2013-14 Season

Video & Quotes: John Beilein talks Coppin State win

John Beilein spoke with the media during the post-game press conference following Michigan’s 87-45 win over Coppin State on Friday. The coach talked about Zak Irvin’s breakout performance, The status of Nik Stauskas’s ankle and much more. You can watch the full interview using the embedded media player below and read notes and quotes after the jump.

Opening statement: “That was really a good performance. Based on the adversity that we came in with, that Glenn (Robinson III) was able to practice just a little bit the last few days. Nik wasn’t able to practice at all, we thought maybe he could do something but he didn’t feel well today so we decided to sit him out. Now we’ve got to play a team that plays 100 percent zone with Nik Stauskas not in the lineup. But the next-man-up mentality certainly worked out because Zak (Irvin), Derrick (Walton), Spike (Albrecht) and Caris (LeVert) really played well on the perimeter and Glenn did as well. It was a really good win. I’m shocked a little bit by the size of the score based on the way they’ve been playing coming in. It was good to see the way we bounced back after a tough loss the other night.”

  • On Zak Irvin: “He made a big shot to end that game (against Charlotte) down in Puerto Rico. Then for him to have that coming off the bench as a reserve for Nik or Caris or Glenn or whoever is huge for us. When he came into the game, the floor expended. When we were playing with the two big guys, we did okay but we couldn’t expand like we could against the zone. He was great.”
  • More on Irvin: “We talked about his shots. He’s got the ability to get his own shot at times, he’s got great lift and a pretty shot. It was sort of Tim (Hardaway Jr.’s) strength as well, and you can really use that. Just be a little more selective and make sure you’re in rhythm. Actually, he should have taken one more at the top of the key that he turned down. He’s been shooting the ball well in practice. There are maybe one or two shots he would like to have back from his performance last game. He’s one of those rare shooters. … Zak can shoot and defend. And really those are his two things. So really our defense picked up a lot. Only giving them 22 points in the second half was great.”
  • On seeing different defensive looks from Coppin State: “We saw an extended 2-3, we saw 2-3 and we saw man-to-man. I don’t think Derrick (Walton) and Spike (Albrecht) missed a bit on getting us into something. I thought we moved, we got the right angles. That’s a tough prep in two days … but our guys really responded well.”
  • On fixing some of the shortcomings against Charlotte: “I think we were a little tired in that last game, especially with the overtime game and everything, so that came into effect. You guys know we watch a lot of film and we watch it with the team and we were able to break down — this is a pretty high IQ team as far as making changes as we need to make them.”
  • On Nik Stauskas’s ankle: “I don’t know enough (about the swelling), I just know he couldn’t push off of it today. If he couldn’t push off it was probably best to just let the next man step up. … Until he’s practicing at 100 percent, he won’t go in there. He’s got to be pretty close to 100 percent for him to go in there. It’ll be a big focus to get him ready. He’ll be rehabbing like crazy the next few days.”
  • On Mitch McGary and the two-big lineup: “(Whether or not Michigan plays a two-big lineup) depends on who we’re playing, that’s what it all depends on. Mitch now, and I don’t want to beat this excuse up, but he’s had four full practices. So we were able to practice two times before we went down to Puerto Rico, and we went into Iowa State with very little prep. He’s so far from where he’s going to be. So we just need to keep working through it. We’ll have to play two bigs at some time, and I’m sure we will. … That (game against Coppin State) is a workout right now, that’s a workout for him. We want him to get those minutes. He’s had no issues with his back at all, so we want to get him out there.”
  • On Jordan Morgan: “Going into this game, Nik’s injury made us make some decisions and we decided to go with some experience with Jordan. With Nik out of the lineup, we knew we needed some skill level with Mitch at some point, passing the ball against the zone, etc. he had some pretty good success against the Syracuse zone, so we made that decision to go from there. So we made the decision to go with Jordan, and I like what Jon (Horford) did too. I needed Jon to come off the bench relaxed because he hasn’t played as well as he can play.”
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