Transcription
And then the particularly decision to start Apala because you had been switching with Cole, excuse me, with Carr and, uh, him. But it switched up and he had that big stretch at the beginning. It kind of energized you guys.
Yeah, you know, we, we, uh, hate to change certain things, but, uh, Jack gets so emotionally jacked on things. I mean, he's bouncing off the walls and I think he sometimes wears himself down a little bit. And, and sometimes matchups create problems, you know? And that's the advantage of having versatility. I mean, you know, when we went back in, when we put him back in, we went right to him, he scored a big bucket too. So, um, you know, we, we don't have a polished team where we have a great defender, great rebounder, great scorer inside. Uh, we have little pieces of each one. And, uh, so we move some people around and people wonder why I'm doing it. Well, I think it's easy to see why. And, uh, but Cohen, Carr, um, Frankie played well too. But I mean, Cohen is coming into his zone too. I mean, you all saw him in practice last year, you all saw him this summer. He couldn't make a free throw, he couldn't make a shot. And, um, it's just amazing how much he's improved that in a, in about five months. And, uh, next time, you know, he's going to, I think, get better this next couple of weeks. And then, uh, you know, spring, summer, and fall be big to him because if he continues to improve that, um, he's going to be a, a star, not just a great player.
Tom, going back to your last Wisconsin game when you on the de, you talked about how proud you were of the guys. Even a hot mic picked up you saying they did a great job. What is that you admire so much about this particular team?
Well, we're grinding them right now, you know? I mean, uh, and, and when you have to play at an elite level in your own way every game because our margin for error is so slim because we're not as talented as some teams, um, there's just not a lot of, you know, like everybody uses the term "my bad." I don't use it because I hate it, but it's, it's a fact. It's, it's what every kid says, "my bad," you know, that's supposed to ease the pain. But I, I try to express to them, "my bads" in one in done time is not good. So, I, I'll give you an example. So you all know how I grind about the missed free throw cutouts. I think we're the only program in the country. A couple of reporters said, when you come to our prags day, have a game, we're working on free throw cutouts. It's the last thing we do. I watched Yukon today, I watched, I, I got a list of games where people miss free throws and the team that needed to get the rebound didn't get it. And, uh, but it's hard to, to hear things day after day after day, 120 practices. The good news is, they ain't going to wear me down and I don't plan on wearing them down. I just, but I got to figure out now. I got to have meetings with a couple guys when I get home on how you, you know, do a better job. Our bigs were very questionable at times and so they're not, but I'm not letting anybody wear down. That ain't happen.
Tom, like, um, a day where you don't get a ton out of a Jace offensively, uh, for the game to have a team though that is to the point where they can survive that in one and done time, like where Jaden is up to it, where Trey's up to those big shots and other guys, like, I mean, that's, that's what you want though, time of year, right? Is you can survive that situation?
No, I want Jace to make all the shots he had, but, uh, I, I think I get your point and I'd say yes, that is what I want. I thought, you know, I thought Jeremy did some really good things too. I mean, he had to guard that kid a lot by himself and, uh, and he pushed that ball, he got people into some positions. But, but listen, uh, Jace missed shots that he's made in his sleep. I mean, I was just saying at our shoot around today, I went to Doug Loic, I said, I told Jason one time, miss a couple, please. I don't want you to use them all up here. He made every shot. And you know what? He had good looks. I mean, I thought great looks. Off to see the film, but I thought that there were eight threes that we took the first half that were really good looks. We just missed them. And you know what? What he learned from me is, didn't bother me a bit. It didn't. I had faith in him. Didn't bother me a bit. The problem is, it bothers him. And I think he realized that he can do other things. You know, he come up with a couple big rebounds, he, he came up with some of the smartest plays at the end on getting no shots off. I mean, kickouts, the kickout was monstrous. I mean, star players can help you win in a lot of ways and he is a star player. And I'm, I'm saying that because I got faith in him and I believe in him.
For Frankie to have a game like this this late in his career, reason why he came to Michigan State, you know, I guess what, what was your message to him and how much gratification, if that's even the word I'm looking for, uh, do you get out of seeing that from a guy like that?
Well, you know, it's been a, it's been a tough year on Frankie in some ways, you know, he came in, he was starting and he was playing and he wasn't playing as many minutes. And, you know, there's a big difference in levels sometimes and I think he had to learn to adjust. And sometimes guys adjust faster than others. He had to get the right chance. We had to get him at the right position maybe a little bit more. Um, but what I do love about Frankie is him and Jaden. Frankie's in the gym so much, it's scary. Frankie loves the game. You know, like, like Jeremy tonight, he got into it again a little bit. And, you know, he just kept saying to me in a huddle, "I want to win." Then one time he said, "I want to win worse than you." I took that as the ultimate compliment, by the way. And I said, uh, "I'll give you a tie." Ghost to the runner, that's it. And, uh, so Frankie, you know, making those big plays and, and every guy stepped up in some way or another. Even as bad as Jackson was having a game, even Coop wasn't, then he made a couple big blocks. And I don't know who else made those blocks down there. There were a couple of monster blocks. Jeremy, Jeremy, one. Shimone had one early. In that, Shamon had one early. Yeah, but on that far end. Yeah, I heard Jeremy was one that, I mean, that just shows you his athleticism is coming back and he's gonna, he's just getting better and better too. I mean, we got some guys getting better. We just got to stick to what got us to where it got us. And what I'd like to become is an offensive and defensive team and a rebounding team. And those are the teams that move on in this tournament that can do it all, not just some of them.
