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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 14, 2009

Tom Izzo

COACH IZZO: In most polls, we are either one or two, maybe a third and one, but I don't think so in the Big Ten, and so expectations are high, and I think the first thing that I want to say is I enjoy the expectations but I've got to remind myself and you what we lost. You know, I am concerned about living up to them, I like the challenge of living up to them. After watching and listening, not to insult anyone, but the Jim Leyland/Tiger story, when a team that wasn't picked very high did something unbelievable in my mind, from May till October, most of the fine gentlemen and women in this room absolutely crucified him. I speak with guarded optimism.
Our schedule is tougher than probably it's ever been and that kind of sounds strange, but here is the reason I say that. We play two top five teams early. Matt in his great research said it's the first time we have done that since '99, 2000 with North Carolina and Texas being in there. But probably the toughest part is the Big Ten has minimum of five, I've seen one publication of seven or definitely eight teams in the Top-30 in a lot of pools, seven for sure, and I think our team is going to be the best it's been since 2000.
So that means we are going to play a large number of ranked teams, which I think is going to be good for the Big Ten and good for us in the long run. I'm just not sure we are going to be as ready early. Besides losing the defensive Player of the Year as we all know, we lost one of the better leaders that we've had since probably Cleaves, and we lost a guy in Suton who was good; I wouldn't classify as great as far as his production, but every night you knew he was going to get you ten or 11 points and eight or nine rebounds. That's the statistical side.
On the non-statistical side, he was a guy who had a great post for this team, got along with everybody, except me, and he did a great job of really, honestly rallying the troops. Anybody could go talk to him. He was egoless so if a freshman had a problem, he would go talk to Suton. It was colorless, so didn't matter if you were white or black or from Africa or from Slovania. He was just one of those guys that got along with everybody that every team needs.
And then to go from there, because that's two stars out of our lineup, Grand (ph) I think will greatly be missed. If you think of it which most of you probably haven't because they were not statistically great, but there was 15 years, seven, eight minutes a game, but 15 years worth of players there in those three guys. They were all fifth-year seniors. There was 14 follows that those guys had to give, which sometimes is very needed. And maybe my two biggest concerns with this year's team lie in that whole statement.
Do we have the leadership? I think for the first time since, again, 2000, we had a unanimous voting for our captains, Raymar Morgan and Kalin Lucas were unanimously picked by all 15 members. But being able to lead yourself is one thing and being able to lead a group of people is another. I don't say that negatively towards them. I just say that is yet to be seen because it always takes place when adversity hits, which I'm sure it will hit a few times this year. That is a big concern, our leadership. Our second -- and our chemistry. Our second big concern is going against bigs, especially early. I think we can go small but I think the versatility of this team over the last couple of Final Fours is the ability to go whatever we have to go. We can go small, we can go big. It was the 17 minutes that Edon (ph) played against Texas when Pitman was chewing us up and the big block that might have turned that game. It was, again, Edon over in Illinois that made such a difference in that game late when they were closing the gap. It was Marquis Gray here against Illinois when we are were out of it and scored 11 points.
So I am concerned about the fact that we have no proven center, yet we can go small early, and I think be pretty effective and that's going to be a good weapon for us that we will definitely use but we are going to play games, I think nearly North Carolina, maybe Florida, maybe definitely Texas, Oakland, that have very good big inside men. And I don't have a good answer for that right now. But with that schedule with Gonzaga, Florida, Carolina, Texas, and then the Big Ten, I think it's going to be very challenging and yet I think we will certain something early. That's the advantage of playing two teams that have tremendous size, and playing them on the road I think should give us a good idea of maybe what we have got to work on.
We returned seven of our top nine guys as far as scoring. That's going to be a plus for us. At least five or six guys have averaged over 17, 18 minutes a game and so we have some quality experience there. And probably the two guys that didn't play that much, Draymond Green and Korie Lucious played exceptionally well in the NCAA Tournament which I think should give them a bib lift for this year.
As far as mentioning Korie, I will say this: He was cleared last week to start shooting, and after what really was almost six months of him doing nothing, he was cleared last week to shoot. He was cleared about an hour before I came here to start actually working out now, where he can cut and run and do some things like that, which I'm going to take the onus on me to make sure that we gradually get him back. So whether he even participates in Midnight Madness would be a stretch. First couple of practices, it will definitely be gradual and we will definitely work him in by the end of next week going three-fourths to full go. So that's a little bit of a negative, but in time he'll be able to get a little stronger. He's worked hard in the weight room and hopefully that will gain some needed weight and some needed toughness that he's going to have to play with, especially when some times he's actually played the two.
You know, I talked about the holes, but there are some good things. I think Delvon Roe is back 99% healthy. Now he's got to get the rest of his game back, but he's improved his shooting a lot. I'm not sure if there's a guy that's worked any harder in the summer than he has. If I look at my team overall in the summer, spring, summer, fall, has been very good individually. Unfortunately it's not golf or tennis; it's a team sport. So where it comes teams-wise is something how the next month or two determines.
But individually the guys have spent a lot of time in the gym and weight room. Herzog is up to 250. I know that doesn't mean much, Freddie, but he is up there and it's something important to me. I didn't say anything about where you are, just said that some guys have a concern with weight and some guys don't; and I have a concern with Herzog's weight. Thank God, he really has done a great job. And I think I need to say this since he's going to be more of a part of this team this year than he's been. His limited ability to improve that over the last couple of years was not because of lack of work or effort. The guy worked his tail off. He lived in the weight room and he just had one of those bodies that most of us would love to have. Just couldn't gain and went through some little sickness and that hurt him. But he's definitely in the best shape he's ever been in in his life and is playing better and that's encouraging.
As far as my team, to go through it individually, I talked about the leadership. I did talk about Walton was one of the best. I do think we have the ability to fill the holes, we have the bodies to fill the holes. Whether we have those guys play up to that expectation or potential, only time will tell. With the best backcourt in America, according to Lendy's and probably one of the top three or four according to a lot of people, that's usually what wins games for you. But we will find out if Kalin Lucas can handle the pressure because he's been billed as an All-American by some. Everybody handles things differently.
I like the progress he's made. I think he's shooting the ball exceptionally well. I think he gained seven to eight pounds. He's a little stronger, a little tougher. I think he's made some great progress, but he's going to be asked to do so much this year. He's going to be asked to be scoring more, defending a lot better since we lost the best defensive player in the league, and that is not an easy chore. I like our chances with it. I think in Allen and Summers, definitely two guys that will be a lot more explosive offensively. Whether they will be able to match even close the defensive effort that Walton gave that won us a lot of games, again, time will tell. I think they both understand what they have to do. I think in Summers, you've got a guy who athletically is very, very good basketball-wise, is pretty darned good consistency-wise, has been very average over the last two years, and that has to improve greatly.
I said when I recruited him, I thought Chris Allen was one of the best shooters I ever recruited and I still stand by that even though I think I should be up for criticism because he has not performed that way. What I tried to stress to those three guys especially is that's what is neat about a team sport. Each one of them needs the other guy, and if they understand that, they are going to be one ever best backcourts we have ever had here. If they don't, it's not going to be very good, because they need each other because some can't pass as well, some are better running the lane, some are better spotting up and shooting and need Kalin to get them the ball in the right place at the right time, which I think he has improved on, a lot.
I do think we are going to be a more athletic team in which we were a decent athletic team this year but I think we will be even a more athletic team this year. There's no secret that Travis was not the world's greatest athlete. We had him in the spot as a 2-guard where the likes of a Shannon Brown or Maurice Eggar (ph) or back to the Charlie Bells and Richard Sims and Petersons and guys like that were in that position, and the position is built for a jet and we have got one right now in Summers, and we have a pretty good one that's a better athlete than I thought in Allen, and Korie Lucious can play there some and he can run, too. We should be a lot better. We should have versatility inside with the guys we have got as far as -- able to move Delvon around and being able to move Raymar almost to three or four positions. That will be a big, big key.
