Tuesday's historic win and the team representing Black History Month…Â
That question first. There are so many things that haven't necessarily been fair in our country and this and that, and I think we are making some progress, though we are probably behind in a lot of ways. I just want to give guys a chance to appreciate and I love the anthem. Way back in the Duffy days, we started the regime of getting black athletes up here and personally I take a lot of pride in that and what we did. So, in that respect, I thought that was great. The second part – I hope not. I hope you're mature enough. Usually where you'd see that is in the practices. I was excited; I talked to a few media guys. I thought we had good practices. I thought today we had a great shoot around. And I didn't think we didn't bring it completely. Doug (Wojcik) asked me something on the bench. He goes 'are we playing softer or are we not giving them enough credit for being physically tough?'. Then he came back and said, 'are we not giving us credit for how physically tough we were?'. He was probably right on both accounts, but I love the way they play. I have to give them credit.
On the team's rebounding…
I'm sure a little bit was Reese being out, but I thought our emphasis was a lot better, and I thought once Malik (Hall) got going, he ends up with seven. I think he only had two at halftime. Malik Hall is every bit as good as I think he is. I have to push him to do that every night. He has had 10 out of 11 really good games for the most part. He still hasn't rebounded like I think he can. But, tonight was another example, he played thirty-four minutes. He had to guard a tough player, a guy that was on the perimeter some after they changed up. All of a sudden, now (Donta) Scott had to guard him instead of AJ (Hoggard) guarding him. But, I thought Malik did a very good job. There is nothing that satisfies a coach more than to post somebody up and have them respond. It is the greatest thing that happens, because I think they realize 'I probably have more to give'. I was proud of him; I was happy for him. My other guys maybe weren't quite as sharp; Jaden coming out that game, I don't know how much they hit but it bothered him. He wasn't the same. Our big guys were okay, but it was Malik and Tyson (Walker) and A.J. They did some good things, he had eight assists, and pretty good defense on Scott. That was a lot for him to cover. I'm just happy we got the win.Â
You saw it like I saw it. I say it to him all the time. I don't hide behind it. He's a better rebounder than he has been, he's a very good defender and he is improving his offensive skills every day. Shooting better from three, shooting 50 percent from the three. His post moves are phenomenal, and he's finally fallen in love with it where he can beat you on the turnaround, he can beat you on the hook, he can beat you with a pump fake. He's an effective player and I think that's got to keep improving if we're going to take another step. And yet we can't have Tre (Holloman), we can't have Jaden (Akins). You know, those guys did not have as good aof games and turnovers and things. We need them to play better. Our bigs did pretty much what they needed to do. A little disappointed that Mady (Sissoko) only had three rebounds, but Coop (Carson Cooper) had six and that was a tough game for those guys to play when they had to guard smaller guys, believe it or not.
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On how different the team is when Malik Hall is playing this way consistently…
Oh, it's a lot different. I mean, for the most part, I know what I'm going to get out of my guards, and for the most part, it's okay to get out of my centers what we got to get out of them because we know they're limited in some ways, but they're exceptional defensively and usually rebounding. But we need another scorer, and when Malik can average, I don't know what he's averaged since that game (at Northwestern), but it's got to be 14, 15 points and shooting a high percentage and getting to the free throw line a little more. The rebounding thing is the last piece of the pie and if we get that going, we'll get better.
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On whether the 22-12 run after being down 42-41 was coach-led or player-led…
Oh, definitely coach-led, I mean, 100 percent. Hell no, it wasn't a coach led, you know. And that's, that's the beauty of having a game like this, you know, A.J. (Hoggard), Tyson (Walker), in the huddle had some great, you know, they had that back door play for him. That was his call and he missed a shot, you know? But there has been more and more communication in the huddles. A couple guys got on, a couple guys in the huddles. It's, you know, it's good. I think there's a lot of respect amongst the guys now. They know we're not where we need to be and where I think we could be. Do I think we got a lot of ceiling left? I do. Are we going to get there? We'll find out. But games like this actually helped us because of the way halftime was, the way the huddles were, the way the team kind of took ownership of some things and some situations I was really proud of them for them for that.
