NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 31, 2000

Tom Izzo

COACH IZZO: None. You know, I mean in all honesty, I think does it make it more difficult, is there an advantage? I guess that's been the question all week. And every TV or newspaper article I've seen or heard or people have told me about, it seems like half the people are jumping on, "Well, you beat them three times, you should beat them the fourth." The others are saying I've never heard of a team beating a team four times. You know, I think the one advantage we have is we have won the game, but our players really respect their team. You know, we won one game, I guess fairly easy but they didn't shoot very well, and the other two were kind of dog fights that could have gone either way down the stretch. So we know what we're in for, and I'll guarantee you, it will be a tough game.

COACH IZZO: Gladly. I could take ten more of those as long as we won. I think it was -- it's difficult to go through, but, you know, people are questioning why, you know, we're down three at half time or down ten or seems like we're holding off to the second half. I think people just got to continue to realize, I think some of those teams are the best teams we've played all year. I was very impressed with Utah, very impressed with Syracuse. Iowa State, you know, to me, was a team deserving of a No. 1 seed.

COACH IZZO: You know, probably. I think it has to do with a lot of reasons. He was the first quote, unquote, "Big-time recruit" under my regime is one reason. I think, you know, the few misfortunes he's had, you know adversity sometimes brings you closer. I think the position he plays, you know, I'm big on that point guard quarterback in my team, having a player who's a coach on the floor. So for all those reasons I think the relationship has grown and it's like all relationships, not always perfect, but, you know, I have great respect for him. I have great respect for his ability to come to practice day in, day out and be the hardest worker and be a guy that really lays it on the line.

COACH IZZO: Yeah, I mean, you know, I was a 23-year-old assistant and did get thrown out of a game. (Laughing. )

COACH IZZO: What happened? You know, I worked for a guy who, you know, he almost wanted me to be that way. I mean, he didn't want me to get thrown out of a game, but I was the -- that was part of my job, maybe, to be the emotional leader. And there was just something that went wrong, it happened so long ago. You know, to this day, I think it was a Big Ten ref who threw me out, working on the side one day at a little old Division II game, he didn't need to put up with me. He had Bobby Knight and Gene Keady to deal with. So that happened a long time ago. Nobody's ever brought that up to me but Dick's got a good memory and I can honestly say it happened. But I don't think I've had any problems other than the technical last week. I haven't had many in my career, not enough, not enough at times.

COACH IZZO: I'm concerned about a lot of things with Wisconsin. But I don't think they'll be loose. I don't think they'll be tight. You know, I think Dick has had enough experience as a coach, he's won Championships at all levels, he's taken underdogs at smaller schools like Green Bay, when they probably could have, should have beat us in '91. So he -- the experience he has, he has more experience than I do. You know, it just happens to be that I've been the one to more Final Fours. I don't think his team will be uptight. I think they've proven themselves, I think they have earned the respect they're now getting. Yet there is always a happy medium. I'm concerned about my own team that way. When are you too uptight? When are you too loose? No matter which way you do it, the bottom line comes, did you win or lose? Really nothing else seems to matter.

COACH IZZO: I think I try to treat people like I'd want to be treated myself, and my parents, my high school, my college coaches, and Jud Heathcote, you have a responsibility to do your job. I think people take that so different, you know, because some guy says it outwardly and listening to Bill Walton, some guy rolls up his program and says it inwardly, does it really make any difference? You know, I say I am what I am. And I don't hide that. I'm honest with my players about that. I'm honest with them when I recruit them, and I think people make bigger deals out of things. You know, I try to hold guys accountable. And I know what their dreams and goals are, too. I think that's one thing interesting about Mateen and Morris. Both of them wanted to be professional basketball players. We set up the game plan on how to get them there. If they deviate from that game plan and I didn't say something, I would be cheating them out of an opportunity of a lifetime and a dream. And that's the way I look at it. And so we have common respect because I want to be the best in my profession. I have my dreams and goals that are both team and individually-oriented. And I think they do, too. And I think that's what makes it great and that's why I feel I have a great relationship with them.

COACH IZZO: Well, I don't really believe it totally, but I do embrace it. I think anybody would love to be considered the favorite from a standpoint of where it puts your program. I mean somebody has great respect for your program, and that's something you kind of, you know, I'll work all my life to get that. But if it's not handled properly, I think it definitely hurts you. I do think this team can handle it. I think we've had the bullseye on us for an entire year. Maybe ever since we lost to Duke last year, and yet I think there were other teams better than us this year. I still think Cincinnati, maybe Stanford, maybe a lot of teams, but early in the year I put those two teams ahead of us just watching them. So we're realistic to know that when anybody puts you No. 1 or favorite, we always have a great lesson that was learned, and that's Wright State beat us. And if you're not ready to play or you don't play well, you're not going to win games.

