March 14, 2007

Press Conference Quotes
March 14, 2007
Michigan State Spartans

HEAD COACH TOM IZZO

Opening Statement
I thought I'd open up by saying I really don't like Tom Crean and that way it solves all the problems because I've answered so many questions about it. We're really excited to be here. It hasn't been maybe a typical year for us, but it's been maybe as rewarding a year as we've had in a lot of ways. To get to our 10th straight was very special for me, and thank God I think it was special to our players. Playing a team like Marquette, who just a couple of weeks ago was ranked I think 12th, 13th in the country, is going to be a challenge for us. They are well-coached. They run a lot of things. They have great guard play, and a lot of the staples that we have, they have or that they have, we have, either way you want to look at it. The game will go on. The Crean-Izzo thing - you won't see anyone come out with Crean on their uniform, and you won't see anyone come out with Izzo on their uniform. It'll be Michigan State against Marquette, and the players deserve to play the game, and that's the way it'll be played.

What do you remember about Crean when you first met him?
I did have a cheesy mustache. I think I have to admit that. He was as nervous then as he is now. He had a paranoia syndrome. Every gym we went in he used to send managers up to the upper deck to make sure nobody was spying on us. I used to say, `Tom, they've got 20 films on us anyway. What are you doing?' But that's his personality, that's the way he's been, and that's what's made him a great coach. I had a cheesy mustache, but I rented him a room, he put a box in the room and never unpacked it for nine months so we both have our deficiencies.

Can you tell us what you told the team when you called the timeout vs. Wisconsin?
I called it with 11.5 seconds left when we were down 12, 14, whatever we were down. I think with a young team you have to really get a feel for what they're thinking, and I didn't get a sense that they understood it's okay to say `My bad. I made a mistake. We started out a little slow, but we can do this and that,' but in one-and-done time you don't get to do any of those things. You pretty much better be ready to play the whole time. I think we came out ready to play, we just didn't play very good early. I understood that, but I called the timeout to say, `Okay, we're going home from this tournament, but the next time we start out 14-4, we aren't ready the minute that ball goes up, we're packing the uniforms for the year. That's all I said. I didn't say it in a bad way or a good way. I just said it in an educational way to teach them that one-and-done time is different from the regular season.

Why has Drew Neitzel moved almost completely away from the point?
Coaches gotta do what they gotta do. Two weeks into the season, we lost two of our better scorers - our freshman Raymar Morgan and our shooting guard Maurice Joseph. The only thing we could do then is play the three guys we had left 40 minutes a game, so I had to keep Travis (Walton) there, and Travis is not a two-guard. We just had no subs, so in the next six weeks, there was no change, and then Drew was getting so good at it. It's been more by a deficiency in the substitution pattern and the fact that we're not as deep. The other fact is he does an incredible job coming off screens, and with his size and maybe not being the athlete that Dominic James is that can totally get a shot for himself, coming off those picks has really been helpful, and we need his scoring as you know. He's averaging 18 a game, he's a candidate for the Wooden Award, he better quit complaining and realize that he's pretty lucky.

Has the team finally found its sense of urgency?
It's funny. I think we all want everybody to grow up quicker than they should, and then when they grow up, we wish they were younger than they are, so it's kind of a cycle. I don't think anybody has the sense of urgency yet that we need, yet I think we have gained a lot. I think there's a better understanding. The loss at Wisconsin in a way helped. We put a tape together of some free throws we missed and simple things that really should take place. You try to make a team understand that these are the little things that make a difference. There's a lot of teams that one year lose eight games by three, four points or less, and the next year they really make something of themselves. This team has actually lost some close games but against teams that probably were superior. We learned a lot in our wins, but we maybe even learned more in our losses, and I think that has helped us grow and hang in games that at times we maybe shouldn't have hung in. I think we're getting there, but I don't think it's as fast as I'd like it to be.