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On how depth and balance of the roster helps in a game like tonight and Maryland only having three players make shots from the field…
Well, it was bizarre, you know, because the two kids that came in really playing up on fire were (Jamie) Kaiser and (Jahari) Long, and they're three-point shooters, you know, and I mean, don't take me wrong I'm sure it hurt with (Julian) Reese out some, but, I've had games, Wisconsin games with Malik (Hall) out, so it, it is what it is. But I said it was a game that I wouldn't want to officiate. I wouldn't want to have been on the TV. I wouldn't want to be you guys and in all honesty, I didn't want to be me for a while. I sat there, I said, this sucks, you know, but we did bounce back. We scored a lot more points we started scoring a few in the second half. But I don't think it was all us. We shot 44 and 29, but I thought they had a lot to do with how we shot and I told Kevin (Willard) that after.
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On how turnovers and mistakes suck the air out of the team…
That's a polite way of saying it. That really ticked me off because, you know, we get a steal out in the middle of the court and they go down on the floor and get it. We don't, they get a layup. We had a couple of the most ridiculous turnovers and we were playing our hearts out. And besides Robbie Hummel and the media and the coaching staff, I thought our fans were awesome. We gave them nothing to cheer about 90 percent of the time and they just hung with us, hung with us, hung with us, hung with us. And that too was like old times. I asked Jason Richardson, Mat Ishbia, I said, remind you of things? And Jason said, yeah, the game did, you know, because back then it was a football game on hardwood too. I was disappointed in why we couldn't, you know, our defense was so good and we were doing so well and all of a sudden, you know, and I don't know if we didn't sub enough, guys got tired, I don't know what it was, but I promise you I'm going to look at the film and try to figure it out.
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On if he trusts this team in intense moments now…
Yeah. You know, it happened over at their place too. But I'm not sure I'm ready to say yes to that question. I think we're growing together. We are growing together, and sometimes you got to go through these kinds of games to grow together. But as much as I want to blame us, there's not many times I actually believe in my heart, what I say would be one thing, giving another coach credit and another team credit. This is what I believe. They had more to do with our ill doing than maybe us. To me, that's the best compliment you can give somebody, but at the same time, they lost two tough games. We went up, we were up big at their place, they came back, went up one, two, I think three at one point. And tonight we responded like immediately. And I think that'll help us as we move forward. I just want to know why are we losing these, you know? We really want to look at the film and say, how many minutes of great basketball did we play? And we missed some good shots. Tyson (Walker) missed a few. Jaden (Akins) missed a few. I mean, Tyson misses a layup. We missed some layups in that too so that hurts too, and especially in games that are so tight. But a wins a win, baby. We're just moving on. We got a quick turnaround now and all we get to do is go play Minnesota, which we had a tight game with, and they just beat Northwestern, you know, go figure. I mean, I saw a little bit of the Penn State game. They're 11 down and all of a sudden they're 20 up. I mean, that's a 30-point change, you know, what is going on? I don't know. But at least we were consistent today. You know, we didn't shoot it very well after the first five minutes and that kind of continued to the last five minutes. So we were consistent and both defenses were real consistent too.
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On taking this toughness on the road…
I said, and it's insulting to me and it's insulting to some of the players who were here. Jason (Richardson), (Mat) Ishbia and A.J. Granger, there were just some guys back and it bothers me to think of my team not being tough enough. Some of it must be the way I coached them. Some of it must be the personnel and some of it must be a little bit on them. I think all three parties deserve some blame, but nobody here can say we've rebounded the ball and we've gotten it after like were used to here. We had some meetings bout that; 'listen, as we get closer to the tournament, this is what has to happen.' Like I said, I loved the fact that Malik responded. Absolutely love it. Fifth-year senior, who cares. Sooner or later, it happens, and you respond and now, can you grow from that? I said, 'we've had three good days of practice, can we take the practice to the game?' That was the next thing we talked about. At times we did, in parts of it, but they've got a good team and good players too. Hats off to Kevin [Willard] and the way he coached them and hats off to (Jahmir) Young, I mean he was phenomenal. We threw a lot at him, and he just found ways. Not a great 3-point shooter, didn't necessarily shoot well tonight, but when the games on the line he reminds me of (Mateen) Cleaves. You know he was going to make a shot. He was going to make a play. Love guys like that, absolutely love them.
