Hoops returns with a tribute-filled game to Coach Izzo
I hope you all got to enjoy yesterday’s exhibition game between Michigan State and Northern Michigan. Obviously, the big story of the game was the return of Coach Tom Izzo to his alma mater for the first time in his coaching career. A ceremony over the weekend where Tom’s collegiate jersey was retired was shown in glimpses throughout the broadcast. And pretty much every commercial break was preceded or followed up (or both) with a tribute video from someone from Izzo’s NMU days. The whole thing was really well done and a very appropriate way to begin Tom’s 30th season as MSU’s head coach.
But there was also a basketball game played, even if it was an exhibition, so let’s dive into it. I know from those of you that were commenting about it yesterday that there are some mixed feelings. That is to be expected, but some of the “Sky is falling” remarks felt like a bit of an overreaction, in my opinion. I saw things I liked and things I didn’t like, which is what I want from an exhibition game in the middle of October. Let’s get to the lists.
3 Things I Liked:
1. Front court depth & size. Let’s start with the biggest name on this roster, Xavier Booker. The second year PF showed some versatility on the offensive end, hitting a top-of-the-key triple, converting from midrange (let’s ignore his airball which drew a prolonged death-stare from his coach), and finishing at the basket. In the end, he had ten points on 4-6 shooting. He also had three blocks on the defensive end and played sound defense overall, only getting whistled for one foul.
If you read about MSU’s games in Spain this summer, then maybe you were not surprised to see senior transfer Szymon Zapala starting at center. He did lose the opening jump, which was something that Carson Cooper rarely did last year when handling those duties, but after that he looked like a good complimentary piece to Booker in the starting lineup. He does not get much usage offensively, only taking three shots (making two of them) in 16 minutes, but he was strong on the glass, collecting nine rebounds, seven defensively. He also hit both his FTs and did not commit any fouls.
This left Cooper and his junior classmate, Jaxon Kohler. Kohler looked like he added a couple things to his offensive game and was clearly looking to score. He shot 2-5 from the field, but he did get himself to the stripe in this one where he went a perfect 4-4. He also contributed with 8 rebounds. Cooper, on the other hand, was definitely not looking for his shot, missing his only attempt. He did shine on defense though, being a massive disturbance for NMU’s considerable interior size. Cooper would finish with three blocks, one of which was a beautiful chase-down to prevent a basket on the break.
Even freshman Jesse McCullough, who I don’t imagine we will see much of this year outside of garbage time, got a handful of minutes in the game, recording one rebound and one assist. But in his brief time, you could see that this kid already has the size to play in the Big Ten and he showed on a couple instances that he can use his body to push people around in the low post.
2. The freshmen guards. Jase Richardson and Kur Teng both looked like they could be solid players for MSU’s second string. Jase, just like his father, has a lot to offer the Spartans offensively. He has a smooth three-point shot, hitting both of his attempts from deep, and also has some dribble-penetration ability, scoring two more buckets on the way to the rim, one of which ended with a trip to the line for a bonus point. He ended up leading all Spartans with 11 points. Teng showed some great hustle and can do a little of everything. He was first to a pair of loose balls, he showed some great passing, got a trio of boards, and also connected on a pair of three-pointers.
3. Matt Majkrzak. As this was just an exhibition, we had a few instances where Northern’s coach was on the headset talking during the game, including a few minutes near the end where he and Tom Izzo were Mic’d up together. Izzo clearly had good things to say about the young coach (I could not find his age on the webs) who is now in his sixth year at the helm of the Wildcats, saying that he is coaching them the right way and that his players are doing the right things on the court. I’m just going to throw this out there; maybe he comes to MSU after Izzo retires, revitalizing the Marquette-to-East Lansing pipeline. I too was impressed by the performance we saw from his team yesterday.
4. We get a bonus like. I just want to reharp on how much I enjoyed all the tributes during the broadcast. The skit of Izzo and Mariucci playing college versions of themselves in wigs and fake mustaches was hysterical. Thank you to BTN and Northern Michigan for digging up some of those old photos and videos. And it was obviously great getting to hear all these people from Tom’s time in college speaking about him. Oh, speaking of mustaches, I just had to share this picture.
3 Things I Disliked:
1. Jaden Akins’ performance. The senior and supposed leader of this team went an abysmal 2-12 shooting. There were missed layups, missed mid-rangers, and missed triples (0-4). In fact, his only two buckets came in a very short stretch early in the second half, but outside of that window, he could not find the bottom of the net. It was worrisome. This cannot be the version of Akins we get this year.
2. The small forward position. I am not concerned with this as I am about Akins at SG, but this was not the version of Frankie Fidler, the transfer from Omaha, that we heard about in the Spain games. In this game, he was limited to just 13 minutes on the court due to first half foul trouble. He had four fouls and never really got into a rhythm in this game. What made matters worse was that his presumed backup, sophomore Coen Carr, also collected four fouls and played 18 minutes. Combined they went 2-5 on FGs, which simply is not enough volume.
3. Assists. MSU had 12 assists on 22 made FGs. Jeremy Fears and Tre Holloman, the returning PGs from last year’s squad, combined for just two. I am nitpicking at this point, just to come up with a third dislike, but I would like to see a higher percentage of our buckets coming from us moving the ball around.
We have a pair of recipients of the Reader of the Week award to give out. Shoutout to Dersh and Wankerman. You two were in midseason form yesterday on the thread. Keep up the good work!