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00:00 >> Well, we took a step to the right direction against
00:05 a team that's been playing awfully well.
00:09 Probably did a hell of a job defensively, the first half especially.
00:13 [COUGH]
00:16 I told that Davis kid after the game, he's a hell of a player.
00:20 Went one for eight, and I guess we ought to give our guys some credit on that.
00:27 He did a good job, but the Telfer kid hurt us a little bit when I had Malik out of there.
00:32 I thought all in all, we shot it a little better.
00:35 Still missed some good shots, but Jaden, who was my best shooter all summer,
00:40 is still struggling with his shot, and which caused him to struggle defensively.
00:45 But other than that, he knows it.
00:48 Nobody works harder at it.
00:50 He'll bounce back, but to go three for 13 with the shots he had,
00:55 creates, instead of shooting 55%, maybe 50 from the three, we were short of that.
01:01 But thought we'd bond him by ten, get 59 shots up, have ten turnovers.
01:08 Those are all positive things, they're gonna help us win games, but
01:12 that's a good team.
01:13 I thought Pierre played good, and now I can be happy for him.
01:19 Before tonight, I didn't wanna be happy for him until after the game, but
01:23 I thought he played good and looked good.
01:26 So believe it or not, I'm really happy for Pierre, and hope he has a hell of a year.
01:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:36 >> Coach, you kinda mentioned the defensive performance in the first half.
01:39 You held them to 28% on the night.
01:42 Can you kinda just give some of the key factors behind the success of
01:44 the defense tonight?
01:46 >> Well, with AJ Tyson and Jaden, I thought we had the best defensive team
01:52 that I've had in a while.
01:54 And when you bring a guy off the bench like Jeremy,
01:56 who by the way played very well tonight, that's encouraging.
02:00 Jaden, we missed up some coverages and some backdoor plays.
02:05 I think when offense doesn't go right, it sometimes affects a guy's defense.
02:10 But we still played awfully hard.
02:12 Malik covered up a lot of things, and I don't know if you could tell, but
02:17 both Cooper and Motty did a lot of stuff on some of those dribble handoffs and
02:24 that to keep them contained.
02:26 They hurt us a little bit early.
02:27 We changed the coverage a little bit.
02:29 And those guys both did a hell of a job.
02:33 And Cooper ended up with 11 rebounds, Motty six.
02:36 They both scored a bucket.
02:38 But their defense was really impressive.
02:41 So they helped the guards a lot.
02:42 >> Hey, Coach.
02:46 >> Carson was gonna ask you about time.
02:48 Would you like to make that switch and then once you got out of it?
02:52 >> You know, I wasn't gonna be like hockey.
02:57 I was gonna switch the whole crew, you know?
02:59 And cuz I just didn't like the way we were starting.
03:02 And some other guys, there were other guys that didn't play as good.
03:08 And I would have switched them.
03:11 But we just thought this was the one that really didn't matter the most,
03:16 because both guys are playing 20 minutes a game.
03:18 But we wanted to see, we're a little disappointed with a couple things.
03:22 So, Doug, we just, him and I talked about it and we thought,
03:26 give Cooper a chance.
03:28 But we're not in any way, shape or form down on Motty either.
03:32 In fact, he actually did some good things going in there.
03:35 But yeah, it was no, is it gonna stay that way?
03:40 And it might.
03:42 It was not for punishment or
03:45 there have been other guys sitting out.
03:47 So it wasn't for any of that.
03:49 It was just a gut feeling, something we wanted to try.
03:54 >> Coach, you talked after the Duke loss about
03:56 wanting Tyson to be more aggressive in the first half.
03:58 Did you see that tonight?
03:59 >> Yeah, I did.
04:00 I mean, what he did tonight though, I think he felt he could drive it a lot,
04:04 which he did.
04:05 But that hurt his three point shoot a little bit.
04:08 Instead of being ready to shoot, he was ready to drive.
04:11 And he had a couple good looks that he missed.
04:14 But I'm so proud of him for how he's handled things, playing good defense.
04:21 Made a couple nice passes tonight.
04:23 He's becoming a complete player.
04:26 He made a big call.
