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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2015Shannon ScottSam ThompsonCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Michigan State – 76 Q. For each of you, you went through stretches in both halves where shots weren't falling. It was 10 minutes in the first half, you made one or two, and then five minutes without making in the second half. Was it their defense or your execution? What was really to blame maybe in those stretches? SHANNON SCOTT: I mean, there's times where you don't make shots really. That just happened to us. We had to get in better position to make shots. We rushed a lot of shots, as well. We've got to do a better job as a team just getting ready for those shots and sinking them. SAM THOMPSON: Yeah, what Shannon said. Q. Sam, Valentine said that some of the other top seeds in this tournament had come out kind of flat in their first game, and they made it a point that they wanted to come out with a lot of energy and punch you guys in the mouth first. And I wondered as hard as they played at the beginning and the way they executed, if they kind of got you guys back on your heels and playing from behind? SAM THOMPSON: We were obviously playing from behind. I don't know how much that had to do with them making it a point to come out and play well. We made it a point to come out and play well. If we do so every game, we don't want to play from behind, we want to play our best basketball at the beginning of the game. They did a better job of that than we did. Q. Obviously you'll find out your NCAA assignment on Sunday. Just your thoughts about having a chance to regroup and put a final bow on the season with a run in the NCAA? SHANNON SCOTT: Yeah, man, it's win or go home. I'm not counting us out of anything. I know the talent that we have on our team. I feel we can make a great run, but we have to be ‑‑ we have to ready for it. We can't take any days off and play lightly. SAM THOMPSON: Like he said, this is what all of us came to school for. This is what all of us came to Ohio State for is to play basketball in the month of March. We absolutely would like to be playing tomorrow, but we have a chance to regroup. We have a chance to get back to Columbus and try and put one more run together. Q. I'm wondering if you think that Big Ten games are called a little bit different than NCAA Tournament games, and, if so, if that hurts Big Ten teams in March. COACH MATTA: You know, I'm not sure. I've been in this league 11 years, and that was amazing. I don't know. I mean, you hope not. You hope it doesn't hurt us. But that was something else. Q. Thad, what was your‑‑ how did you see the beginning of the game? You got down by 16 in the first 10 or 11 minutes. You've obviously been in this situation before. Was it the same old thing or was it more Michigan State having to do with it this time? COACH MATTA: Yeah, we had a hard time running our offense, cutting and moving and setting ball screens. I hadn't seen anything like that ever in the Big Ten. But I think from the standpoint of where they got us was, it was either a lay‑up or a three, and those were the things that we were trying to take away, and they did a great job of running the floor. When you're struggling to score as we were, the rebounds were coming to them and they were gone, and their bigs did an excellent job of running the floor, and that definitely hurt us. They got us on the‑‑ we had just drawn up the play right before the start of the game to watch for the double lob, they get the lob. It's like, geez, we had to think. And that was probably the biggest thing I told our guys, you've got to trust the system more in terms of what we're doing. We deviated some, especially early, and it got us. Q. As I asked the players, just in your mind, it's been kind of a roller coaster season for you guys, two steps forward, two steps backward, whatever. Great last night, tonight not as good. Your thoughts as you try and regroup one more time to go into the NCAA Tournament, what you feel this team can accomplish? COACH MATTA: Well, I think from the standpoint of somehow, some way we've got to find the right button or whatever it is to everybody playing their‑‑ at their level, and it's not going to be perfect. We know that. But there's got to be a level of consistency with what we're doing. As we told our guys, this game with Michigan State, I don't know how many times we play, but it's runs, it's runs, it's runs. One of the emphasis was trying as hard as we could not to allow the runs, and I think that's something that ‑‑ getting down the way we did in the first half, and I told the guys after the game, it can't happen. I mean, we burn two timeouts in the first half to stop the runs. I think from the standpoint of what do we got to do, we got to get back and paint the picture so everybody understands in terms of what's at stake. You think they know, but they don't know. And you look at our two games up here and break them down and get back to the‑‑ I don't want to say the basics, but we can't make some of the mistakes we've made in these games up here. Q. Just one another thing. The one time‑out looked like you were talking to Scirotto or. Steratore for about a minute there. Was it a consistency thing where Sam didn't get the call at one end, and then Trice, there was minimal contact at the other, and was that the particular glaring incident in your mind that typified the whole thing? You were also screaming at them. What was the general beef, I guess? COACH MATTA: Honestly, I'd probably better be careful because I'm not very happy right now with what I saw. I hadn't seen anything like that. It is what it is. You know it's going to be a physical basketball game, but yeah, I was just a little bit upset on one end to the other end and that sort of thing. But everybody did their best. Q. I was going to ask you kind of the same thing. You're probably trying to say something you can't say, but safe to say‑‑ COACH MATTA: We've had 11 years together. Q. Is this the most physical game one of your teams has ever played in? COACH MATTA: Undoubtedly. Undoubtedly, yeah. No ifs, ands or buts about that. Yes. Q. I was going to ask about that, too. Tom talked about‑‑ was asked about kind of a long conversation between you and him after the game. Can you talk about what was said or what you were sharing or whatever? COACH MATTA: I think just‑‑ I have the utmost respect for Tom Izzo. Over time we have become very good friends. I think that both of us are probably a little bit excited it didn't come down to the last shot. But we talked‑‑ it was more out of mutual respect, I think, in terms of‑‑ I think they got a chance to make a run. I think he feels the same way that we do. I think we're both kind of in agreement on what we saw out there tonight. But I just‑‑ I love those games against Michigan State, and I think he kind of feels the same way, because we're both competitors, and they're typically great basketball games. It's almost like a sigh of relief, we were like, whew. Those are never easy for either one of us. Unfortunately they got the best of us tonight. Q. When are you going to shave? COACH MATTA: You know, I don't know. My kids like it, so‑‑ I don't ever shave in the off‑season. I always look like this in the off‑season. No, I'll probably be cleaned up by the weekend. Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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