Michigan State University Athletics
Grinz On Green: Spartans Trying To Be Different
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist
These are strange, but good, times for the Michigan State's basketball team.
At No. 6, the Spartans are the Big Ten's highest-ranked team even though they are an extreme long shot to win the regular season championship. Coach Tom Izzo finds it odd that he isn't able to dangle the opportunity to hang another conference banner as a motivational carrot in front of his players' noses heading into the final two games.
Basketball analysts are projecting MSU as a possible No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it realistically could be a fourth-seed in next week's league tourney in Indianapolis.
National player-of-the-year candidate Denzel Valentine hit his number â€" 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists -- during Sunday's 88-57 romp over Penn State at the Breslin Center, but Izzo denied him the chance to pad them for the benefit of award-voters out of respect to Nittany Lions coach Pat Chambers, who was ejected late in the first half.
Up is down, left is right and perception is in constant disagreement with reality, and that's all A-OK with the Spartans, who appear to be finding their Zen place.
Rankings, championships and tournament seeds can only be affected in a positive manner by continued improvement, so there's no point dwelling on hypotheticals along the lines of: If frontrunner Indiana loses to Iowa and Maryland, and Iowa loses to Michigan, and MSU beats Rutgers and Ohio State, then…
"Probably this year more than ever, I've done less scoreboard-watching and less talking about that," Izzo said. "We did talk about it a little bit for the first time after Purdue beat Maryland (Saturday). We just said, ‘Hey you know what, there's a little crack in the door.' "
"But what we have to do is take care of our business and then if somebody helps us, they help us, and if they don't, I'm cool with that."
Izzo is equally unbothered the wild fluctuations taking place in the rankings since the Spartans dropped out of the top spot it occupied for four straight weeks in December. Yes, a No. 1 seed would enhance Michigan State's chances of being placed in the fan-friendly Midwest Regional, starting out in Big Ten stronghold Des Moines (St. Louis would be an acceptable alternative for the first two rounds) with an opportunity to move on to Chicago for the Sweet 16.
But he wants the Spartans, winners of eight of their last nine games, to be immersed in the process instead of contemplating what has to happen with X and Y for Z to happen.
The progress they made against Penn State, with big men Matt Costello and Deyonta Davis emerging from their sub-par performances five days earlier at Ohio State, and the way the defense held the Lions at bay until the offense kicked in, is a prime example.
"As far as nationally, I just watch those teams to see why I think they're losing," Izzo said of the rash of upsets. "Is it that they're getting fat and sassy? Is it that they're not coming to play? Is it that some other team is just plays better? I'm trying to look at the different reasons and our battle cry is lately, ‘Let's be different.' Let's not get caught up in worrying about the rankings, about this and that. Let us be different and not have letdowns, because a lot of teams (are having them).
"And so it's been different for me. And what I've done with that is I've homed in on this one-and-done thing and how can we get better with the little things so that when it comes time to the tournaments, we appreciate that bad free-throw shooting could send you home. A couple missed rebounds could send you home. A couple of bad turnovers could send you home. Not playing scared, just playing educated. And that's what I've been working on the last week and I think we made a little progress today."
The Spartans came out doing everything they wanted to do offensively against Penn State except put the ball in the basket. Although MSU made just three of its first 15 shots, and Valentine got off to a 0-for-6 start, it didn't matter because all that much because it took a 22-9 lead on the strength of its defense.
Valentine eventually found his rhythm to stay on pace to become the first college player to average 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game, since the NCAA began tracking assists for an official statistical category in 1983-84, despite calling it a day with seven minutes to play.
"Our rebounding picked up and our defense was outstanding, and that's what led us to the big lead," said Valentine, who made five of his last eight shots. "Then we got easy buckets in transition and our big guys got going. The next thing you know, our big guys are running down the court.
"One of our main things was to play to the level we can play to, and that's a level of excellence and to be great, so we just tried to hold ourselves accountable to that."
Costello woke up for 10 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and Davis finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and one Izzo smile after he dove on the floor after a loose ball.
"I told him he's got knees that have never been scratched and if today he could get a floor burn on his knees, I'd hug and kiss him," Izzo said. "I didn't quite do that, but I felt good. When I saw him go on the floor, I said. ‘That kid's growing up, man. He's making progress.' I'm proud of him that he's gradually learning what he has to do.
"The most fun in coaching is to address something and get a response. In the second half of that game Tuesday (at Ohio State), we got a response, and then the carryover in practice. And then (with this win), we'll get a response. But we're not done pushing buttons -- we've got to get responses on a lot of things."
While a 51-33 rebounding advantage was good, 22-for-33 foul shooting was not or the way MSU attacked the Lions' zone defense. However, the Spartans ability to recognize problems and address them at this stage "makes me feel like they're listening," he said. "Our fast break was good because our defense was good, our rebounding was good, our outlets were good and that makes your break better. It's so funny how they all fit together and that's what we're trying to sell our team.
"If we can keep growing and not let any distractions (affect us), I think we have a chance to make a run here."
Point guard Tum Tum Nairn Jr., whose 14 minutes were by far the most he's played since returning from a seven-game absence to rest his ailing foot, said shutting out the outside noise is paramount for the Spartans with their biggest objectives still in front of them.
"It's definitely hard but when everybody does the same thing it makes it easier," he said. "We just want to focus on getting better every day and taking every game like it's the last one we're playing. If you're playing a game today, you can't think of a game you might be playing two weeks from now."
