March 14, 2007

Press Conference Quotes
March 14, 2007
Marquette Golden Eagles

HEAD COACH TOM CREAN

Opening Statement
As usual, no matter when your name comes up and when you get to the site, no matter how many years you're a part of something like this, it always feels like the first time. To be in this tournament and to be in Winston-Salem - since I've been at Marquette, we've had a chance to play here one time against Skip Prosser and Wake Forest, not the result that we wanted, but we had a chance to be here, and it's a great area. We've looked forward to this since the pairings came out. It's a different feeling obviously when you're going against somebody you're so familiar with, and obviously the friendship is strong as ever, and this won't change it. It really does come down to how important this is for both teams' players, to be in the tournament, to have both had outstanding years and to have the opportunity to come in here and represent themselves, their teammates, their families and their universities in the greatest spectacle in sports. We're really excited to be here.

On Tom Izzo "ripping him off" when he rented from him
We didn't have two nickels to rub together, and he was charging us $200 a month. I'm just joking. It sure beat trying to get an apartment somewhere else in Lansing or East Lansing. I said that in jest. It was a lot of fun. Those were great, great days. I wouldn't trade any part of my time, being at Elma College and Mount Pleasant High School and certainly that graduate assistant year with Tom where Tom, Jim Boylen and myself all lived together working for Jud (Heathcote). Herb Williams was the other coach on that staff. I learned more that year than I could have ever imagined. It was awesome.

Is your philosophy to try to take out the No. 1 scorer?
I don't think you can. I think as good as he is, they're very good. Raymar Morgan is capable. Can you imagine if he hadn't had the injury, where he'd be at in the national scope of things? Travis Walton is excellent. We recruited him, so we're very familiar with him. (Goran) Suton has improved leaps and bounds. (Drew) Naymick knows exactly what he's supposed to do. Marquise Gray - I mean if you step up on a screen and Marquise Gray is anywhere near that rim, it's going to be a dunk that's going to end up on a highlight show. As good as Drew (Neitzel) is, and as much as they run for him, you cannot get away from how good the rest of their team is. There'll be a lot of focus on him, but it's not like we can put all of it on him.

Do you catch yourself sounding like Tom Izzo?
I don't think so. There's probably some similarities, and I think some of our terminology is the same. Probably when I first got to know him, he was one of the first people to ever give me the time of day as a young coach. I looked up to him in a real hero-ideal kind of way, but as time went on, our friendship just grew, and we became peers. Tom allowed that to happen. I've always had great respect for him. This will be the first time in my life that I'm not rooting for him to win. That's different. It'll be the first time I'm not rooting for Michigan State to win, but it's part of it. I don't think I have ever consciously looked at it like that. I think we've always been two different individuals that had a lot of common themes and a lot of common goals and both wanted each other to be successful. I think that's a common denominator with all of the guys that have worked for Tom. You don't work for him. You work with him, and you want nothing more than for him to be successful. I just got to be one of the first guys to do that with him because I was on his first staff.

Would Drew Neitzel have been Jerel McNeal's primary assignment?
You can't put all your focus on him, but you can't guard him with one person either. Would Jerel have been guarding him? No question about it. Jerel thinks he's going to play tomorrow night. We had a little walk-through at the hotel, and he was in that. There's a part of me that thinks it's a real possibility, but he'd have to get clearance from the doctors, and I'm just not sure that's going to happen. He wants to play so bad. If he can get them convinced, we'll give it a shot, but I don't think that will happen. He would be one of the main guys we would count on, but I think you have to have numerous people who can guard him, and most importantly you have to have your team be aware of where he is all the time because of the way they bring him off screens. It's not like they put him in one area. It's not like they run highball screen or sideball screen or run him off a single or run him off a double. They do incredible things. I understand that because we did the same thing when we had Travis Diener especially after Dwyane Wade went to the NBA and Robert Jackson graduated. We needed to do those things with Travis, so I have a feeling for that.

Is it fair to get 20 pts out of Dan Fitzgerald, or have his last two games been beyond expectations?
He's had an excellent year. He had some great games last year. He's been very consistent. If you look at our numbers, especially when we've played well on the road, he's made big plays. Now it hasn't always been 20-point games - that's the last two games, but he's made enough big plays that he's a huge part of our team. It's not like he just came on the scene. He's been sixth man, he started some, but it was a no-brainer to insert him into the starting lineup when Jerel had the injury. We don't want any added pressure on Dan. We just want him to go out and play hard defensively, rebound the ball, and when he's open take the shot.

Has offense adjusted to playing without Jerel McNeal?
I think so. It's different because Jerel is so good at getting into the lane. He's so good at finding gaps. What you've seen in the improvement of Jerel, for those who have been with us all year, his decision-making is getting so much better because he's seeing the floor so much better. One of the great things about him is the tunnel vision he has getting to the rim, and we don't want to take any of that away, but one of the things that's improved so much about him is he sees cutters, he sees the open man, and he makes those passes. There was a time when he was in the top five, six in assists in our league for a while. It's a great loss not having him. He was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. I've only coached two guys that have averaged double-figure deflections - him and Dwyane Wade. He gets a lot of steals. He does a lot of great things. We miss him. But are the guys adjusting? I think they are.