Can you expand on your statement that you and Crean have similar styles but different teams because of personnel?
If you look at his team this year, it's a lot like our 2004 Final Four team. They have very good guard play, they fast-break on makes and misses, a lot like our championship teams did. Our personnel right now because of depth alone, we haven't been able to run like we'd like to run. We haven't run after made buckets almost all year. That part has been a little depressing for me because that was our style for most of the 10-year run, but you've got to do what you've got to do with the cards you're dealt. If Shannon was here, we'd probably play a little different. Maybe if we hadn't had the injuries early, we'd play a little different, but our philosophy is still the same. I still like to run, I still think that defense and rebounding is important. I'd like to be a little better offensive team than we are. I think he has done some of those things with his team. They're a more guard-oriented team, and Fitzgerald can really shoot it a lot like Ballinger and Granger did for us. I think he's modeled his team the same way as the one he helped model when he was at Michigan State, and we have to play a little different because of our personnel. For a couple of years he had to play a little different.

STUDENT-ATHLETES JUNIOR GUARD DREW NEITZEL AND SOPHOMORE GUARD TRAVIS WALTON

How obvious are the similarities between Michigan State and Marquette? Drew: At some points, it is pretty obvious. We've looked at some of their sets, and they are pretty similar to ours. Just looking at the way they hit the offensive rebounds--watching film, they send like four and five guys to the offensive glass.

Travis: Some of the things we do are similar--rebounding, playing great defense. Coach always says that players play the game though, so we don't want to look too far into that.

Do you expect to be on (Marquette guard) Dominic James primarily?
Travis: He's a great player. Guarding him is going to be a tough task. We've played great team defense all year, so hopefully tomorrow will be no different.

Can you talk about guarding (Marquette guard) Wesley Matthews?
Drew: He's a great player. I've watched a lot of film on him. He's a key player for them, especially on offense, especially even more now with (Jerel) McNeal out. It's going to be a team effort. Everyone is going to have to help out on everybody. They're a great dribble-drive team, so we really need to shrink the gaps.

Are you all glad you're not playing Wisconsin?
Drew: I guess. We were looking forward to playing a team that doesn't really know our stuff that much. Then we drew Marquette with Coach Crean, so that's kind of out the window. It's going to be a dog fight. Both teams are solid. Both teams can play defense. It should be a great game.

Marquette is one of the best deflection teams around. How conscious are you all going to have to be of your passing lanes?
Drew: Turnovers have been one of our struggles the whole season. Some games we've been able to handle the pressure, some we haven't. We're really going to have to key in and take care of the ball. They change up their defense. They're really good at getting in those passing lanes. We're really going to have to make crisp passes.

How well do you all feel you've adjusted to having to switch positions around?
Drew: At the start of the season, coach thought I would be playing 50-50 (between point and shooting guard). It's turned out to be like 90-10. I've enjoyed the change and the challenge of becoming the number one scoring option. I still don't see myself as a shooting guard--I think I'm more of a lead guard. I'm still trying to make things happen at the shooting guard position. I think I've adjusted pretty well. Travis has done a great job of getting me the ball and putting me in a position to score. I think we've had a great chemistry from the start. We're roommates on the road and worked out a lot over the summer. We also talk a lot on the floor during the game.

Despite the fact that you're favorite, do you all still see yourself in the scrappy, underdog role?
Travis: A lot of people were talking about us not making it to the tournament. We have to continue what we've been doing well all year. We have to play great team defense, rebounding the ball and going after loose balls. In this type of tournament, you might have a bad shooting day or make turnovers, but if you play great defense and get after loose balls, you still might be ok.

How would you compare Dominic James to some of the other guards you've seen this year?
Travis: He's a tough comparison. He can jump really well and has an ok shot. He's a great penetrator. He looks for his teammates and is always in attack mode. Sometimes you have a point guard who tries to set his teammates up and sometimes you have one who is more of a scorer. He does both. He also does a great job on defense.