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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 27, 2015

Tom Izzo

East Lansing, Michigan

TOM IZZO: Well, we're coming off a Final Four, and I guess when you do that, there should be a lot of positive things, especially when you've got a lot of people back. We lost two key people in Trice and Dawson, but you know, then the mission now is to try to take it to one more level. We've been going back to Final Fours. We've done a pretty good job of staying consistent with that. But moving beyond that now is, I think, the next thing that we're really interested in. So reaching higher, taking it to another level, call it what you want, that's what we're looking for.

We were successful last year because of our camaraderie more than our talent. I thought we did an unbelievable job of kind of banding together. Our defense was pretty good. Our offense was decent. Our free-throw shooting was about as poor as it could be, to be honest with you. When that happens, you usually lose a lot more games, although we lost six of our eight overtime games, and a lot of that had to do with poor free-throw shooting, so it's something that we've been working on all year.

I think our talent level is up from last year. I think we are more talented. I think we're a better shooting team, potentially the best shooting team that we've had in my humble opinion. We have more guys that can shoot a three, but a lot more guys that can make a three. We've always had some guys that could shoot them but needed work on making them.

But they need to perform when the lights are on, and that's what's going to be interesting to see, how an Aaron Harris does, how some of the freshmen do. You know, for Denzel and Bryn, they've got experience. They've been shooting the lights out of the ball. For guys like Javon Bess and Tum and Aaron and the two freshmen guards, they're going to have to do it in practice, then do it in a game, and that'll be the next step to take.

I think depth could be a strength of this team. I think it'll be one of the deeper teams we've had, a little bit like our 2005 team with Ager and Brown and Torbert and Hill, and I'm trying to think who else we had on that team, but those were a bunch of guards, Neitzel played some guard on that team, and that team was not only successful, but it was one that was very interchangeable, which is what I think this year's team will be.

Playing time will be a big motivator if you ask me. You know, we're in a day and age where everybody wants to have minutes. Anybody has minutes, but you've got to earn your minutes. I think it's a lot better when practices are more competitive and people have to kind of earn their spot instead of given their spot. We are going to be able to play a lot of different combinations. I think we could go real big with Valentine at the point and guys like Harris and Forbes on the wings, and we could go with anyone between Deyonta Davis, a Schilling and Costello inside. That would be a real big team. We could go with Forbes or eventually a guy like Marvin Clark at the 4, so a smaller 4 man, and Tum and Zel and Bryn on the perimeter.

I think we're going to be able to mix and match and do some things. The injuries are a little bit of a problem right now. We have two guys that have been out for -- I think one for four, one for five weeks, and Marvin Clark has probably got some weeks to go. I do think we're going to be a little healthier right before the season starts. And other than that, we've been pretty injury-free.

Kenny Goins would be the other one.

As far as how it's gone, I think the trip to Italy really helped us. It put us in a position where we kind of have had both very good competition, and we had one game over there against a club team that wasn't, but the three we played against the Olympic-caliber teams was incredibly good for us. We got our brains beat in, which is just kind of perfect for Michigan State, in the first game against the Russians. We played very well against the Italians and probably should have beaten the Georgia team.

But considering we didn't play Alvin or Aaron Harris, considering we didn't play Denzel the last quarter and a half of the last game, we got some things out of Schilling, had an incredible tournament. Forbes I thought was very good, McQuaid was very good over there. Costello was solid. So we got a lot of things out of that trip. It was to play against NBA-caliber people. Some of them were NBA people. And the freshmen figured out what it's like to play against bigger, older, stronger guys since the average age of a couple of those teams was 27, 28, and I think that benefits us.

As far as the league goes, wow, it should be even better than last year in my opinion. I think there's going to be a lot of good teams. I think you're going to see improvement out of teams like Indiana, Purdue, Michigan for sure, and I think you're going to see Northwestern will be another one that I think will be much improved. Wisconsin is going to be Wisconsin as long as Bo is there. If they lose a lot of guys or have everybody back, they're pretty much that solid of a program right now where they maintained.

When you look at some of the other teams that are going to be interesting, it'll be the Iowas, the Illinoises, the Ohio States and Minnesota maybe. We'll have to see how those teams do, but Maryland is definitely the class of the group right now, on paper anyway, with the number of players they've got back, with the number of players they've got sitting out, with a transfer that they got, and a freshman that's ranked in the top five or six in the country. I think they'll be the preseason pick by most teams, including some nationally have picked them one.

Ohio State and Iowa and Northwestern are going to be interesting teams. I think maybe they don't have as many common names maybe in the guys coming back, but I think Northwestern could make as big a jump as anybody.

Our non-conference side, we have the potential to play two top-10 teams in Arizona if we get that far in the tournament, or of course with Kansas, who has been picked anywhere from one-two, to five-six-seven. They've got a lot of people back. I watched a little film on them the other day, and if you look at the team we played at the beginning of last year, they've got just about everybody back, because Oubre, who went on to the pros, and Alexander, they hardly played in that game.

It's going to be a lot of good players for the second game of the year. Concerning for me just because we probably won't have our two guys that are going to play some power forward. I don't think they'll be back by then. If they are back, it'll be just coming back.

