NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - DAVIDSON VS MICHIGAN ST.

March 17, 2022

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Marcus Bingham Jr.

A.J. Hoggard

Tom Izzo

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Michigan St. Spartans

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Our Michigan State student-athletes are here. Our Michigan State student-athletes are Gabe Brown, Malik Hall, Marcus Bingham Jr. and A.J. Hoggard.

Q. Marcus and Gabe, it's been a couple years since you guys have been in a deeper part of the tournament. How much are you having maybe some flashbacks to 2019, and what's this experience like now as a leader?

GABE BROWN: I'm just happy that we're back to the way things used to be. It feels good to have fans and a whole different environment. Me and Marcus are the only seniors that have been to a Final Four, so we know what it takes to get there.

We just want to go out there, enjoy the atmosphere, and just win games.

Q. For the guys who haven't been in an environment like this before where everything feels kind of back to normal, what's it like for you to kind of go through this and just be actually in the building and see everything again?

MALIK HALL: For the most part, it's just taking in everything really. It's a new experience for me. I didn't get none of it last year. There was no fans and stuff like that. It was just being able to be here is a blessing, just take it all in.

A.J. HOGGARD: Something you dream of as a kid, just taking the surreal atmosphere in, just soaking it up. Just learning from guys like Gabe and Marcus who have been to a Final Four and seeing what it takes and just been in this environment before, just learning from them, asking them questions, and just taking it all in.

Q. Marcus, they have a big man who can really shoot the three ball very well. During the Big Ten play, how is that different, and what is the challenge in defending him?

MARCUS BINGHAM JR.: Just defend him like every other player I played against. I can shoot it too, so it's going to be a good game.

Q. I guess the same type of deal for the older guys. When it comes to being in environments where we have the crazy atmosphere that a March Madness can bring, what advice have you been able to give A.J. and the younger guys who haven't had this experience yet?

GABE BROWN: I just tell them just play their game. At the end of the day, it's just basketball. They played against millions of people before, so it's the same thing. It's a lot more pressure, and it's one-and-done time, so there can't be that many mistakes. Just tell them to play their game, be confident, play within themselves, and let's get the job done.

MARCUS BINGHAM JR.: I agree with Gabe. Just really telling them to stay ready, stay in the moment, and not get too out of place. Really just stay ready and stay in the moment really.

Q. I know we talked about this earlier, but for A.J. and Malik, how do you guys, now that the game's upon us, sustain the momentum from the weekend, and how do you feel the practices have gone leading up to this in carrying that momentum over?

A.J. HOGGARD: They've been really well. We all know what's at stake. We all know it's one-and-done time. I've got two seniors sitting to my right and my left, and just want to send these guys out on a good note. We've all been focused and locked in. Our captains have done a good job keeping everyone locked in. Our coach has done a good job.

Everybody's just been pulling for each other. So we all have been on one accord. I think that's going to help us with our momentum transferring over from last week, so I think it's going to be really good.

Q. This is also for you, A.J. It's a little bit more about Tyson. How much has he been able to do this week, and are you kind of going into this weekend thinking, like that Purdue game you're going to have to log a lot of minutes, maybe more than usual, or is it a little closer to normal at this point?

A.J. HOGGARD: Tyson has been practicing this week. He's been doing a good job of getting back. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to continue down this road and have us not go home early. Anything I need to do, play 25 minutes, 40 minutes straight, anything I need to do, I'm going to do.

Q. This is really for anyone up there. I'm kind of wondering, around this time of year, have you guys heard from any former players or former teammates about what to expect or gotten any advice from them or words of encouragement?

GABE BROWN: Yeah, we heard from a couple players. You're always going to hear from the team, like Cassius and X and Draymond. You hear from those type of guys. They tell us to stay locked in and focus on what's in front of us.

Q. Gabe and Malik, when we talked to you guys earlier in the week, you haven't seen too much of Davidson. Now you've had a full week of preparation. What are the things that stand out most about this team?

