Michigan State vs. Lamar-Postgame Quotes
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2001
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo: "Well, hurray for Bobby Williams. I'm really proud of what that football team did and I mean that sincerely. As far as we go, we're making progress, we're getting better. We needed the game to end at about the 36-minute mark instead of the 40 and we'd feel a lot better. I thought all and all you saw another great game out of Marcus (Taylor). I think Torbert is getting better again. He has a few things to work on but he is making some progress. I thought both Ballinger and Anagonye had their moments. What we did is we played in spots I thought the best we played all year. The running game looks ten times better and it is because our point guard is directing it and our two wings are starting to run. We are getting guys down the middle. We are doing a better job of those things. I thought we attacked zones better. I thought we handled the turnovers better. I think that was a very good basketball team (Lamar) when you watch them on film, they lost to Texas A&M, and they should of won that game."
G Marcus Taylor: "I think those were my best two games. I came out with a lot of confidence this weekend, I just focused on trying to run the team. I think I got the wings running a lot more, and that created open lanes that we needed to penetrate."
On the back-to-back wins: "I think it was a confidence builder for us. I think some guys realized some positives and negatives of this weekend. We didn't play as high caliber of teams this weekend, but I think it was a great experience coming off four tough games. Going into Florida I realized what we have to do to pull out a tough game."
Lamar Coach Mike Deane: "This tournament was a first-class operation and it was really a lot of fun to get a chance to see Tom's home, his basement is bigger than my home. It was great to come back and see some people here and it was great to beat Maine in the first round then get a chance to play MSU."
"One thing that I was a bit surprised about, I didn't think that the Breslin Center was as intimidating as I thought it would be. I'm surprised especially after the success they have had the past three years."
"I thought they played pretty well. I was very disappointed with that stretch early in the second half when their lead went up to 20. We made a couple of poor rebounding efforts that turned into easy baskets for Michigan State."