We follow up those games, we've still got Louisville and Florida. We've got an Oakland team who's playing well. We've got to take a trip out to Boston. It seems like everybody we play, even a tournament like we're playing in out in California, you know, we open with Boston College, but Cal State-Irvine or Providence or Boise or any of those teams, before you get to Arizona, have all been NCAA teams in the past year.

So I think it's got four marquee teams who everybody knows about, but I think where it's a little stronger on is maybe the mid-level teams. A lot of them have been NCAA teams and are very good.

Eight of our 13 non-conference games could be against teams that were in the postseason tournament last year. That's going to make for a difficult schedule with the Big Ten being even, I think, a little deeper in some ways this year. Should be a fun year.

We lose Trice and Dawson. Trice had one of those magical senior years. I mean, there's no question he was a guy that played well but made big shots and made big plays, and some of that now will fall on Valentine, some of it on Aaron Harris who can get a shot for himself. But seniors got to always step forward. You listen to Mark Dantonio talk, and that's kind of the same way it's been there. I think sometimes we're in this Kentucky mode where it's illegal to have a senior, but 90 percent of us still have seniors, and it's those guys that got to step up.

With eight returning players, most of them started at least in one game last year because we did move some people around with some injuries. We've had four or five of those players that have started 17 games or more. So I think we're going to have a combination of experience and depth, and yet enough youth and young guys coming in that it should make a real difference.

The star of our stars is Valentine. He's had a great off-season. As I said, you know, Marcus talked about his senior class and every one of them have to step up. I don't think there's any question Denzel has to step up. He's become a better shooter over the summer. He played pretty well in his USA appearance. He's a guard that's multidimensional. He can rebound. He can pass. He's really worked on his shooting, improved in his shooting. When we were over there, we played against the great guard from San Antonio in Belinelli, and I didn't want to put Denzel on him because I was wearing him down with the absence of the two guys we didn't play, and he argued with my assistants, so I did, and he did a hell of a job on him. So I think he's taking some pride in his defense.

He's got a chance to be a part of the winningest senior class ever. He needs 32 victories, which is a lot of victories, but he's got a chance to do that. He could set the record for most games played in.

Denzel has been about legacy. His dad played here. He's idolized the players that we've had in my entire era here because when he was growing up, he watched them all, came to a lot of games. So those things are important. He's driven to be an MSU legacy a little bit, and he could be in the top 10 for assists and rebounds if he has one of those great senior years.

This summer with his USA Basketball experience, it got him playing against different people and better people. His play in Italy, he averaged 17.3 points a game in the three games he played in, and I think it was the Italian game, the second one, when I think he had 20 or 21 at halftime -- second half? No, at halftime, right? Yeah. Then I think I pulled him so that he wouldn't score too many, and we lost the game.

But Denzel definitely is our vocal leader. He's definitely a guy that's played in a lot of big games. He's won state championships in high school. I couldn't think of a better guy to have kind of running us than him.

The excitement of the summer was in Forbes. To me he was our MVP of the summer. I said last spring he had to improve his defense. He had to gain some weight. He had to take the noodles that went out of his shoulders and make them arms. He's done all three things. He's really worked hard in the weight room. He gained at one time 10, 12 pounds. For a guy like him, that's a lot. He can go longer stretches. He's in better shape. And I'll be honest with you, he's made a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of shots in this preseason, and he's made them with people on him, with people not on him. He's shot so well, he's worked on it so hard this summer, I'm expecting him to take a big step. He made some big plays in those games down the stretch last year, but I think he's a little better with the ball. He's a little better defensively, a tiny bit better rebounding. I still wouldn't say that's his strength, but a little better there, definitely body, conditioning, strength have all been upgraded.

So I think him and Denzel could do something few get to do; high school teammates that won a couple of championships get to the college level and play together and hopefully have big things happen.

In Costello, our third senior, I guess the word for him would be solid. He too has improved his shooting. He's improved his jump hooks, both right- and left-handed. I thought that's where he needed to go. He worked hard on his shooting. Other years he wasn't as good in the post. We still need to be able to throw the ball into the post. But he can step out and shoot, even a three, but definitely a 16-, 18-foot shot.

So that's going to be interesting to see how we can use him. He's had a little trouble with his knees, and his speed is still not maybe where it needs to be, but hopefully because we have some depth at that position, we're going to be able to play him where he's ready to go full speed all the time.

You know, a funny stat with him, he ranks sixth in MSU blocked shots and he needs only 39, and I think he's had in the 40s the last two years, so it should be something with a few more minutes and maybe a little more experience where a guy that doesn't jump out of the gym but has great timing may become the all-time shot block leader in Michigan State history.

What I really like about that for him and Denzel, two guys that have been in the program for four years and hung around, is they got a chance to create some milestones, and as I say, put their own footprint in the sand in those certain areas.

