March 9, 2007
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes
Wisconsin Badgers
COACH BO RYAN: Well, I'm just proud of the way our guys played. We fought through some things. We didn't get off to a great start in the second half but fought through it and found ourselves on the offensive end and did a little bit better job defensively. But that one run Michigan State had, that's how they can play. They can cut into any lead, so it didn't feel safe until the final buzzer, to be honest with you.
Q. Michael, what was the difference for you on Neitzel tonight? You seemed to block him better than you had the previous two games.
MICHAEL FLOWERS: Well, there wasn't that much difference. Coach has been on me trying to tell me to play disciplined defense. That's what I did. And today some of the shots weren't falling and in the previous two games, those were the same shots he was taking, but they were falling.
Q. Alando, can you talk about the help you got specifically from teammates kind of picking you up as you were struggling there a little bit in the first half, and also talk about how important that will be now until Sunday and then through the end of the NCAA Tournament in March, to get that kind of help from everybody else?
ALANDO TUCKER: I wouldn't say I was struggling (laughter). My teammates, they were getting open, and that's one of the things that we've been making a conscious effort on doing the whole season. When I get the ball, no one stands around. Mike (Flowers) came out hot, and Kam (Taylor), and that's what we need. When my teammates are doing that, they stretch the defense out, and that's going to be big going down the stretch.
Q. In the second half you guys started off slow offensively and Michigan State was starting to catch up. I think you had 11 of the first 15 points that the team scored. Was that a conscious effort, to try and keep the team afloat, try and keep your head above water out there?
ALANDO TUCKER: I was taking what the defense was giving me, and I knew at that point in time that I had to step up. But it was one of those things that we made some good calls, some good reads, and that's the way the ball drops sometimes.
So it was one of those things. I never tried to force the issue, but everything just seemed to fall in place.
Q. Kam and Mike, can you talk about your team, particularly on defense to start the game and maybe the impact it had in the first half?
KAMMRON TAYLOR: Well, we've just been trying to be more aggressive, especially on the perimeter. We were just trying to keep them from getting open looks. We didn't do a good job of that the first time we played them. But we just tried to make a conscious effort of just picking up our man and basically just harassing him and trying not to give him any good looks.
Q. Kam, what was different for you today offensively than the other two times you played Michigan State?
KAMMRON TAYLOR: My shots were going in (laughter). I mean, that's it. I was just being more aggressive on the defensive end as well.
Q. Kam, what was the difference after halftime? It took you guys maybe about seven minutes to score your first field goal in the second half. Was the defense a little tougher coming out of half?
KAMMRON TAYLOR: No, I don't think so. We just didn't do a good job with our shot selection. Once we calmed down and started taking better shots. That is when we caught ourselves.
Q. This is for Alando. How conscious were you in the second half of how close you were getting to the all time points record for the University?
ALANDO TUCKER: I never that never crosses my mind. Seriously.
COACH BO RYAN: What is the record?
Q. You were one short.
ALANDO TUCKER: I never think about that. I'm thinking about winning. Had I not done some things on the court, we'd have been going home. We'd be on a bus back to Madison. That was my whole mind frame on the court. I never try to think about records, and that's why I've been so successful, as well as the team. We never think about records.
Q. There were about four or five plays today where somebody was able to slip underneath and get an easy layup. Was that just MSU falling asleep on defense or good execution on your part?
ALANDO TUCKER: It was good movement. The way they were playing me, when I'd get the ball they were attacking me hard, and when our guys move they were losing sight. Michigan State's defenders were losing sight of our offensive players and I was able to find them. All of us, we always share the ball well. That's one thing, if we're moving, that's Wisconsin basketball.
Q. Michael, you talked after the game at East Lansing about how the team had to do a good job of guarding the potential passers and Neitzel. Can you talk about how your teammates helped you out tonight and just limiting the passes to Neitzel?
MICHAEL FLOWERS: Yeah, like Kam (Taylor) said, he was pressuring the ball handler so that throws off their timing and Michigan State's offense is primarily a timing, so Kam and (Alando) Tucker and Marcus (Landry), they were pressuring the ball harder, and when Drew (Neitzel) was open, they weren't able to connect, and I was able to catch up to them.