A couple of facts that Matt had written down that I thought were worthy of talking about, as we go have the fourth-longest winning streak in the nation as far as not winning streak but the NCAA streak. And what does it mean? It's just another something to be broken, really. It's just another stat. What it means is there has been consistency, and yet, consistency to win a championship, we were lacking for a while, we got back on track a little bit last year, and I really plan on trying to upgrade that this year.
The Final Four appearances have been great, but sometimes they are an anchor, because I think not any of you, because I know you wouldn't think that way, but probably most of our fans feel that the Final Four is on the schedule and it's not. So that can work both ways.
I think what our problem is almost more than the Final Four is the eight weeks since the Sweet 16s in 12 years, because I think that's a measure that you're doing it at an above-normal level. Even though we don't consider making it normal, it still is interesting how the bowl games, you know, you have teams out of 106 or 108, in basketball, you have to be one of 65 out of 347; it makes it a little more difficult.
I was going to wrap up by going through some of our players and giving you what I think is a quick synopsis of what they have done, what they have done, and Raymar Morgan, who I still think is going to be the big key because of his versatility until he got injured, he was 16-7 until he got injured in the three games, and he was averaging 17-9. Those are MVP numbers. I think our MVP candidate last year after three Big Ten games in the whole league not just on our team was Raymar Morgan. It hurt when he went down, and yet that's going to be maybe one of the million dollar questions is can he stay healthy and play to not just the potential he has, but even where he was last year during that stretch because he was very good. When he's full strength, you know, he played a lot of minutes, he played a couple different positions. I thought an interesting stat was he was 27th in career scoring, could finish the season ranked tenth all time if he did what he did last year, and he also could be one of the Top-10 rebounders of all time.
So I spent a lot of time saying what I don't -- what Raymar Morgan needs to improve on, and if he could just do what he did last year, he would be one of the Top-10 guys that ever crossed our court. So I do think he's a very good player. He's earned a spot on some preseason all Big Ten teams. I think it's very deserving. He's got to stay healthy and get a little more consistent and he's going to be one of the two guys that leadership thing either is going to become fun or a burden; I'm anxious to see.
Isaiah Dahlman is a guy who has had an unbelievable summer and worked his tail off. I make no secrets: Is he good enough? I don't know. But if there's a guy that deserves to have some success, it's him. I think he'll be playing three positions. I think I'll use him as a utility guy all over. I think he's one guy that can take over Suton's; everybody loves Isaiah. He has improved his shooting, he's improved his strength, but he will be doing it from a sub-role.
And Lucas, he's gotten every accolade you can get, he's been on every magazine you can be on. What I keep trying to remind myself of as I sat with Matt and looked through different years of guys that had success or teams that have had success, guys who were rated, I always got a kick out of looking at the McDonald's High School All-Americans and who makes it to the pros. It's like 30-some percent or something. When you look at over the year, the Top-25 teams in the preseason, and who is there at the end, a lot of times there's discrepancy in some years there were nine of those Top-25 that didn't even make the NCAA Tournament.
So my biggest message to Kalin is don't rest on where you were because somebody is trying to beat down the door to knock you off. And understand this, if you don't win the league, or are not high up there, you know, you've got to average 40 points and do some of the things and get some of the awards that maybe you received last year.
We talked about the unfinished business. I thought he walked his talk most of the summer, and yet again, I say I'm putting a big burden on him with the added responsibility of leading a team. Not being the best player, leading a team, there's a big difference.
All of the accolades I think have been worthy but as Mike DiCorsey (ph) wrote: "Lucas needs to take greater control of the team the way McCleash did when he ran the Spartans." I think that's a good statement, and the reason why I think it's a good statement is I'm not worried about how good Kalin can be. I'm worried about how good Kalin can make other people be and if he does that, we are going to be a very good team. So there's no question I'm resting a lot on his shoulders.
Chris Allen has had some injury problems. He had the foot last year and he had some as a freshman but I think he's made a much better commitment to the game of basketball since maybe late February last year; why, I don't know, it happens to everybody. He's had a great summer. He is fully healthy. Unfortunately for Korie, Chris has been healthy since July 1, same time Korie was supposed to be, and so he missed -- he missed eight weeks but he didn't miss the whole six months, so I think Chris definitely looks better, stronger. He's worked on his shooting and there's no reason why expect him to be one of the better shooters in the conference.
I also think he could play a little backup point guard early if it takes longer for Korie to come back around if we need that. So we got Lucas, we got Summers, we got Dahlman and we got Morgan, and I think three of those four can be very integral parts. One of them is going to have a lot of weight on his shoulders but maybe the other big key is Durrell Summers, because I think he has potential, which is almost an evil word in basketball. Potential to be one of the better high-wire, high-flying acts that we have had here. I think he has a little bit of everybody. Summer Richardson, Summer Peterson, he could be a great defensive player and I think that his whole thing will be that he stay focused and stay consistent. I think focus is going to be maybe the key word. I might put that on the back of his jersey, not even his name, and I think that will be very, very important for us because he could be as good a defensive player as a Walton. He's got long arms. He's got great athletic ability and understands what he's doing. He could be one of the better shooters, and he should be, should be, the best offensive rebounding guard we've had since Charlie Bell.
So I am looking forward to a great year. Three 20-point games in the Big Ten season, eight games where he scored six points or less, and that's a consistency we've got to get a little better. That will come not just from him. I have some responsibility in that, too. Herzog, played 100 minutes his first two years. He's got 100 minutes under his belt, not the greatest time in games but he has had his best summer by far and in the two-hour work out that is we've h he actually gets through them, he's not tired, he's not worn out. He's still physically not where I'd like him but definitely, definitely made great progress.
And one of those guys that I really hope has a good year for Raymar's sake, Kalin's sake, but mostly Tommy's sake, because he has contrary to whatever you think, worked his tail off since the day he walked in this building and you kind of hope for good things.
The next two guys, Delvon and Draymond are kind of bookends in a way. Delvon has worked very hard on his shooting and he's gotten some preseason accolades, third teams and that. I went for a ride yesterday and I said, Delvon, it's a shame not even our players -- the only time anybody has seen Delvon go play was at an ESPN game that I was at when he got hurt the first seven, eight minutes of the game. And to be truthful with it he played the entire game and I was wondering who I recruited. And yet he had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, something like that, and I thought he was awful compared to the guy I recruited. We didn't see him last year. There's no secrets, I think everybody would agree, we didn't see the same guy but give this kid credit because you play with one or two knee surgeries, you play with one as serious as the one he had, never complained, all he wanted to do was fight me every day about practicing more and playing more. And we hampered his -- and held him back the best we could. I thought our doctors, if ever there was a case where everybody was on the same page and worked together, it was for Delvon because we know what his future is like. Whether the knee surgeries -- he seems to be coming back 99%, but now he's got to get his game back. He's improved his shooting. He's got to improve his free throw shooting but I like the chances because he can defend, he can rebound, he can score inside, he can run the lane, and he's become a much better 15, 16-foot shooter. And Draymond, there's no secrets that he kind of gradually came along last year and it helped when he lost the 20, 25 pounds. That really made a difference, and then he had to learn how to adjust to that. And he became a -- he is and was one of the smarter players I've had; Antonio Smith where he knew everybody's position, he knew where everybody is supposed to be, he's a great passer, he has very good skills. He's not that big. People say, well, you can play him here. We can play a lot of people. We can play Korie Lucious at center but don't want to line up that way but playing it and doing it are two different things. So with Draymond, he's going to be all over the court. He averaged eight and a half points a game in our NCAA run and those were against some pretty good big men. So I think he's going to be -- he's ready for a blowout year. He's put on a little more weight and probably in the best shape he's been in.
Lucious I talked about a little bit. It's been sad for him. But I think he's the type of kid that can bounce back off, this even though you need the skills of shooting, he was always a very confident shooter, and I don't think that's going to hurt him a ton. But I do think any time you take six months off, you know, that is a problem. And he could do nothing during those six months, nothing with a basketball.
So you know we have got a couple other guys that have walked on and we have moved around and Austin Thornton would be one that I think could definitely challenge for some minutes and definitely play some. He's shooting, he's tough, he's 217 pounds, he's gained ten pounds of good weight and that's where we are. So I rattled off a lot. I hope you heard some of it. If you've got questions now, you can throw them at me for the next, what, 20 minutes.