And last but not least is my team doctor, so when I get old and decrepit I have someone to operate on me because I wouldn't trust the one of you guys to be honest with you. Colby Wollenman, nothing has ever been given to this kid. He just continues to work and improve. He has missed four practices in the last two weeks. He's visited some of the top medical schools in the country. He will be going there, somewhere, and it's been incredible. I really am proud of what he's doing. His scores on his -- his test scores have been off the charts. It just goes to show, we're not just a basketball program. We educate our guys, too, so I will take full credit for his academic knowledge, and when he does get to be a doctor, I know I have a guy that can operate on me.

We're looking at Colby, that hey, he's going to play. He has improved enough where he is going to play. And who knows, he could even start early in the season.

That takes care of my senior class.

In the junior class, Harris and Schilling have been the dynamic duo. Schilling averaged 13, 14 points over in Italy, scoring better, offensive rebounding a lot better. I was watching tape of our game the other day, Kansas last year, and I look at Schilling on tape now, and I mean, he's -- it looks like Popeye. He's gotten bigger, stronger, quicker, better. Still got to improve his hands. That's probably the one thing. Has worked morning, noon, night and then some on his free-throw shooting, and shot very well over there and has shot very well in practice, and he's another guy that I said when the lights go on, we'll see how these guys respond compared to just being in practice or over in Europe where nobody can see you.

But he has -- Schilling has continued to do more. His motor is running at a higher RPM. He's a tough match-up because of his strength. I'd say the two things he's got to work on are his hands a little bit still, probably his shooting a little bit, and staying out of foul trouble. If you look at the two things that hurt us the most last year, it was free-throw shooting and foul trouble by our bigs. They were always in it. I was juggling the lineup just to try to keep certain guys in the game at the end of the game, and I think Gavin, he and Costello give us two very experienced players in the front court, but he has shown over in Italy and here that he's capable of some "wow" moments where he can do some things with his athletic ability that could excite a crowd.

And Harris, the guy was unbelievable last year. It really hurt him not to play over in Italy, but it is what it is. So far he's been good, but it is different being with the lights on and the lights off, and so I'm really anxious to see how he'll do.

Definitely made improvements with his ball handling and passing, and maybe the biggest improvement has been in his defense, but now he's going to have to be a guy that can make shots, can make deep shots, can get a shot for himself. We've just got to figure out a way to do that at a decent percentage. In other words, he's got to shoot a higher percentage than maybe just casting shots.

But he's electric. He really can get some things done. He's proven he can score. He scored 20 or more points in 11 games as a sophomore so he can score the ball. But scoring the ball and winning are two different things, so now he's got to make plays. He's got to make winning plays and still score the ball, and so that'll be an adjustment.

In Alvin Ellis, the biggest improvement he's made is basketball has become a little more important to him. You know, it's got to be. I say that emphatically, but he has shown that. He's played better. He's done the opposite of Bryn; he's lost weight, lost some body fat, and is probably the best shape he's been in, and it's helped his game. Breaking news, get in better shape, have a better game. That's something for ESPN, I guess.

But in Alvin's case, he does have size. He does have experience. His jump shot has been really good. It's a matter of him guarding a little better and finding a way to break into that lineup, and it's going to be fun to watch guys try to break into the lineup.

For once, practices will determine some playing time with a lot of these guys.

Matt Van Dyke is an interesting guy. He's a farmer from -- so I love the guy. He's from over in the Flint area. Worked there all summer on the farm, came here and worked out, and all he did is had the highest vertical jump of anybody on our team. So not very often you have a walk-on with the highest vertical, and he really has improved his game. He could have played at a lot of places, and has actually helped us a lot. Whether he'll get any playing time, I don't know, but he has impressed a lot of my coaching staff and we'll see what he does. He's 6'5" or so, pretty long arms, but an explosive jumper and a strong jumper and can play maybe the power forward position. A little undersized for that.

So now we get into that sophomore class where three guys have had a decent amount of time. Tum is sick. I mean, he is in every single day. Him and Javon Bess have been in every day since school started. They're in early in the morning. He's worked on his shooting and worked on it and worked on it. He struggled a little bit in Italy to be honest. Those teams over there had real big guards, most of them, and he just struggled a little bit. But then the last game he had his best game. He ran the team, and we could have, should have beat Georgia, and he played awfully well in that game, so he saved the best for last. I think he had a double-double, didn't he? He had 10 points, 10 assists, and played really well.

So he bounced back, which is no surprise. He's been a leader since the day he stepped on. He was elected a captain because the team knows that he's an incredible, incredible, incredible leader, and that's been good for us. I love the way the guy competes. He's as good a defensive player as there is in this league. But he has improved his offense a lot. He's the quickest guy we've got and still a very high vertical, so he can do a lot of different things. We all know that he didn't shoot it very well last year. I think you'll see a different him this year.

And Javon Bess, he's just getting back into shape. He missed still part of the summer from the injury with the broken foot, and he's a guy we've -- he looks so much more confident. With Tum he's worked on his shooting morning, noon and night, but he brings some toughness and a little bit of "Data-ism" where he's tough enough, and he's got a high basketball IQ. We started him the three or four games he was healthy last year, and he played pretty well. Scored a lot of points, has a nose for the ball, so he brings that toughness, an area where we need to improve on. He gets to the foul line a lot, and that's something that we have done a poor job of over the last couple years.

