Sports: Spartan Basketball

MSU SHOOTS FOR A NATIONAL TITLE

In seeking an NCAA title, Tom Izzo must overcome perhaps the most brutal schedule in America and a key injury to the team’s leader.

            By picking MSU No. 1 in the pre-season rankings, many experts paid a great compliment to Tom Izzo’s program—but also painted a bullseye on the 1999-2000 MSU men’s basketball team. Beyond that pressure, just days before the season began, senior playmaker Mateen Cleaves suffered a stress fracture in his right foot. The two-time All American point guard and Big Ten MVP—MSU’s captain, quarterback and leader—will miss 8-10 weeks after a successful operation.

            Although Izzo is loath to use anything as an excuse, he faces perhaps the toughest challenge yet in a young career that has already netted back-to-back 'National Coach of the Year' honors. 'Our goal is to win a national championship,' Izzo is not shy to admit. 'There will be pressure on us and the scary part is that there are a few teams in the league who are really ready to make a run at the Big Ten title. With the heightened expectations and all that goes with it, I hope we are a veteran enough team to handle the pressure.'

             If nothing else, MSU should be battle-tested by season’s end, given the sheer brutality of the pre-season schedule—11 teams from last year’s NCAA tournament and two from the NIT, including 8 teams ranked in the preseason ESPN/USA Today poll—Uconn (#1), North Carolina (#5), Ohio State (#6), Arizona (#9), Kansas (#11), Kentucky (#12), Illinois (#18) and Purdue (#21).

            In addition, MSU could face DePaul (#20) or Texas (#22) in the Puerto Rico Shootout during Thanksgiving week. Although MSU 'could have scheduled 25 wins if we wanted,' Izzo welcomes tough competition. Last year, early tests against the likes of Duke, Temple and Uconn helped prepare MSU for the rigors of its magnificent run to the NCAA Final Four. 'To be the best,' Izzo likes to intone, 'you have to play the best.'

            For sure, MSU has the weapons to compete with the best. With Antonio Smith departed, Cleaves will provide the leadership, even from the sidelines and on crutches. 'It feels good to be number one,' says Cleaves. 'You dream about that as a kid. But the important thing is to be number one at the end of the season.'

            Izzo will have to be at his strategic best to counter the temporary loss of Cleaves, who was 'playing real well' prior to the injury. 'Adjusting to it with the loss of his play is going to be hard enough,' he says. 'There’s no doubt he’s my best player but he’s also my hardest worker. So he is the meat and potatoes, he is the motivational guy, he is the guy that you can point a finger at and say if he’s doing it . . . Morris Peterson is going to have to pick up a little, but I think (Andre) Hutson and (Charlie) Bell are the two guys that have the personalities. I think it’s going to be done more by a collection than it is by an individual.'

            Versatile senior forward Peterson, a first-team All Big Ten selection even as sixth man, should be MSU’s go-to scorer this year, along with fellow Flintstone sophomore guard Bell. Freshman forward Jason Richardson, whose dunks and gravity-defying leaps have left onlookers agape, has been declared eligible by the NCAA in a reversal of an earlier ruling and should contribute with his explosive scoring ability.

            Up front, MSU has plenty of muscle to make up for rebounding force Smith. Sophomore forward Andre Hutson returns with about 20 additional pounds of muscle. Senior forward A. J. Granger, whose sharp-shooting helped MSU reach the Final Four, needs to pick up some of Smith’s physical presence, along with reshirt freshman Adam Ballinger. Freshman forward Aloysius Anagonye, whose mesomorphic physique has raised eyebrows, brings needed muscle power in the paint. Duke transfer Mike Chappell, a junior from Southfield, replaces some of the outside firepower vacated by sharpshooter Jason Klein. 6-7 junior point guard and forward David Thomas, who redshirted last year, will handle the playmaking position in Cleaves’ absence. Walk-on Brandon Smith may spend some relief time as one-guard. Two promising newcomers from Ohio, Jason Andreas and Adam Wolfe, will likely redshirt.

            MSU’s home court advantage, fueled by the Izzone—a 900-plus student section—was deened br Dick Vitale as the toughest in college basketball. Sponsored by the Student Alumni Foundation, a student arm of the MSU Alumni Association, the Izzone has emerged as a happening; students camped out for days outside the MSU Union to obtain Izzone tickets for this season.

             Although top assistant Tom Crean has moved on to Marquette, replacement Brian Gregory, who boasts plenty of MSU experience, returns from Northwestern. Assistants Stan Heath and Mike Garland both return with experience. 'We’ve got to be careful that we don’t let a loss get us too down, just like a win can’t,' says Izzo. 'It isn’t going to be won in December, but we’ve got to still get better as a team and I think that’s going to be our job now, to get this team better. And if that happens, then I think the old adage comes true and we could be a stronger team in January and February.' Or, one hopes, in March.

            Don’t book your MSU Alumni Association tour to Indianapolis just quite yet. Do stay tuned.

ALL THE WAY?

            Do you think this year’s Spartans can go all the way? Cast your vote at http://www.msu.edu/~baor/pollpage.htm and see how you compare with fellow Spartan fans.