Coach Izzo Previews NCAA South Regional
3/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2001
Michigan State Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo
On MSU's position:
"Well, there's no doubt that we're excited to be in the position we're in. We have to go to Atlanta and play for a chance to go back to the Final Four."
MSU injury update:
"It's Andre Hutson's right shoulder (sprained). But he's done it before, and yet it's different from other ones because he was hit in the back. It's actually good news, because he can get his arm above his head and he's shooting the ball well. He will not practice today, but we'll take it day-by-day. Hopefully, he'll practice tomorrow.
"The other bit of bad news we got earlier this morning is Jason Richardson is coming down with the flu. They took him to the hospital last night, because they thought he was a little dehydrated. He was throwing up a lot. He will not practice today for sure. We're hoping and thinking it's just the 24-hour flu, but if history repeats itself, this is probably perfect. There's no sense in going a week without something happening to somebody, and as long as we've been winning that way, we'll stay true to form. If none of those guys get sick, I'm going to get sick, just to make everyone feel a little more comfortable.
"Everyone else is at 100 percent, so that's the good news. We're going to try to get a leg up today, since we had our mandatory day off yesterday."
On Gonzaga:
"I've watched a lot of tape on Gonzaga, and I think this is a very good basketball team. As our luck would have it, we get a No. 12 seed, which normally should be a break, and we get America's team right now. Gonzaga has been to the Sweet 16 three years in a row. This team is very, very good down the middle. Gonzaga has an excellent point guard in Dan Dickau, and it has an excellent big man in Casey Calvary, who can really do some work both on the inside and the outside.
"But what I think makes this team better is its complimentary players on the perimeter. (Mark) Spink and (Zach) Gourde are definitely two guys that create a lot of problems for you. They are stable, solid and good role players. One can really shoot the ball and the other one has a lot of muscle inside and shooting 63 percent from in there. Gonzaga brings in three very athletic subs that give it a different look and I think it's a good change of pace. Maybe, it even increases its defense and its fastbreak that at times is very good, especially with Dickau running it like he does.
"This team can shoot the ball very well from the perimeter, and yet it has enough scoring inside that it has balance. I'd say it's a good rebounding team, outrebounding its opponents by six. Gonzaga's also a good running team. This team has very few weaknesses.
"I don't know it if you can exploit this team. We are going to try to go at Gonzaga offensively, especially inside with (Andre) Hutson and especially (Aloysius) Anagonye now that he's improved his offense. With Hutson and (Zach) Randolph in the lineup, we're going to try to go inside and get a lot done there. Both teams come from a similar system. Gonzaga runs a fastbreak similar to ours, it runs some plays similar to ours, but it runs a little more motion and flex offense than we do, but I don't think we're going to try to attack it any differently. Gonzaga shoots a lot more free throws than its opponents."
Who would you compare Dan Dickau to?:
"I would compare him a little bit to (former MSU guard) Scott Skiles. I've been around here that long and believe it or not he plays a lot like Carson Cunningham from Purdue. He's got a flair for the game, and I think he's a little more skilled. He's a little unorthodox so he might throw a one-handed lob pass into the post. He's not like the traditional guards you've seen. He's liable to pull up from anywhere and shoot the ball. I think he's as good a passer as he is a shooter and he has some quickness. He's fairly quick and second of all, being able to go right or left gives him one more step on the opponent. I'm very impressed with the kid. For us around here, Skiles is probably the best because he can do both and there's not a lot of guys that are good enough to read shot and read pass at the same time."
On Gonzaga being the Cinderella team:
"The one downside is that everyone will be pulling for them. I think the other downside of it is Gonzaga has been here before. It's how I felt last year when we played Valparaiso, even though we were a No. 1 seed and it was No.16. Gonzaga has been here before and it's proven that it belongs again. You can't call Gonzaga `Cinderella' since it's advanced to the Sweet 16 for three years now. I'd say that means Gonzaga has pretty much proven itself. It's a veteran team. It has some players that have been here more than a couple times, and I think what you're going to see is a very good basketball team."
On who former MSU head coach Jud Heathcote will be cheering for:
"I can tell you, he's going to wear a green shirt and blue underwear so that no one can see his Gonzaga attire. He can have a bulldog on those things if he wants. I know where Jud's head and heart is and that's all that matters to me."
On what MSU has to do defensively:
"We're going to put an emphasis on Gonzaga's three-point shooting. I still think rebounding is a big key. We think that's how (Zach) Gourde and (Casey) Calvary get a lot of shots -they get second shots. The (Mark) Spink kid is the team's best offensive rebounder. He does a good job going in there. We like to defend the perimeter and we'd like to defend that shot very well because if you defend the shot very well, then you have a chance to rebound. Otherwise, you get one of those rebounds that came through the net and those aren't half as valuable. We're going to put a lot of emphasis on our defense. We have improved in the past three-to-four weeks and it has been because of our defense. I think it was very good up at Penn State and at Wisconsin. We've made some progress in that area, especially in the NCAA tournament. I think we've done a very good job in the first two games. Usually better defense on the perimeter leads to more rebounding. I think that's one other area that we do try to emphasize here is guard rebounds. When people are taking a lot of threes, you have a tendency to get a lot of guard rebounds. In a lot of programs, guards are cheating out and we make our guards stay in there and get it and still have a foot race to the other end, and I think we steal a few rebounds in that respect."
On MSU's WAR (rebounding) drill:
"It's complicated, and it's taken five or six years to perfect. What we do is tell the players `there is the ball and now go get it.' And that's about the technique we use. I swear to you, if I had a better way of saying it and doing it, I could make a lot of money selling a book. But I don't have any real secrets. We just try to get after it, and we try to get after it with five guys on the defensive end and four guys on the offensive end and go from there.
"I guess if there was a technique to it, we do cut outs by going there, touching our man then going to get the ball. I think that's where we're really different since I'm really into pursuing the basketball. No matter where it goes, we're going to try to go get it. I guess that's a little different. Instead of waiting for it to come to us, I enjoy rebounds that are above the rim rather than rebounds that are below the rim. I think a lot of people have the theory of cutting out and letting the ball come down and then going to get it. I have a theory of cut out and go get the ball. It's more of a hit-and-go type style than more of a `who can get to the ball first' mentality. That's why I think we've had as much success as we've had in rebounding. I think it's been more of the mentality of it than it has been the skill or what we put in."
On preparing for the Sweet 16:
"I think on paper we're the favorite now in the South Region, but if you went out to Iowa State right now and asked those guys what they felt about what's on paper, you'd have a different story for me. I think if we play well, we have a good shot to win. I guess that's an easy statement, except I think if we play well, we can definitely win, whereas sometimes if you play well and still don't have an opportunity to win. I looked at Fresno State and said this is a game if we play really well, and it plays really well, it's going to be a heck of a game. I think it's there for the taking, we have as good a chance as anybody. It's going to be unique because of the team we play first and whoever we play second. There's no doubt that Penn State thinks they can beat us if we win the first game and to prepare for Temple in one day would be like it was trying to prepare for Princeton in one day. It's just a whole other different ballgame so it will be a challenging weekend, and I hope we get a chance to get ready for the regional final."
