Michigan State Spartans Basketball Coach Tom Izzo Post-Oregon 2-8-25
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Well, I'm going to be real sorry for Dana.
00:08They played so well the first half.
00:10Unbelievable what they hit, 910 threes in the first half and none in the second.
00:17Points off the turnovers were 21 to 2 in the first half.
00:21You know, there was not any magical things said at halftime.
00:29I thought our players decided that they weren't guarding well enough.
00:35We were getting beat on dribble drives and everything else.
00:38And our crowd was unbelievable.
00:43And when that happens, you know, in a little run,
00:49we cut it down to single digits at the 16-minute mark.
00:55I think we were down to two at that time.
00:57That was a big difference.
00:59Trey didn't play very well the first half and starts out with that big three the second half
01:04and had one turnover and, I think, five assists.
01:08First half, we had many turnovers and didn't play well.
01:13We got a lot of play out of a lot of different guys.
01:15And, of course, Chase had a career night, you know, when he got that block late.
01:21It was a hell of a block.
01:23And all the guys were sitting behind me.
01:26I turned to Jason and said, Jason, who?
01:29You know, it was Chase's night.
01:32And how exciting for him and for them and his family.
01:37But for us, too, I mean, he did some great things.
01:42Him and Trey, we just kept mixing them up, putting them in ball screens.
01:46And we got something out of that because they stymied us the first half.
01:51We scored 36 points, but it was an ugly 36.
01:54So, you know, some of the key things besides Chase playing the way he did,
02:01you know, the shoot, 89% from the free throw line.
02:05And the second half, I think we went 14-14
02:08after coming off that abysmal performance out against USC.
02:15The rebounding, you know, we weren't rebounding very good early.
02:20To win that thing 40-27 says a lot.
02:23The turnovers, we had nine and a half time.
02:25We only had three in the second half.
02:28It seems like the blueprint's easy.
02:31We just got to do a better job of following it.
02:34You know, if you defend, you rebound, and you run,
02:36and you take care of the ball, you got a chance.
02:40So we'll see how much those turnovers affect the Super Bowl tomorrow.
02:45But I got questions. I'll take them all.
02:49Knowing how important reunions are to you,
02:51with all the players that came back,
02:53was there a better time for an all-time comeback?
02:56No. No.
02:57You know, when I sat there and looked behind the bench,
03:00those guys were all sitting there.
03:02It was a memory-making moment, to say the least.
03:10As I said, those guys, you know,
03:15people just don't realize there's times in your life
03:18where certain things happen.
03:21They made Tom Izzo.
03:24And if you ask me,
03:26they really did a lot to make Michigan State basketball.
03:31I mean, just coming out, visiting with Magic,
03:33and, you know, that thing was some incredible couple of years.
03:38But these guys, you know, winning the three Big Ten champs,
03:41four Big Ten championships,
03:43and getting the three Final Fours,
03:45and winning a national championship,
03:47and then not letting it die.
03:50They keep coming back.
03:52They always come back.
03:56It was probably just because we had some guys sick.
04:05You know, Jaden, during the game,
04:08you know, I just talked to UCLA.
04:11They had six people sick.
04:13And that was our biggest fear.
04:15We got up one morning, and Bulk was out.
04:17We got up the next morning, and Jeremy was out.
04:23I woke up this morning, and I called my trainer.
04:25I said, if you say one word to me, I'm firing you.
04:28And so he didn't until later on
04:31when he told me that Jaden wasn't really doing real well.
04:35So, you know, you talk about an ultimate team effort.
04:40The team was players on the floor,
04:45the players on the bench, the players behind the bench,
04:48the fans in the stands.
04:50That was a team.
04:52It was about an 18-, 16,000-team victory tonight.
04:57And for me, it just doesn't get any better than that.
05:01I wouldn't have really wanted it any other way
05:04except that first half made it a little tough.
05:09But we found a way to fight through it,
05:11which said a lot about the character of our guys
05:14with some people down.