Q. Inaudible.
COACH IZZO: People always look at, he did it last year; we are big fans of players. We heard the same thing last year as we are going to be this year in the fact that good enough to be a Sweet 16 team, and then you've got to be lucky and you've got to make your own luck to make your own breaks, and you know, a lot of that is going to fall on the hands of those guards. They played awfully well this year but we had pretty good consistency. We knew what Suton was going to do every single night and he surprised us, like the Louisville game, we knew what Walton was going to do just about every single night. And yet there was some consistency there that you can hang your hat on. I don't feel that comfort right now, but I shouldn't right now because they haven't had a chance to show me.
And so I think we can recapture it. I think the road is going to be so much tougher. I would be shocked this year if four or five losses doesn't win the league with the number of good teams. I'd be shocked. And yet I'd be, you know -- so how you handle that, is going to determine a lot how we do, too. You know, if guys think they are bigger than they are, which sometimes happens, when you have some success, everybody adjusts differently, if the fans are not as into it because they are expecting; I know one guy that's not expecting anything: Me. I've been around long enough. I look back to 2006 when we had a top five team, and we got beat in the first round, you know.
I look at all of those things as you're supposed to, and you try to combat them, but every day and what they go through and how they handle success or failure, I mean, I say this every year, we are going to lose some games early. We are going to lose some games. I'm not preparing you, I'm telling you, because I don't think our youth, especially up front, is going to have it's hands full with a couple of those teams and I think we will play against the best big guys in the first couple of weeks that we played against in years.
So that's going to be a good challenge and it will give us a good idea of where we are. Now what we do from there, if we win those games, some of those games, do we take off, I think it just going to happen. If we lose them and let everybody get down in the dumps; that's what I said, No. 1 on my list is leadership and chemistry and that will determine a lot.

