Tom Izzo preaching accountability, hustle as a way for Michigan State to ‘steal possessions’
With the regular season rapidly approaching, Tom Izzo and his coaching staff are working to tighten some screws ahead of next Tuesday’s exhibition game against in-state Division 2 program Ferris State.
The Spartans defeated GLIAC regular-season champion Northern Michigan in a game played in front of more than 1,200 fans at the Superior Dome in the Upper Peninsula earlier this month. So, an exhibition season wrap-up against GLIAC Tournament champion Ferris State next Tuesday seems fitting for the Spartans as a final tune-up before the regular season opener against Monmouth at home on Nov. 4.
“Northern had a pretty good team and Ferris is usually really good,” said Izzo after practice on Thursday. “They have played for a national championship, but I am still worried about us more than our opponent although it is hard to scout any of these guys with the number of new people they have.”
There is nothing new about Michigan State’s approach to exhibition games, which are essentially dress rehearsals for the regular season. The extent to which Michigan State is focused on self is in some ways different than what we are accustomed to seeing this time of year. At practice on Thursday, for example, the Spartans took more time than one might expect to work on jump-ball positioning.
Michigan State also experimented with wing Coen Carr jumping center on Thursday along with more traditional big men in Xavier Booker, Jaxon Kohler, and Carson Cooper.
“If you watched him today, I should jump center with him,” Izzo said. “When he wins them he reminds me of Delvon Roe, who used to win every one. Jason Richardson won the one down at North Carolina and I think that 7-footer down there is still made at me because he ripped me a couple of years ago when I got upset. I think he was still mad at Jason.”
Jump-ball positioning may seem relatively insignificant when compared to the laundry list of other things Michigan State needs to sharpen up before regular-season play begins, but taking a no-stones-unturned approach underscores Izzo’s belief that every detail, even the smallest, matters for a team with more depth than it had last season, but without an established superstar.
“We feel like we’ve got to steal possessions,” Izzo said. “The more possessions we get, the more shots we get. That’s why turnovers are going to be big. Offensive rebounding is still going to be big. Not giving them extra shots off missed shots or missed free throws is going to be big. Getting a couple of offensive rebounds off missed free throws is going to be big. I told Jase (Richardson) that his dad had a field day off missed free throws when he was a freshman. We are trying to steal possessions in every little way and attack special teams.”
In the interest of cutting down turnovers and promoting extra effort plays like offensive rebounds, Michigan State has begun charting stats in practice the way stats are charted in games.
“We are trying to really analyze the individual parts of the game like cut-outs, turnovers, which today were a joke, but we are really harping on those things,” Izzo said. “We have changed things, and we are charting every practice now instead of just games. I think that has helped us a lot as far as holding guys accountable.”
The teamwide emphasis on accountability has been well-received by players, who continue to impress their coach with how close they are as a group.
“This is a pretty tight group,” Izzo said. “I’d say that this is as close a group as I’ve had in a while. Hopefully, everyone is helping each other. We’ve worked really hard in the last two years of keeping the culture. It has been a lot more fun, and I think it is partly because I like my team.”
Michigan State seeing good growth from Booker, Carr
Sophomore Xavier Booker gives Michigan State the floor-stretching threat at the four that the program did not have last season. The ability to make perimeter jumpers at the four is critical in the halfcourt to open the floor for Michigan State and create more high-percentage scoring opportunities for other players.
Booker has taken massive strides since arriving on campus as a freshman last summer, but the McDonald’s All-American still has substantial room for growth. As the regular season approaches, Izzo and his staff are pushing Booker to play with more physicality and to use the good weight he added during the off-season to his advantage.
Booker has more to give on defense and as a rebounder, and to his credit the sophomore understands where he needs to improve.
“Players don’t want to admit what they do wrong because they’ve been programmed that it is a sign of weakness,” Izzo said. “To me, when you can see and admit what you do wrong it is a sign of strength. That is what Book is. He has seen it, and now he is trying to work his way through it. He has had some good practices and there has been a lot more good than bad. I see him making strides.”
Booker is not the only underclassman in the Michigan State program making significant strides, and Izzo likes the direction that versatile sophomore Coen Carr is trending. As a second-year Spartan, Carr has gained strength and improved his feel for the game. Izzo believes his high-flying sophomore can be a multi-position asset logging minutes at both the three and the four depending on opponent.
“He is starting to put the ball on the floor a little bit more and starting to figure out if I can’t score it this way, I can score it a different way,” Izzo said. “He has been one of our more improved players. He has improved his shot, but he is really improving his ballhandling and his ability to get in the paint and make some decision. He will play both positions, but he will play at the three too.
“I think Coen is a jack-of-all-trades guy, but if I can get him out on the break, he is an exciting human being to watch.”
Izzo saddened by Bennet’s retirement
Izzo has seen some of his closest friends in the coaching profession hang up their clipboards in recent years. Some of those coaches left the game in part because of the lack of stability in the game at the college level created by the confluence of penalty-free transfer and NIL. Former Virginia coach Tony Bennett, one of Izzo’s closest friends in the coaching fraternity, is the latest coaching great to cite the state of college basketball landscape as a motivation to retire.
“I’ve known him since he was 8-10 years old,” said Izzo. “I used to work at his dad’s camps when he was at (Wisconsin) Stevens-Point and I was in college. If you watched his press conference, you should never have to ask me or any other coach a question on whether things are right, wrong, or indifferent. You should be able to figure it out yourself.
“That to me was one of the sadder days.”
Seeing Bennett leave coaching bothered Izzo more watching other close friends retire. At 55, Bennett was still in his coaching prime.
“He was coming off a national championship a couple of years ago, and he is one of the great guys in the coaching profession,” Izzo said. I hate to lose Tony Bennett, a really do. It bothers me a lot.”
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