04:29 They cut it to like 11 one time and we have been up 16.
04:32 And he talked about a backdoor play and he said, let's run this play.
04:37 I think it'll be open and
04:38 reminded me of when Morris said it on a similar play 20 years ago.
04:43 And what I loved about that is about was set a player coach team.
04:47 And I told him that shows that he's thinking the game now on the court and
04:52 feels comfortable enough to come in a huddle and say, no coach, let's run this.
04:56 And that was a big step for him.
04:59 >> Tommy, you've had a couple of cold starts this year.
05:02 What do you think you did for them this year, the first couple of go in?
05:04 And that may even feel better.
05:06 >> Yeah, for sure, guys.
05:08 I spent, I look like hell cuz I haven't slept in three days just
05:13 looking at film of those games.
05:16 I looked at Tennessee, I looked when we,
05:20 I mean we did so many good things in that game other than the start.
05:25 And then I looked at every game, I looked at every stat and
05:31 just came down to if we made a couple of shots and made a couple of free throws.
05:36 I mean, we'd be different.
05:38 You'd say, well, that's always the case.
05:39 No, it's never the case that you go one for 20.
05:42 It's never the case you go 23 for 41.
05:45 Those things don't happen.
05:46 They happen again, we're gonna lose again.
05:48 And the surprising thing when it did happen, we were four up with a minute
05:55 six left against a good team who's now ranked in the top 15.
05:59 So the ball goes in, I mean, my old buddy Doug Herner,
06:05 who still works here some, making shots cures a lot of evil.
06:11 And it juvenates the crowd, which juvenates the players,
06:15 which means everybody's happier, including even the coach.
06:21 >> Following up on an earlier question, based on what you saw tonight,
06:27 do you think Carson Cooper's holding on to the center job starting spot?
06:31 >> I don't know, I'm not a big quarterback controversy coach.
06:35 I mean, I don't think, I mean, we're not,
06:40 like I said, it wasn't done out of punishment.
06:42 There's a difference when you do something out of punishment.
06:45 It was just a decision we made, coach's decision, as they say.
06:49 But at the same time, as I look at it,
06:55 I mean, what did Marty play?
07:00 16 minutes, and Klue played 22.
07:03 Last game was the opposite.
07:05 So they're both gonna play in that 18 to 22 minute thing.
07:08 And they get along well.
07:11 I don't think it matters to either one of them.
07:13 Cooper came in today and just thanked me for the opportunity,
07:19 which is un-American, we don't do that in America anymore.
07:22 And so I was happy for him that he played well, but
07:26 I was happy the way Marty cheered him on and stuck with him.
07:29 And speaking of that, I better address the technical,
07:33 because I was really mad at AJ.
07:37 And the truth of it is, I don't think he said anything to the official.
07:43 I mean, Fierce came running over to me, and
07:46 I guess he was kind of yelling at Fierce, which I actually enjoy.
07:49 And the official kind of said, I said, did he say anything to you?
07:54 He said, well, no, but, and there was a thing that happened earlier,
08:00 and so this was a good learning thing for AJ.
08:02 That if you do those things, and you get a reputation,
08:06 then there's a quicker whistle.
08:08 But in fairness to him, I have to stick up for him on this,
08:12 which I don't always do.
08:14 I'm not going against the official, I just,
08:17 I think it was a lot of miscommunication.
08:20 And that's what happens in a moment like that.
08:23 So it was no big deal, I promise you.
08:26 >> Well, thanks for answering my second question.
08:29 But my first one is, at the end of the Duke game, AJ came to you and
08:32 said he wasn't playing well, and he acknowledged that.
08:36 Is this the AJ that you are hoping to see, or
08:39 do you think that you can even get more out of him?
08:41 >> I think I can get a lot more out of him, I really do.
08:44 I mean, he still missed some great shots, but he got downhill more,
08:49 he got in the lane more, he got to the free throw line more,
08:52 he finally rebounded the ball, which he can do.
08:55 We posted him up, we put him in different positions.
08:59 I guess the one thing that bothers me is, my whole staff's been saying,
09:05 if we play him less minutes, we'll get more out of him.