What have you learned from Tom Izzo?
I would say first and foremost, Tom demands out of everyone that they give what they have every day. Tom doesn't put his head on the pillow saying I'll handle it tomorrow. He doesn't end the day, and say, okay, I'll get to that next week. It's handled then. I learned a lot about that. I was the recipient of some of that. I had a chance to go through that with him, and it's not just the players, and it's not just the coaches. Tom never treats you like you work for him. He treats you like you work with him. That's not just the coaches either. That's everybody else. The first sign, the first t-shirt that we made when we got to Marquette is one of the things that he started doing the third year is `Championship effort is the only effort accepted here.' That sign will never come down. It will never get old. I don't think it has ever gotten old for him, and that's how he coaches and lives. Then the absolute attention to detail and the ability to be honest with yourself. You can't have your players learn honesty about their games and about where they're at, and you certainly can't have your team learn where they're at and be honest with them if you can't do that yourself. Tom has always done that, and he has forced those around him to do that. I learned a lot about that, and I take those with me. Those are just part of who we are, who I am probably, and I think they're great qualities to have.

Are there times when you wish questions were directed at you instead of about Izzo?
Not at all. The friendship with him is so strong. I just hope there's a round of Roy Williams questions on Friday and Saturday, and I know he does the same. I don't have a confidence problem on what I'm doing and what we're doing, and I've never looked at it like that. If people see us as friends, and people see the blueprint, I never made it a secret that we were going to follow that blueprint when we came there, so we're not changing it now. I think we've added to each other in the time that we've been gone, but he has other friends, and I have other friends. I have a great staff. He has a wonderful staff.

Is Lazar Hayward oblivious to pressure situations?
We don't need to put too much on him or (David Cubillan). Let's let it happen. Those guys are playing quality minutes. They're way past freshman year for us. They've done so many different things. They've been a part of big losses. I think for him right now, he'll have a tough matchup no matter what, whether it's (Raymar) Morgan, (Goran) Suton, (Marquise) Gray, whoever's out there. Again, when you're playing team defense, he's going to be matched up with a lot of people, even in the backcourt, so he's got to be really alert and sound defensively. He's got to rebound the ball because above all else that's said, this will come down to the rebounding. I don't have any question about that.

STUDENT-ATHLETES OUSMANE BARRO, DAN FITZGERALD, DOMINIC JAMES, WESLEY MATTHEWS AND JEREL MCNEAL

Is there any specific similarities that you have seen between your team and Michigan State?
Wesley: Yeah, there definitely are. We've definitely seen some just watching their games on ESPN while waiting for our game to start. Some of the things that they run we can tell are kind of in our playbook too. It's going to be an exciting game, especially considering that aspect. I think it's just going to come down to who's going to execute more.

Dan: With Jerel gone, everyone has to step it up. Anyone coming off the bench, it's got to be a team effort. Jerel's important to us in so many areas. A lot of guys are going to have to step up.

Can you talk about how you're feeling and what your situation is this weekend?
Jerel: It's a little up in the air. Coach is going to let me dress tomorrow, and I'll be available. It's on coach. It'll be his decision as to whether or not he's going to play me.

Were any of you recruited by Michigan State? Anything different in the recruiting pitch?
Dominic: I was. They were pretty similar. I made visits to both. The coaches had a lot of the same things to say. They're two competitive coaches. They come from the same mindset. I'm very happy with where I am.

How do you see the two teams matching up?
Wesley: It's going to be a battle. Every game in this tournament is going to be a battle. We have two teams that are so similar with two competitive coaches, like Dominic said. The two teams are going to execute, rebound and run.

How important is it to contain (Michigan State G) Drew Neitzel?
Dominic: It will be very important. That's one of the key match-ups of the game. He's a great player. He can do a lot to hurt us. His containment will be a key to the game. We definitely have to stop him in order to be successful. It's going to be a team effort in order to stop a guy like that. We can't get caught up on one guy though.

Can you expand on how you feel and what you're going to be limited with tomorrow?
Jerel: It's to the point right now to where I'm definitely not back at 100 percent. That's the reason Coach Crean came out and said I wouldn't play tomorrow against Michigan State. I just don't want to be put on the floor and be in a situation where I can't help the team. I definitely don't want to hurt the team. Whatever happens, happens. If there's a situation during the game where I can help the team, then so be it. If not, I'll be on the bench cheering for them.

Are you expecting to be spending the bulk of the time on Drew Neitzel tomorrow?
Wesley: I don't know. It's going to be a team effort. The team is going to have to defend him. That's the kind of defense we're going to play. Everyone is going to have to have that mindset of defense and rebounding in order for us to be successful.

Can you assess what you think will happen with the play down low?
Ousmane: Michigan State plays tough down low. We know that they have a good team. We just have to stick with the game plan and take it from there.