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Michigan State coach Tom Izzo spoke to reporters from the podium on Thursday. Below is a partial transcript of his presser:

Q: Coach, I heard Chris Beard talking about your adaptability. How much have things changed for you over the years? And when he talks about adapting, what would some of those things at the top of your list be? 

Izzo: "I don't know if adapting, adjusting, I think we've all had to adjust. It's just that I've been here longer than Chris. Over the years, you think about the different things -- it's fun to have your players come back from 25 years ago, and they say why do you allow this, and what do you let go here, and what do you do there? 

"Those are adjustments that I think hopefully the principle of what you do doesn't change, but you do have to adapt to the -- Just like -- I always say it's like, if you keep your tie, the fat tie goes out, the skinny tie comes in, and the fat tie comes back in. The bell bottoms, the straight leg, the miniskirts, the short and long skirts, the different hairstyles. I think that's where you adapt. 

"I think at some time I've adapted too much to not realizing still what it takes to win championships. You've still got to defend, rebound, and run. Football, you've still got to block and tackle. Both sports you can't turn the ball over. We always make it more difficult than it really is because everybody wants to hear some new fancy phrase, but it's still the meat and potatoes, I think, are basically the same. "

"If I've adjusted a little bit, I'm sure he's adjusted a little bit, but I don't think I've changed a lot. 

Q. Kind of a two-part question, the first part is we saw the reaction when you first heard you were going to play Chris Beard again, a coach that you faced in the Final Four. Based on what you said then versus watching him now, does it confirm a lot of what you previously said? Secondly, one of those Final Four runs, you all faced Ole Miss along the way, and I know you played in a lot of those tournament games, but do you recall anything from that last meeting? 

Izzo: "Yeah, we lost. So, it sucked. We lost. I didn't know Chris very well then and gained a lot of respect for him. No. 1, he had coached for Coach [Bob] Knight, and Coach Knight I was a fan of, and we talked about him. This is before the game, meaning a couple days before the game. 

"But what I loved about him is I think we're kind of out of the same cloth. His teams are always tough. I thought we got punked up there. I thought we weren't ready for that, and we're usually the more physical team. I thought his team did a hell of a job. It was a dogfight game, in it till the end, but they did beat us and deserved to beat us. 

"So, I gained respect for Chris then, just how he coached, how he was, and how he was after the game. He wasn't arrogant and this and that. He was -- and still is to this day. So, yeah, I have an appreciation for him as a coach, and I have an appreciation for the way he coaches, and I have a real appreciation for how hard his team plays."

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