COACH IZZO: Well, I said he's our version of, you know, Reggie Jackson. He's Mr. October, and A.J. seems to have been Mr. March two years in a row. He's really played well in the NCAA tournament. Yet A.J. actually started playing well midway through the year. I think he had five or six games when had double doubles, started rebounding better. A.J.'s a very good player that I think is just starting to realize he could be a very, very good player. And I think his best is yet in the future. So there's no doubt we probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for A.J., and he's grown a lot. He's improved a lot. And I'm happy for him because it's made our team a lot better team.

COACH IZZO: It will test us. I think the first game we played, it wasn't our defense it was their offense. They had one of those games kind of like we had against Wright State. We shot 20 percent in the second half. They just didn't make shots. I think they had some decent looks, they just didn't make shots. The next two games, you know, it was a different story to a certain extent. And I think right now they're playing their best basketball and I think Vershaw is the key to their team because everything seems to go through him. He's a passer, he can post up, he can hit threes, he can do a lot of different things. Bryant has been on one of those rolls that sometimes shooters get in. You know, as a player I guess they call it the zone. And I've seen him a couple of these games, he's really been in the zone. We're just going to have to defend them like we have a lot of great shooters this year.

COACH IZZO: I think Morris and Mateen, you know, trigger them for the most part, although the last game we had Morris hit a three and A.J. hits a three and Charlie Bell hits a two and that's what got us rolling. So there was three different players. But the catalyst would be Mateen. He's the guy that comes into the huddle with his grit and fire and brimstone and really kind of gets people going. And I don't know, it's been strange to have those kind of runs. I mean they've been incredible runs against what I would consider great, great basketball teams. And why we did it, you know, I really couldn't give you a great answer, but how we did it was maybe most of our seniors have stepped up to the plate.

COACH IZZO: The old adage, there's a lot of ways to skin a cat. And, you know, I think if there was one offense that was so good, everybody would be using it. If there was one defense so good, everybody would be using that. I've been, you know, impressed by the different styles and it's one of the things that has impressed me about our team. I think we've been able to win games 80 -- 90 to 80, win games 50 to 45. I do think we have some versatility in that respect. We like to run. We like to get our fast break going. But if we have to play, for a better term, smash-mouth basketball, I guess we can do that, too. And, you know, it's not what I prefer to do, but right now it's about finding a way to win.

COACH IZZO: I think there are similarities. We both stress it and preach it, as you say. I've been very pleased. I think what you have to do is you have to sell your best players, I think where we've had success, our best players have been our best defensive players. Mateen is one of our best defensive players. Morris has become one of our best defensive players after being missing in action his first couple of years. So he's made gigantic improvements. I think A.J. has made improvements on that. Andre Hudson has done a great job. Charlie's always been steady. So, you know, I think he's done the same thing we've done or we've done the same thing he's done. He's taken his players and they bought into the system. But I don't think it's such a different system. In any sport, at any level, you know, defense does win Championships and so I think coaches that plan on sticking around would put an emphasis on defense.

COACH IZZO: Well, you know, there's subtle things like turnovers would be a good point but it also depends on the style of play. For example, you know, Wisconsin doesn't run as much. I mean there's no secrets about that. We do run after made and missed baskets. The opportunities to turn it over, to use a football analogy, if you're a running team, you're not going to throw as many interceptions as if you're a team that's throwing a ball 40 times a game. Some of those are hard to maybe live with. Every point guard, I think the key to the point guards is does he make the other four guys around him better? And if he does that on the offensive end, on the defensive end, in a motivating way, in the locker room, wherever, then he's a very successful point guard. You know, we've been blessed at Michigan State with some pretty good point guards but Magic Johnson, of course, was maybe the greatest of them all. I remember when I worked for Jud, that was his No. 1 line. He didn't care how many points he scored, he didn't care how well he shot, he was about winning. It's been a long time but I think if I could give Mateen Cleaves one compliment, which I'm sure Kelley is in the same boat just by the way he plays, winning is the most important thing. It's an adage everybody uses, but seldom do people really live it. I think those two guys live it.

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