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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 28, 2014Tom IzzoCOACH IZZO: Hard to believe a new season is upon us. Still enjoying football. I think I'll do that for a couple more weeks. But I am excited to get started. It's been kind of exciting since last year. I say that because it ended disappointingly. Not many times I felt like we had a chance to do something special, last year I did. A lot of reasons why we didn't quite get it done. The biggest one, we didn't play well in the best game. Don't play well enough in the big games, it's one‑and‑done time, you don't move on. That kind of hasn't sat well with me all summer because I really believed it was a year to not only get back to a Final Four but I thought a legitimate chance to win a national championship. So you do one of two things when you go through that. You either learn from it and grow from it, or you pout from it. I think we've learned from it, grown from it. We've had an exceptional summer. I've had some decent summers the last couple years, but this one has been better than most. I think because we've gotten back to where we had the leadership we had with Draymond, with Zel, Travis, they've been great leaders, still have real good camaraderie. I think the work ethic Tom brings. Branden Dawson has brought a whole other level. It's made for an enjoyable summer, almost to the point where I had to take some guys this year and tell them not to come in, they were in too much. Guys are coming in early in the morning. I suppose I should at least address the fact that Javon Bess we all know is having surgery right now as we speak or shortly thereafter. It's going to be a loss for a little bit, but he'll get back. I'll talk about that later. I don't know what to say to you on where we are because I'm not sure. I know this. We have some good guys coming back. But I have questions about this team. I have questions about the league. I think the league right now has got six teams ranked in the top 25, eight teams getting votes. That's more than last year. We lost a lot, yet we return three of our six starters. I think what we got to look at, what I got to look at, in losing a lot, we still played without a lot of the guys we lost. I say that because everybody knows, I think it was 12 games we paid without Payne, I think three or four without Harris, I think nine without Dawson, I think three without Trice. We had significant guys playing significant roles in some big games, especially when we lost Dawson and Payne together, actually one or two games Appling was in that group, too. When we lost those two guys together, a lot of guys had to step up. Alvin Ellis had to step up. But one of the main guys that had to step up is Trice. Trice didn't start all 20, but he played a in every game and played a significant role. Dawson, Valentine and Costello, we kind of forget, Costello was starting before up to the North Carolina game, wasn't supposed to play in it, he played. He had mono. That kept him out for about 25 days. But more importantly, we moved on a little bit. He never got back to where he was until later in the season. That, too, was a difficult transition. But in looking at it, Trice has been a key to our team. I mean, he's had some big games when guys were out. He scored 20 points a game one game as a freshman and I think he's capable of doing that. We're going to miss a great defender in Keith. Let's be honest about it, with the injury that he had, never was the same from the middle of January on. So I think, him stepping up is going to be big. I think Ellis and Schilling are going to be two other key guys. Schilling had 12 points against Michigan. Ellis did, I mean. Schilling had a few big games, down in Texas. Big games doesn't always just mean in points. I had a couple guys I thought really improved in the summer, but Schilling has improved the most in the fall. We lost Costello for a week with an ankle sprain earlier, and Schilling just took off. He was playing probably some of his best basketball since he got here. It all comes down to this, though. Mark Dantonio said it best, using a quote from him: To be successful, you need the seniors to have great years. Your seniors have to rise to the occasion, have great years. You look at last year, we had one senior have a phenomenal year, one senior that had an average year. The average year wasn't all his fault. You look at those two guys, Payne and Appling, you had one of each. But Payne had some big games, some key moments, and that was big for us. I believe the two seniors we have this year are going to have great years. I think Dawson is going to have the best year of his career, staying healthy. I think if Trice stays healthy, which has been his number one nemesis since he's come here with some bizarre injuries, he's in the best shape he's been in, he's stronger, he's had the best spring, summer and fall. We forget there are a lot of great things about Travis Trice. He shot 48% from the three in league play last year. We could have used that a little bit more often. We have another difficult schedule. The difficulty changes in different ways. Six of our first eight games are on the road. I don't know why I keep doing those things, but they all end up that way. Going to Navy right off the bat, that will be 4th of July, Christmas out there. I was hoping when we scheduled it, we'd see our football team the next day. They moved that to a night game. Changes our plans a little bit. But