Last year it worked to our advantage because we didn't get there enough so that when we missed a free throw we weren't getting there on a regular basis. One of the things we've put an emphasis on this year is trying to get there more.

Marvin Clark, he's the guy that's been injured almost since school started. He was playing a little better in September right before the injury, but he's a guy we had penciled in as a starting 4 man. He played very well down the stretch, had those big plays against Louisville. He's been on a big stage. He's got -- built like Tarzan. I keep telling him he's got to not play like Jane. Sometimes he doesn't rebound as well as I think his body could take him, but he gives us a three-point shooter there. Like Bess, he's a guy that adds versatility. He can play a couple different positions. He can guard a lot of different positions.

Kenny Goins has been the surprise of my team. I wouldn't say he's the best player this summer, but he was maybe one of the better power forwards over in Italy. He played well. He's athletic. He's long. He's 6'6" but he's got long, long arms, and very athletic. Pogo jumper that can get up quick and smooth, and got great hands and shoots the ball decent to 15, 16 feet, a guy that was recruited by a lot of MAC schools and walked on here because I think his aunt and uncle went here and it was a big deal to him his entire life, and he is, I think, going to help us.

Unfortunately had hernia surgery a couple weeks into the season, so he's out for another -- I think maybe one more week, maybe two, but at least one more week, so we should get him back before our first game, but he can play some power forward and he can guard a lot of different positions. Cat quick for a guy 6'6", 6'7".

Our freshman class, Conner George is a walk-on here who shoots the lights out, and that's what he is. He's a specialist. He's gaining weight and strength, which he needed to do. He's getting a little more athletic. But he is a shooter, and he shoots it as well as anybody we've got.

Kyle Ahrens, he's the kid who battled injury in high school, broke his leg bad, was out part of the summer, and boy, yesterday he played really well in practice. He's a solid shooter. He's the second best athlete on our team. I think he's got a 39- or 40-inch vertical, and he's a very tough kid, very intelligent kid. Things he's got to work on a little bit is ball handling, a little bit his passing, but as far as defending, rebounding, running, jumping, shooting, he's got a lot of strengths. He's been every bit as good as we thought he would be coming from a small school, and we're really excited about him. Did not play much over in Italy because he was just coming off that injury and still isn't 100 percent back but making progress.

In Matt McQuaid, he was the other surprise in Italy. Played awfully well. He too is a very good athlete. He's got some toughness to him but he's got some moxie to him. He played the point over there some because of the situation we were in not playing those other two guards, and he just took the ball to the hole. He's 6'4Â½", 6'5", and he got over people with his athletic ability and he can really shoot the ball.

I remember when he was committed to SMU I was sitting in Vegas with Larry Brown, and he was telling me about the kid. The kid was real tight with this kid Moody who's in the league now, so he committed to SMU early, and he was shooting the ball from places I've never seen a guy shoot the ball from, and Larry said he was one of the better shooters, then he decommitted there because Moody wasn't going to end up going there and things, and his dad happened to be from Midland, Michigan, so they called us about him, and he has been a very, very good get for us. We're really excited about him. We're working him at different positions. He can play three positions.

And last but not least is Deyonta Davis, and D.D. is really coming on for a freshman. He got his bell rung a couple times over there. We were playing against some very good big men, very old, strong, tough grinders over there, and he cut his lunch a few times, but he could be one of the most talented big men we've ever had. I think he's in the Paul Davis mold. He's athletic. He's got great hands. He can pass the ball, he can shoot the ball. To give you an example, I mean, he kind of looks -- he's even longer than Adrian, but when we got him, he was 242. Adrian was 215. Most of his weight is in his legs. His upper body is still a little slight, so we're trying to work on building that up.

But D.D. combines shot-blocking ability, exceptional athleticism, quickness. He's just got to learn how to go hard every day like 90 percent of freshmen but 99 percent of big men that are freshmen. That's going to determine his playing time. If I looked at the improvement he made since the day he came on campus in July until now, if he makes the same improvement in the next couple months, I think you're going to see a lot of Deyonta Davis.

I guess in general, I like the team. You always like your team until you play a game and lose a game, but I like the team a lot. I think there's great chemistry. I think great togetherness. I think it could be a better defensive team. I think the trip to Italy helped us, and all that being said, the schedule is going to be brutal again, a lot of good teams, and you know, we're going to be a little set back early, and we play a lot of those big games early with definitely Kansas and possibly Arizona and definitely Louisville and definitely Florida all within the first month. But at the same time, I think it's going to be great for us again to kind of see where we're at, what we've got to get better at and go from there.

All that being said, now I'll open it up to you guys. I'm done.

Q. What are you most excited about with this team that maybe you weren't anticipating when last season ended, and what maybe are you most concerned about?
TOM IZZO: Well, I think we're a lot better shooting team than I even anticipated, and I think we're a lot more athletic team, which really excites me. I think we can run better, I think we can do more things. We are just better in both of those areas. I think we've had improvement from just about every guy, which is always encouraging, and we had such a good time on that trip, it was such a good bonding time for us that I learned a lot about a lot of guys.

