NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 1, 2005

Alan Anderson

Paul Davis

Chris Hill

Tom Izzo

TOM IZZO: It sure is great to be back here. Last time was in '99. It was a special weekend for us. I think not many weekends will be more special than this one with the group of players I've had. It's been an interesting year, one that I think our players are very deserving of being here because of the road they took, and I think they're very excited being here, and that's all that really matters to me. We know we're playing not a good team but a great team. North Carolina is a very well-coached team. I had a chance to play Roy's team a couple times at Kansas. There's no question that he's moulding this North Carolina group into a definite championship team and program. I'm going to hope to hold that one more year. We're excited to be here. We're proud to be here. We're glad to be here.

TOM IZZO: Sure (laughter). You know, my decision to start him was more due to trying to help Chris Hill out, to be honest with you. Drew has deserved some things. He's the truest of point guards that we have, no question about it. In all honesty, when I first changed the lineup, it was to try to take a little pressure off Chris and to try to get him to relax a little bit. He's a great shooter that just wasn't shooting well. Then things started going okay. We started playing better. It was because of our point. I think our rotation was different. Bringing those two guys, Torbert and Hill off the bench to play with some other guys that maybe aren't quite as experienced I think helped. It's just worked out for us.

TOM IZZO: Probably not. We're probably the one team that's not one-player-on-their-back type of team this year. I tell you what, we got a hell of a collection, and a collection that has given up, sacrificed a lot, done whatever it takes. Of all the teams I've had, there's no question this team looks at it as a Michigan State Spartan basketball team. There's guys that have given up a lot for this team - none more than Torbert. At times it bothers me we don't have a -- Alan Anderson is emerging as one. On the other side of it, we've won a lot of games this year that way. Why change now? We're not going to beat North Carolina with one player or two players. We hope to do it with a committee of players.

TOM IZZO: No, still grinding (smiling). You know, I think a lot of people think -- it's like when somebody dies, you say, "I know how you feel." If you haven't gone through it, you don't really know how they feel. If something serious happens to somebody, I know what you're going through, you don't really know what they're going through. A lot of people think they know what this team has gone through, but I do know what they've gone through. I've had my moments being frustrated with some of it. But I shared my moments now, I'm proud and excited for them that they stayed the course, weathered the storms. Lo and behold, here we are in St. Louis playing for a national championship. When I say I appreciate this one a little bit more, it's really hard. You know, my first one that we went to was awesome. When we won it, of course, it was phenomenal. To return the next year and try to repeat is something special. But this one is not for the program, the coach. I mean, it's not even for the university and the fans. This one is for the players. I can only tell you, they deserve to have that as front and center foremost.

TOM IZZO: I think the Davis-May match-up is a key one. No doubt, I think Sean May is playing the best basketball he's played since he's been there. At the same time I think Paul Davis in a different way is playing some of his best basketball. They both rebound the ball pretty well. What May has is incredible hands. What Davis has is more size. I think it is a critical match-up on who can run the court the best because we're going to try to run them, they're going to try to run us. He gets phenomenal position down there, if you let him get there early. As far as getting things out of Paul, you know, it's just taken some time. He's a very young junior, could be a sophomore. It's just taking some time. Yet it's been an enjoyable ride to a certain extent when you see what happens at the end. Never when you're going through it, but as you see him grow. I said the last month, month and a half, he's been a different player, a better player, but more importantly, he's brought a different demeanor to practice every day and to games. That's makes it easier on me.

TOM IZZO: Believe. You know, I think they believe they can win. I think they thought they could win. A month, month and a half ago I think they started believing they could play with anybody. I think we started, you know, we had the different meetings where you have to face up to reality. I think they faced up to who they are, what their strengths were, what their weaknesses were, deal with the weakness instead of hiding from them. I think that's helped us a little bit. I think we've made some progress. I mean, yeah, we're running a little better, we're defending a little better. Some guys are shooting it better. We definitely were rebounding better. But I think if I had to put the main reason, it would be because I think we believe in each other a little bit more and they believe in each other a little bit more.

TOM IZZO: Yeah, I really have. I'm thankful for one thing at Michigan State. I've had a lot of former players call back and tell them that, too. I think that's the difference in our program that I really appreciate. I mean, I can tell them a lot of things. But I think when it comes from people that have been there, you know, I've been there as a coach, I've never been there as a player. I have talked to them about, you know, trying to take a moment. I said it. In Austin, Texas, I did something I didn't do with the other three teams when I went to the Final Four, I told them to take a moment on the floor to really think about and appreciate what they've been there. It was kind of fun, kind of enjoyable. I told that story to them, to hopefully make sure they capture some of these teams. Including at halfcourt just now, I told them to look around, enjoy the scenery, because the next time you're here, it's going to be a little more intense than it is now.

TOM IZZO: What worries me most is all seven or eight guys they got in Roy. That's what worries me most. It's hard to pick an individual that worries me. You're right, McCants, a year ago everybody is talking about him maybe leaving. Then Jawad Williams at the beginning of the year might have been the best player on the court. It's like pick your poison, which way do you want to go, lethal injection or electric chair? I don't know. There's a lot of different people in that team that can hurt you, but at the same time I think we got some people that could hurt them a little bit, and I do think we have some depth, and I do think we have some experience.

TOM IZZO: You know, I felt like we've kind of had to apologize for being here sometime, and yet I still think that we arguably beat two of the best programs in college basketball and two of the best coaches in Duke and Kentucky. But I don't look at myself as a spoiler. I think we've been here enough where we can come in. I do think we can play with anybody in the country. I've always believed that. Yet there's no question, I'm a huge Illinois fan because they're a Big-10 team. I have had a great appreciation for Roy and all he's done. He deserves to win a national championship. I'd like it to be when I'm sitting home watching and I can applaud it instead of going against him. That's the only thing.