as far as we go, that will be a road game right off the bat. Then we go with Duke, Indianapolis. The chance you're going to play hopefully a Georgia Tech or Marquette, maybe a Kansas. If you play Kansas and Duke, that's two top‑five teams in the first six or seven games that we're going to play. Then you have Notre Dame in there. All that before the second week of December. As usual, this isn't the year that you want to schedule that tough that early, except that it will kind of give us an idea of where we're at. I'm going to use that to big advantage. The Big Ten, last year we had four teams in the top 10 at one point early. We don't have that this year. We have maybe one. But we have six teams in the top 25. As I said, we have eight teams that have received points. So the schedule I think is going to be brutal. I think we're picked anywhere from 2 to 9, I guess, 8, whatever it was. I said at our Big Ten meetings, I agree with all of it. We're picked anywhere from 10th to 30th, I agree with all that. I only agree with it because I can see where anybody would put us anywhere. I think there are eight or nine teams in the Big Ten that could be second to tenth, I really do. Don't forget, we have a scheduling issue this year. Playing eight teams once. I said it before, I'm going to say it again, pretty soon I'm going to vote to play everybody twice. The advantage/disadvantage. This year I'm not sure what everybody else got, but of those top‑six teams that everybody has ranked in the top 25, we play three of those teams once on the road only. I think we're the only school that plays three of those top‑six teams, all three of them on the road. That's going to be unique. The schedule with 14 teams, five twice, and as I said eight teams once. If you can figure that out, you're a lot better man or woman than I am because I don't know how that's going to go. I can't say I'm excited about it. I can't say I'm depressed about it because it is what it is. I think it's going to be something we're going to have to live with for a while. But I don't like when the schedule can sometimes determine the outcome more than the performance on the court. That's the way it is in a lot of leagues right now. As far as the breakdown of our players, in Dawson everybody knows down the stretch last year he averaged 15, 15 and a half, eight rebounds. Throughout the year he was 11 in 8.3 rebounds, almost averaged a double‑double, shooting 61%. Shot selection, most outstanding player of the Big Ten tournament. After the broken hand, you could argue that he might have been playing as well as anybody on our team for those next seven, eight games he played in. I think he's had a great summer. He's improved his shooting some. I think we all talked about, no secrets here, pretty transparent, the motor has to keep running. It's running on a lot higher rpms than it has been. I think if he can do that on a consistent basis, he won't only be a good player, he'll be a great player and have a phenomenal senior year, which he has to for us to be a great team. Trice, he started nine or 10 games, but he did average almost 9.3, 3.6 assists, with an assist‑to‑turnover ratio that was off the charts, six‑to‑one. He brought some stability to the position. He wasn't Appling in some ways but he did some things that were better in other ways. The other thing is you rank third overall in three‑point field goal shooting at 43, but second in the Big Ten at 48. I mean, that's some serious numbers. That we were lacking. Already this year I think we're a better offensive team. I don't know if we're a better defensive team. Keenan Wetzel, our last senior, a walk‑on that we put on scholarship, the guy can shoot it. That's what we're going to see if he can do because at times we may need more scoring. The juniors, Valentine is definitely the class of that group. He's the only Spartan to appear in every game last year, the only one. Only player in the Big Ten to rank in the top 15 in both rebounding and assists. I think he did a much better job of curbing his turnovers last year. Still had his moments. But a much better job of that. I think he's used the off‑season to go from a good shooter to a very, very good shooter. He's had as good a summer and fall as anybody on our team. I'm expecting a lot out of Denzel. Those three guys are going to have to be a big key in our scoring, but Denzel has to improve his defense because he has to guard people that maybe Gary guarded. We could use Denzel anywhere from four, three, two or one. He might have to guard four different positions. Costello, what he did a great job of doing last year was blocking shots. What he didn't do as good a job of that he did his freshman here is rebounding. He's got to get back doing the things he's got to do to be successful. He has to become a great screener. He can shoot the 17‑foot shot. He's got to stay in the post where he can do some things down there and get to the free‑throw line where he's a good free‑throw shooter. If he can't screen and rebound, we're going to be in trouble. I think he was playing some of his best basketball early, then he got the mono. Later on in the year, we went to Iowa, Illinois, he was a big key in some of those wins. You watch him. You watch him practice. We don't appreciate what he does. You see him in a game where it's more suited for his style, and he's smart, he does a lot of good things. He's got some toughness. He's definitely going to be a big key to try to replace something that Adreian gave us. It won't