Post-Game Quotes: St. Cloud State
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Comments
It was a strange game, and I say that because I thought this team would be a lot better. I don't think they played as well as they could have played. I'll give some credit to our defense because I don't think we played very well defensively the other day. I don't think they played well as they can play. The first half, we moved the ball quite well and made shots. I thought Costello played well early. Schilling struggled a little bit but ended up playing pretty well and caught some tough passes and picked up 13 points and 10 rebounds. We really struggled with those ball screens early and made a couple of adjustments and got up a little higher and I thought that made a difference on that. I thought Marvin (Clark, Jr.) was encouraging; he played better. Valentine was really good and did so many good things. Right now he's shooting the ball so comfortably. That's a kid that worked all summer, and his shot is now so tight and not much wasted motion. He looked so comfortable with the ball. He still wants to go behind his back, so I'll keep chewing him out about that. You look at his triple double in 25 minutes and only two turnovers, and pretty good defense. I can't ask for much more from the kid. We didn't shoot it very well from the line so that was a negative.
On Marvin Clark shooting the three
I didn't think he was a great shooter but we knew he could shoot. He was like BJ [Dawson], but an even better shooter. He played well and he can make threes. He's the strongest player on our team by far as you know. He's getting a little more comfortable and confident, and I thought played better at times today.
On Schilling play inside tonight
I was really happy with Schilling because he hasn't been catching the ball real well. He made some tough catches today and finished. He got some big rebounds early, but you have to remember that team wasn't very big.
On Branden Dawson disappearing for times during games
It does concern me but he's practiced really well. I'm afraid to say this but he's one of those guys that play to his competition. He's practiced way better this year than last year. I still think the more he does he'll end up doing more when teams lock up our shooters. We had so many opens shots today; I don't know whether that's us or that these teams we've played are so poor defensively. We're not taking a lot of bad shots; we got up to 76 shots; which is a lot of shots. That doesn't help Branden, so maybe we need to get him more involved. He needs to get more involved himself, but it's not like he's practicing poorly or loafing. These last three weeks he's practiced as hard as anybody. In fact, I think he's practiced harder than he's played in a couple of these games.
On the St. Cloud State coach's comments about Michigan State being better than they were two years ago
Well did we ever come up with 28 points and 15 rebounds out of our center position? I don't think so. I don't think we've even done that in practice. I can see where he thinks that. I thought that it was definitely one of our better points in the game, as far as those guys played. It was good to get them some confidence. They shot a good percentage, some of that we're dunks but that's what they have to be. If our guards are shooting the ball well and we penetrate a little bit they'll have to help and get some dunks. That's what good guards do; they make players better.
On whether the team was too unselfish
I thought Trice passed up a couple of shots that he could have shot. I though Alvin passed up one. I do want them to have the mentality to be ready to shoot. I thought a couple times we weren't ready to shoot. Other than that, Valentine is always ready to shoot. Usually so is Trice. We're still a work in progress, but from the last game I thought we improved defensively a lot. Are we ready for the schedule we have in the next few weeks? No, probably not. Thankfully, we have a little practice time now, and we'll have to get better in those areas. Tum (Nairn) played well in the first half and then started turning it over a little bit. It just got a little sloppy at times.
On the play of his nephew, Kevin Levandoski
I think he played better the last time we played him. I think he needs a haircut personally. I'm proud of what he's done there because when you walk on and earn a scholarship and end up a pretty good player, that's something to be proud of. He didn't get many shots off I think they played him more at the point than at the two like last time. He didn't back down from anybody. I thought Kevin hung in there. I told him I wasn't going to let him get a three this year. So I challenged my team on that, and we lived up to that.
On whether he thought he saw any improvement in the two-guard spot on defense
I was just disappointed to be honest with you. Bryn [Forbes] has been out, and has a semi-cast on it for a little while. Alvin is a better defender and better with the ball and is just kind of playing casually to me, and I'm struggling there. Right now, I would say that's our weakest spot, and we need to improve that. Hopefully he's ready to work because we're going to put some work in.