TOM IZZO: Yeah, I mean, we're still flying under the radar. I think there's definitely some more pressure on other teams. If the weight has been lifted off their shoulder, I'm going to jump back on it. I think we should feel comfortable, as you say, confident, not cocky. You know, we still think we have other things to push for. I've sensed in practices that they do, too. I don't think there's any feeling of, "Let's take the world off our shoulders and sit back. Let's enjoy the ride." I haven't seen any of that. It's, "Hey, let's try to do what some of our other guys have done, let's try to go win a championship."

TOM IZZO: You know, I'm not sure I ever believed in paying players. But I do get frustrated at this time of year when parents and families should be enjoying these incredible moments with these players and sometimes don't get the opportunity to. I wish there was a way their families could get flown here. I wish there was a way we could pick up their hotel rooms. I wish some of those things could happen. I don't understand all the dynamics of it. It is opening up Pandora's box. I think if we stick to what we say for the betterment of the student-athlete, I think we owe ourselves to look into how we can improve and bring it to an even playing field of the enjoyment of what they get to do. We talk about the journey, we talk about the experience, we talk about the memories. It's hard to have memories of something if the most special people in your lives aren't there. The most people special in your lives are usually your family, your parents, things like that. I guess if I had to be honest, I'd like to see us be able to look into that more and more.

TOM IZZO: Thank you.

PAUL DAVIS: The only time we were together was at the McDonald's game, I had a broken foot, I didn't play. We got to know each other pretty well. Playing him is going to be one of those games where you got to play all 40 minutes every time you're in there. I've seen him get better and better each year over his career. Right now he's playing as well as anyone in the country. It's going to be a tough task. But I think if we try and keep him off the boards, keep him away from the basket, we'll be all right.

CHRIS HILL: As a senior class, we came in right behind four Big-10 championships, three Final Four appearances in a row. The expectation level for the Michigan State basketball program was extremely high. You know, we had those same expectations for ourselves also. You know, we had a tough time, especially early on. Over the course of the years, we've come very close to winning Big-10 championships. We got to the Elite 8, but we were never really able to fulfill all the expectations and kind of pressures that everyone had put on. We've had a lot of ups and downs throughout the years. We finally reached the Final Four in our senior year.

ALAN ANDERSON: It's a big role. Coach Izzo can't be out on the court at a time when you got a turnover or something like that, and the team is breaking down. Guys, especially the veteran guys, pull each other in, tell them, "All right, calm down, it's time you need to get a stop." It just plays a big role. I think that's what helped the Illinois team out, especially them, they got like a Dee Brown or something like that that helps them out. But, I mean, that just helped us out a lot more with having guys, whether it was Chris or KT, myself, even Paul sometime, when things ain't going right, we bring each other into the huddle and tighten things back up.

CHRIS HILL: Yeah, no question. Getting this Final Four definitely puts him in elite company. You know, winning a national championship would put him with a very select few that have won more than one. We know how important that is to him. It would, it would mean as much to us to win one for us as it would for us to win one for him. I think he knows that.

ALAN ANDERSON: Just Paul his-self, just been a lot more aggressive, you know, trying to get the ball. Then when he has the ball, just attacking the basket. When he does that, like I say, team have to double him, and it opens it up for our shooters. That makes like five threats on the court. Then you take somebody who double teams him, you just open a wide open man. You have cutter. He's a great passer. That just shows his versatility some more.

CHRIS HILL: Uhm, I think that the overall -- I mean, I think people are making a pretty big deal out of the actual sledgehammer. I think, you know, the biggest thing was his point, you know, what happened in the past, we had a tough loss to Iowa in the tournament, you know, came up a couple games short in the Big-10 season. His point was there's nothing we can do about those, and those are put behind us, kind of just signified that, you know, we had a fresh start. He put in another tape that showed all the good things that we did and what we had accomplished. We're going to take that with us and move forward.

ALAN ANDERSON: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, whatever it is, I mean, like we see him fading or something like that, we just try to tell him, he's a listener. He take it in and try not to do it the next time. That goes back and forth. I mean, if he sees us doing something, he'll tell us. We did a better job, just listening to each other.

PAUL DAVIS: Yeah, well, the Duke game was obviously something special. After that game, we felt we were on Cloud 9, then we were right back to work. After the Kentucky game, you know, it was one of those unbelievable feelings you can't describe. You know, we knew we had a week to get ready for North Carolina. Tomorrow, it's here already. We got to take advantage of it. If we do get all three games done and get to that national championship game with everything we've been through together, it's going to last a lifetime.

CHRIS HILL: Uhm, it's tough to say. You know, I think, you know, obviously the three-point line has great significance, especially during tournament play, you know, because that's one of the key recipes for an upset. But I honestly don't think it would have too much of an effect. Although, I mean, an inch here or there can decide the difference in a game, as we found out against Kentucky. But I don't know. I honestly don't know. I personally would say keep it where it is, but that's not my choice.

ALAN ANDERSON: For me, it's just, you know, another bigger person that I face down in the low post. But, like I said, they like to be on the perimeter also. That could play to my advantage. But for them guarding me, they have to move their feet, you know, more than what they're probably used to in their conference play. But, like I said, Marvin Williams in particular, he's very good with the ball, I mean, especially for his size. I mean, he's probably used to having smaller guys guarding him. It will be different.

ALAN ANDERSON: They're a big key to our success. Not just offensively, but, you know, defensively. When they get steals, that leads to dunks and that brings intensity up. I mean that gets our rhythm and our confidence, you know, a booster. I mean, y'all see it. It's incredible. I mean, I'll put them against any other wings in the country, no doubt. They just do a lot for us.