Q. Alando, in the second half when you were getting hot you seemed to be kind of showing, playing to the crowd a little bit. Was that just the atmosphere or were you that excited to be making the shots?
ALANDO TUCKER: It's emotion. You look at all my games, they're emotional. I'm an emotional player regardless. It's the same thing if one of my teammates make a play. I'm excited. It's just fun. This whole atmosphere, March Madness, it's either win or go home, so you have to bring it all. That's one of the things, when we're having fun, we're playing our best basketball.
THE MODERATOR: We'll finish up with questions for Coach Ryan, please.
Q. After the technical, they were called for offensive fouls on three of their next four possessions. Was that the point you were trying to get across?
COACH BO RYAN: No, not at all. It was just something on the defensive end, on their defensive end, not on their offensive end.
But it was just the way it was interpreted.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about Greg's impact, especially on the defensive end?
COACH BO RYAN: Yeah, Greg (Stiemsma) is getting a little more comfortable. I thought he moved his feet well, I thought his positioning was a lot better, and this is a good opportunity for him.
You have to understand our guys are human, and there isn't a team in Division I that can't beat us, but to have played those 31 games the way we did, or 30 going into the Michigan State game at our place, and to say that because of an injury to one of our players we're not as good a team, I thought I thought you had to wait until you saw a team play a few times to look at it that way.
Greg Steimsma, Marcus (Landry) and the other guys that have picked up for Brian Butch, we just beat a team that ended up being by 13 that beat us at their place by nine with Brian Butch. So Greg Steimsma is a big part of that. We miss Brian. Every team would miss a guy that gave consistent numbers. But to all of a sudden hear this conversation about Wisconsin with this injury is not as good a team I'm not saying not a very good team, but is not as good a team, wouldn't you want to just watch us play?
So I thought our guys made a pretty good statement out there, the bigs that game in and helped. Kevin Gullikson also came in and gave us some nice minutes. And in all fairness to these young men, I say let them play. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, but I thought they picked up for the absence of a pretty good player and carried the load. That's my reaction.
Talking about Greg Steimsma, Greg is one of those guys that got some of those points in rebound, and the defense that he played. That's what he can bring.
Q. Neitzel had eight assists today but didn't get his first field goal until about ten minutes left. Was that the goal today to turn him into a passer rather than a shooter?
COACH BO RYAN: He's a smart player. He's going to do what's best for the team. If he's got shots, he's going to take them; if he sees open guys he's going to hit them. That's why he's a good player.
Michigan State Spartans
COACH TOM IZZO: I was very disappointed. I thought we'd give them a better game. For some reason our defense just let us down. It's been good for 31 or 32 games, whatever we played, and we really didn't check very well tonight. That was probably the difference in the game, that and the fact that we just can't seem to keep Raymar Morgan in the game. There was some key plays and I was disappointed about that.
They played well. I told my team before, Taylor was a big key. He got off to a great start, and they deserved to win the game.
Q. Drew, did Flowers finally get the best out of you this third time around?
DREW NEITZEL: I think they did a great job of playing team defense. Any time I was coming off a down screen, there was always somebody there, whether it was Krabbenhoft or one of the big guys always stepping up. I think they did a great job of playing team defense tonight.
Q. Drew, was that limp just something minor or did that affect you at all? What happened exactly with that?
DREW NEITZEL: I slipped a couple times on the court and just landed wrong. No, that wasn't a problem, though.
Q. Drew, at the same time you had an 8:0 assist turnover ratio. Was that defense making you into a passer more than a shooter?
DREW NEITZEL: Yeah, I think their goal was to try to get the ball out of my hands. Coach said try not to force things, just let the game come to you. That's what I tried to do, get the ball in the post and make them pay for stepping up, and our big guys did a good job of finishing.
Q. Why the defensive struggles tonight after playing so well defensively against them the first two times?
TRAVIS WALTON: We just didn't come out ready to play. We've been playing pretty good defense all year, and the last two games our defense hasn't been there. Tonight it caught up with us.
THE MODERATOR: We'll finish up with questions for Coach Izzo, please.
