EAST LANSING — Maybe it was the four-day Christmas vacation spent with his granddaughter, which Tom Izzo called “one of the thrills of my life so far.”
Or his conscious effort to move away from national basketball leadership positions and “worry about (issues) that I didn’t have – no control, I don’t want control – I didn’t even have no power of suggestion” to fully concentrate on. Michigan State BasketballThe players and the program.
Having a 10-2 team and continuing to develop chemistry helps too.
All of this has helped make Izzo more peaceful heading into the new year. And when the Spartans reconvened for practice Thursday, Izzo saw all of his players return with the type of energy and effort he demands.
And that made him feel even better.
“Thank God I got all my guys back,” Izzo said after practice Saturday before No. 18 MSU’s home game against Western Michigan. “And I got them back, I think, with a purpose, with a purpose.”
The Spartans host the Broncos (3-8) and former Izzo assistant coach Dwayne Stephens on Monday at the Breslin Center (3 p.m., Big Ten Network). MSU returns from a nine-day break on a five-game winning streak and having won eight of its last nine.
Izzo, who admitted he is “normally more pessimistic than optimistic”, pointed to his team’s lack of injuries – making the sign of the cross to try to keep it that way – as the reason for the strong start. He alluded to other programs across the country that tend to lose players to mid-year transfers during the holiday season.
Consistent with his new mindset, Izzo doesn’t have those concerns with this team. The nuts and bolts of dealing with name, image, likeness and the broader effect of the unlimited flow of transfers going from one school to another are of no concern to him at the moment. He knows these issues exist, but he has also redirected the energy he spent fighting and debating these lingering issues into pursuit of an 11th Big Ten regular season title and second national championship .
“I’m just going to throw all my love and all my extra into these guys,” Izzo said of his players. “And if they’re not happy here, they shouldn’t be here.” But if they’re happy here, we could do something special.
For Izzo, the building blocks start with the intention with which his players approached practices. He cited senior Jaden Akins and junior Tre Holloman, the team captains, as the main reasons for that focus.
“I like the way they train. I like the way they act. I like the fact that they’re coachable,” Izzo said. “I like that there wasn’t a lot of drama. What does drama mean? I mean, does that mean last year there was a lot of drama? I think coaches learn from the past, I think players learn from the past.
“I have to give credit to Jaden and Tre. I think they realized – remember, (last year) we lost five or six of those games that were really close, and we lost them all when we were ahead. And we’re starting to learn how to win those kinds of games and maybe do the things in practice to win those kinds of games.
This included two home escapes against Bowling Green and Samford. Then, after their last loss, to Memphis in Maui, the Spartans pulled away from North Carolina for an overtime victory the next day.
During its current winning streak, MSU has outscored opponents by an average of 18.8 points and outscored them by 14.6 per game. That includes a 2-0 start in the Big Ten with blowouts of Minnesota and Nebraska, then two more against Oakland and Florida Atlantic after a 10-day layoff for the Finals earlier this month. The Spartans return to the Big Ten to play Friday at Ohio State and have a challenge late next month and in February that includes two games with Illinois, facing Rutgers at Madison Square Garden in New York, traveling to California from South for games against USC and UCLA and return to back-to-back games against Oregon and Indiana three days apart. The trip to Champaign is followed by a visit to Purdue and two more road trips to Michigan and Maryland before the calendar flips to March.
“I think things will start to settle down, and we’ll see where we are and where everyone else is,” Izzo said. “Some teams have had three or four losses and I think they are really good. There are teams that have had one or two losses that I don’t think are as good.
“Where are we then? We’re kind of in the middle. I think we’re pretty good, but we haven’t played a lot of overly talented teams. And I’ve always said, we’re deeper than most teams I’ve had, maybe not overall as much talent as we’ve had. But yeah, they’re a fun team to coach.
Then for a moment, the new Izzo gave way to the old one. And perhaps a preview of what’s to come – and what he believes is needed – will be needed in the new year.
“And I say this, next week I will cuss them out, you and everyone else,” he said with a laugh. “But this has been a fun team to coach in the first third of the season.”
Izzo said he also spoke with former Miami coach Jim Larranaga, who abruptly retired Monday. It’s something he says he does whenever a coach leaves college basketball or football, seemingly more frequently in recent years with all the changes, “just to make sure I have a good feel for All “.
And it further highlighted how much his own team and new approach this season has rejuvenated Izzo.
“Because one day I will have to make decisions. I don’t want to make decisions without instruction. I don’t make decisions without instruction,” Izzo said. “For now, thank God, I don’t have to make any decisions. My decisions are who should I put And how well will he play?
“And I appreciate that. A lot.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And find all our podcasts and daily voice briefings on freep.com/podcasts.
Next up: the Broncos
Match : No. 18 Michigan State (10-2) vs. Western Michigan (3-8).
Trick : 3:00 p.m. Monday; Breslin Center, East Lansing.
Television/radio: Big Ten Network; WJR-AM (760).
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball shows ‘sense of purpose,’ says Tom Izzo