Now, what do I got to improve on? Well, I've got to get D.D. to talk and smile. That's number one on my list. So if any of you when you interview him can do that, God bless you. There'll be a tip if we can do that because I think he's got a chance to be a special player here.

I'm a little concerned that we're settling too much for threes because we've got a lot of guys that can shoot them and sometimes we're playing with a 4 that can shoot them, so I'm worried that we're going to settle a little bit. We're going to have to get that worked out.

And the fouling, you know, Costello and Schilling have been two- and three-year hatchet men. We've got to stop that. I love their toughness, but I don't like the foolish fouls. So that would be a concern of mine.

And always the turnovers are a concern. You know, you just -- again, the more sports you watch, the more that's a concern, and that's going to be one of Denzel's big things. He's going to handle the ball more. He's going to be on the ball more. Is he going to take care of the ball better?

Q. Looking through the media guide, almost every player has "gym rat" somewhere listed in the description of him. What's this off-season been coming off of the Final Four with this young group of guys that want to be --
TOM IZZO: Yeah, I think there's a good culture here now because I think Travis set it, and I think Denzel has lived it and slept it and believes in it. So I think they weren't satisfied with the embarrassing loss to Duke. We weren't as good as Duke; I make that blunt. But we weren't -- we didn't play very well in that game, either. So as good as the run was to get there from the Big Ten Tournament on where we might have played some of the best basketball we've played in years, it was a very disappointing way to finish.

That's what you talk about with your team before the summer starts. One of the things was free-throw shooting. You've got to find things that are correctable. You know, it's hard to make better decisions. I mean, you're kind of born with that. It's hard to get to be a smarter player sometimes, but it's not hard to become a better free-throw shooter, and I think Schilling will be the poster child of that. I think he's improved a lot, like Nix did and guys like that. I'm hoping that that's true to form.

And then, you know, there has been a lot of guys spending a lot of time in here. I don't know if it's the new digs up there or if it's they just have an incredible urgency for wanting to go farther.

It's been fun for me to watch football. It's been fun for Mark and I to talk on where do you want the program to go. How good is it? It's good, and theirs is really good. But there is another step. There's another step to take, you know, and winning some preseason tournaments and winning more of the big games, getting to Final Fours or Sweet 16s or Elite 8s is special, and if I downplay that, slap me because I'll blame you guys or our fans for downplaying it.

But also I'm just not very satisfied with it. You know, we've been back five times and haven't won it. And so getting there is fun, but you've got to do more than get there, and I think we have to get that mentality. Are we too pleased with just getting there? The year that I still think we had our best team was two years ago, and we had a lot of things happen. Last year was a surprise where we were just happy to get there. That falls on me, and I'm going to figure that out because we have some work to do yet.

Q. What would it say about this program if you were able to win a championship, a national title, more than 15 years between your last one? Usually with coaches, I think Coach K has the longest right now at nine years between championships.
TOM IZZO: Between championships? Well, most coaches have no years between championships because they've never won one. But you know, I think it means you've withstood the test of time and you've kept it at a high level, and it's been good enough that you keep your job. But I also think, you know, you've got to keep knocking on the door. You know, it's like anything else in life, whether it's a job, whether some of you guys had trouble getting a date; you just keep knocking that door and eventually some girl opens it up, and I think that's the way it is with us; if you keep knocking on the door and you're right there, sooner or later -- we got unlucky two years ago. That was a championship team, I thought, and yet we've been lucky enough in our time, too.

You've got to have one of those years. You've got to stay injury-free. I mean, that is getting to be a common statement, whether it's NFL, NBA, college football, college basketball, it doesn't really matter. But I don't know what it would state to be honest with you. I just -- I'm just happy that with two weeks left of the season, my goal is every year to have a chance to win the Big Ten, to have a chance to make a run in the tournament, and we have done that on a fairly regular basis.

So now I'm trying to move that up. I'm trying to set a few new standards, new goals, take it to another level is what I would like to see us do, and win more games and win more championships.

You know, we haven't won many of the preseason ones that we've been in, and we haven't won enough of the big games at home which puts us in. So those are kind of the new goals, but winning a championship is difficult to do. Some guys you win two in a row, like we had a chance to win two in a row, and then you may never get back there. You know, what I'm proudest of is we've not only had the 18-straight tournament run but we've been knocking on the door. We've been in the Sweet 16. We've been in the Elite 8s. We've been in the Final Fours. And I still say that it takes a different team to win championships than just win games, and I think we've been a different team, but one more notch now will get us where I'd like to be.

Q. If you had a game tonight who would you start at point guard and how would you see the minutes distributed at that position?
TOM IZZO: Well, you know, right now with the injuries we've got, we have to definitely change our power forward and we have to make some decisions because of who we're playing in those first couple weeks. Do I want to go small? Do I want to go big and get some guys some experience? But I think right now, you know, I've been messing around with Zel at the point and Aaron, but right now I think it would be Tum and Bryn and Zel on the perimeter, and then either Matt or Gavin inside, depending on which one fouls the least the next couple practices, and then at power forward it could be Javon Bess, it could be Colby, it could be Deyonta, it could be a Matt if we wanted to go real big. So I can't totally answer that just because we're not there yet.