05:16Tom, I'm wondering about the decision
05:20to shift the ball into Chase's hands
05:23at the point in the second half
05:26and what maybe that did differently for the offense.
05:31Well, you know, some of it was the way they were playing,
05:34and they were playing.
05:36They were zoned at the beginning of it,
05:38and then they went, man, and we decided at halftime
05:40we were going to put ourselves in more ball screens.
05:42So if it was Trey, we were putting him in.
05:44If it was Chase, we were putting him in.
05:46And then, you know, to be very honest with you,
05:50Trey struggled the first half.
05:52So then Chase played pretty well.
05:54So I said we were going to put it in Chase's hands there
05:57for a while, then we put it back in Trey's.
05:59And then I said if you pass it to the wing,
06:01we were going to get a ball screen there for Trey.
06:04So Chase just did an incredible job.
06:09You know, to take 13 shots and get 29 points,
06:14I mean, it's very, very, very efficient.
06:17You know, he told me he took one bad shot.
06:19I'd probably agree with him, but he has a knack.
06:22And, you know, making his free throws.
06:25And early on, to his admission,
06:28he was struggling a little bit defensively,
06:31and he just figured it out.
06:33The kid is so smart, and he just figured it out
06:35that he had to press up a little bit on those ball screens
06:37and what he did.
06:38So I'm really happy for him.
06:41He's fought the fight, and he just keeps battling.
06:46And, you know, it's going to help us.
06:49It's going to help us because we need more.
06:52We need more movement in our offense.
06:54And it was hard because we had to play two bigs a lot.
06:59And then without really knowing if we could go to Jayden
07:03and with not enough bodies left,
07:06this is the one time that we were kind of hurting in that
07:09and we got a little bit of foul trouble.
07:11So maybe the strength in numbers helped us in the long run.
07:15Tom, you had a couple guys sick, as you said.
07:19You ended up playing with a shortened bench,
07:21not that you wanted to.
07:22Is this something that you may lean to,
07:24or do you now appreciate the fact that you have a deeper bench
07:27and you maybe just kind of roll them in like hockey sticks?
07:31Yeah, you know, I don't say roll them in like hockey sticks.
07:33I told you that, you know, things will start changing.
07:36I still think I'll play a lot of guys,
07:37but the minutes might change some, you know.
07:39And, you know, just as we say all this,
07:42there's been such bizarre games.
07:44I saw Michigan was just up 16 1⁄2.
07:46It was tied with three minutes left, you know.
07:48The swings that we're all going through,
07:51I don't know what the reasons are,
07:54but we're going to need all of our people before it's done.
07:58I mean, they brought in some people, too, you know.
08:01UCLA brought in 11 people.
08:03And, you know, but I think it proved to them
08:08we had some tired hombres at the end of this thing.
08:11But, you know, now we turn right around and play Tuesday.
08:14So we'll see.
08:15But I'm just happy that guys sucked it up.
08:19Guys did their job.
08:20And, you know, it wasn't a racehorse game.
08:24We didn't get the break.
08:25They pressed us.
08:27So that, too, leads to, you know, you know.
08:30But we didn't wear them down either.
08:32And I don't like that either.
08:34But there's nothing we can do about it.
08:36They did a good job.
08:37He did a hell of a job with his team.
08:40I mean, they've been on a wicked streak.
08:42And they came in here and punched us right in the mouth.
08:44And they made shot after shot after shot.
08:46And we ended up by those stupid turnovers.
08:48I mean, here, throw it to Jack.
08:50Go make a layup, you know.
08:52We should have just given them points.
08:53We wouldn't have had to run up and down.
08:55It would have been easier.
08:56And that really bothered me, to be honest.
09:00And, Tom, one other question.
09:02Would you consider this a program win with the crowd, with the reunion here?
09:06Mateen, you didn't get to hear it, but Mateen talking about how special it was to play here.
09:11Would you consider this a program win for this team?
09:14You know, Mateen was in the locker room after the whole team was.
09:18And I told them that.
