Post-Game Quotes
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening comments...
It was a tough week for us as far as approaching things; getting through the disappointment of a tough loss and we watched the film. One thing I told my team before the game is, we watched the Wisconsin team against them, we watched the Indiana team against them, it seems like they are taking a lot of people to the wire the second half and sometimes when you play defense, defense, defense and offense it is hard to attack that zone. I give them a lot of credit. I think that a 15 point win is sometimes like a 25 point win against some teams, but we struggled defensively at times and I would have guessed that they shot 50 percent and when I saw they shot 38 percent I was amazed. We did a better job in the second half. We did a better job taking care of the ball. We only had two turnovers the second half; that was a plus. Even though we missed, I want to say four lay-ups within the first 10 minutes of the game. Our freshmen have been struggling, other than Kalin Lucas getting hurt a little bit, bumping his knee, and that is why he was out. I thought Durrell [Summers] came in there and did some good things. I thought Chris [Allen] did some good things. I thought Isaiah Dahlman did some good things. It was our veterans that struggled a little bit defensively compared to our freshmen so that was a big plus for the freshmen.
On Drew Neitzel's playing...
Offensively he had a good game and in that one stretch I thought it was unbelievable and he had some big time shots. It really saved us when we were struggling. It's good to see him hit some shots. He was looking for a shot and he made some shots. I thought that passes got to him very well. Both Kalin and Travis [Walton] gave him some great passes. He got in the zone there for a little bit so I was happy for him.
On Kalin Lucas... He is very important to this team. Right now he is playing as solid as anybody. He probably doesn't get as much credit as some freshmen. He's got some weapons. With his development, he gets better everyday. He was struggling a little bit but other than that I think he came through. He is shooting the ball better and checking better, and what he is really starting to a better job at is getting the other players involved. I think he is making other guys better and that is key for a point guard. I couldn't be more pleased with him.
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
Opening Statement...
We haven't won a game in conference, so it's been rough on our guys. I was pleased tonight because I thought they competed in a physical nature against a pretty strong team, so I was happy with that. We executed pretty well in the first half, we got some easy stuff, and we missed a couple easy ones in the last 19 seconds there, and then (Drew) Neitzel just took over. He had that stretch where he hit about three three's I think, and he drove to the basket. Other guys were struggling a little bit, and he just took over. In that first half, I thought he was really good, especially in the last eight minutes or so. Then we didn't score in the second half in the last eight minutes or so - their defense tightened up, or we got tired - we couldn't compete for the full 40 minutes, but I thought we went pretty good for about 35.
On guard Jeremy Nash's play...
He had 10 rebounds, and usually that's our team total, so I was happy with that. He's been playing better and better. He missed the first six or seven weeks of the season with a bad back, and the last half-dozen games or so he's been getting more and more time and he's been producing. I was really happy with him. He made some nice passes also, and he's a factor at the top of that 1-3-1 zone.
On forward Jeff Ryan's play...
Well he's playing center most of the time, and he's undersized obviously, but he's fast and he knows what to do. He can't even use his left hand, so he did a nice job out there tonight. He's open a lot, and that's really important. He's always an outlet because he's pretty fast to play that position.
On guard Craig Moore's performance after starting slowly...
Moore's been playing better and better. I just told my radio guy that in the first couple years when things went badly with him, you'd see it in his body language, and he'd be a little bit of a whiner, but he's matured. He's grown up, and that's great. He was throwing some beautiful passes too in the first half for some layups, and we missed a bunch of them. But he's changed, he's grown up, and it's good to see.