09:07 Well, I hope he takes that as an insult and gets himself in better and
09:11 better and better shape, because he did only play 25 minutes.
09:15 And he played pretty well, and it was nice to get fierce some time,
09:21 because that's gonna be critical to us.
09:23 And I thought he played his best game as a Spartan in a lot of ways.
09:27 So it's encouraging, Cohen on the other side of it,
09:32 they ran some good stuff that maybe he didn't quite get a chance to work on
09:38 enough and got lost a little bit, but they're gonna be fine.
09:43 I just gotta get him some time now, that's all, gotta get him some minutes.
09:46 >> Shawn, a lot of your best teams have had a defensive identity, and
09:50 I'm wondering, is that for this group?
09:52 You talk about the potential of that guard trio, and
09:56 even with Fierce coming as well, to be something.
09:59 Until you guys figure out what you can be offensively,
10:02 is that gonna have to carry over a while?
10:04 >> And you know what, the funny part is,
10:07 I thought it would be one of my better offensive teams.
10:10 And so, and shows you how dumb I am, at least so far.
10:16 But I tell you, there's nothing like hanging your hat on your defense.
10:20 I mean, it travels as they say,
10:23 it's got the chance to be there morning, noon, and night.
10:28 So I've been impressed with my own, I look at our overall defense with those
10:33 losses and we hold teams to 37 and 27.
10:38 Those are phenomenal stats, and they weren't against dogs.
10:44 So I guess I'm more than pleased by it, and yet I think we can get a lot better.
10:50 I think if we get Jayden locked in, he could be a hell of a defender and
10:55 does do a good job.
10:57 But it's Cohen, we gotta get better at so we can sub him.
11:02 Trey was a little better tonight too, two for four.
11:05 And I thought played better, and yet I think he's got a higher ceiling.
11:11 So it was a step in the right direction, but we got a long way to go for sure.
11:15 >> We'll take one by one here.
11:18 >> Yes, a couple, one up here.
11:20 >> 20 seconds to go, did you tell your son to hold on to the ball or
11:25 was that his call?
11:27 >> No, well, it was kind of his call because he's lived with me for
11:32 23 years.
11:33 >> [LAUGH] >> And everybody's mad at me,
11:36 I get letters, let him shoot.
11:38 I'd let him shoot if there was some time left, but
11:41 I'm still one of the coaches that are left in this profession.
11:44 But I'm not going in and dunk it with 20 seconds left and
11:47 rub it into a guy, it ain't happening here.
11:50 I don't like when I see it happen now.
11:53 I did chill him out in the locker room because I thought this was almost as bad
11:57 as scoring.
11:58 I said, why did you just do this stuff, go to sleep?
12:02 He says, because then I know you'd be mad at me.
12:05 And so I love my son, I love the kid.
12:10 He knows exactly how I think, and I promise you if we get some leads,
12:16 I'm gonna please a lot of people by letting him get a couple shots.
12:21 I'm not doing that on purpose, Davis would have gone in way earlier, but
12:25 he hurt his hip yesterday in practice.
12:27 And I need to say something about that, and
12:30 Doug Wojcik said something to me yesterday.
12:33 You know how hard it is to be a walk on and stay three and four years,
12:38 and you never get any credit for anything?
12:42 Davis Smith might have helped us win this game more than anybody,
12:46 because he played the Davis kid.
12:50 And I mean, made shots and made plays, and he was unbelievable.
12:56 I mean, we thanked him last night's meeting and again today after the game.
13:00 And sometimes people wonder what these guys do.
13:05 He's done a lot, and he's came up with a few suggestions on the bench.
13:11 I mean, absolutely love the kid.
13:15 Prejudice to walk on since I was one, but I love that kid.
13:18 One more, did you have one more?
13:21 >> Here and now.
13:22 >> Okay.
13:23 >> Coach, Malik Hall had nine rebounds tonight.
13:25 How impressed were you about him on the defensive end?
13:30 >> Yeah, I think Malik is now putting games together,
13:33 he's putting practices together.
13:34 I hoped that ankle sprain, it wasn't anything with the foot other than a sprain.
13:40 But I don't think we've given Malik enough credit that he was hurt all last year.
13:47 We know that at the end of the year because he had surgery.