We're bringing officials in tomorrow. We've been doing this a lot more. We're going to start keeping stats. We're going to really look at different combinations, and we've done that a lot.

And one of the real good things about this team has been one of the bad things, and my guy Doug Herner up there, he's getting senile, but he's right on the money on this. Practices have not been pretty all the time because, I mean, sometimes we've got Aaron Harris in the first group, sometimes in the second group. Sometimes we've got Tum in the first group, sometimes second. We don't really have a scout team because we've had some injuries, so we've been going one against two all the time, and one against two has changed because of kind of moving Schilling and Costello around, moving Deyonta around, and so consequently, sometimes I say, well, we didn't score it very good today, but then you look at our defense was really good because we've got certain lineups in there.

Do we have that many guys that are head and shoulders above the other? No. That might be a negative. But in a way it could be a positive because we've got a lot of guys that I think are interchangeable right now, and the hardest thing for me is to try to find a scout team so we can go against, or these exhibition games coming up are going to matter a lot to me this year, more than any other year, just to look at different combinations and who's playing together and who's playing well together and who fits together.

Q. You guys were such a rebounding force. With Brandon leaving, who do you lean on the hardest to pick up that mantel?
TOM IZZO: Well, I think Schilling some. The question on the rebounding force, and Brandon was a consistent almost double-double guy. To me he should have been consistent more than that, though, and so we're going to have to lean -- Schilling is going to have to get more. Costello is going to have to get more. I think Valentine is going to become one of the best rebounding guards that ever played here and maybe in the country. He has a knack to go get rebounds, and then that's where the Kenny Goins or hopefully we can get more out of Marvin Clark. But we're going to have to get a little more. Our guards other than Zel are not the greatest rebounding guards. We've always had a pretty good group of rebounding guards.

Now, if we play McQuaid in there or Ahrens, those guys are tough enough they can go in and rebound. But we've got to get a little bit more out of a couple of our other guys in that area. I think it could be a good rebounding team, but it'll be by committee a little bit more.

Q. Who do you like in the World Series?
TOM IZZO: Well, I kind of like Kansas City.

Q. Do you know who's in it?
TOM IZZO: Oh, yeah, man.

Q. I'm wondering if you miss the days when you could celebrate the small victories. You talk about some of the things you haven't won, and yet in your world, even getting to the Final Four isn't enough now, and maybe worse, in your fans' world, you've got to win one. So how does that affect the enjoyment of the little triumphs along the way, if at all?
TOM IZZO: You know, it does. It's just all part of the growing process. I talk to Dantonio about it all the time now. We are one of the more hunted teams now, so that's a change. I mean, it's been that way for a few years. I think football is just going through that the last couple years.

But you know, it's hard to believe that we've won like 31 out of 34 football games, and we didn't win them the right way and we didn't -- we're not running it right or we're not doing this right or we're not doing that right. I just hope they keep failing like they've been failing is what I hope.

But it is difficult because of the -- it's Twitter time, because of my advertisement and the social media. You know, kids read it, and it makes it harder, and I think he's starting to see that. Now that football playoff thing is a whole 'nother animal. I don't know how -- it's really hard to deal with that pressure week after week after week after week. We have to deal with the pressure, but we get to -- we get a chance to redeem ourselves at the end of the year. They don't.

So it's -- is it as enjoyable? In some ways, no, it's not. But in a lot of ways, when we're not picked as high, everybody says do you like that better, do you like being the underdog. I really don't because I like when our program is thought of as a top-10 or -15 program night in, night out, and that's kind of the goal where it should be. In fact, it's probably been a top 20, top 15 as far as Final Fours, top five. I'd like to get it to a top-10 program consistently night in, night out, and I realize there's pitfalls with that and I realize that our fans have to learn the same thing we have to learn, how to deal with success and how to embrace it and how to handle it and how to enjoy it and appreciate it.

You know, I think sometimes we're getting better at it. We are getting better at it, and I think when both sports are doing well, it gives the fans a lot more opportunity to get better, too.

So you know, it's something that I think is concerning. I mean, I've watched it through football a lot closer now because of the success they've had, and sometimes I just shake my head. You know, I even heard Matt Millen moving us down for a couple reasons, and I thought to myself, hmm, experts come in all shapes and forms, I guess. But that was interesting to me because I wonder how he would feel if it was the other way around, and he's still with the Lions.

I get myself in a little bit of trouble once in a while, but I have really enjoyed what Mark has done, and I think it's helped me because now I've got a friend that knows exactly what we're going through, and after every game I talk to him, and yeah, we've been lucky some and we've been unlucky some, but you know, he told me, he sent me a note last year when he was on the road recruiting little techs, and he said, just stay the course, you know, when we were missing those free throws, and I stayed the course, and it ended up turning out pretty well.

So I think he just stays the course, gets healthy, it's going to work well for him. Because of that we'll enjoy a lot more at the end, and that's when it's really important to enjoy it.