Q. How does Derrick Nix fit in the mix and as far as the physical transformation he's been through in such a sport period of time what does it mean to you to see that?
COACH IZZO: You know what, he fits -- he fits a lot better than he fits a couple of months ago. You know, you know so little about a kid like that yet because it's not even the same kid that recruited as a junior. He's 340 pounds or whatever it was, and now he's in the 70s, 270-something, and I'm sure after five days in a row of practice or six practices in seven days that, will get down there to the 207 mark. If he gets there, that's an incredible accomplishment already, and you just keep saying, why didn't Draymond Green look like a different guy and get so much better well, you attribute a lot of that to what he did physically. I've got to admit, he's been pretty consistent, a lot of guys will lose a lot and then go backup and lose a lot. He's been pretty consistent. A lot of credit to Tom, our trainer but Derrick Nix deserves a lot of credit because there's not a lot of guys -- Randolph lost 20 and kept it off. Good old Panky (ph) lost some and gained some and lost some and gained some and gained some and gained and gained some and lost a little. That happens. But I think the kid did an incredible job. His high school coach deserves some credit, too. Took some off going into his senior year and he took a lot off this summer. But when you look at him coming here 315, 318 and losing 30-something pounds, in four months, and it was gradual but he's looked good in the short work outs I've had. I think he's got to slow himself down a little bit but he's going to be an exciting prospect because he wants to be a player. He's in here every night. He wants to be a player.