13:51 And then he missed April, May, June.
13:55 The end of July, he started working out, and then we sent everybody home.
13:58 I mean, he still worked out a little bit, but so
14:01 he really didn't start practicing until September.
14:03 And you wonder, there's gonna be some rust on that.
14:07 But he's getting more confident with his shot.
14:09 He's starting to realize now it's okay to be in the post some.
14:13 I can score it down there.
14:14 That's the one thing that was always hard with him.
14:17 I don't know why, but AJ, he loves going in the post.
14:22 And now that I'm getting Malik to do that, he's making threes and
14:27 he's getting in the post.
14:29 He's gonna become a more complete player.
14:30 He can guard, he can switch forward with him.
14:33 But he is starting to rebound.
14:34 I'm waiting to see him get a few more offensive rebounds.
14:37 But as I told him before the game against Tennessee,
14:39 it was probably the most physical, biggest team we played.
14:42 He had 11 rebounds and 14 points, and I watched that game two nights ago.
14:47 And I mean, he was really good.
14:50 And so I'm still a little confused on why, but
14:54 a lot of it stems from missing free throws or missing threes.
15:00 And I just can't complain about it.
15:03 I can't beat on it.
15:05 I just gotta live with it because I believe and
15:07 know we're a way better shooting team.
15:10 We're a way better shooting team than even tonight, if you ask me.
15:13 >> Coach, you mentioned the defensive help that Carson Cooper was able to provide
15:17 tonight, both base.
15:18 But can you just talk a little bit about his potential moving forward as his first
15:22 star and also his growth up into this play?
15:25 >> Yeah, he's gained probably 20 some pounds and he moves his feet a little better.
15:30 He does a great job of walling.
15:32 He's a little bigger than Monty in that respect.
15:34 And he moves his feet back, he's got more hops.
15:38 But I think Carson's got a little more lateral quickness to help on those
15:42 ball screens in that.
15:44 And so between the two of them, we got a real physical guy.
15:46 We got a guy that has some size.
15:48 We get Jackson back, and then we get a guy who can really score it.
15:55 And I think we'll have an unbelievable combination down there.
15:59 Right now, the goal is still to get Cohen and
16:06 believe it or not, we're gonna keep working with Book to get him
16:12 in there and get him to be able to guard somebody so I can keep him in there.
16:17 So his offense, it's gonna come, it's just gonna take some time.
16:22 But if we get everybody playing well, then I love the rotation.
16:28 We used it better tonight.
16:30 My assistants did a really good job on that.
16:33 And hopefully we'll keep getting better.
16:36 But this is gonna be a quick turnaround.
16:38 And like I said, you schedule these games thinking, I mean,
16:43 you don't wanna say if it's a game you should win.
16:46 And then all of a sudden, they almost beat the other night,
16:52 Alabama, or UAB, and then UAB beat Maryland pretty good.
16:58 So now all of a sudden, I won't be going home tonight.
17:02 It's panic still a little bit.
17:03 >> [LAUGH] >> Is Jackson still on the same timetable?
17:07 Be ready by December?
17:08 >> I think mid to late December is when he'll start practicing.
17:13 He's out of his boot now.
17:14 He's walking, he's doing some things.
17:17 Everything seems to be going great.
17:18 But it is funny, isn't it, how you complain about a guy and
17:23 what he can do and what he can't do.
17:25 And then all of a sudden he's gone and you say, wow, we can use some scoring.
17:28 We can use a guy who can shoot.
17:30 We can use a guy that shoots free throws.
17:32 But I will give Carson that he made only one out of two.
17:36 He's been shooting the daylights out of it.
17:38 And Monty's been unbelievable at the line and practice and that.
17:42 So really proud of those two guys and how far they've come,
17:46 just like AJ has come a long way in his free throw shoot.
17:48 Well, have a good weekend, guys.
17:51 Our hockey team, did they win?
17:53 >> Three, one, and the third.
17:55 >> Three, one, and the third.
17:57 So we're finally getting back on track.
17:59 We're a hockey soccer school and God bless both of them.
18:03 >> [LAUGH] >> Coach, Michigan Boston basketball tonight.