Q. Coach, are you confident in the NCAA tournament at this point?
COACH TOM IZZO: I've said for three weeks that you earn your keep if you do the job you did. I think this team has done their job, and I'm tired of answering that question, to be honest with you. If they don't take this team for what we've done and who we've played, the toughest schedule in this whole damn league, we'll go to the NIT. If they do think so, we'll go to the NCAA. I'm tired of answering that question.
Q. A lot of times teams that play that first day kind of start better. The other team takes some time to adjust, and tonight obviously the reverse was true. Was that first four minutes the key to the game?
COACH TOM IZZO: Yeah, I think so. I think that's a fair assessment. I was very disappointed in how we played. We lost assignments. The only guy that played well defensively was Travis.
Offensively they did a good job of taking Drew away. We had some opportunities. But, you know, give our kids credit, they battled back. And when Raymar had that kind of breakaway dunk, and we got fouled and missed the two free throws. I thought his fifth foul was terrible, and we can't keep the guy in the game. Every time we play Wisconsin we can't keep him in the game, so we're going to have to do a better job coaching him on that. We're just not the same team with him not in the game. When he is in the game, he's playing with either two fouls before the half and can't touch a guy, or with four fouls at the end. So that part was really disappointing to me.
Q. Just avoiding the foul situation against Wisconsin ...
COACH TOM IZZO: It's a joke. That one I'm almost tired of talking about just like I am the NCAA. Nothing good will be said and nothing good will come out of my mouth, so then I'll look like a whiner and a crier.
They beat us and they played awfully well. Like I said, I told them before that (Kammron) Taylor was a big key, and he played well. (Michael) Flowers made some shots early.
But when we got it within five and missed the free throws and then got that fifth foul our lineup is just not a lineup to come back with. We missed some free throws and some good opportunities. (Alando) Tucker missed some opportunities. He played well. They played well, we didn't play well. That's how you lose by 12 or 13.
Q. Do you think somebody could make a computer that could come up with where you wouldn't have to play the same team two or three times in two and a half weeks?
COACH TOM IZZO: Boy, if I answer this one I'm really in trouble. I'm sick of answering that question. That's why when somebody says "bubble," I swear it doesn't phase me. If this is a bubble team for who we played and what we did, you know what, then we're a bubble team.
I think we're a little drained, there's no question. They had that bye week and then the extra day and I think that helped. We've played so many big games. Last night wasn't against the best team, but for our guys there was a lot of pressure on that game. It's been 12 straight games of incredible pressure, and I thought we did not play very well defensively. They played well offensively. Which one caused the other one, I don't know, but I didn't think we were very sharp from the get-go.
And then we really wanted to put Raymar on Tucker, but once he got in a little bit of foul trouble we just couldn't do it. Walton did a good job on him, but what I needed was Walton to cover five guys, and that's not able to happen.
Q. Suton really carried you in the first half when nothing else was working. What happened with his production in the second half?
COACH TOM IZZO: That's a good question. I really don't know. I think they did a nice job of adjusting to him. I think they were stepping up on picks a little harder, and we just couldn't get Drew in position. I think Flowers did do a good job on him, but I think he answered that correctly. I thought Krabbenhoft jumped up on him a lot. We missed some shots or we missed some shots. We missed some free throws.
You look at the free throws, I mean, 5 of 11, and we missed two or three front ends of a one on one. We didn't get to the line enough, and this summer I'm going to spend time just driving the ball and getting fouled. I think that's the best offense right now.
Q. Just to piggy back a little bit on that with Drew, was there anything special they did or was it just kind of an off night for him from the field?
COACH TOM IZZO: I don't think he got a lot of good looks. You've got to give him credit. I don't think he had a lot of good looks. I thought he had a good look the first time; I thought he got fouled on to be honest with you. I don't know if that got in his head. But then he didn't take a couple shots and came off those screens and he tried to drive it to the hole.
I can't tell you how hard it is to play without Morgan on this team. We're not good enough. We're not good enough to start without him. We're not good enough without him playing. The 24 minutes looks like he played a decent amount, but when you play half of them in the foul trouble he's in and he's just got to quit the charge, the last one, I don't know what to say to him. He played eight minutes at Wisconsin, and we're not good enough to beat a top five team with our second best player sitting on the bench half the game, that's for sure.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time.
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