Coach, from a mentality standpoint, freshman game, first in tournament, and he's still in there mentally at the end. Yeah. What's, what's awesome about that?
Awesome, just goes to tell you a little bit about the kid. I mean, he got down a couple times during the game and I told him, "Don't you do that. You know, let me, let me coach you." And he bounced back and he kept saying in the huddle, you know, he made, an, one time he made an incredible pass that, uh, and then he missed a wide open three and he was mad. I said, "Hey, you just made one of the best passes that got us something, you know?" And, um, you know, but that's part of the process. You know, side of him, I guess in some ways.
Oh yeah, I loved it. I, I loved it. I learned a lot about him tonight. I learned a lot of how to, uh, to help him through it because I always know that it matters. And, uh, that's one thing about Jeremy too, you know, like Draymond, he can drive me crazy once in a while, but I, I do believe it matters. Tied with me. I believe, I believe this is 16 Sweet Sixteens for you. What does this team in the next week to do to make it deeper?
Yeah, yeah. We, we need to get more consistent with our defense. We have to shore up our offense a little bit and we got to make some damn free throws. I mean, uh, for a team that was shooting 82% um, the last six, eight games, you know, we've been in the high 60s. And good free throw shooters missing. Frankie, beginning of the year was a 90 something. I thought he was going to break the record. So, um, you know, when you get in these tournament things and you don't get to practice a lot, you don't get to get the gyms where you can shoot free throws. In other words, you practice on this floor, there's only two baskets. Um, we need to get back in the gym. And one of the ways will be get home sometime before 4 in the morning so we can get up tomorrow and go to work.
How do you like to focus an urgency dealing with their ball screen defense? I'm sure it took a lot of work and a lot of walkthrough.
It did. It did. We, we did walkthrough a lot. We went back to my old ways, 20 minutes, 25 minutes before dinner, after dinner, before breakfast, after breakfast. And, and we just, uh, we had a ball, ballroom that was great. We, we did a lot of film work and we did a lot of, but in a shorten period of time, you know, we didn't grind them in that way. And I wanted them to watch some of the games because that's the excitement of the tournament. And every time they came in after watching a great game, I said, you know, this is why you're, you're here now. Do you want to be moving on or you want to be the one with sad faces? You know, what do you want to do? So, uh, yeah, it was a lot of ball screens. That kid is tough. The big guy is a beast down in the block, but the guy that hurt us with the two wings that made some shots. And so give them credit too. They stepped up. Two more guys wither struggling and Cooper in foul trouble, you needed Zap power to come up there and place some ball screen defense, which has been shaky for him, right? It has and he did a pretty good job. And then we needed, uh, you know, Cohen and Frankie to do their job too. And, uh, you know, we pinched a lot, we got in gaps. Um, you know, we made some mistakes like on that last drive that they made. We said, "Do not leave the three-point shooter, give up a two." Some of my best students kind of sometimes make mistakes. But tournament is a, is a, is a tricky time, you know, you, you know, especially for upperclassmen, you know, who knows if you get another chance. But I will say this, and I'll answer another question or two. I'm, I am proud of my team because it's been a, it's been a little bit of a grind. That was a tough team we played. Um, you know, and we, we've fought back here a lot lately, including the Wisconsin game, and we've, we've, uh, showed our true colors.
I think, coach, last time that you made a, a run this deep, you ended up being in the Final Four and obviously playing against Chris and his team. What, what do you remember from that in terms of as you anticipate preparing for one of his type?
Well, I was, I wasn't surprised they won, but I, I didn't find out till I was on the floor, I guess, after. And, uh, um, you know, Chris does a hell of a job. His teams are tougher than nails. They're going to come at you tooth and nail. They're going to defend and rebound. They're, you know, remember that from our game up there in Minneapolis. He's a damn good coach. And, uh, he's probably got a real good team. I haven't seen him a lot, you know, I will tonight on the way home and I will tomorrow. But, um, I guess what I'm looking for is Michigan State getting a little better, back to what we do. And, uh, see if we can, um, win and advance. My players say, "not survive, advance, win and advance." And, uh, we got our work cut out. But, uh, we're going down the hotlanta where, where Cohen's from. And he says all the meals are on him. So I'm happy about that. Save some money. And, uh, see what we can do.
You didn't answer the question about 16 Sweet Sixteens. Yeah. What's that mean?
Yeah, you know, I, I, um, I don't know what that means. I don't know what other people have done, you know, I, I don't, it's one of the things I don't follow as much. Um, it seems like a lot. I know Mark F's been to like 10 or 12, 12 in a row. I haven't done that. So there's always somebody out there that's got a better record than yours or does something different. But what it says to me is a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches again. And, uh, and the culture. I think the culture's got to get some credit for it, you know, the culture. Um, you know, it's, it's funny to get a text like I got from Draymond today. It was almost like, "Don't screw it up." You know, what we do at this time of year. Now, if I sent one of those to him during the playoffs, I'd probably get, um, some fingers back. Okay. But I, I love that. I love that about my culture. I love that about my team. I loved that about my former guys. And, uh, we'll see if we can do something. You know, we're going to have our work cut out, but we're going to play better. And that's no insult to anybody tonight. We just haven't done what I think we can do. And that's that. My job is to get us so we can do what we can do. Thanks, guys. Thank you. And it's 7 o' game. 7 Game Year can be 7:00 game. Get some, get some pizza. You know what that means? That means Bob, you.