09:21I asked them.
09:22Because some of them have been here from the start.
09:25And they've been here all during it because they all come.
09:28I mean, I don't know.
09:29You tell me.
09:30Those of you that followed us, it was one of the great comebacks.
09:33It was one of the great wins.
09:34The crowd was electric.
09:38And it's not one of the best wins at home.
09:41It's a top fiver.
09:42And what he told the team after in the locker room is, you know,
09:47you'll have memories of this that will last a whole lifetime.
09:52You know, you won't remember every game, but you'll never forget this game.
09:56And I think he was right.
09:57And, again, I can't tell you how much I appreciated our fans.
10:02You know, some of you asked me a great question the other day.
10:07You know, like our fans were bailing on us because we lost two games.
10:12Right?
10:13Yeah.
10:14Well, I didn't see them.
10:18I didn't see anybody bailing.
10:20I didn't see a coach bail.
10:22I didn't see a player bail.
10:24I definitely didn't see the fans bail.
10:26And that's why this place has been special.
10:29It will remain special until I'm done, and then, hopefully,
10:33it will move on and remain special until the next guy's done.
10:37That's what great programs do.
10:40Tom, staying with that, your thoughts on how close you are
10:43and where you are with Robert Montgomery Knight's record
10:46and talking about the fans,
10:48the idea of this Jason's performance make you have to discuss permanent
10:53starting positions and changes like that.
10:56God, Lindsey, you're getting to be one of the –
10:58you asked me the one about the Internet
11:00and the stupid gamblers that lose.
11:02Now you're hitting me with a quarterback question.
11:04I don't get to see you much.
11:06Yeah, you don't get to see me too much.
11:08I'm an amper coach.
11:10But now there's no quarterback controversy.
11:13You know, there's things we might do differently.
11:17But there's no quarterback controversy.
11:19You know what it is.
11:20It is what it's supposed to be.
11:22You play good, you play more.
11:25You play real good, you start.
11:28You don't play as good, you work your way back in.
11:32It's the American way, except America has gotten soft.
11:36But that's the American way.
11:37That's the way it works.
11:39And so I apologize to nobody for that.
11:41What was the second question?
11:43The record and how you're doing.
11:44The record?
11:45All the things I woke up to this morning,
11:49no humility, no anything.
11:52That wasn't even on their radar.
11:55It really wasn't, and I'll tell you why it wasn't.
11:57Number one, I said it before,
11:59I've got an extra year than Bob does.
12:01I'm dumb enough to stay around.
12:02He left early.
12:04Number two, played more games than Bob did.
12:07Number three, records are made to be broken, you know.
12:14Making moments will never be broken.
12:16Records will be broken.
12:18And I mean, it's an honor, and I mean this as an honor.
12:23Bob was controversial.
12:25I loved him, you know, he was good to me.
12:27And he was a great coach.
12:29And he did many things that I haven't done.
12:32And so if he wants to trade the record,
12:36I'll give him a buzz tonight up there,
12:38if he wants to trade the record for the four other national championships,
12:43I'm all in.
12:45Because it's about winning championships, not records.
12:48But I am proud of the record in two ways.
12:51I'm proud of it because I get to be talked about with a guy
12:56that I really thought highly of as a coach.
13:00Number two, I get to appreciate how many players,
13:05because I didn't win one damn game,
13:08how many players won games for me in different ways.
13:12It's amazing.
13:14It's amazing.
13:16You know, the championship team was back.
13:18There was a couple hundred other former players back.
13:21I mean, I'm going upstairs.
13:24I'm going to have a hell of a time.
13:26I'm taking George Burless out of what he taught me, 24-hour rule.
13:32Mine's 18.
13:34From now to about 8.30 in the morning, and then it's back to Indiana.
13:38But there'll be no Indiana, no controversy about quarterbacks.
13:42There'll be no anything else.
13:44I'm going to enjoy the players, the fans, and my team,
13:49because I've been told I do not enjoy the process enough.
13:53They are right.
13:54I don't.