be necessarily in points, but it might be in getting more people open. It might be in rebounding a little better. I think he could be a very good defensive player. Then comes the two transfers, Bryn Forbes, who will play. He made 142 three‑pointers in the two seasons at Cleveland State. Gary made a lot of threes, and he made more than Gary. He averaged 2.5 per game last year. I think the only other one to beat that was our own, Travis Bader, all time leader. He made more than anyone in the Horizon League. He averaged almost 16 points a game as a sophomore there and scored 22 at Kentucky. He's played in big arenas. I will say this. After a month and a half, two months, even some of the summer, I'm not sure since Shawn Respert I've had a guy that has a prettier shot or a guy that can shoot it more consistently well than him. This is when I wish I was a football coach. I'd put him on offense, I'd watch him on the bench on defense, but I can't do that. We're going to find a way. He has worked awfully hard at it. Maybe it's Carleton, Valentine, the guys, all those guys that played on that championship team, they work, they play, work out as hard as any players I've had. Bryn, he knows that he has to get better with the ball. He's gotten a lot better with that. He knows he has to get better defensively. He's gotten some better in that. We're going to challenge him the next couple weeks because this kid can fill it up, he can really shoot it. He's proven that over two years. Remember, he was I think their leading scorer at Sexton when they won those two state championships. He's been on big stages. I've been really pleased with him. I think you should be excited to watch this kid. Midnight Madness, he filled it up quite a bit there. Eron Harris not eligible, but really excited about Eron. Dwayne Stephens said it best. He said, We might not face a guy that's better coming off ball screens, shoots it quicker, or has any more athleticism than he has. So when he's on that scout team all year, he's going to create havoc for our guys, and it's going to be good for a lot of those guys to go one‑on‑one with him every day. If you can cover him, you're going to be able to cover a lot of guys. Really shoots it well. Is going to be a great addition to this team next year. But I think he's going to give us a lot of help this year because of what he does. The other guy that you could see seeing some minutes is Colby Wollenman. It's not a strength of ours right now at the four. That's one place where we have some question marks yet. But Colby, incredibly intelligent kid, passed the SATs with a score a lot higher than most of us combined. He's improved his game. He's gotten stronger. He's shooting the ball better. He just does a lot of things that you ask him to do. Then Trevor Bohnhoff, Matt are two kids that walked on that still have a lot to prove but are going to be part of the team. The sophomores I think is the other big part of this team. Alvin Ellis, is he going to get the basketball bug and put a little more time in? It didn't happen at the beginning of the summer, but it really did at the end of the summer. He is one of the guys that we're looking at. We feel we have three starters pretty secure in Valentine, Trice and Dawson. Then between Schilling and Costello and between Alvin Ellis and Bryn, and unfortunately the third one in that group was going to be Javon Bess, but he'll be down for a while. In Alvin, he appeared in 36 games, started one. When I played him a decent amount, he played pretty well. He does a lot of things good, maybe nothing great yet. But his shooting has improved. I think right now the biggest area we're trying to improve is ball handling and passing, not turning the ball over. But he came alive the second half of the summer and he's definitely competing for a starting spot. Schilling, who appeared in 37 games, started one, he has been the guy that this fall has stepped up probably the most. He's made the biggest jump in the last three weeks.  Incredible athlete for a guy 6'9". Got strength, got toughness, very good student, so he's got a brain that he can pick up things well. Offensive skills are limited but improving. He's really improved his jump hook. He's improved his left hand. A long way to go. Still kind of raw, but really starting to make some improvement. Quickest screener. Quickest offensive rebounder that we've had in a while, as a big guy, in a long, long time. Yet I didn't think he was in love with the game either last year like we needed. That really changed this summer, and his game has changed. In the freshmen class, I just keep saying Tum Tum. I don't want anybody to think he's a singer or anything, but he's given us just what I thought he'd give us. He has incredible leadership. He's brought some toughness. When Draymond Green leaves here and says, If there's ever a freshmen that should be a captain, it's him. That's about as good a compliment as you can get. What we have looked at a little bit is him playing the point, Trice at the two, and Valentine at the three at times because he brings the ability to bring the ball, give people shots. He's very good defensively even though small in stature. Javon Bess, at the end of the year he came on last year. He was the Ohio Division I co‑Player of the Year. Probably when we got him this summer, I said, This is the diamond in the rough guy. This is the guy that I think could end up a great player. He's got toughness. He can shoot it. He's 6'6". He's got long arms. He brings a lot to the table. Unfortunately we're not going to see him for a month or so. That's too bad for us. I feel bad for him. He really took it hard. He was the guy that we almost kicked out of here because he just spent so much time in this place. Marvin Clark, the strongest player on my team. That includes Branden Dawson. Incredible strength, and he can shoot it. He's a lot like BJ. Not quite the athlete this way. But he can really shoot the ball. He is a three‑point shooter.  