MALIK HALL: For the most part, they have three really good shooters. We all know Foster can shoot it. They have good big men. It's really about just checking them and making sure that we're there and close out our shots and good contest for the most part.

THE MODERATOR: We're ready for the press conference with Coach Tom Izzo.

TOM IZZO: The one thing that the 24 years of being in this tournament has taught me, it never gets old. Exciting. It's kind of funny as we got on the plane yesterday, Tyson Walker, who hadn't been to an NCAA Tournament for a couple of years, said to me, Coach, this is so cool.

I think it kind of made me realize sometimes you take things for granted. So I've gotten a chance to still enjoy it. I think my team's playing a little better and we're ready to go. So, questions?

Q. Tom, I'm just wondering at this point, day before the game where Tyson is at this point. Has he been able to work much? I guess your overall feeling of where he might be at this point.

TOM IZZO: He's on crutches and a boot and I think he got a cast from head to toe, but we think miraculously he is going to play. He did practice a little bit yesterday, and in the practice today, he's definitely better. It will be heavily taped, but he is going to play. For how long or at what level -- but I was marvelously excited that yesterday, after first day of no practice, second day not much, third day he did practice some.

Then today we went through a little practice at a high school, and he participated in most of that. Hopefully it doesn't swell up or anything. He's not going to be 100 percent, but he's not 50 either.

Q. I wondered if you could -- I know you spoke about this back home too, but if you could speak about Foster Loyer and sort of his contributions to your program and what he's now meant to Davidson.

TOM IZZO: We still love Foster. I talked to him more than a few times, especially when he went through his injury and the things he's done. He was a guy that was a backup and was voted captain. That should tell you a lot about what we think of him and what our players think of him.

He's done a great job, and I think Bob's a great fit for him. It's kind of like everything else in the world. You've got to get the right match. I think Foster's done a good job for them, and I think they've done a good job for Foster. Because of that, he's had a very good season, and so have they.

Q. Both you and Bob have been at your schools for a long time. What's the key to having that type of longevity at one place? Especially when there is the possibility of movement, like you had looked at the NBA a couple times, and Bob's had a mid-major.

TOM IZZO: I talked to Bob about that a little bit. I was somewhere last summer out at a recruiting thing, and we sat and talked. I think, number one, you've got to have good players. Good players win you enough games, you keep your job. Number two, you've got to have a good administration. You've got to have people that support you. And probably good media and good fans.

Let's face it, coaches nowadays get fired as much by the media and fans and social media as they do by the school itself. So I think everybody, like they say, it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to keep a basketball or football coach successful too. He's got to do his job, but a lot of people have got to feed into that.

I know Bob loves where he's at. He's got it a little better than I do. I live on a pond. He lives on a lake. I live in the snow. He lives in the sunshine. So a little easier for him, but at the same time, he's done a helluva job there.

First time I really spent any time with him, we were out watching Steph and Draymond four or five years ago in the playoffs. I just think he's a helluva guy. I really do.

Q. What were the main -- is there one or two lessons in particular you learned from being a postseason coach like about success in the postseason in March with the NCAA Tournament, things you had to do with the team or manage, whether it's personalities? I know good players make a good coach, but you're part of the equation. What are the biggest things you had to learn in that?

TOM IZZO: I did have to learn there's two or three seasons, and that's where I looked at the preseason and then Christmas to get a little run on the Big Ten season and that to get a little run in the Big Ten tournament season, where you learn how to be one-and-done. Then you've got three, four days.

I think what we got to do on Sunday and Monday was look back at our team, what are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What can we change in a short period of time? That's been healthy for me, to be honest with you.

So I don't know, I know what I learned. I learned that, when I go to an NCAA Tournament, I get the ticket list and the rooming done on Sunday, not on Friday, like I did the first couple years when I was in it. So I've grown and learned too.

