Post-Game Quotes: Rutgers
1/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement...
Well, it was… The best thing about the night was when it ended. I walked out of the locker room, saw Antonio Smith, Chris Hill, Mat Ishbia and, oh and David Thomas was there. A couple of them reminded me back to their golden, golden, golden years when we went to overtime against a poor Minnesota team, a poor Penn State team, a poor Northwestern team, twice. And they tried to make me feel a little better. It worked for a couple of seconds.
I was not very happy with how we played and I kind of look back at it all and I say that we didn't play more than five minutes with Josh Langford in the first half. We didn't play very well. We played longer with Miles Bridges, but not in a very effective way. I thought, by far, the best player on the floor was ironically Nick Ward. I thought Cassius (Winston) showed incredible courage when going to the line and the shame is if you look on paper, Jaren Jackson (Jr.) started out better than anybody, but I think really, really, really got tired and run down.
Give them credit, I heard Steve Pikiell got an extension today. Much deserved. His teams play hard, they play tough, they play physical. They played with a chip on their shoulder. We had a 19-8 lead I believe, or somewhere in that area. That's when Josh got in trouble and Miles a little bit. We just didn't, we didn't respond very well. Better teams than us have had tough games, and I was hoping that we would respond a little bit better after the loss. I don't know if we were looking ahead. I don't know what we were doing. I'll save that until I look at the film. I just didn't feel like things went real well for us.
Now, saying that, three minutes, 3-for-18 or 20, hits a three. The other guy, Sa, never shot one and he hit one. That's kind of what happens. That's the way you lose. So, to find a way to win, probably our team deserves more credit. I thought Nick (Ward) battled all night, but what Nick did the best job of is, he was up on those ball screens so, so, so, so much better than last year. And actually, Jaren did a good job of that. Our bigs did a better job than our guards did, yet we found a way to win. So, I'll open it up to a barrage of questions.
On the physicality of the game…
That's the most physical team we've played. And that's what I said. We're physical enough to play some teams - when we played Duke, Carolina, when we played Notre Dame. Good teams. But tonight we played a well-coached team that is as physical as the day is long. Their guards were, their bigs were. The way they went after that ball… If I was watching the game and wasn't coaching it I would've enjoyed it.
On being in a game as close as this one this year…
Great pass by Cassius (Winston.) Cassius played really well down the stretch. I kept taking him out, but I didn't have to take him out. He wasn't the problem. We've talked to our team about that, too. We've been in 15, 16 blowouts. What are we 16-2? Everything but two games. We lost to Duke and that was close, somewhat. And then this one. We lost the other game, we got beat pretty good. We haven't been in a close game, and I thought we responded pretty well.
We haven't been in a close game. I thought we responded pretty well. We ran stuff pretty good, but we had defended well all, most of the game, and then we didn't defend well down the stretch. Just some really, you know, I mean - Kenny (Goins) did a decent job and then giving guys a 3, doesn't matter if it's not on the scouting report when there's two minutes left and you're up seven, you're guarding God, you're guarding everybody, you know? We didn't do a very good job so we didn't play real smart. I didn't think we played physical enough, so that's got to fall on me. We've got to change that.
On Langford wanting his shot at at the end of the game…
Miles (Bridges) too, you know, Miles started driving. But Langford's, that was a big play and it was a great pass I think from (Cassius) Winston, but he looked like he did want it and looked good when he locked it in. I felt good about it. You know, Miles made some plays down the stretch. I thought he passed up some shots early. So, we've got some things to work on but there were better teams than us that ended up in tight games over the years, and I got to do a better job but, kind of, now that it's over, I guess I'm glad we played in a tough game and we showed that we could run some things and execute some things down the stretch that got us some good looks, some baskets or even better yet, we got to the free throw line which is very important.
On Miles Bridges deferring shots…
That happened, then he got in foul trouble and that was, he was sitting on the bench with me. So how many minutes did he play the first half? Thirteen, so he sat the last, almost six minutes at least. I think I took him out for a minute. So you know, yeah, the fouls, but he did defer. Like I said, that's one of my issues with Miles. I told him he's got to be more selfish. You know, he started driving in and then as you say, there were some question mark things that happened. We just couldn't get, you know, he's driving on that baseline and made a couple great plays but that one time, I thought he got pushed out but he was out. But he was at least aggressive, and I don't think it's because he's not afraid, he's not tough enough. He's just got to get a little more selfish in that respect, but you know, Cassius (Winston) I thought did some great things down the stretch as far as you know, what he had to do. So we needed Cassius, Josh (Langford) and Miles in there. Tum (Nairn Jr.) did some pretty good things, you know, I played with those two together because I don't know if you saw (Matt) McQuaid, he got done pretty early in that game, rocked the first second he was in there and just did not seem as with it but he said he's okay, but that was why he didn't play as much.