What he has to get better at is guarding some people. For such a strong kid, he hasn't rebounded as well as we'd like him to yet, but we're working on that right now, making some progress, should be able to make him better in those areas. The last kid is Kenny Goins. Could have gone to a lot of schools, a scholarship player. I have enjoyed him. One of the best students on our team, phenomenal athlete, long arms, plays bigger than his 6'6" frame. Where I thought we'd probably redshirt him, I don't know if we will now. I think we're going to try to look at this kid and see what he can give us. Try to get him a few more minutes. Could be a four man. Can guard people. Can block shots. Shoots the ball decent. In a nutshell, before I open it up for questions, I think we do shoot the ball better than last year. I don't know if that will continue. Even though we lost Payne who was a great shooter, collectively I think we're a better shooting team right now. We've played pretty well defensively. We're not the biggest team, we're a smaller team. But a lot of teams in the league have gone smaller. A couple teams that we'll play, like Kansas, maybe Duke, maybe Wisconsin, they're going to be real big, could create some problems, but maybe we create problems for them. So all in all I'm excited about it. It's not as much fun when you're not picked as high. Last year we were 1, 2, 3 in the country. It gives you something to work for. We need to earn the right to be back up on the top. It shouldn't be given to us because we aren't deserving of it right now, but I do think this team has a chance to get there before we're done. A million questions. I'll take 'em all. Q. When you started here, could you ever believe 20 years? COACH IZZO: No, I really couldn't. In fact, it was brought up to me. Number one, it doesn't seem like it most days. A few days it does. But number two, I just think in my 31st year here, how do you last that long at a place? Ben Howland was here yesterday to watch practice, Clark Kellogg, in fact they're coming back today, they mentioned that to me. Who stays that long anymore? Not many do. I guess I'm privileged that I'm still here. But I'm excited to be here. Looking forward to more than a couple more years, that's for sure. Q. 32 wins you have 500. COACH IZZO: So I'm 32 behind Krzyzewski, is that what it is (laughter)? Run the table. Back to baseball. Next question. Q. With Bess going down, does that increase the urgency on Clark? Is that the first thing you think of in terms of the rotation? COACH IZZO: No, because Clark we're playing more at the four, even though he's not a huge four. Probably, again, I'd say Alvin Ellis a little bit more. Clark some. I could have moved Bess all over just like I can move Valentine all over. It just puts a little more urgency. This week we were going to try to start him. We've been looking at different guys in that starting group with the three guys we think are going to start. This was going to be his week to try it. He's just a very solid, heady, smart, tough guy. That's one thing he brings, toughness. He's not afraid of anything. He really took it hard. He's a quiet kid that took it hard. It will be okay for him. He'll figure it out. We'll miss him for a while, then hopefully get him back. Q. Expectations every year with this program. How much do you enjoy as a coach when last year had its expectations being what they were, this year they're maybe down a little bit, maybe not inside the program, but how much do you enjoy these types of seasons? COACH IZZO: I'm thinking the opposite. When have our expectations been down in the last 15 years? Sometimes they're more down inside because we know what's going on where the outside world expects you to be there. You know, I don't know if I enjoy either way any different. I'd always rather be picked 1, 2 or 3. I really would. That's pressure, but it's good pressure. I don't look at this as trying to prove people wrong for where they picked us. If I would have picked us, I might have lowered my standards and picked about like some of you guys picked, just because I think that's what cards we're dealt right now. You lose a lot of good players, you're not going to be picked as high. But we've been picked low. We've been a 6 seed, made it to a Final Four. We've been surprised in seasons like '06, '08, '03. I look back at some of those. Those are the only couple of surprises where we weren't very good and we ended up pretty good. But I like this team. I said it all year. I like this team right now. It's been a fun team to coach. You can get after them. Nobody's entitled to anything. It's fun to have guys that want to prove themselves, like BJ and Travis and Zel. Exciting have guys come in like Tum Tum that weren't given anything. Tum brings a whole different mentality as a human being much less as a basketball player. I like that. I can appreciate what he's been through and what he's done. I appreciate where he is. I've never seen a team rally around a guy like they have him. Unfortunately, though, we still got