Q. You used to say that you weren't going to be around long enough to break any records; it was about championships. Now that you are around long enough to break some of these records, you're right on the heels of Gene Keady, Bob Knight is right there, is any of that stuff any part of your motivation? I know it's about winning another championship, but the fact that you're on these lists now so high --
TOM IZZO: You know, I don't even know where I am on the Keady-Knight list. I don't think I'm that close to those.

Q. 17 back.
TOM IZZO: 17 back from Keady, and how many back from Knight, 200? I guess that's close. But not that close.

But you know, it really isn't. I think the other ones matter more to me because, you know, some of those are just withstanding the test of time in how many wins you get. But how many champions you get, I think, has a stronger statement to it. You know, if you last a lot of years and you play a bad schedule and you do this, you're going to win games, you're going to win games, you're going to break somebody's record in something, but if you win championships, it doesn't matter if you were there one year, five years, 10 years, that is something that you're evaluated on, and it really doesn't count that you've been there a lot of years because that's something you can do each and every year. I mean, I could have won five more games a year and maybe never catch Bob Knight. But if we win a couple more championships, I could do that.

You know, I've never been caught up. That's why we scheduled like we did. I don't even know how many wins I've got now, but I know it's under 500, and there's some guy at Duke that's got over 1,000. I still don't have as many practices as he has wins, so I'm not really worried about those kind of records, but I am -- I do enjoy -- you said I don't enjoy anything? I do enjoy that banner going up Friday night. I do enjoy those things that are hung forever. Those are better records than the other ones to me.

Q. You've said you're not satisfied or happy with the Final Four appearance, and you want to take it to that next level. What makes you confident that this year's team can do that?
TOM IZZO: Well, you know, I'm not confident that -- I think we can be a team right now that's going to be in the race, but I think there's 12, 13, 14 teams that are in the race, and there's always one or two that's not. I think we have the ability, whether we can stay injury-free and get lucky enough and make our free throws and all the things that go along with having success, oh, maybe we'll even have to block a punt this year, I don't know, whatever we've got to do to maybe get ourselves in a position to do that. But that'll take care of itself at the end of the year. We've got to get better every game. We're not going to -- I think we're more talented than last year in my opinion. I think we're deeper than last year. I think we're more athletic. I think we shoot it better. But we're still not going to be as talented as a lot of teams that are out there. We're still going to have to be a good defensive team. We're going to have to solider in areas we really should, free-throw shooting, turnovers, things that in my opinion I have not done a good job of.

And so they were addressed this summer. I mean, they were addressed this summer like no other summer that we've had, and we'll see what the results are in the near future.

Q. Just sort of a follow-up to that, I was thinking the same thing, when you're talking about the next level and getting that second title, has it caused you to adjust something? You used to stand up here and just talk about defense and defense and guy doesn't play defense, and now three-point shooting and other things and maybe recruiting different kind of athletes. Have you evolved a little bit in that regard?
TOM IZZO: Yeah, as you get older, you get sexier. You've got to have things that are sexier. Offense is sexy; you know what I mean? I thought you would know what I mean on that. Some of you guys in here got to work on that, too.

But you know, I mean, there's so many myths about where we are, you know, as a program. I mean, I've answered so many questions about one-and-dones and this and that. What you want, what you can recruit, the defense is so important, the rebounding is so important. My favorite story was when Duke won it in '10 because never heard a word out of them about rebounding and they had that seven-footer. Where is my Dukie here? Zoubek or something, and he went from a non-player to the best offensive rebounder kick-out-for-three guy, and all of a sudden rebounding became important.

Look, as we're learning in football, as we see, to be a championship-level team, you'd better be good defensively. That's number one. But you'd better be good offensively, and you'd better have -- your special teams got to continue to get better. Our special teams, our free-throw shooting, out-of-bounds plays, this, that and the other thing, and you'd better be pretty high in all of them if you're going to win a championship at the end.

And maybe that's the one thing I saw last year; got to be an epidemic. Trice was an 82 percent career free-throw shooter. He was shooting 60-some halfway through the year. So I don't think I've changed. I still think to be great, I mean, take a look. I'm blessed here because I've got Michigan State football right now doing such an incredible job, I've got Draymond Green having maybe the -- everybody says the best offensive team in the country. They were actually second in their efficiency offensively. They were first defensively, and almost nobody even recognized it. So maybe if we can get better offensively, they won't even recognize our defense, and if that can stay up there, and you have a chance to do special things.

Q. The Big Ten has made the move to 18 conference games, but looking at the schedule, the thing that stands out, especially in the wake of the football game, you're only going to Michigan; the Wolverines aren't coming here. What's to stop the conference from going to two divisions, having 12 interdivisional games and protecting those rivalries, especially Michigan?
TOM IZZO: Yeah, you know, and Indiana and Purdue have one, and Ohio State and -- I don't know who they've got one with, but Wisconsin and I guess it's Iowa. So there are different rivalries that I think should be protected.

I don't know if I agree with the two separate or not. I don't know if they'd divide them up evenly. Some of the things I've seen in football I'm not sure I like, personally. So I don't know what's best in that. Having our tournament at the end, it makes it a little different. But definitely still, and I swear to you, I haven't even looked at our schedule. I know we play Michigan once because everybody has told me, but I have not looked at it to see who got the benefit of the doubt this year, playing the top four teams once and the bottom four teams twice. That's still going to determine a champion a little bit in our league, and I still think it does in football a little bit.