Q. You mentioned the 2006 team, you talked about the ten-year anniversary of the two to you team, I think you are honoring them somehow this year, do you see similarities in this team to both and does it help to you have both examples for your guys?
COACH IZZO: The 2006 team?

Q. And the high expectations -- that it was overrated --
COACH IZZO: No, it wasn't overrated. I guess that's what bothered me. We had too many potential or optional picks in that thing with Brown and Davis. So one of two things, probably not as good a coaching job if you want the truth, and probably not as good a focus on winning. And that happens. It's hard. It's hard. Let's face it, we got different problems this year. They are going to have preseason expectations that are higher, you're going to have individual accolades which are greater. You have agents, parents, fans and talk radio and written, printed, watched, a lot of different things that are going to put a lot of pressure on these guys.
And personally, I really thought about what I wanted to say to y'all, and I ran it by Matt and I said, God, I don't want to say his name because I'll get killed. But I don't want to downplay how we are. I think we are very good. But I think we have a couple of important issues that I don't think are missing or bad; I just don't know where they are yet. I don't know how the three guys that haven't played more than a couple of minutes of college basketball are going to respond in the middle. I don't know how a leader is going to lead when he's leading by himself. But I'm telling you, that's going to be an important part of this team and I like our chances on it. But I think I'll use and look at the 2006 team. We will talk about that before the first practice. I'll look at this list of people that were ranked as hard as eighth or ninth that didn't even make the NCAA Tournament, and then I'll talk about the positives, you know what we did last year, when we focused in on what we wanted to accomplish, and the mission after the Big Ten tournament and you are going to have to go through some of those ups and downs and you're going to have to deal with them.
But what an exciting year for Big Ten basketball and Michigan State, the number of good teams, ranked teams we are going to play. That one year, I think we played one ranked Big Ten team; that will happen in the first week. So that's going to be better and they are going to have to be more ready for it. So you try to make sure they don't think, well, we have done this, that's good enough. And you try to make them realize that, guess what, the Final Four last year ends, and it probably ended when school started but it definitely ends the first day of practice. We are going to move on to a new year, hopefully I'll have enough experience where I can get that point across.

Q. Right after the Carolina game that Draymond brought up that they lost to Kansas the year before, do you think that spirit is there?
COACH IZZO: It really -- how many more weeks do I have to talk to you, by the way? Not too many? (Laughter).
It really hit home that night. I listened to that and I said, wow, from a freshman, that was an incredible statement I thought. I once told I think 2003, I came out of that locker room down in San Antonio, and I was disappointed because not one guy mentioned one thing, and then that next year, we didn't have maybe as good a year as I thought we could have had. Although I'm getting my fans, 20-some wins isn't good enough. But I was really thrilled to hear a freshman, especially when they have come on so well, make a statement like that because did really got a lot of people thinking.
The carryover, I wasn't heard it as much, but I do think it's something our players are going to be talking about the first week. I think I've been gone more this fall than I ever have recruiting. We are just really trying to get after some kids and we are trying to go down a few grades. That's why I'm looking forward to this week, too. I'm home, I'm back, I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond to things like that.

Q. Traditionally your teams really follow the captains, and you've talked about times where Raymar mopes a little bit and can disappear. How big of a concern, especially the way your teams follow captains?
COACH IZZO: Not that big, you know. It's as big as it gets. I said, on my hit list is No. 1, Kalin and Raymar. Kalin can lead but can he bring all of those people together. Raymar, I was excited they were unanimously picked. Once in awhile coaches will vote, so we had 19 votes. This year I decided the coaches were not going to vote. I thought it was that important that I wanted to see what the players did, and the voting was great. I mean, for a guy like him to be going into a season, to have that as the No. 1 issue after losing a great leader is as good as I can expect. But that won't be answered until either the first bad game, the first loss, the first bit of adversity. That's where those questions are answered.
So, yeah, that's what's so scary I think to every coach, because you can have 90 percent of your team back and lose one guy. What happens to Northwestern? They only lose one player but where was that player. I think right now, Purdue is the team to beat. They lose nobody in that top six or seven, nobody. They don't have to change anything and they should be hungry. I think Ohio State is going to be a team, we didn't even talk about the different teams; tremendously improved, because they bring back, the one thing they lack last year, that they have a tough, hard-nosed guy that would do all of the dirty work. He can do all of those things, and if he comes back with everybody else, he's their sixth man, but he played great.
So that's why Raymar and Kalin, I can promise you I'll be putting a lot of heat on those two guys. I think in Travis, why didn't we win a championship for six, seven, whatever years it was? I try to forget while you guys reminds me. I still think one of the reasons is good leadership. I wouldn't trade Nitsu (ph) and Hill and Allen Anderson, Torberg, good leaders, good guys, you know, but it was a great leadership. Was it enough to drag a lot of people with you at times that weren't good, and that's what the great players in the game can do. I think we have a chance, we have a good chance but time will tell.

