Sports: This Time, Spartans Are Sole Champs!
THE SPARTANS DOMINATE THE BIG 10 WITH ITS SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE RISING TO NO.2 IN THE NATION
Last year, MSU shocked the experts by sharing the Big Ten title. This year, the Spartans vindicated the experts by winning it again, outright. With his decisive, repeat championship--along with a first place NCAA seeding, a No. 2 national ranking, and an MSU-best 15-1 Big Ten record--Tom Izzo, last year's 'National Coach of the Year,' nears his goal of establishing an elite national program at MSU. 'The most satisfying thing was being able to win the Big Ten championship in that setting--in front of our fans, and all the former players,' said Izzo, after a 56-51 home win against Wisconsin assured the league title, his second in four seasons. 'This season the community, the players, the students have all felt a part of the team.'
Izzo's ascendancy on the national scene has surprised some who did not believe a 'nice guy' could survive dog-eat-dog competition. But Izzo has not only survived, he's becoming the top pitbull. A tireless worker whose backbone was forged in Iron Mountain, the Upper Peninsula native boasts many qualities conducive to succeeding as coach. Izzo has proven that he can recruit, coach, teach, strategize, mentor and motivate. And win. Bigtime. Izzo has triumphed despite what might be dubbed his 'scaredule,' which included one brutal stretch of five Big Ten games in 11 days. It also included, per Izzo's strategy, national powerhouses like Duke, UConn, Temple and Louisville. Still, he managed 15 straight Big Ten wins, the first MSU team to do so since 1932. In two years, his 28-4 Big Ten record is the best back-to-back conference record since Indiana's perfect 36-0 in 1975-76.
In the afterglow of success, Izzo must be grinning like a Cheshire cat. Not only did top competition help toughen the Spartans, it helped gain MSU national exposure. Indeed, the Spartans were ubiquitous on national television--and featured even throughout Latin America and Europe on 'ESPN En Espanol.' And they were fun to watch. Viewers loved 'Izzoball'--hoops with a football mentality. The Spartans shackled foes on defense and slugged them into submission. They played unselfishly, putting winning ahead of individual stats. Seven different players led in scoring, five in rebounding. Against Purdue, MSU's teamwork was underscored by its 22 assists while scoring 30 field goals. The ultimate team player was Morris Peterson, who may be the first non-starter in Big Ten history to make First-Team All-Big Ten. MSU was not America's most talented team. Duke boasted eight McDonald's All-Americans, and UConn five, to MSU's one (Cleaves). But no team in America showed more heart and guts, as exemplified by its comeback win at Minnesota. Few teams were deeper, as MSU's bench outscored opposing benches 823-459 through 30 games. Although MSU sometimes won ugly, barely escaping at Illinois and Penn State, occasionally it hit all cylinders. Its rebound destruction of Iowa, a Top 20 team, included an awesome 42-9 run.
At the core of this year's team were the 'Flintstones'--senior power forward and third team All-Big Ten Antonio Smith, junior forward and first-team All Big Ten Morris Peterson, junior point guard and twice 'Big Ten Player of the Year' Mateen Cleaves, and sophomore two-guard Charlie Bell. These warriors from Flint formed the foundation for Izzo's program. They simply refused to lose, come Hell or Hightower. MSU didn't lose a single home game, the first perfect home team since 1979, and set a Breslin record win-streak of 14. Some credit is due the vertiginous Izzone, which helped discombobulate opponents.
Although the Big Ten was deemed the nation's top conference, MSU won 15 straight league games to set an all-time MSU record. MSU is now only the second Big Ten school in a quarter century to have gone through a season with no more than one conference loss.
The Spartans won every which way. They ran, they shot, they defended, they brawled, they hustled. Foes got to dictate their means of downfall. If they couldn't run over an opponent, they would wear them down. They beat Wisconsin with its own slowdown tactics. They made Iowa's press look like a sieve. They hustled, rebounded, set blocks, blocked out, and stepped out. If someone kept count, they probably led the league in floor burns. They dominated the offensive boards, which often led to blitzkrieg fastbreak baskets. At times, they won dramatically: Cleaves scored two buzzer beaters, a 12-foot jumper at Penn State to win 70-68 and a layup at Minnesota to win 84-82. And before their NCAA run ends, they might end up as the winningest team in Spartan history.
For Cleaves and Smith, the championship was their third; they had won the state high school championship in 1995. Cleaves was the playmaker, his 6.9 assists per game leading the Big Ten, while Smith was 'Chairman of the Boards'--providing rebounds--his 940 caroms place him as MSU's third all-time rebounder--defensive stewardship, and team leadership. Peterson, the nation's top 6th man per Dick Vitale, came off the bench to lead MSU in scoring (14.2) and to showcase his high-wire act with spectacular alley-oop slam dunks. Seniors Jason Klein, MSU's third most productive three-point shooter ever, and Thomas Kelley helped provide offensive firepower as well as timely defense. A.J. Granger emerged with pivot moves along with defensive toughness and an accurate outside shot. Andre Hutson and Charlie Bell fought through sohpomore slumps and improved mightily, on both offense and defense. Sophomore Doug Davis improved throughout the season and allowed Cleaves to rest.
Izzo's braintrust include associate head coach Tom Crean and assistant coaches Stan Heath and Mike Garland. Gus Ganakas, as special assistant, organized the celebration of 100 Seasons of Spartan Hoops, with a Legends Fun Game and special receptions for past champions and teams.
That everything fell together the last home weekend of Feb. 20-21, when MSU beat Wisconsin to win the Big Ten trophy, added a storybook touch to a memorable season. And with a touted recruiting class, along with redshirts David Thomas and Mike Chappell, ready to join the Spartans, next year the winning tradition might continue.
THE IZZONE
MSU perfect home record was due partly to 'The Izzone,' the students who encircle half of Breslin Center's lower bowl. With 943 high-decibel larynxes, up from 148 last season, it lifted the Spartans emotionally with riotous creativity while rattling opponents into errors, misses, and shot-clock violations. 'It's really awesome,' says Kevin Udy, co-director along with Rob Myers.
The Izzone is sponsored by the Student Alumni Foundation, the student arm of the MSU Alumni Association. As the Detroit Free Press notes, the Izzone 'has made the Breslin Center perhaps the toughest place to play in the Big Ten.'