On whether he think his team is hard to guard in transition
When Trice, Forbes and Valentine are in there we have three guys that can shoot it. We're rebounding it pretty cleanly because we're not playing against guys of our size. So I think it's a little bit of fool's gold, and I don't think we're a tear down the court type of team yet. We're going to have to rebound with more bodies because we're not as big as we we're in the past. Our biggest problem is our two-guard, and not necessarily on offense but on defense. Gary Harris was one of the best defenders in the Big Ten and he could lock down anybody. Alvin can shoot it pretty good and Bryn can shot it off the charts. He's improving. He finally found someone he could guard; it was over at IM West. He understands now that it's a weakness that he has to work on. I appreciate that. We just don't have a lockdown guy at that position and a lot of the best players play at that position around the country.
On the difference in Denzel Valentine from last year
There's not a guy I've had, not even Cleaves, not Harris no one worked as hard as he did this summer. He's working on ball-handling drills; he's working on passing drills. He spent so many hours working on his shot. His shot to me looks so good. It's getting to be the same shot every time. I think he's confident, and we're moving him around a little bit. We're playing him at the one, two and three. There are different mismatches we can do there. He can post with certain lineups and we might do a little bit of that. Denzel has done everything. He's been pretty good defensively and we just have to continue to remind him that flash isn't what's important. He's so good when he's solid. He likes the sizzle once in a while. His dad and I are getting him out of that. He's been by far our best player in that respect.
On an update on the recovery of Javon Bess
His surgery went great, and he's a fast healer. He's in no pain, but it's going to be weeks. A broken foot is a broken foot. That's four weeks for sure that he's got it heal that. So I'm still thinking closer to Christmas. He won't be ready to go next week unfortunately. If I had him and was playing him more at the three, I could play Denzel at the two, and I think that changes my team's dynamic. St. Cloud State Head Coach Matt Reimer
Impressions of Michigan State...
We played them two years ago, and we played them pretty competitively. Tonight, obviously, was never a game. We asked our players after the game that played two years ago `what were your thoughts?' The difference in athleticism was staggering. We couldn't compete with them in transition. I think we're a little more athletic than we were two years ago. They're so fast up and down the court; it's scary. And then those three perimeter kids are so talented with their passing, that if you make any mistake in transition matching up, and they'll cut you up. I was blown away with how good they are. I never dreamed that they would cut us up like that. Defensively, their size and athleticism caused some problems. Please understand guys, we're not that bad of a team. We just had a really bad night tonight, now Michigan State had a lot to do with that, but we're not that bad of a shooting team. Two-for-23 (from behind the arc) is not characteristic of us. I thought the last five minutes of the first half was as disappointed as I could be with our guys, because we totally went off on our own thing. We were taking terrible shots, which led to the runouts, which led to it getting out of hand. I thought the first four minutes of the second half, when we missed four layups, we had some good looks but we were just never in it from there on out. Michigan State is dynamic; it's going to take a heck of a team to beat those guys.
On the unselfishness of Michigan State's players...
Well Denzel (Valentine), I know I heard Coach Izzo yell one time `shoot the ball!' when he made the extra pass when he didn't need to. That's what so scary about that team is how unselfish they are. When we're matching up in transition, any mistake we made they hit a wide-open guy. Whether it was a guy for a three, or the lobs for the dunks that they had, you know, playing (Derrick) Nix and (Adreian) Payne, I didn't think we'd play two better guys than we did two years ago. But (Matt) Costello really dominated us inside, as did (Gavin) Schilling, and (Branden) Dawson obviously is a tremendous player. Those guys dominated us in a way that we weren't dominated two years ago with the same post players that started for us tonight. That unselfishness makes those guys just that much better, those post guys. They fed off that passing, I mean Costello was 6-for-7, and I think those were all dunks. That goes to their characteristic of their unselfishness.
You guys are going to have a fun time watching that team, wow. They're the real deal.