to play good. So I'm looking forward to it. There's a lot of challenges. I don't want to use (indiscernible) Packer quarterback because I don't know what's going to happen early, but 'relax' might be a good word. We're going to have to see what goes on as the year goes because we got some tough games early. We may win some of them, we may lose some of them. I can almost guarantee you, this is going to be a better team in the middle of December, and I think a very good team by the time the Big Ten season starts. It will be interesting I think for all of us to see what happens with a schedule like this because you just never know how you react. I haven't looked at, Who do we play in a row? I don't know. It's going to be so different than it's been in the Big Ten. It's been different in football. It's going to be way worse in basketball, I think, as far as not knowing where you're at sometimes. So patience will be a key. Not expecting that for fans, not even media, not even me, but I'll keep preaching that to myself because we have the makings, have enough good players, that it will be fun to see if we can rally them and make them better defensively. The two weakest areas of our team are what have been our strengths most years. We don't defend quite as well yet and we don't rebound as well because we're not as big. That should be my challenge because that's what we've been so strong at year after year after year. Q. You have big expectations for Trav this year. Is it just simple to say because he's healthy? How have you seen him grow as a player? COACH IZZO: That's a good question. He's grown as a player. He's better with the ball. He's a better passer. He's even a better shooter. If you look at his injuries, he had that stomach, then he had the brain, I don't even know what you call it, way too many words for me. But he missed summers. He missed a whole summer. Twice he was out with those kind of injuries that were just bizarre. A couple times he had the concussion. He has been, knock on wood, in the best shape. He's just had a hell of a spring, summer and fall. When you talk to him, I think you'll see it. He just knows he feels good. I don't think any of us know what he went through. That one summer, I worried about his life. He deserves to have a great year. He's hung in there. He's really a good player. I stuck with Keith last year when Keith was hurt. I made that decision. But Travis was very capable of being right there, too. So I think it's more than just injuries, but I think injuries have played a big part in his career. Q. You mentioned the Sexton guys being gym rats. The Sexton connection those two guys had in high school, is it something you can see when they're on the court? Is there also something about bringing in kids with a championship pedigree, guys that have been to the mountaintop before? COACH IZZO: When I get a bonus for that I get frosting on the cake. His dad was his coach. Whenever Bryn struggles a little bit, I call Carleton and ask, What do you do? How did you handle this? I have a couple coaches' sons and a couple kids that have won championships. Bryn and Zel are really tight, in a good way, too. Zel had to get after him, teach him the different ropes. Bryn shoots it as well as anybody I've had in years and years, I think. It's been great. I'd like to speed the process up a little faster, like everybody would. But it sure as hell hasn't been because of a lack of work or lack of trying or anything else. I watched him in that scrimmage the other night. I say, I had one of the best two guards in the country, and maybe his real strength was his athleticism, the way he could play defense. When Bryn can shoot the ball, Gary can shoot the ball. But Gary was so smart and so capable of guarding anybody. We're working on that with Bryn. But Bryn might be as good or better a knock‑down shooter as anybody in a long time. Q. You mentioned a lot of guys, a lot of newcomers. Do you have a number in mind of rotation? COACH IZZO: I think I'll do just like Cal is doing. I'll have two teams playing 20 minutes a game, invite the NBA in. You know, I think we'll be eight or nine, maybe ten early because of the Bess thing. You don't know what's going to go on there. But, I mean, definitely there's going to be more than a couple guys in that playing group. Yet I'm expecting Trice, Valentine, definitely Dawson to log a lot of minutes. If I can get those guys a little rest, things like that, I think it's going to benefit us a lot. I would be shocked if there weren't eight or nine guys playing a lot. Definitely eight, but it could go as high as nine or ten. Q. Last year at Media Day you said Alvin Ellis does a lot of things good, we don't know what he does great yet. Today you echoed that sentiment. Is that because of his lack of game experience or is there another reason for his enigma? COACH IZZO: Well, I've been pretty honest with all of you over the years on guys from Paul Davis to Suton to Ramon Moore. Everybody doesn't love the game. You grow in to loving the game. I think we just assume that everybody's a gym rat, everybody thinks it's the most important thing in the world. Let's be real about one thing here. The most important thing in the world right now is the intravenously fed phones that are attached to your arm that we tweet, text and call on. Legit. But I think Alvin, you know, he never put in the extra time until about midway through the summer. And now he's getting a little bit more of the bug. He is improving in areas. When I say he's