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On how leadership roles have developed…
I saw more. A.J. (Hoggard), Tyson (Walker) and I had a couple long meetings just about those kind of things; 'if you guys want to finish the year off strong, it's got to happen. I'll put more pressure on you guys, I'm going to coach harder.' And, in those huddles, both those guys responded. Malik (Hall) in the huddles, he's still quiet but he responded in his own way by getting a lot of balls. He tipped another one out earlier in that game that was a big play, (Carson) Cooper got that one big play too. When you said that about we were up 16-5 and then we got the ball, we had a chance to go up again, and they just take it from us. The ball goes down on the floor and they dive on it and get a layup. It just changed everything. If that was at home and we did it, I think then the crowd gets into it. People don't realize that when we had to play at their place, early in the game we were up 10 and the ball goes on the floor, Mady (Sissoko) dives, throws it to Tre (Holloman) and he makes a layup. Nobody thinks about it now because there was eight minutes left but it's eight minutes left in the half, but when you win by two those two points count as much as the last two points. Stimulate a team, sometimes a fan base. Our fans were absolutely incredible. I kept saying, why would they cheer, what are we giving them? But they did and I appreciated it. Â
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On the combination of Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler at the same time…
We did, and then it started creating problems because they're playing with almost three forwards and two guards, and it's hard to play those guys under those circumstances, so we didn't get a sample size big enough. Jaxon (Kohler) made a big shot; two points, it counts. I didn't think Mady (Sissoko) was as sharp today and yet (Carson) Cooper did some things. I didn't think Cooper was as sharp, missed some dunks, some layups; those things drive me crazy. His effort to block a shot or his effort defensively, those put a smile on my face. Just like Kevin (Willard) said, he's got some guys that are better defenders than shooters, he's got some guys that are better shooters than defenders. If everybody could do both, they probably wouldn't here. It's challenging a little bit, but hey, let me tell you, the way this season has gone I'm going to take this win, I'm going to go home, I'm going to sit down, I'm going to watch Kentucky and Tennessee and then I'm going to watch some film after that game. I just want to get a look at some teams and see where we are, what are we doing. I appreciate it, sorry it was a grinder today. It was hard for us on the bench too.
Fifth-Year Forward Malik HallÂ
On what it means for the team to be able to bounce back after being down in the second half...Â
"It's the same stuff that we talked about and the same stuff that we played in the first half. Just being tougher and more physical. I think sometimes we have a tendency to see how the game is going to go and then start playing the game. Sometimes someone comes up and they're automatically physical or they are waiting to see if it will be a physical game and then you start playing physical after you see that they are already playing physical. He [Tom Izzo] wants us to come out physical and that's just what we have to do a better job of.Â
On if this was a game they would have felt if they lost...Â
At this point of the season, every loss we are feeling, to be honest. Every single one we've had this season so far, I've felt. It was definitely one of those games that could have gone either way, but we definitely wanted it to go our way just because we want to succeed this far into the season.
Senior Guard A.J. Hoggard
On what changed the game in the second half...
We were down 45-44 and we didn't do a good job extending the lead and they did a good job of closing it. We figured it out the second half and put some stops together, got some steals and runs. We found a way to win tonight."Â
On what it meant to help bring up Malik Hall when he was down...Â
Everyone needs that confidence from your brother or whoever is next to you. It always feels good when someone next to you believes in you. Him taking that shot shows his growth at that moment. We definitely needed him to be big tonight, and he came through late in the second half. We appreciate him for that and appreciate him for believing in himself as we believe in him. It has been showing up in the last couple of games.
Fifth-Year Guard Tyson Walker
On the last time they played Maryland...
We were just trying to be more physical on rebounds. The guards were getting involved more on rebounds because there were a lot of rebounds that we just weren't tightening up on. We did a good job on defense to get the ball.
On if he believes that his team will be there for him in tight games...Â
I don't think we plan on playing a tight game, but they kind of happened to play a tough game and make those plays. We just needed to get those stops and be more physical on the rebounds.Â
Maryland Head Coach Kevin Willard
On the team's no-score stretches…
I think the foul trouble with Julian (Reese) was huge. I think it really stressed Danta (Scott) and Jordan (Geronimo) to play a lot more minutes. Danta (Scott) playing 39 minutes is like six minutes too many and Jordan (Geronimo) playing at the five spot was a lot. They made some big plays and we still had some good opportunities, so I was proud of the way the guys went down the stretch, but I think fatigue was a big part of it.
On Jahmir (Young) and his points on the road…
I thought he was a little rusty at the start of the game coming off the bye week, but he's playing his heart out.
On Julian (Reese) getting his third foul in the first half and how it impacted the team…
I think the bigger impact was his fourth foul. Right off the bat, getting his fourth foul, that really was a game changer.
On his message to the team…
I'm proud of them, on the road, a tough place to play. You're not going to win every game on the road. No one does in this league. We thought we had a chance, but now we have to get home and protect home court.
On shot selection…
That's part of the fact that we didn't have Julian (Reese) out there. There really was not much else that we could do.
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