Everything Tom Izzo said ahead of Wisconsin game
Coming off an 84-63 loss at Rutgers over the weekend, Michigan State men's basketball looks to rebound tomorrow when they host No. 14 Wisconsin in a crucial Big Ten battle.
The Spartans currently sit in fourth place in the Big Ten standings, 1.5 games behind conference leader Illinois and a half-game behind co-second place teams Purdue and Wisconsin.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo met with the media on Monday to discuss the Spartans' loss at Rutgers, what they need to do against Wisconsin and other topics as well. Here's what Izzo had to say:
On turnovers, defensive rebounding:
“The turnovers are getting better, because they’re not in bunches, but they’re still a problem. The defensive rebounding is still a problem, and I don’t know why. When you look at the overall stats in the Big Ten, offensively – we are off the charts. Defensively, we are in the Top 3. Rebounding, we’re third. But the defensive rebound percentages, we’re like ninth or tenth. Those two things have hurt us.”
“The turnovers have gone down in bunches, we’re averaging 13-something now. But, we haven’t had the bunches of them, but we still get them dispersed throughout [the game]. That’s still the one thing, because we’re not getting enough shots up. We’re in the top of the league in three-point shooting and third in the league in field goal shooting, and we’re just not getting enough shots up. That’s one area of correction. How does that happen? Get more offensive rebounds, do a better job with the turnovers, and not let the other team [take] minutes away from your chances, because they’re getting offensive rebounds. So, we’re trying to do a better job on that.”
On Rutgers game:
“It was a buzz saw. I thought we played pretty well in the first half, and just did not answer the bell in the second half. I thought [Rutgers’] pressure, strength and size hurt us a little bit. I thought we battle through part of it, and then it got a little out of hand late. It was not a 20-point game for three-fourths of the game, but it didn’t end the way we wanted it.”
“I told you the schedule is going to play part of it. We’re in the toughest part. We just played four out of five games on the road, and it just keeps getting tougher. But, when you look at [Rutgers], they shot 61 percent to beat us. Why did they shoot 61 [percent]? Our defense wasn’t great, and our rebounding wasn’t great. We’re trying to shore that up in one day.”
“I don’t think we went in there soft, but I don’t think we realized… We did not think a couple guys were in the same [level of] focus as they should have been. We talked about Malik [Hall] early in the game. He just didn’t seem like he was with it. Sometimes, that comes with playing four out of five on the road.”
“The problem with this team is, if we’re not clicking at a high [level], we don’t have a lot of margin for error. It’s not the most talented team, flat out talented – it’s a depth team that everybody has to play their role.”
“I think we can learn from the experience that we got punched in the mouth. That was a physical game, a physical team.”
On his technical foul vs. Rutgers:
“I don’t think I deserved it, if you want the truth, because there was no language barrier there. I’m so sick of the verticality [rule]. It makes me sick, because I think it gets called differently every [game]. That was a big play. It was two points for us, and then they go down and hit a three and get the technical. So, blame me, it was probably my fault. But, I am sick of the call and I don’t think the officials like the rule either. But, that was a big play in the game.”
On Wisconsin:
“They’ve won three out of four. They too haven’t shot the ball as well, for most Wisconsin teams. [Wisconsin guard Brad] Davidson killed us the first game, made a lot of shots, though some of them were late [in the game]. [Wisconsin guard Johnny] Davis…the last couple games…instead of 21 [points per game] he’s averaging 16.5. But, part of that goes to wear and tear, and teams get to know you. They kind of defend you differently now, just like our guys have gone through.”
“Johnny Davis is a big-time scorer. He did get 25 [points] the last game [against us]. But we made him work for all of them, so I was actually pleased with the defense. I think the key to beating them is to contain those two guys, but not let them get to the free throw line. That’s where they’ve hurt teams over the past.”
“As far as [Wisconsin forward Tyler] Wahl goes, he didn’t play the last game [against us]. He’s been playing. He’s averaging 11 points per game. He brings something to the table too.”
“Wahl’s a good player. He’s not a great shooter, but he’s a good stabilizer for them. He’s a solid kid that guards pretty well, rebounds pretty well, and what he can do is put the ball on the floor.”
“[Wisconsin head coach] Greg Gard has done a phenomenal job with this team. If you look at it, there’s a lot of good ‘Coach of the Year’ candidates…but his [team] probably came the farthest, when you look what they had. Although, even he, I don’t know if he thought Davis would be as good as he’s been. And, they didn’t know at this time last year, or in the Spring, if Davidson would come back. So, those two things have really helped them.”
