Michigan State University
Magic Johnson All-Stars (Exhibition)
Spartans Drop Exhibition Game
11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 1, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Hall of Famer Earvin Johnson and two other NCAA champions, David Thomas and Mike Chappell, returned to campus and taught Michigan State's young basketball team a lesson Friday night.
The Magic Johnson All-Stars, featuring the greatest player in MSU history and the touring Canberra Cannons of Australia's National Basketball League, whipped the Spartans 104-85 in the season's first exhibition game.
Johnson, who was enshrined in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27, had another triple-double with 12 points and game-highs of 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Several of those passes were as dazzling as any he made for MSU from 1977-79 or with the Los Angeles Lakers en route to five NBA titles.
``I had a triple-double?'' Johnson said. ``I guess I'm not too bad. And I heard a lot of original material from the Izzone (student section) tonight: `You're better than Michael (Jordan).' . . . `You're better than Larry (Bird).' . . . But this was great for everyone to have a professional team come in and for us to come home. Other schools don't have that.''
Thomas, who played for the Spartans from 1996-2001, was on the dunking end of Johnson's high lobs and finished with 18 points. But the top scorer and scariest shooter was Chappell, who played for MSU from 1999-2001. The newest Canberra Cannon had 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field.
``It was a great feeling to be back,'' Thomas said. ``To see the fans who supported me for five years and let them see what I can do in a different style of basketball was great. And to play with the best player ever was amazing. I just ran down the court with my hands up.''
``Magic makes everything so easy,'' Chappell said. ``From 1-to-14, everyone hustles. We were even hustling to get him some water. But this whole week was so nostalgic. I watched Michigan State practice and said, `A year-and-a-half ago, that was me.' And it was good to see all the new guys. They're really talented and really deep. The sky's the limit.''
MSU, picked by the media and the coaches to win its fifth Big Ten championship in six years, was led by freshman forward Paul Davis with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Chris Hill and sophomore forward Alan Anderson each had 14 points. Freshman guard Maurice Ager, part of the nation's No. 2-ranked incoming class, added 12 points for Tom Izzo's program, 19-12 last season.
``I'll try to be as blunt as I can and as fair as I can,'' Izzo said. ``But I want to see more effort than I saw tonight. That was a big disappointment. We played a team that really came after us. And give David and Mike credit. They probably wanted to get back at us for all the wind sprints.''
Johnson spoke to the Spartans in their locker room shortly after the game and conveyed the same message after the toughest challenge they'll face this season.
``I talked about their approach and told them they need to have that fire coming out of the gate the way they did in the second half,'' Johnson said. ``I told them they're playing for every Spartan who ever played here and for every Spartan whose coming. Spartans are all about intensity. They didn't have that tonight. And they should never let that happen again.''
Earlier Friday, sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert underwent surgery on his left ankle to remove bone chips. He is expected to be sidelined approximately three weeks.