I just think adjusting and making a team realize that, okay, you've had a rough stretch. I've been in it long enough where I've been a 7 seed and gone to the Final Four and I've been a 1 seed and lost in the second game and I've been a 2 seed and lost the first game. So I've done it a lot of different ways. I think that experience and those players that went through that experience might call back, might stop by practice and tell the guys, you know, I think there's a belief that there's something in the air at Michigan State that we believe that we can always make a run.

Sometimes it's worked, and sometimes it hasn't, but the biggest thing is you've got to believe you can or you have no chance.

Q. Just to follow up, how much can your experience as a coach help players during the course of a game -- I don't know if it's just making the right read or the right call at the right time, or it's up to them and you've prepared them as much as you can?

TOM IZZO: I think I talked to them a lot this week about one-and-done time, what it means, because they've grown up in the AAU culture where if you lose at 3:00, you play at 6:00, if you lose at 6:00, you play at 7:00, so who cares? All of a sudden, you lose at 9:20 and you don't play again, some of them, for the rest of their lives.

Trying to explain that to them where they embrace it and don't fear it, because if they fear it, it's a problem, but if they don't embrace it, it's a problem too. So I think that's where my experience and my staff's experience has helped. I think, when I show them the different ways I've moved on in this tournament, our team has our program has, they at least can see it. It's no it could happen. No, this is what happened. We did this.

Just like when I have a team that's a 1 or 2 seed, I say we've done this too and not moved on. So experience always helps. Unfortunately, the players play the game.

Q. Along those lines, the players play the game, but they also have to have the confidence to make that run. Are you seeing anything different with them over the course of the last week since the Big Ten tournament that maybe -- because I know you've talked a lot about the ups and downs. Do you feel like they've got a stability right now that they can make that run that you said?

TOM IZZO: I think any time you win some games here, you play really well in some games at the right time of the year, I mean, timing is everything, as they say. We went through that tough 2 1/2 week stretch where we played a lot of games, some on the road. We struggled different ways. But it also proved that, if you don't defend -- you know, we're defending at a 39, 40, and all of a sudden we're at 45. If you don't rebound, if you turn it over a lot. Then when we didn't do those things and it gave us a chance to win, I think it's a good teaching point that you can use with your players.

And when they've gone through it, it's not like they're hearing it like, oh, back in 2005 we did this. No, you just did this. Here's the way you did it the first nine games. Here's the way you did it the next seven games. Here's the way you did it the last five games, you know, and I think that helps. You're not going to, I told you, when we won nine in a row, we weren't a great team yet. I told you why. I think all those things were true.

But I'm not sure who is an elite team now. I think the parity of college basketball is at an all time, all time high. As I stated before, in 2009, we played North Carolina beginning of the year and lost by 25, and we played them at the end of the year in the championship game and lost by 20. I thought that was one of the great teams I've ever gone against. I don't see that right now, but I haven't played everybody. Played Kansas, played Baylor, played Illinois and Wisconsin and Iowa and Purdue. A lot of those are top 1 and 2 and 3 seeds.

They might be better, but on one given night, they might not be that much better. I don't see the distance between those teams as monstrous as it has in some years.

Q. Coach, when you were talking about it taking a village, knowing that there's a lot of guys on this team who haven't had this March Madness experience, do you rely on your assistants, like when it comes to Austin, or when it comes to Matt McQuaid, who can kind of teach the younger guys what this environment is going to be like in order to be in this environment?

TOM IZZO: Listen, the biggest advantage I've got over everything that I do -- and it's a blessing of being there a lot of years and a blessing of having some incredible guys. Magic called twice this week and Steve Smith and Mateen called on my way over here. The village is bigger than the staff. The village is Paul Davis last week was texting players. I think everybody -- Draymond will. That's the cool part of being somewhere a long time, having some success, and having players go through both ups and downs.