Q. When you bring your team down to North Carolina, your team steps out on the floor and they look at the 2009 National Championship banner hanging in the rafters, how is that going to -- you talk about a motivating factor right there, not only to want to win that game that night, but to build a fire for the rest of the season.
COACH IZZO: Motivate a team? Works on me. And I'm hoping it's going to work on them. But there's a lot of reasons. You know, you go down there, it's a great place to play, and you go down there, it will be a big night, you know, and big night for TV, big night for the country. That's why you come to places like this. There's so many reasons; that will be an added one. Unfortunately I have to admit the best team won last year. They were the best team. I mean, the they had the best players, they were very well coached and the best team and they had a mission of their own. They stayed to win. In every way except wanting another trophy in this building, the players that played here before and the demands here; I could have been a huge Carolina fan because they did it for the right reasons and they did it the right way and they were the best team.
Other than a few losses in the middle there without their point guard, they kind of maintained that throughout most of the year. You know, I don't know, I guess Kansas is everybody's team this year. But I warn my guys every day. Outside distractions usually make the difference because when you're trying to be one of 11, or one of 347 best teams, there is not a lot of room for error or. And I don't care if it's academically, I don't care if it's girlfriends, I don't care if it's media, I don't care if it's some other issue; distractions are what usually get teams. Some teams deal with distractions. If you read the paper which I try not to, but I do appreciate the information you guys bring; so if I get the bulletins every day, there's more going on right now than Carter got liver pills, you know, just a revolving door of issues.
Some teams are capable. Scott Styles can handle that, as an example, and some teams can't. That's usually nowadays why champions are -- there's got to be a lot of things go right to win the Championship.

Q. With all of the great success you've had with this program, there's always pressure and you've just talked about certain pressures on certain guys coming into the season. Because of what happened last year because of the expectations coming into this season because of what you have back, would you consider this the most pressure you and the program have had going into a single season?
COACH IZZO: Well, damn good question. I wish I could say no but I'd like to say yes.
You know, I think there is. I think when you look at what the other teams have, we are talking a team in our league -- I mean, let's face it, if we win the league last year it comes down to the last game, normally, if whatchamacallit doesn't get hurt. That team, Purdue, was not losing four or five games if he doesn't get hurt. That's one issue right off the bat. I don't think there's anybody here that's not thinking Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State are not better teams than they were last year. I mean, I think everybody would agree with that.
So the pressure is trying to keep the expectations human, and if you leave here thinking, I'm trying to portray a very good football coach that down plays it every year every year every year, I'm sure as hell not doing that. I'm not down playing one thing. We have some very good players and we have a very good team. We have some deficiencies and we have some unknowns. Those two things will determine how good we are. But we could be a better basketball team and not win as many games. We could be a better basketball team and not get nearly as far. There are some good teams, I think there's probably one great team, you have to look at Kansas, recruits in that are better. As I was looking through some of the magazines, if there's an encouraging/discouraging part of college basketball, there are more kids staying in. Some of the names of the guys staying in, I said, God, I think he should have been gone. (Laughter) Some of it is hoping. Some of it is wishing. But I really do mean that and I think that's a positive. I think people are starting to open up their eyes and realize how many guys go and fail.
But when you talk about five first-team all Big Ten guys, and sophomores who are coming back, that's incredible. I'm not sure that's happened. Where's my walking statistician here? But for the most part, there's going to be some pressure on. And don't mind me if I tell you the same way after the first loss or the second loss that you know, we scheduled for a reason what we did. And I have nobody to blame but me on that, you know, other than throwing in the Big Ten challenge, because you never know who you're going to get.
But I assume in the last six years that we might get somebody that's pretty doggone good. And I think we are going to get tested at times, whether we can play against real big size. That's going to be good for this team. When we get tested on how we rebound back from a tough game, we are going to get tested on whether we think we are better than we are, and I think all of those things are going to happen the first three weeks, and that's probably going to be good for this team. And hopefully if we do very well and we win a lot of those games, I really am going to have to be word worried about getting fat and sassy because it means they listened to what we talked about in the preseason and they understand, and they have already handled that part of it.