I'd say that's the biggest negative to the mega-conferences. Not having the truest of true champions bothers me because I don't think the fans look at it that way, but I think coaches definitely look at it that way.

So I don't know which way we're going on that. I've got enough problems keeping my guys ready. I'll let my AD and my president and the Big Ten office figure it out. But it's the only thing I don't like about the bigger conferences. I've enjoyed Maryland and Nebraska. It's been good. But I really don't like not having a true champion, and I think when Gus coached, at least at the end of the day, there was no, well, you didn't play this team, you didn't play this team, you didn't play this team. I kind of miss that, and I think it's going to determine a lot of things in both our sports.

Q. How did the off-season injuries to your front court affect your developmental plans for Deyonta Davis, and how do you get the kid to smile?
TOM IZZO: I tried tickling him. That didn't work. When he cut his hair, though, it really kind of made a difference because I could see his face so that was encouraging, and I think that's helped him some. He's unbelievable. He's a great kid. He's made so much progress. I'm really pleased and proud of him in every way.

But I'm dead serious; I think to be a great team, you've got to be able to communicate, and Gavin struggles with that some. Zel never struggles with that. Travis didn't struggle with that. When you've got -- Draymond was the consummate guy. Jud always talked about magic in the back of that zone after they pressed, and then that he was such a good talker, he made everybody feel better.

I try to tell my guys, it's like, do you remember when you were a little kid and you walked down in the basement because your cat was down there or something, whatever it was, you'd walk down those steps and you'd always say, hey, mom, and you'd just try to talk to her because you were scared of the bogeyman or whoever was down there? Well, that's what it is. If you communicate with people on defense, there's a comfort zone. You know that there's a guy behind you. You know there's a guy inside of you. You know there's a guy setting a pick. If you don't, everything is a surprise. Surprises are for Halloween, not for basketball games. We're on D.D. every day.

It's kind of funny, he's got a great high school coach, and he's been working on it. But ask him today, are you doing better? I bet he'll tell you he's doing a lot better, but I bet he'll tell you in one word.

Q. You've obviously had a lot of dynamic leaders, Draymond being the last guy who really grasped the whole culture of the program. You talked about Denzel earlier. I guess just how is he, I guess, unique in that next line of leadership, and then his relationship with Tum, because it seems like Tum is obviously that next guy who's really kind of --
TOM IZZO: Well, Denzel and Tum are like closer than close. Denzel is close with a lot of guys. The voting of captains, we don't talk about it often, but he got every vote and then some, and not many guys get every vote. So that tells you a little bit about Denzel. But what I love about Denzel, he doesn't miss a football game. He is engrained in Michigan State. He's at the volleyball games. He's been at a soccer game. A little bit like Data. Even more so because his dad played here. So when you talk about guys coming back and all the things, Denzel lights up like a lightbulb. It's important to him. When I was growing up you always heard about the legacy guys at Notre Dame. It seemed like if you played football there, you watch "Rudy," a couple of those guys didn't make it, but they went there because their dads went there. Well, Denzel is here, his brother was here for two years coaching, his dad played here. He's got a chance to set some records that nobody does. That I think is really important to Denzel, not the points he scores or this or that, but setting records on the games he's played in or number of wins for his class. I think those are really important things to Denzel because he's about this 100-some-year program, and I'll tell you the truth, it's pretty cool to listen to him talk once in a while when I hear him talk to the team about what we need to accomplish.

Or you know what was one of the coolest things I ever saw was at Syracuse last year when we won, I mean, his dad, who doesn't always show a lot of emotion, came out of those stands, and it was -- you know, it was unbelievable, and Zel went right to him and his brother, and you think about how many times does a family get to share in something like that. So I think Denzel is very important. He brings a culture of 30 years ago to us, and it would be a nice way to top it off if he could have an incredible senior year and we could have one because then -- I said to change the culture here for Michigan State University, you've almost got to get through a generation, and he's kind of like one of the guys that you'd get through an entire generation, and that would be pretty cool.

So listen, I --

Q. Marvin Clark, do you know his timetable?
TOM IZZO: I don't know exactly. You can ask the trainer. He'll be down there -- what we've gotten is he's now starting to walk without his boot. Usually that means within two weeks he can start practicing a little bit. So I'm hoping by the first game or two he'll at least be practicing, but I have no real timetable. We're not going to push it, and it's -- and yet we need him.

So as always, I'll end it by saying, I do appreciate what you do for us and I'm sure we'll have some all-out fights during the year on one thing or another, but I greatly do respect what you do and how you do it, and it's been fun. I feel better this year than I've felt in 10 years. I don't know if it's in the air here or whatever, but got a chance to do some special things at this place, and right now that's the legacy that I want to be a part of.

So if you need anything, Matt has been great. You know how to get a hold of him. 99 percent of you have my number. And if the other 1 percent want it, you can get it and I'll always try to tell you what I can tell you, and yet this day and age you'll be telling me more than I'll be telling you. So welcome to the Twitter world. See you all.

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