very solid in a lot of those areas, he is very solid in a lot of those areas. That means with a little bit more, he's capable of starting on this team. So I've been very pleased with the fact that for him and Schilling, you know, they've kind of caught the Denzel, Bryn, Travis, Dawson fire. Dawson didn't have that early in his career. Some of its growth. Some of it's maturity. Some of it's having success. Playing time should be never the factor because it's hard to get playing time if you aren't doing those things to get the playing time. I'm not putting the cart before the horse, putting the horse before the cart. But I think he's going to work out okay. I think we really see some positive things. He's going to be, I think, one of the keys to this year's team. Q. You talk about your team not rebounding quite as well as expected. Branden Dawson increased his scoring. Will you depend on Branden to be more a scorer or a rebounder? COACH IZZO: Both. He's supposed to be a pro. He's supposed to be a great player this year. With that being said, which I think is the truth, I'll be disappointed if he doesn't take that 15‑6, 8‑3, make it 16, 17 and 10. He has to be a double‑double guy for us. I think he's capable of that. I really do. He's done some things in the last week, maybe I saw it in the Harvard game. Some of those games, Michigan, Wisconsin, the tournament, it's just the consistency. But like everybody says, once somebody does something once, if he can run a 4.3 40 one time, somewhere you can do it again. I think Branden just needed to spend a little more time at it. Any guy that misses his freshman and sophomore year, doesn't get to practice all summer, you can look at a lot of great players, we've gone back and done it, and it makes it harder. So I made it pretty publicly known that, he worries about the skill, making the shot, can he shoot the three. Who cares. He averaged 16 points and almost nine rebounds and didn't shoot one, you know. The guy can score. He can play. He can defend anybody. He's going to be asked to do just about everything except coach the team. Maybe I'll do that (smiling). Q. You love guys that have fire in their gut like Draymond and Mateen. There were times in Branden's career where you didn't get a chance to coach him. He was yelling about what you were missing or whatever. We didn't see that down the stretch when he came back with the hand. Have you seen that maturity continue to develop where he can still have the fire but be more coachable? COACH IZZO: He was never hard to coach. He was frustrating to coach. He wasn't a guy that gave anybody a lot of problems. He just didn't see it the same way. When you sit out nine games and you watch your team play down the stretch, you see a couple of losses that he knows he would have been the difference of, then we win the Big Ten, you really see that, I think that changed him. He has been a treat to coach this year. He doesn't do everything right all the time. He'll never satisfy me. It's just the way it works. Till he is gone, then I love him to death. That's the way it works in 90% of the programs. That kid, he gets it. If I say it once, he gets it. I don't have to be on him anymore because I know that he knows we're on the same page. Whenever that happens, coaching's a lot easier. It's overrated. Q. You talked a lot about Dawson, Valentine and Trice. Not a lot about Matt Costello. Is Matt's game going to have to rise up to the hype he had? COACH IZZO: I think Matt was having a pretty good start to the year when you look at what we needed done last year. Then the mono thing really hurt him. As I said, we went a different direction. I'm just not ready to put him in that group yet. What I do like is between him and Schilling, I think we have the ability, we might not get the 16 points that AP brought, the nine rebounds out of one guy, but I think between the two guys we'll get that and more. If we do that, keep them fresher, I'm worried about foul trouble, because we're not as big, I think then we have a chance to be very good. But he's coming along. He got injured a little bit. He missed a week of practice with a sprained ankle. Maybe that's the other reason. I hadn't seen him for a week. He's just coming back now. He'll probably be back full now the end of this week. But worked his butt off this summer. This day and age, players always worry about what people think, what people say. You take Branden, everybody's worried in camp, can he shoot it, can he do this. People like players. Can he play? Can he win? I think Matt gets caught up, he's not AP. Don't try to be AP. Try to be Matt, be the best screener, the best role guy, best finisher, still can step out and shoot the ball a little bit. Where we are a little better right now is post defense. A little tougher inside. But both Matt and Gav are really good on those ball screens up top, which we weren't as good at last year. They're really good at it. I think there's going to be some pluses, minuses, some give‑and‑take. But there's no doubt, there's our big three that have proven themselves somewhat, then there's a guy like Bryn. But Gavin, Alvin and Matt are, you know, important parts of this whole cog to get back to where we want to get, and that's to a Final Four. Q. Kiss has some shows in Vegas. Has Gene Simmons reached out to you? COACH IZZO: Yeah, he called me, asked me if I wanted to come. Just kidding. No, I don't think he's worried about it. I get embarrassed some of the dumb things I do sometimes. I sure do find a