Q. Coach Suzy in her Media Day said she watched Iowa State 15 times. She has not watched Duke yet. I wondered what your ratio is between the magic moment of UCONN and the loss of North Carolina. She got beat at the buzzer and you got beat at opening buzzer, but is there a ratio of how you watch those teams? (Laughter).
COACH IZZO: No, I deserve that. The sad part is, you're right. The fact, it was damn near the pregame warm up when you look at it. But I didn't look at either game. I've watched some games, I've watched some highlights after, I've watched some highlights of other games, but to me, it's -- you know, you either feel so good or you feel so bad, what do you want to do that in the off-season for. I've got nothing to feel bad about and I don't need to feel good because I want to stay hungry and driven and this and that.
And so I haven't watched our North Carolina game. But I haven't watched our UCONN game, either. I have seen some highlights of both and watched a little bit of that, but you know, and part of it is because since school started, I've been on the road probably more than I've been on the road, and this next week now as we start practice, you know, we'll get to look at North Carolina because we have to think of how we are going to do some things. We put in practice what you're going to face the two or three weeks, and I think we are going to face some different kinds of teams and that's going to make me have to go back and look at those things and see what I did do, didn't do, and should have done.

Q. Usually you like to redshirt a big man to give them a chance to develop another season. That might have been a thought with Derrick Nix and Sherman, but what's the thought how to handle those two guys?
COACH IZZO: They made it easy on me this year. There's no thought. I'm not saying they are ready, but there's no thought of that, just because of our situation. And so it's one less headache. Don't have to worry about it. Don't have to think about it. Don't have to talk about it.

Q. You had I think a -- you were depicted in a corn maze, you spoke at a law school; what has the off-season been like for you has it been crazy as far as the demands on your time? And have the experiences from the Final Four to this point, since it's been the off-season, what's that done for you and your longevity and your energy going forward?
COACH IZZO: I think the other Final Fours give you some basis to understand how to handle things. I'm definitely better at getting hotel rooms than I used to be and definitely better at dealing with things after than I used to be. But I don't think it's been ridiculous in that. I think I've made the off-season more ridiculous recruiting this summer. July was tough and then even some of August. We had kids up and got a lot of kids up now and I was out a lot the first three weeks that we were allowed out. There's a couple things but I haven't done anything abnormal there.
I think what I lose sleep over and energy over is just trying to figure out how to be real with you and my team. You know, I really do, and I mean that in a positive way. I just think that I see some guys, and you look for every little sign, you know, oh, he's starting to miss a couple of classes, is he doing this, is he doing that; sometimes you can overanalyze, too. And even how you guys take different things, as a was talking, it was going to be, oh, boy, Izzo is trying to prepare them for a let down. I'm really not. I think what I'm learning how to be is more real every day and I look at different things and how fast; I have the privilege of giving a call to Bobby Bowden last week, because I just watch how fast things go. Or I pick up a magazine and who is hot is who is not. Some of the whose nots were guys that were Coach of the Year two years ago. I try to explain that to the players. You know, it's not -- I don't blame the media. It's a fact of life.
I have a problem with what we've done with the kids a little bit but I think we do this with everything in life, we try to speed the process. We try to make a freshman a senior and we are trying to make 19-year-old the -- if I was czar for the day on education, I would say, let's go to grade 13; why are we getting them to college at 7 or 18. They are mature at 19 and 20, and so was I.
So I've got to watch that we don't speed the process too much. We need a lot of those freshmen, okay, but that's not their fault. That's our fault. I need a guy to be a great leader. If he's not a great leader -- you can be a great player but you need to be a great leader. Sometimes it's not they're fault but it's part of things you have to grow. I think in Kalin's case, we and he have done a great job of building that since his freshman year. I think he's really stepped up each year but now it all falls on him. So that's the way I look at it, and I am excited about the year. I do think we have a chance. I think what I'm excited most about, there will be some great games here. As I said, the year we played one game against a Big Ten ranked team wasn't that many years ago, and I like that fact now that we will be playing big game every night; it's going to be more nerve-wracking but it's going to be more challenging and more fun in the long run.
So my energy, believe it or not, been working out still, and feel good about that, and I'm raring to go. Ask the players about their energy; remember this, players play the game, not the coach. So I just got to make sure their energy is up.

