Here’s video of John Beilein’s post-game presser after his team’s 67-60 overtime loss to Kansas at Crisler Arena:
Notes and quotes from the presser are after the jump. Be sure to check out the player videos below.
- “When Zack Novak hit that 3 in overtime to put us up by three … I really thought I wouldn’t be standing here in this situation.”
- Defense of Kansas was great, everyone is so long and athletic, really hard to get any open looks, especially in he first half. “Gave us issues with our young guys just handling the ball.”
- “I loved our effort, I loved the way our kids just stayed together through it all.”
- Didn’t get good shots and didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half. “I felt good that we were down seven at halftime without making hardly any shots.”
- On Tim Hardaway Jr.: “He’s getting better in practice every day just handling the ball against pressure … He’s getting better at reading what he should be seeing … little by little I really like what I’m seeing from his development.”
- Went to the zone when Kansas got Michigan in some foul trouble. Had to go to it. “We’ve been working on it, just haven’t been using it.” Gave Kansas enough trouble to throw the Hawks of their rhythm.
- Told his team “We’re going to learn to win these games.” There are all kinds of plays you need to make to win these kinds of games and the Wolverines didn’t make enough of them.
- “We’re not going to play better defensive teams than that.” Even though the Big Ten is known for its defense, still feel that way. Need to learn how to pass the ball more efficiently.
- On the play with 15 seconds left on the shot clock where Beilein called a time out: “We were trying to get Darius in the lane, and they just really guarded it well. They switched the screen and stayed in front of him so he had no other options.” From there, Stu Douglass and Zack had a hard time creating.
- Hardaway learning at the top of the zone and he’s really growing in it. “He got his hands on more balls today than he has all year.”
- Very pleased with Zack and Stu rebounding down low, as well as Tim. Jordan Morgan was in foul trouble, so it was good the guards could pick up the slack.
- Thought the team came out a little too amped for the game, referenced an early play where Michigan could have had a dunk but went too quick on the play.
- Blake McLimans came in for his passing ability because the bigs were getting pressured quite a bit. “He struggled rebounding — it’s a thing he’s getting better at.”
- The atmosphere was “great.” Said “Tim Hardaway came here because he attended the Duke game two years ago — one of the reasons he came here.” There were some great recruits here as well.