way, hernia and all, to limp up there on 27‑foot heels, more makeup than all you girls combined were wearing. I found out putting it on is bad, taking it off is worse. Was fun to look down on Dawson. Always giving me crap. It was fun to look down on him. I enjoyed that. But the accordion part of that was goofy just because I'm so well‑known nationwide as an accordion‑playing coach, they wanted that in there. I thought the guitar would have fit me better. And I do want to admit to one other thing, as long as I'm speaking to my friends here. We were supposed to play one song. I only knew the lines to that one song. If it looked like I was struggling to play that guitar, I didn't know the second song, so that's why it happened that way. A little fun with these serious questions. Q. Can you describe how you see Denzel Valentine's role in the offense, how much the offense goes through him, where it will be from? COACH IZZO: Well, it's going to go through him quite a bit. It's going to go through Dawson quite a bit. We're looking at Dawson a little bit, too, like we did to Day Day. As one pro scout said to me the other day, much better passer than I thought. Denzel is a great passer. What Denzel has got to do is just relax and play. I mean, he's got to relax, play, realize he doesn't have to be Magic Johnson, he's got to be Denzel Valentine. He's got to make this simple. He's as good a simple pass guy as we've got. When he tries to be the other way, he's wounding people once in a while in the stands. He has to get over that. It happened the other night in the game.  I told him. I'm going to tell him again and again and again. He is not a good passer, he is a great passer. But I think what you're going to see is he's a lot better shooter. I think he'll look for his shot more. If there's a kid that's worked harder on that than him, I haven't coached one. He's really spent time on his ball handling. Denzel is a guy that never turns it over because he has very good skills. He has a high IQ, very good passer, can do it with his right or left hand. Very good ball handler. All those should add up to no turnovers. That's where I get frustrated sometimes, he probably gets frustrated sometimes. I think I'm going to win the frustration war, I can promise you that. But I see him as big a key. Trice is going to do his thing, but Dawson and Valentine are going to be as big of keys as anybody on this team. Q. I was going to ask you about the Big Ten basketball tournament. It's changed with the new members. Now a team might have to play five games in five days to win it. Your thoughts? Is that good or bad for basketball? COACH IZZO: I mean, I'm a program guy, so I'm going to do whatever they tell me to do. I'm going to complain about it a little, but I'm just going to do it. Is it best for basketball? I don't know. You know, I worry a little bit about if you play four games, then you're playing on that Sunday, what is that going to do? Then again, if you earn the right to play in four or five games because you were so bad during the year, you caught fire at the end, you're probably excited enough to move on. I don't know how it's going to work. It's going to be the same for most conferences. Most conferences have gotten bigger. The Big East is going to do it. They end on Saturday, which is a bit of an advantage. We finish Sunday, then on to the NCAA tournament. I think you're going to find that the tournament, it's going to get bigger. You'll find it like the ACC, Big East. So many one plays, all those things. That tournament has gotten bigger in the last couple years. It's been pretty exciting. I will give them credit. Like most things you do, you complain about them when they start, like Jud. You complain about the things he did. All of a sudden you realize most of them were for a good reason. Well, I find myself looking at the Big Ten tournament. It's catching fire. I mean, it's getting to be a hot ticket. It will be interesting, now we go back to Chicago, then I think we're going out east, taking the show on the road, so we'll see how that works. Q. How concerned are you about a level field in college basketball after the report out of North Carolina, a team that's gotten in your way a couple times? COACH IZZO: Wow, let me politically think about my answer here. You know, I'm concerned about college athletics right now, if I was to go on a podium and talk about something. I am concerned about it. I think we got too many people saying what's right and wrong. I'm this, and I hope it doesn't get construed the wrong way. There's nothing wrong with earning your way. I look at so many people in here that started out as interns, moved up, moved up, moved up. Jemele Hill came back. I thought of her as a snot‑nosed reporter getting in my way. Now she's telling me where to go on her own set. Those are pretty awesome things. I think we're missing the process here. I don't know if the playing field is ever going to be level. It's gotten a little bit out of control. Some of it's our fault. Make too much money. Some of it is money, money, money. So I worry about where it's headed. That's not basketball, that's college athletics. As far as universities go, I said it on the network there a year ago or six months ago, that we better figure out that bridges better be built because the same people are walking over the bridge. It's about the student‑athlete walking over the bridge. So if it's academics and athletics, if it's our fans and us, you know, everybody's walking over the same bridge. If