Denzel, I still swear that was one of the best teams we had, beat by Middle Tennessee. So sometimes there's a reason, and sometimes we did everything.

But the one thing I've learned, even at the start of this tournament with a team like Rutgers or somebody else, don't lose your identity. You have to defend, rebound to move on in this tournament, and probably take care of the ball. There's a time this year we did two out of the three. And the last week we actually took care of the ball. If we can put them all together, that's how you make a run. If we can't, we'll be packing our bags.

Q. You mentioned multiple times this season how you don't necessarily have that alpha dog that can help lead this team. Obviously with Gabe and Marcus being the only players that have been to a Final Four run, have they maybe stepped up a little bit emotionally, or have you seen maybe somebody else in the locker room that's maybe taking a little more control and adding a little more confidence to this team?

TOM IZZO: There's years that you go into the preseason, and everybody's talking about a Final Four and where's it at. Your midnight madness is driving in a race car because it's in Indy or a horse because it's in San Antonio. Then there's those years when you realize you've got a ways to go. I've been in that more than a couple times. This would be one of those years.

So when everybody wants to talk about Duke and if you play, we've got our hands full with Davidson. Hopefully they have their hands full with us. But it's -- I don't look past, I don't ask Gabe and them to look past. We don't talk about Final Fours with this team. We have with other teams. It all depends on who it is.

You know, I always say, if you get out of the first weekend and you can win the weekend, then all bets change, and that's the way I look at this. So we've put 99 percent of our time in on Davidson. We always prepare a hair for the other team we might face. Usually when you're an upper seed, the other team you might face, you really don't know. Chances are good that we know, either us or Davidson, who we'd play, so you can do a little bit on them on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday are strictly Davidson.

We've got enough work with them that we're not worried about a Final Four or anything else. Guys should be stepping up to say let's win a tournament game, and then we move on from there.

Q. Have you seen anybody do that?

TOM IZZO: Yeah, yeah, I do. I see a different excitement with our group. I think that's because, when you practice and you look up at banners that are hanging there, it motivates you. When you get phone calls from former players, it motivates you.

So, yeah, I have seen Gabe, those guys don't want to play in their last game, but the young guys want to help them go out the right way too. I think everybody, like I said about Tyson, these guys, one year it was cancelled. The next year we played in front of nobody. I mean, this for our juniors is like the first time.

And a lot of schools are going through the same thing. The difference now with the transfer rule is everybody got older. We didn't get a lot older. Everybody got a little more experience, and we didn't really do that. So we're just going to do it the old fashioned way.

Q. Tom, you talked earlier about you guys have played Baylor and Kansas and some of these other Big Ten teams, and maybe they're better than you, but on any given night, it can go either way. How much in a win or go home situation do you in your preparation try to exploit some of your strengths or another team's weaknesses as compared to a regular season matchup?

TOM IZZO: I do think you do it a little bit more. I do think you look at can we do this? Can we change up a little bit of a coverage because of this certain time? That maybe it doesn't matter as much over the duration of a conference season. There's some things that Davidson does that you've got to take away. There's some things that other teams will do in this tournament.

So I think you make some little adjustments. The hard adjustments to make is the one day in between. You do get to make some adjustments when you've got four days of preparation, especially when you come off the last two weeks we did. We played four games in eight or nine days. Then we started the conference thing, we played three games in three days.

So quick preparation time, we are kind of at least used to, but having a few days extra, we looked at some things, put in a couple of new things, not a lot. Maybe made a couple of adjustments on how we're going to cover some things. I think people do that in a tournament, but I don't think everything is status quo.

I remember when we played Florida in the championship game, we changed our whole press breaker to make sure Cleaves got the ball second, not first, and we could attack the press, and it worked well for us, and we did that the night before the game. Steady diet of that, no. We're not playing zone tomorrow. But a steady diet of we're not going to press tomorrow, Larry is in the house. But other than that, we'll make subtle adjustments, yes.