John Beilein joined other Big Ten coaches on the Big Ten coaches teleconference on Monday to recap his team’s loss to Iowa and look ahead to a tough matchup against Ohio State on Tuesday. You can read the full transcript of the call below.
Opening statement: “I was really impressed with the Iowa team we saw on Saturday. They really played the game the way it should be played. I thought they were hitting on all cylinders. And now we turn around, again on short rest, and go to Ohio State and play a team that is a terrific basketball team, terrific coaching staff, and a road game that’s tough. We just got to bounce back and do what we can do to stay in that Ohio State game better than we did at Iowa so we have a chance to win at the end.”
- On Zak Irvin: “It’s an incredible, unique trait to have to be a high school player — every player at this level is certainly a great high school player — and then come in and have to sit and not be a starter and then come over and play like you’re a starter after sitting cold for a few minutes. He has done a great job of coming off the bench and doing a terrific job of filling in for us and helping us score points. I don’t know where we would have been at Iowa without him.”
- On possibly switching up lineups: “No, I don’t think so. Whether the minutes will change two of three minutes at a time, it could happen just because of foul trouble, or guys are tired, or people aren’t playing well. But I don’t think there’s any consideration of changing any rotation. We’re 9-2 in the league and 17-6 overall. We just have to continue to find ways to get better and stop the offense — it is really hard to run offense when you don’t get stops. That’s where our offensive challenge is. We have to get stops so we can get out and run.”
- On Ohio State: “Well they’ve always been a very good defensive team. They got a ton of experience. This is a team that was as close to the Final Four as we were last year. Deshaun Thomas is the only guy missing on that team. This is a team that is loaded up. They’re great. They have a great plan. Their defense is as good as anyone’s in the country and it’s difficult to beat this team anywhere, let alone in Columbus.”