13:55Today will not be one of those days.
13:58So I'm going to enjoy the process.
14:00Jason, with a season-high 34 minutes and zero turnovers,
14:03how impressive is that for a young player?
14:05And then all things considered, down two guys, down 14 at the half.
14:10Is that the best half you guys have maybe put together as a team this season?
14:15Yeah, I'd probably say it is.
14:16You know, because Jaden, I mean, I don't want to say this,
14:19but Jaden had to reach down in the second half.
14:24You know, we put him on what's-the-name-who-was-killing-us the first half.
14:29Part of the reason he was killing us, we kept throwing him the ball,
14:32and he kept going down and making layups.
14:34But that kid's a hell of a player, man.
14:38Shelstedt and Jaden Gardenham.
14:43Where he came up with the energy, I don't know.
14:47I didn't even ask.
14:49Didn't even want to ask.
14:50Didn't care.
14:51But I'd say that was the best half of basketball this building has seen
14:55in many, many, many, many, many years.
14:58Some of you guys have been here as long as me or longer.
15:01You might agree or disagree,
15:03but there's not many times that you have a run like that,
15:07the defense like that, the rebounding like that,
15:10a performance by an individual like Chase gave us,
15:13and a fan base that was out of their freaking minds.
15:17So that's a hell of a combination, you know.
15:19I heard Mick from UCLA say,
15:25if we turn the ball over three times,
15:27a game like we did against Michigan State,
15:30we can win the national championship.
15:33I said, if we can play in front of this fan base
15:36with the energy we had the second half,
15:39we can win a lot of games.
15:41The others yet to be seen.
15:44Tom, you're right.
15:45At halftime, the team talked about the 2000 team facing adversity,
15:48and that's kind of what helped them coalesce
15:50and win that championship.
15:51As far as this one goes, and this current team,
15:53where did you see maybe some of that created?
15:55Yeah.
15:56You know, it's funny because, you know,
15:58the team's here, and that was a funny year
16:00because he was hurt.
16:01Remember, we lost to Wright State.
16:02I mean, we had a lot of things that happened that year,
16:04but we got dogfights with Penn State
16:08when they weren't as good.
16:11We had some, you know, we'd blown more teams away this year
16:15than we would that year by far.
16:18But he's right.
16:20You know, you find out about the character of the individuals.
16:23You kind of find out about your fans.
16:25You know, second half, they got into that thing pretty quickly.
16:30And just coming off, hail Mary 3 at the buzzer.
16:36And, boy, I'll tell you, if those people are on the Internet,
16:42that ain't the 15,000 that were here.
16:45And if it was, so be it.
16:49You know, I just appreciate our fan base.
16:54And if they were mad about California,
16:59they were just like the head coach.
17:01He was mad too.
17:03Now, bailing, head coach didn't bail.
17:06I don't think the fans bailed.
17:09It was an unbelievable half of basketball.
17:13I know there's always been relationships
17:15between the former players and the current players,
17:17but with Jace sort of being one of them in a unique sort of way,
17:21I'm wondering what you hear about Jace from the former guys,
17:24whether they're behind your bench right now
17:26or just between games, after games.
17:28What do they say about what Jace is doing?
17:30Can you imagine being Jace and sitting there with Mateen and Andre and Morris
17:35and, you know, Al Anagonia that I tried to get out there
17:38to help me with the officials, and he wouldn't come out.
17:40But, you know, can you imagine being a dad in that situation
17:46and looking up at banners he hung and watching his son?
17:52And as you said, I mean, he didn't do it in a crazy way.
17:57He did it in a very methodical way.
17:59You know, he had that one little stretch,
18:01but it was just take care of the ball.
18:03It was make some good passes.
18:05It was play good defense.
18:06It was get fouled and then make a couple of great shots.
18:12But I think they all know about Jace Rich.
18:17I think they all have known.
18:18Just like Mateen's got a son coming up now
18:21and Calvin Torbert's got a son coming up
18:25and Andre Hudson's got a son coming up.
