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Chat Reel: MSU coach Tom Izzo
Even with a key injury, Izzo is optimistic about season
Posted: Friday November 12, 1999 12:04 AM
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Michigan State will start the season without the services of team leader Mateen Cleaves. Jonathan Daniel/Allsport |
CNNSI Host: Thanks for joining us, everyone. Welcome to our chat with Michigan State University men's basketball coach Tom Izzo. Thanks for joining us, Coach Izzo.
If you have questions, please send them in now.
Tom Izzo: I appreciate you having me on. I'm looking forward to tonight because this is when the season really starts. I look forward to our challenges this season.
From Guest: Who will be the primary ballhandler with Mateen Cleaves out?
Tom Izzo: We're going to start with David Thomas at the point. Brandon Smith and Charlie Bell.
It's point-by-guard committee for a while.
We're going to have other players handling the ball. It's probably going to be ballhandling-by-committee with those three guys at the point.
From Guest: What do these new guards bring to the table?
Tom Izzo: David Thomas brings a lot of size at 6-7 and has long arms. He's a better-than-average shooter, and I think by using his size and athletic ability, he can be a very good defender.
Brandon Smith is the smallest, but maybe the strongest of the three. He's a very good defensive player that we hope can use his penetration and ballhandling skills to our advantage.
Charlie Bell will probably start at the '2' guard and see some time at the point. He has improved his ballhanding tremendously and yet his strength is that he will probably be the most solid guard.
From Erik: I played against Jason Richardson in high school and I was wondering how big of an impact do you think he will have on the team this year?
Tom Izzo: Judging from the first game where he had 25 points, I think he could have a major impact. He's as good of an athlete as we've ever had at Michigan State. What's impressed me is his ballhandling skills and perimeter shooting.
On a negative side, he has to improve his defense, strength and rebounding to be the type of player I think he may be some day.
From Guest: A lot of people are picking you guys to win it all this year... what kind of pressure does that put on the team and how are they dealing with it?
Tom Izzo: I think it puts a lot of pressure on a team, especially when they haven't been there before.
One area for us last year is that we were picked fourth or fifth last year, so we got a taste of what it's like to be a preseason favorite.
I think and I hope because of the leadership of Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson that we will strive to improve on last year's performance.
From Joe: Congrats on landing Marcus Taylor and Zach Randolph. As a Spartan, I am excited to see the direction this program is going. But as far as this season, how are you going to allocate the minutes for the starters and reserves, especially when the team is 8-9 deep?
Tom Izzo: We plan as using that as a total positive, as we did last year. Thanks to Morris Peterson and his unselfish ways of being a sixth man and yet becoming a first-team Big Ten performer, I think it's easier for kids to understand team first, individuals second, and I think they will assume their roles.
From Guest: What do you think is the key to MSU repeating the success of last year?
Tom Izzo: Making sure we don't forget what got us to where we were last year is the biggest key. We have to maintain our toughness and our defensive pressure if we're going to win some big games on the road.
From HudSpartan Steve: Will Marcus Taylor and Zach Randolph be your only 2000 recruits? If so, is this because you want to "reserve" for future seasons, or because the players you want are committed elsewhere?
Tom Izzo: We plan on signing one other player, hopefully, later on. We're just looking for what will fit in from a position standpoint and a chemistry standpoint.
From Guest: How have you worked with the team to improve the free throw shooting (especially Cleaves)?
Tom Izzo: Last year, we improved our free throw shooting enormously from the year before. We went from 67 percent to 74 percent. I'm hoping this year we step it up another notch.
As far as Mateen is concerned, he's worked awfully hard on his free throw shooting and overall shooting.
From Guest: Coach it looks like David Thomas can give some quality minutes at the point. Are you satisfied with him so far?
Tom Izzo: I really am. He's worked very hard. It's no secret he's not Mateen Cleaves, but he's more than adequate at the position. I feel very comfortable that David Thomas can run this team.
From Guest: Who is your most improved player this year?
Tom Izzo: I'd say right now in early practice, two players have improved. Andre Hudson and Charlie Bell have made the greatest strides, with Morris Peterson right on their tails.
I've been very pleased with the off-season improvement of most of our players.
From Guest: Who will replace Antonio Smith, or will you rebound more by committee this year?
Tom Izzo: I think it will be a little bit more by committee. I think Andre Hudson is 20 pounds heavier and more ready to assume a lot of that responsibility, but by committee we will rely on A.J. Granger, Adam Ballinger, Al Anagonye.
From Guest: Could you tell us about A.J. Granger's role this year? I honestly didn't think he had what it took to play Big Ten ball, but he's proved me and lots of others wrong.
He's not your typical 6-8 1/2, 6-9 player. He's more of a perimeter player and yet he has good post moves. He's added some weight and strength, which will hopefully help in the post area.
From Guest: How do you think Mateen and Scoonie compare in skills?
Tom Izzo: I think they're very similar. Mateen's a little bigger. I love both players. Scoonie's a little more of a shooter, Mateen is a little bit more of a penetrator. I think they're both great players and in January it should be a great game.
From Guest: What will be your strategy when you attempt to defeat Big East juggernaut UConn?
Tom Izzo: I think, first of all, it's a well-coached team with a lot of talent and some good players that sat out. We'll probably need to handle their pressure and score some points against that tough defense.
From Guest: What team on your schedule do you think that your team will have the most trouble with this season?
Tom Izzo: I could list 15-20 teams, but I will say teams like North Carolina and Arizona. I think Kansas could be a great team early. They have a kid from Texas that sat out, and they're so well-coached. They're in the Top 10 in some polls and most have them in the Top 15 or 20.
From HudSpartan Steve: With your recent success, do you have any interest in jumping to the NBA?
Tom Izzo: I like it right here at Michigan State. This is my 17th year, and I started as a graduate assistant. I think unfortunately recent is a key word because two years doesn't prove much in a profession where guys have done it for 15 or 20 years.
From Guest: Coach: How would you characterize your coaching style?
Tom Izzo: We're more of a blue-collar team and always have been, so I guess that's my style. We really enjoy pushing the ball up offensively, and playing good, hard-nosed defense.
CNNSI Host: From Fred: What's been the most satisfying thing for you personally as you have built the Michigan State men's basketball program into the premiere college program in the state of Michigan and one of the top teams in the country?
Tom Izzo: I don't think we're there yet, but I think we're making some progress into becoming one of the top programs. But one of the best things is that our players are becoming our best recruiters. When the Smiths, Clines, Petersons and Cleaveses are your best recruiters, I think that says something about your program.
From Guest: How would you compare today's college athlete to the college athletes of ten years ago?
Tom Izzo: If I had to pick one word, I'd say stronger. Weight training has become much more prominent. But I think that as much as everybody says things have changed, I'm not sure things have changed that much.
CNNSI Host: Thanks for joining us today, Coach Izzo. Best of luck this season.
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