On the bench getting involved in the defense…
Well, (Matt) McQuaid didn't get much reps but, you know, I think some people looked at Kenny (Goins), that he did get eight rebounds and he did a lot there and pretty good defense. (Gavin) Schilling did pretty good defensively. Tum (Nairn Jr.) did a good job defensively, and Tum hits a big 3, goes 2-for-2, 1-for-1, you know, has an assist but he played pretty good defensively. I liked it when we had Tum and Cassius (Winston) in there together some, but they were physical inside. We had trouble getting it in there. You know, I think it was an eye-opening thing for Jaren (Jackson Jr.), you know, this was the most physical game he ever played in in his life, I'm sure. So, he'll be learning and he'll learn and he'll get better.
On the team's confidence mentally…
To be honest with you, I don't really care where they are mentally, confidence-wise. I care where they are mentally toughness-wise. I don't worry about their confidence. We've been a good shooting team all year. I'm worried about, you know, are they going to bear down and get a little tougher? That's what we've got to do. Confidence, they're shooting pretty good early, we're making shots, we're moving the ball, so I mean, we've played good for 16 games. We've played two games where we haven't played as well. You know, that's one of the problems with playing good. Maybe everybody got a little fat and sassy, as far as they think it's going to be that way. I can't imagine what Jaren (Jackson Jr.) felt it was going to be like, and yet, he started out so good and he was aggressive and he was taking to the basket. I still think fatigue and getting tired, you know, I've got to get him more rest. I can't, I've been leaving him in there the longest and I think I've got to change that up a little bit just to get him some rest so he doesn't drain everything down and then have nothing left.
On the change in Miles Bridges during overtime and his mental dedication…
I agree with you. I'm going to push Miles, I really am. I told him tonight, 'hang onto your hat tomorrow,' because he's such a good player. He really is and he's got so many positive things. But he's going to give me something, I'm sure, and I'm going to teach him how to be a little more of a jerk. I'm good at that. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give him something and I'm going to make sure he gives me something. He's got it… You're right. He's got to do that. I wouldn't disagree. I mean, I thought when he made a couple passes… Miles absolutely loves making great passes. He made two great passes early and I think he had… Yeah, he ended up with four assists, but he had two early and he was jacked in the huddle, you know? So it's just a matter of getting him… I wouldn't say lose his focus, he's just got to be a little more selfish.
On how Nick Ward was able to improve from the Ohio State game to get more points tonight with the physical nature…
Yeah because I think this one was more physical. I think two things; He kept moving in there. You know, I thought he got stagnant last game and we did a little bit better of a job getting him the ball. You know, I told you after that game, some of that was our fault, my fault. The perimeter guys' fault. I thought Cassius (Winston) looked for him a little bit more. He still only got nine shots but, you know, he got three offensive boards, seven defensive. I mean, Nick was a man in there. Other than… and that happened to guys. Nick made sure, as much as I really do appreciate how far he's come in every way, every single way, Nick Ward has made improvements. But, you know, maybe he should teach Miles how to be a little bit of a jerk because he had a talk in that one and that cost a little run there.
There were a couple things that, when we got seven, eight-point leads, nine-point leads, that we didn't do a very good job on. Took a couple of bad shots one time, we don't take very many bad shots. He's talking to the guy. Now, the guy was talking to him too, but you know, you guys have heard it your whole life and I tell him this every day; A lot of times the second guy gets caught, so that's your fault, you know, you should be bigger than that. But there's another example of how far he's grown. He looks at me… I jumped him. And he said, 'Coach, that was my fault, never happen again. It was my fault. You're right.' You know, just… I don't know. He's been the coach. We're all going to argue and laugh and kid each other, or I'm going to kid you guys on why the reasons are, but give that kid credit. I mean, for at least one more night and then we'll… Every day though will be a new day. Because I told him tonight, if he thinks I've been on him, he hasn't seen nothing until tomorrow's practice because I think Nick Ward has more and more and more to give. Defensively, when he got down in his stance and moved, I mean he's more athletic than I give him even credit for. So as he shows me those things, it makes me want to push a few more buttons.
Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell
Opening statement…
Great environment today. Great game. Give Michigan State a lot of credit - terrific. Five guys in double figures. I thought we played hard. I thought it was a great game. We just didn't have enough, but Michigan State - terrific program, terrific coach. It was a great environment, too. I thought that affected us, too, a little bit. But tip of the hat to Michigan State.