Q. You made mention of you're going to need big men because you're going to face some monster post players early on and throughout the season, so in that respect, talk about somebody like a Derrick Nix and his learning curve and maybe what you just mentioned about the projections on a player, what's going to have to happen with him and his skill set to get into the mix as fast as possible.
COACH IZZO: Well, that should be the battle cry, get Nix into the mix because it is going to be the truth.
You know, he has the strength, probably Sherman has a little more skills around the basket, but Nix has the strength and when you see them, probably won't appreciate it because I don't know how many saw him when he was a lot bigger, but when you look a year ago, he looks good right now. I'll take --

Q. Inaudible.
COACH IZZO: -- 40, 50 pounds off a guy, I mean, you know, some would say, some guys lose 20, 30 pounds, it's like throwing a lawn chair off the Titanic. He's a big fella. But I think that isn't the case with him. He has lost some weight and he's done a great job. I mean, I'm really proud of this kid. This kid is, you know, we can say what we want. It's not easy to do what this kid did. He's not done yet but he's got incredible leg strength. He's got a knack around the basket. He's got to get better in some areas, but you know, I'm hoping I can teach him how to use his feet. He's got good feet and good hands defensively because I think that's where the big key will be. We have enough offensive scoring to win games. I think we could have one of our best offensive teams. Can we defend against the post, that's the learning curve he'll have to gain quickly.

Q. What plans do you have tentative or otherwise for the ten-year anniversary?
COACH IZZO: We are struggling with that a little bit because we have too many players either playing or will be playing in Europe still. You sure want your key guys back. In fact, to do it right, you want everybody back. So that is still a work-in-progress according to the next couple of weeks, see what the NBA does, see what our guys do as far as heading back to Europe, and then we'll make a decision.
But there are not a lot of things, we have added another championship trophy up there, it looks awesome, and we are trying to always do the things for the guys that built the place, because those are the guys that built it, not myself and not Judd. Those guys built it. So we would like to have something real big. It just all comes down to when we find out who is here and who is not and then we are going to act accordingly.

Q. Many years ago we talked about what you want to do with this program and it appears that you've gotten it to a level that you've talked about many years ago, at this level; what motivates you to keep moving forward and if you reach a threshold, we talked about many years ago, where do you want to push it from this point forward?
COACH IZZO: Well, we did talk about it many years ago, you and I, and I dream of getting it here, and I kept fighting that it wasn't there yet. I said if it went ten, 12 years, which I did hear a year ago, we have got a solid program. Yet I think like everybody else what pushes people is to keep moving your goals up a little higher and my goals are now, we have gone to five final fours, but I have heard, none of you, of course, but, well, you only won one. It's like I understand that, and you know, what I complain about, I usually agree with. What I complain about, I usually agree with. If it didn't bother me enough, I probably wouldn't complain about it.
So it definitely, the John Wooden theory drives me every day. I met him, I think you told you back with Cleaves and them and he gave me that famous line. In fact, it's his birthday today. So if I live to be 99, there are two chances, none and less than none, or slim and none but John Wooden said welcome to the fraternity of 40, and I had no clue what he was talking about until Bill Walton deciphered that and said there's been 40 different coaches that have won a National Championship. So now he start looking up, well, how many have won two. I don't know, it goes down, somebody would know, but it's in the tens. And then how many have won three, and it's down to the in the fives I think.
So it's one of the few things in life that less is better. So I want to be down with the lower numbers, and that drives me every day. And probably the other thing that drives me because I've been so fortunate, if a player is coming back and one of the reasons they come back is they have had fun, they have had success and they have gone on to fulfill their dreams like I have had a chance to partially fulfill mine.
If you're wondering if there's anything left to drive forward because of the five Final Fours, two National Championships, is the easiest thing off my tongue, and if you're wondering because of the NCAA appearances, somebody who has got 24 or 25 out there and I think the longest in the Big Ten is 18. It's not just Matt that gives me those stats. I look them up myself. And that's what keeps me rolling. I have bigger fish to fry, and if I can convince Raymar, Kalin of that, they are going to be better and if they are better we are going to be better. If I can get Durrell and Chris to start focusing in on the big picture of things that they want to accomplish in their live, not just the one-year period, we are going to be better. And if we get better, they accomplish their goals, then I get to accomplish another one of mine.
But the driving point would be to -- down the road, hopefully a long time, is to leave the program in better shape than you got it. Our driving force is to become one of those few and then maybe the other one is, you know, again, I don't know what it is, but I know it's a very small number that as a program have won three National Championships as a university. That drives me every day. I mean, you know, on purpose we build the trophy case with a spot for another one. On purpose, we build a locker room with a spot for another one. I just want to make sure that if I get fat and sassy and complacent or any other word that I don't really want in my dictionary, I know something is going to slap me right around because I'm going to have to look at that trophy case and every time I go in the locker room and speak to my team and see a future one. I think that's going to keep me driven, guys. I think that -- I hope you ask the players the same questions. I can promise one thing through the year: I will read everything that is written tomorrow, because the team, I want to see what they say. It's kind of an important time when you lose a spokesman and you have to have new spokes men and that happens often. I'm not sure I've kept my eye on that enough when I've lost some key guys. Tomorrow I will have my eyes on the prize. I appreciate y'all coming. It's great that we get such a good turnout for this. Hopefully you're going down there, I've got to go upstairs and do one.

End of FastScripts

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