Tom Izzo's Michigan State March Madness rotation remains deep. But 1 big name is missing.
Tom Izzo continues to play mad scientist with Michigan State basketball’s lineups deeper into a season than ever.
Coen Carr’s role keeps expanding, same for Jeremy Fears Jr. Frankie Fidler’s minutes are growing again. Szymon Zapala’s are fluctuating.
The Spartans’ depth remains their biggest strength, though. Even though the number has shrunk from 10 to nine. With Xavier Booker the odd man out in the NCAA tournament. At least for the moment.
As No. 2 seed MSU (29-6) prepares for Izzo’s 16th Sweet 16, with a date Friday in Atlanta looming against No. 6 seed Mississippi (24-11), Izzo’s exit interview from Sunday night’s 71-63 victory over 10-seed New Mexico at Rocket Arena gave a glimpse into his mindset at this time of the year.
“We're grinding them right now,” Izzo said. “And when you have to play at an elite level in your own way every game, because our margin for error is so slim because we're not as talented as some teams, there's just not a lot of − like, everybody uses the term, 'My bad.'
"I don't use it, because I hate it. But it's a fact, it's what every kid says. 'My bad,' that's supposed to ease the pain. I try to express to them 'my bad' in one-and-done time is not good.”
The urgency of win-or-go-home basketball has hastened his demands for precision and tenacity, particularly after two rough starts and rocky overall performances in the first two rounds of the NCAAs. It will be one of the major points of emphasis during preparation for the Rebels, who went 10-8 in Southeastern Conference play and lost two of those to Auburn, the No. 1 seed in the South bracket, and another game to the Tigers in the SEC tournament.
Correcting the first-half malaise is critical for MSU, which has trailed in 10 of its last 14 games and continues to miss more and more free throws. But the Spartans rallied to victory again in the second half against the Lobos, Izzo’s 13th comeback in NCAA play, second-most all-time.
“We gotta come out confident and play the way we play,” Zapala said. “Like again, we kind of waited until the second half to do what we do. And we gotta just start doing that from the get-go, starting this next game.”
Izzo expressed his frustrations in the moment on the sideline to Jaden Akins and Jaxon Kohler throughout Sunday’s game. Exchanges got testy back and forth, as it has within the program for three decades. It’s the type of friction in which competitors work through the issues to find progress and success.
Booker had a close-up view of it as he watched almost exclusively from the bench all weekend. And the writing was pretty clear heading into the NCAA tournament that much work needed to be done for the former five-star recruit to maintain his role.
It has been progressively diminishing and fluctuating all season, from starting the first three games of the season to moving to the bench. From showing his immense upside with a strong stretch in Maui and upon returning in December to dropping to the ninth man by February with Carr’s continued ascent and Kohler’s steady play. From finding minutes situationally to playing exclusively in the first halves of games.
After returning from Los Angeles and missing the Oregon game due to illness, Booker’s struggles with Big Ten physicality showed. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound sophomore scored only 17 points and grabbed just nine rebounds with seven turnovers over his last 10 games entering the NCAA tournament. He averaged just 7.5 minutes a game in that stretch, dropping behind Fidler into the last-off-the-bench part of the rotation, then played two gory scoreless segments in the Big Ten tournament in his hometown Indianapolis. His two turnovers in four minutes in a loss to Wisconsin landed him back on the bench.
Booker’s only action in Cleveland came in garbage time when MSU had its 87-62 first-round win over 15-seed Bryant secured. It was his fourth straight scoreless appearance.
What the future holds remains to be seen, particularly because the transfer portal opened Monday and will be an option (for instance, Michigan’s Justin Pippen entered it even with the Wolverines joining MSU in the Sweet 16 in Atlanta). Despite the recruiting services’ grading, Booker always has been viewed as a project who needed to show toughness and desire. That sometimes takes years to develop in skinny big men. Both Adreian Payne and Marcus Bingham Jr. remain
Still, Izzo could still need and use Booker with the unpredictability of refs or in a pinch if the Spartans need a 3-point shooting lineup in a late-game situation (he’s shooting just 23.3% from deep but hit nearly 30% in conference play.
But at this point in the season, teaching time is over for Izzo. Some of those 13.1 minutes a game Booker averaged in his 32 appearances went to Fidler, some went to Carr. But a large portion went to MSU’s four-guard rotation, all of whom played between 25 and 30 minutes against the Lobos.
“Some of my best students kind of sometimes make mistakes, but the tournament is a tricky time. Especially for upperclassmen,” Izzo said. “Who knows if you get another chance?”
Who knows if Booker will, either. But there are bigger concerns for the Spartans. And for Izzo. All focus is on the collective at this point, not the individual.
“I guess what I'm looking for is Michigan State getting a little better, back to what we do, and see if we can win and advance,” he said. “My players say, ‘Not survive and advance, win and advance. And we got our work cut out.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State's deep NCAA tournament rotation missing one big name
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