On previous game vs. Wisconsin
“I did think we played well there. It wasn’t like we played off the charts, but we played well. I thought we defended them pretty well, and what we did do [in Madison] is rebound well. I think the rebounds was 39-20. Wahl brings some of that to them, he’ll help them in some ways. But, that is why I say, if you’re rebounding well, there’s an aggressive nature. You’re usually playing better, and that’s what we’ve got to get back to now. We did a couple games ago, we rebounded better, but we haven’t been as consistent as a Michigan State teams are.”
On Gabe Brown’s shooting:
“He shot it extraordinarily well, which consequently made his defense a little better, and his rebounding a lot better.
On fast break points:
“We’re looking to do a better job on our fast break. That goes with the rebounding, and defending well. We’ve not scored a lot of points off our break lately, which was lethal early in the year.”
“As you get into conference play…teams take away your strength. Our break is our strength, but when you defend pretty well, but you don’t rebound as well, you don’t get your break going. The motto here, and it’s in our locker room, ‘Defend, rebound and run.’ They go together. If you don’t defend, you don’t get a chance to rebound. You’ve got to take it out of the basket. If you defend and you don’t rebound, you don’t get a chance.”
“I think we’ve been defending…pretty good. We have not been rebounding as good. The turnovers still bring you to a state of depression, because you’re bummed out that you did it. And those all play a role in how aggressive you are.”
On halfcourt offense:
“We’ve got to get the ball inside a little bit more, so we’ve been working and talking about that.”
“In general, just execute a little better. We need to get Marcus [Bingham Jr.] posting a little harder. We need to the ball into him. Our point guards have to come off ball screens, and we’ve got to get Max and Gabe more than nine shots a game. The way you do that is to get more shots [as a team] – 52, 54 isn’t going to make it. We hope to be up to 60. Seven, eight, nine more shots also gets you a chance to get a couple more free throws. We’re shooting 84 percent from the [free throw] line, in the last five games. 81 [percent] in the league. That’s never happened here, and I don’t know many places it’s happened.”
“Tyson’s assist-to-turnovers are more even, and AJ is getting us a lot more assists, and we need to get assists to people that can score it. And, right now, our two wings can shoot the ball. Max missed some great shots in that game, and that’s just the way it is. Joey and Malik didn’t get enough shots. So, those four guys got to get shots, and then we’ve got to get it in to Marcus inside. That’s why we need to get more shots in general.”
On MSU’s schedule:
“We’ve got to get set for some big home games, because there’s some big home games coming up. We’ve got some games at home [after] we just played four out of five on the road. I’m looking forward to the friendly confines.”
“This is now down to the last month. We have some tough games, but we do have some games at home too. Yet, [being at] home doesn’t win it, the team wins it. We’ve said all along, we’re a good team that needs to become a great team to survive. We go through all of the stuff, and we’ve said, ‘Boy, our defense kind of let us down.’ Then we get the stats, and we look at the other teams – Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin – and our [numbers] are better than theirs.”
On team’s potential:
“We’re a confusing team for you all, a confusing team for the fans, but a confusing team for our staff a little bit too. But, a likeable one, because I still think we have opportunities to really improve. And I think that’s what I’m really looking at.”
“Tyson’s assist-to-turnovers are more even, and AJ is getting us a lot more assists, and we need to get assists to people that can score it. And, right now, our two wings can shoot the ball. Max missed some great shots in that game, and that’s just the way it is. Joey and Malik didn’t get enough shots. So, those four guys got to get shots, and then we’ve got to get it in to Marcus inside. That’s why we need to get more shots in general.”
On Max Christie’s:
“I think Max has been awesome [in pick-and-roll ball-handler]. I have very few things to say against Max, except that he hasn’t shot the ball as well lately. But, he too is getting more attention [from defenses], so that happens. That’s what’s going to be nice, if I can get him and Gabe together, because they both can shoot it and people can’t cheat. It would really help if we get the ball inside a little bit more, and take away some of that pressure on the perimeter. And get our break going, so we can get him some real shots. Max has been better than I thought he would be, because he’s been way better defensively, he’s been better rebounding the ball. I didn’t know his skill passing the ball. He’s our best post passer, and now he’s getting better off ball screens. He doesn’t complain about anything. He just does his job and works. He’s been a treat to coach. We’ll get that shooting back. He missed three that I’d have bet my life on. … And he shot the living daylights out of it that morning in our shoot-around. He hit a lot of shots, so that’s the way it goes. That’s the one thing about of basketball – if the ball goes in, you look good. If the ball doesn’t go in, you don’t look good, no matter how good you played.”
