2013-14 Season

Notes, quotes from John Beilein on Big Ten teleconference

Michigan 80, Michigan State 75-12John Beilein joined the rest of the Big Ten basketball coaches for a teleconference on Monday morning. You can read a full transcript of his portion of the call below. (Photo: Dustin Johnston)

Opening statement: “It was a good week for us. We played some really good teams. Going way back to going to Wisconsin, having a very good Wisconsin team, very good Iowa team and then going up and playing at Michigan State. Very good to get the wins, but we also know we’ve only played seven games in the league season. 11 to go, so we’ve got to keep working.”

  • On how he’s addressing the team after the success they’ve had: “We have not spoken with them since the game Saturday night. Our first film and meetings will be today. It’s the exact something — I don’t think we’ve changed this for all the years our coaching staff has been together or I’ve been together. It’s just the day-to-day thing. It’s the only way you can really approach it. It’s not what’s behind you, it’s not what’s in front of you, it’s what is. What can we do about everything today? That’s it. Boring, but that’s it. I believe that’s the best way to coach.”
  • On how this year’s win at Michigan State compares to the win in 2011: “I think if you did the match, they usually lose about one game up there a year, so five percent of the times, you’re going to be successful up there. I don’t care who you are, whether you’re Michigan or anybody else in our league. All the road wins are great. I know it means a lot to a lot of people who are fans of both universities. I do find it ironic that the spot where Stu (Douglass) hit that shot is the same spot where Nik (Stauskas) nailed back-to-back threes in those pivotal moment when we were down three and then to put us up by three. It’s just a great environment up there to play a basketball game. When you’re in those environments and you win, it makes it special.”

  • On Derrick Walton’s progress: “I think any freshman point guard, if he’s that good that he doesn’t have tremendous growth in that freshman year, is too good. It’s incredible what they have to go through, between spending the entire summer on campus, all the weight training, all the film session. There’s no way high schools can put them through (that), or AAU. So now it’s all thrown at them and all of a sudden you’re a starting point guard. He’s been really good at just taking it day-to-day, saying, ‘I made a lot of mistakes today, coach, but I’m going to better tomorrow’ -type of attitude. It’s shown sometimes that he’s really gaining confidence. It’s also shown on some occasions that he still is learning. At any rate, he has a chance to be a great leader and quarterback for this team for a very long time.”
  • On Purdue: “I always look at road records, and I know if anybody can go to Morgantown and win, they have a heck of a team. And then they went to Illinois and they won. Any of their other road games have been overtime or a 3-point buzzer-type games. We will never take any Purdue team (lightly). As long as Matt Painter is coaching there, I know they have a terrific team. This is a team I think that is really on the rise, with the talent he has, his coaching ability, and his staff. We’re going to have to play a great basketball team Thursday to get a victory.”
  • On Indiana’s guards and their skill off the dribble: “Believe it or not, I don’t sit at home and watch other Big Ten games. If it’s not the next game, I don’t watch too many of that basketball. I watch who we’re playing on video on my screen. I did get a chance to coach Yogi Ferrell this summer in USA basketball. I saw a special player last year. This summer he was terrific. Basically playing against a bunch of people who were all 22 to 25 years old. He was very good, he could get where he wanted to. I knew he could do that. Shooting over the summer he was good — he wasn’t like he is right now. He’s really worked hard to become a tremendous shooter. I know at Indiana they’ve got incredible talent. I know we’ll have to play well. But I can’t speak to anybody because I just haven’t watched that much video. That will come on Thursday and Friday.”
  • On Spike Albrecht aiding in the development of Derrick Walton: “At the end of practices, those last 20 minutes of practice are generally some type of scrimmage. It’s usually our Blue team, which is our first team, there might be eight of those guys on the team. So he will stand on the sideline and coach Derrick every minute through that. When he comes into the game, when Derrick gets his rest, or we’ll put the two of them together. Spike has a good understanding of our system and he’s been real helpful to Derrick.”
  • On why Michigan has so many players from Indiana: “I don’t know if I look at it that way. I look at the whole footprint of the BIg Ten. There’s a lot of players to go around. Many of them are very talented, we have great high school coaching across the board. We have really solid summer basketball programs being run all over the place, and we’re just always looking for people who fit what we need, athletically and position-wise, and who fits us academically. It’s not like, we’re going to Indiana to get players, or we’re going to Ohio or we’re going into Michigan — we’re looking for all the good players who Michigan wants to recruit. It just so happens right now that we have some very good Indiana players, and we’re really proud to have them.”
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