18:27You know, if I hang around long enough, there'll be more guys coming up.
18:30But Jace Richardson, if you know anything about him,
18:36he's way more than a basketball player, you know.
18:38I mean, if you look at the classes he takes, the grades he gets,
18:42the way he handles himself, what he does,
18:48I feel very fortunate to have him here.
18:50And I had no problem saying that because, you know,
18:54so why did it take this long?
18:56That should be the question.
18:58There's always things that you go through as a coach and as a player.
19:01And, you know, I'm not ready to say that the rest of the year
19:11he's going to score 30 a game.
19:12But what I love is how efficient he was.
19:16I mean, he was getting seven shots or eight shots a game
19:19and he gets 13 tonight.
19:21But he was so efficient, so good.
19:25And I think he was excited that the crowd was excited for him.
19:30That's pretty cool.
19:32That's pretty cool.
19:33We got one final one here with Bob.
19:35Tom, you talk about strength in numbers.
19:38Are you at all surprised at how it's working when it normally doesn't work?
19:44I think you're the only team in the country that has nobody,
19:47you know, one guy in double figures.
19:49Why is it working and can you just ride it out the rest of the way
19:54with strength in numbers?
19:56I'm going to ride it out, but I said it to you guys a week or two ago,
20:01you know, I think the minutes will change some as we go.
20:05You know, we're figuring out some guys are ready for this
20:07and some guys are ready for that.
20:09But I think you would be surprised that there's a lot more teams
20:13playing more people.
20:15I think it's because of all the things going on.
20:17I mean, like I said, UCLA played 11 of them, I think.
20:22But things work because people get along.
20:27Things work because it's how you sell it.
20:30Things work because you're honest with people.
20:33That's un-American now, you know.
20:36I mean, that's what I do.
20:39And yet, to the controversies that always come up, it's always difficult.
20:47We've been waiting.
20:49I used to hope that Gene Niggins would raise up, or Jace, or Trey,
20:53or Jeremy, or whoever, you know.
20:56And as they do, it starts a little separation.
21:00It doesn't mean you change everything you've been doing,
21:02but I make no bones about it that there will be difference in minutes
21:08as we go and the best players who are playing the best,
21:11and that could be different too.
21:13But one thing, Jace is bad.
21:15He's been pretty consistent as far as, I guess the word I'd use with him
21:21is that a consistent would be efficient.
21:24And for the most part, he's been very efficient.
21:27He's just getting better in all areas, the block, the big rebound he had,
21:31the defense.
21:34He's putting himself exactly where you hope a freshman would put himself.
21:38Now that he's almost a sophomore, and that's the way it is
21:42second half of your year, you're not a freshman anymore.
21:45He's playing like he's not a freshman.
21:47So we got a lot of work to do.
21:49I mean, you can't start out like we did.
21:51It was very tough to find out two days ago after coming back from that trip
21:56that book was out, and then get up yesterday and find Jeremy was out,
22:00and then get here today, and just as the game started,
22:04find out that Gene's not feeling really well.
22:08And yet, it's time for someone to rise up.
22:13And Chase rose up the first half and the second half.
22:17Trey rose up a little more in the second half.
22:20You know, we're kind of forgetting Jackson Kohler had a double-double,
22:2514 and 12.
22:27And, you know, he hits a big three, did a good job.
22:31Koop made some incredible free throws, 7 of 8 from the line.
22:36You know, that was a guy that was shooting 50% a year ago.
22:39There's a lot of guys that have gotten better,
22:41and part of the reason you get better, maybe you are playing them.
22:44And so, yeah, there's going to be some maneuvering a little bit,
22:49but I think we'll – I just want to make sure that you guys
22:53don't start a quarterback controversy.
22:56I'll keep doing what I do, you keep doing what you do.
22:59I'll keep coaching my team, you keep second-guessing.
23:02And we'll be okay.
23:05It's worked so far. Let's hope it works some more.
23:07Enjoy the day, guys. Thank you.