Tom Izzo didn’t spend much time pretending Michigan State’s path to the Final Four in Detroit is anything but a distant target.
He was in Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 14, reflecting on the Spartans’ 2009 run to the last Final Four there and, naturally, looking ahead to April. By Thursday, back in East Lansing for media day, he was pushing the message he wants to stick: the destination matters, but the work still comes first.
Michigan State has the kind of roster that can invite big expectations. Izzo knows that.
He also knows the Spartans will need more than talent if they want to be the team cutting down nets at Ford Field on April 5. That road begins, in his mind, with two final exhibition tests against major opponents - Connecticut at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. on B1G+, then Marquette on Oct. 25 on the road.
“My biggest concern right now is not who we are - even though that’s a big concern - but who the other teams are,” Izzo said. “I think that’s been the hardest thing, to try and figure out where you are compared to who you gotta play. And that’s always important as far as expectations getting too out of control - which they will get out of control, because we have one of the teams that’s a good team.
“And we all know the Final Four is in Detroit. And yet that has nothing to do with anything in the big picture.”
At the center of everything is Jeremy Fears Jr., the returning All-American who enters the season as the preseason Big Ten and national player of the year. That kind of headliner usually tells the story on its own. But what has Izzo excited is the depth around him - the kind of roster balance he’s spent years admiring in other teams.
He even reached for one of his favorite comparisons, the Biblical image of Noah’s Ark, with “two of everything.” For once, he may be the one coaching that kind of setup.
The Spartans appear to have answers at point guard behind Fears, starting with freshman Carlos “C.J.” Medlock and extending to 6-foot-7 Jordan Scott, who has even worked there as a possible third option while Medlock missed a couple recent practices because of a bone bruise in his back from a hard fall.
“You never know what can happen,” Medlock said Thursday. “We could have people in foul trouble, we could have somebody go down - knock on wood. [Scott] just has to always be ready for the moment.”
Scott turned heads in the opener of the two exhibition games, scoring 16 points in the win over Incarnate Word on Oct. 2. He started that game at shooting guard with Fears, Coen Carr, Jesse McCulloch and Anton Bonke.
There are plenty of other pieces Izzo can mix and match. Jasiah Jervis looks like a freshman with real upside.
Kur Teng gives the Spartans a needed shooting option. Kaleb Glenn is back after a knee injury and can fit into a bigger lineup.
Izzo has also tried pairing Fears and Medlock for a faster, smaller backcourt look.
The wings are crowded too, with Carr, Glenn, Scott and Jervis all capable there depending on the matchup. McCulloch started the first exhibition at small forward while Cam Ward works back from an ankle injury, but Carr, Glenn and freshman Julius Avent can all slide in there as well.
Then there’s the size. Bonke, a Charlotte transfer, and freshman Ethan Taylor give Michigan State two 7-2 options at center, with 6-11 McCulloch also in the mix.
Izzo’s push to make the Spartans bigger is obvious. At the same time, Ward at 6-9 gives him another route if he wants to go small.
“The fact that every guy on our team can play, it just says something about our team,” Fears said Thursday. “That’s the special part of our team.
But overall, it’s just understanding that everyone can’t play, there’s not enough minutes. So just be ready when your name is called.
…
“There might be a game where someone’s not playing well and everybody can get in. Everybody can play, and everybody can’t get soft. It’s just understanding that the coaches have to do what’s best for the team.”
That’s the balancing act now: sorting out rotations, finding the right combinations, and managing the emotions that come with all of it before the regular-season opener against Quinnipiac on Nov. 2.
For McCulloch, who posted 20 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes against Incarnate Word, the key is keeping the team’s collective ego in check.
“Ego definitely has to be put to the side,” he said. “But the good thing about our team, I feel like, is we don’t have too much ego. The thing is about us is we’re pretty good at lifting each other up.”
That, in the end, is the work Izzo is focused on: building a team that gets better every day, stays locked in on the next task, and gives itself a real shot at Detroit.
“I think depth is something that is important. But I think staying focused on the task at hand gonna be the big thing,” he said.
“Our goal is the same as it always is - it’s always to try to win the Big Ten, it’s always try to get to a Final Four. That’s the goal, that’s been the goal since the first one we went to.
“But it’s really to get every player better every day. And if they do, it’ll help the team get better. And if the team gets better, it’s my job to put them together and try to achieve the goals that we will always have.”
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Now comes UCLA, a matchup that adds another layer of uncertainty with backup Ty Dieffenbach having recently started because of an injury to the Bruins starter. Fitzgerald offered his read on both quarterbacks as Michigan State turns the page, but the larger issue remains the same: the Spartans cannot keep letting usable chances slip away and expect a losing streak to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]