that bridge isn't strong as hell, it's going to collapse. We better figure out a way to stay on the same page and make sure we're all working for a common goal, at least within our own confines. I don't know what happened there. I have great respect for Roy. I respect their program. I respect a lot of programs. Some I respect in some ways, not in others. Some I respect totally. All I know is what I'm going to do here. As long as I'm here, it's not going to change. But this thing about everybody's unhappy, everybody. Now the coach is supposed to be the team doctor. Pretty soon we're going to have player, coach, reporter. We're going to coach ourselves and report about ourselves, then we have the whole gambit covered. We'll be you, me, the player. That's a bunch of BS, you know. It's ridiculous. Let everybody do their job. So I have a hard time with that. If I say any more, it will be HBO‑related, I'll be in trouble. I don't want to do that. I'm concerned about where college athletics is going and I'm concerned that everybody has a right. I guess that's the American way. I've stated more than once or twice I question some of those things. I'm going to continue questioning them. I'll leave it with this. If we really truly care about the student‑athlete, then we better make them as prepared to deal with the next 65 years of his life, as they're going to live to 85 now. Those 20‑year‑olds are going to live to 85 or longer. We better be concerned about those next 65, because we kind of concern ourselves with one or two a lot. I don't do that. I had 150 guys back the other day, had a party at my house. They were awesome. They talked about a lot of things that I'm referring to in these statements. I don't know what the answer is. I don't know. I understand the money we make. This whole thing is down to money. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. I don't want to argue it. But I know this. When I was making no money, earning my keep, earning my spot, working towards a goal of getting to where I wanted to get, it was the most fun I had, the greatest experience I had, and it taught me things that are going to help me when I'm done with this job. I think we're going to miss out on that if we don't watch it. Q. The imbalanced schedule, 14 teams now.  Is the Big Ten tournament going to be more important, more of the championship, than the regular season now? COACH IZZO: I hope not. I remember going to those great Big Ten meetings with Katie, Clem Haskins, sitting in the back of the room with a jacket covering my head, having them tell me how to vote, what to do, me saying, Yes, sir, No, sir. There were concerns then if you make the tournament bigger than the regular season, is that good for basketball, for fans, for media, for anybody? I say no, it isn't. So I hope it doesn't get to that. I just haven't had time, or maybe I don't really want to look at that schedule and say, Okay, who's got the biggest advantage? I've done a little bit of it. As usual, it ain't us, okay? Somebody's going to have a big advantage over somebody else. Right away you turn to the tournament and try to even it out there where you get a chance to play somebody, and that's the way it works. I don't know. I hope it doesn't change the regular season 'cause Big Ten championships, when you win them, 18 games, that says a lot more than three days, four days. I guess it's now five days, soon to be maybe six days. Who knows how many they'll go to. Q. You've had Day Day, you have Tum Tum. Any truth to the rumor you will be known as Tom Tom for the rest of eternity? COACH IZZO: That was a bad question, man (laughter). Q. You mentioned Day Day, how he says that Tum Tum should be a captain. Where is that coming from? That's coming from a pretty high source there. COACH IZZO: Although he likes my two a lot, too. I think it was just a compliment to say this kid, he gets along with everybody. I mean, I don't know what he'll do to you guys today. When you see him, he's probably going to introduce himself, look you in the eye. That's almost illegal now. It's hard to look someone in the eye while you're tweeting, that's hard to do. But he's going to do that. He doesn't care about anything. He kind of reminds me of a guy that just sees nothing but basketball, Michigan State basketball, doesn't care about anything else. That's kind of refreshing. I will say this. Let me close it up. Don't get carried away because I'm trying to look at what's best for the game. If I was really good, I'd definitely tell you what I thought was best. I don't really know. I'm just concerned. Just concerned. I think all in all our conference and basketball is so damn good again it's scary. I mean, when somebody had these rankings that I've seen in some of these books, and they don't mean much, but they give you some barometer. You look at the Indianas or Purdues, where they're putting them, we're in for a hell of a year. I think it's going to be great for the fans. It's going to be great for the players. Some more new venues that we haven't been to. Nebraska. Lost one game there in a year. I guess it's been absolutely crazy. Minnesota is getting back on track. Maryland is a tough place to play. I think we got it as good as any conference in the country as far as that goes. Hopefully the Big Ten, led by Wisconsin right now, hopefully the rest of us will catch up to that and see if we can make a serious run again. Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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