On his contract extension…
Very thankful. I love Rutgers. I'm very proud to be the head coach. Great administration. Pat Hobbs is a great AD, President Barchi. From day one, I just loved the people at the University. There's great people and we have a lot of tremendous things going on, a new practice facility. It's a great academic institution and we're getting better with our basketball program, too, so you know, I'm just really pleased for my staff, too. I think I have a great staff and they work tremendously hard. But I love the university and I'm just really fortunate, so I'm very thankful.
On the physicality of Michigan State…
They're very physical and we knew that from the first game. We just played them a couple weeks (ago) - it seems like yesterday - we just played them a few weeks ago. Again, we have tremendous respect for them. Their physicalities and they rebound the ball, that was a huge key for us. You know, we were even on the boards last time and we really knew that that was the key to the basketball game, transition defense. You know, so you have to do a lot of things well. They shoot the ball well, they pass the ball well. They've got good bigs. You know, you really have to be locked in and I thought we played well. I liked our game plan, but again, not enough.
On keeping Miles Bridges scoreless and Corey Sanders getting back in the game…
I mean, we had a ton of guys foul out. Guys logged a lot of minutes, and we played through a lot of physicality, too, in the game and you know, he (Sanderson)'s getting better. He's practicing better. His effort was terrific. Bridges is tremendous, so we tried to do a good job of limiting his touches as best we could. We tried to take him away from post-ups, you know, but he's a real good player. They have a lot of weapons, so it's not, if you load up too much on one guy, you've got a lot of other guys out there. You've got the best 3-point shooter in the league in (Cassius) Winston, you've got one of the best mid-range guys in (Joshua) Langford, you've got the best rim runner in the league in Nick Ward so they pose a lot problems. You can't just hone in on one, you've got to play well against all of them.
Sophomore guard Cassius Winston
On the overtime period…
We just had to dig deep. A lot of things were not going our way, but we fought our way through it and made some big rebounds and stops. We got some easy buckets and big shots down the stretch. A lot of credit to us on that.
On the upperclassmen keeping the team focused the whole game…
We have to keep talking. Not everything is going to be smooth; there will be ups and downs. It is going to be like that for everybody. You just have to keep talking to them and give them the little knowledge that we know. We haven't been through a lot either, but with the knowledge that we know we can give them little tips to help them out.
On tonight overall…
We found a way to win and that is huge. These games are not going to be pretty. Not every game is going to be a 30-point victory. We dug deep and found a way to win this game and we just have to keep carrying that forward.
Sophomore guard Joshua Langford
On the overtime period…
It was a pivotal time within the game. We knew that we just had to come together and lock in so we can play like Michigan State Spartans do.
On his go-ahead 3-point shot…
I knew Cassius was going to pass me the ball, so I knew I had to be ready in my mind and I just let it go. Every shot I shoot I feel is going to go in. I knew Cassius was going to complete the play and I was happy that he was able to see me and glory goes to God.
On staying focused…
We really have to be the veterans. We didn't go that far last year, but we have played in the Big Ten Conference play. We have to take them in and let them know what it is like. Especially with Jaren (Jackson Jr.), since he plays pivotal minutes for us. In the Big Ten Conference, each game is going to be a challenge no matter what team and no matter the ranking. They are always going to bring their best, so you always have to be ready for it.
On Saturday's rivalry game…
We have to come out better. Especially with Michigan, this is a big game. There is a difference with the Michigan versus Michigan State game and so we have to come out and do our jobs. We can't come out lackadaisical we have to come out ready to play. We have to play the first 10 minutes like it is the last five minutes.
Sophomore guard/forward Miles Bridges
On the message going into overtime…
We just had to play hard like we did the last five minutes of the game. We were struggling in the early part of the game but once we got going in the end we just told ourselves we need to play like that to win the game.
On Big Ten play…
Like I said, the Big Ten is the toughest conference. Most physical, so we just have to get adjusted to that. Jaren (Jackson Jr.) has to get adjusted to that. We have to get back adjusted like we did last year learning how to play in the Big Ten.
On message to freshmen…
Calm down and get every rebound. He [Jaren] is jumping over everybody and is longer than everybody. So all he has to do is train himself to go in there and get the rebound.
On Saturday's rivalry game…
We have to play tough. They are a tough team. They are playing well too, so we just have to bring it and if we don't, we are going to have a loss on our home court and we don't want that. So we just have to come in and play tough and play Spartan basketball.
