Don't let Nick Ward know, but MSU coach Tom Izzo sees his improvements
EAST LANSING – Nick Ward gave himself a harsh self-evaluation.
Upon the second and third and fourth reviewing of Friday’s loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, the Michigan State freshman issued his own grade for his performance.
An F.
“I watched it on the plane ride back home. I watched it when I first got here,” Ward said after practice Tuesday at Breslin Center. “I didn’t give it my best effort my first half. I started off slow. … I needed a better sense of urgency.”
Tom Izzo balked and delivered a different grade – a Z.
He was kidding. Izzo realizes there is substance in Ward’s response. The light is starting to go on about what he’s doing wrong and how he needs to fix things. And with the young big man’s biggest challenge ahead in the NCAA tournament.
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“That was a big thing,” Izzo said. “If Nick can understand and really believe that he didn’t play as well — that’s not a knock to Nick, I’ve got a 100 guys that didn’t play as well in halves — but for him to see it is a new experience. I thought that was a major plus.”
The maturation for the ninth-seeded Spartans’ rookie center will take its next step Friday when he makes his NCAA debut against 8-seed Miami in Tulsa, Oklahoma (about 9:15 p.m. ET/TNT). And one of the players whose contributions Izzo might be able to fully appreciate more after the season will be Ward.
Injuries to Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter before the season left the 6-foot-8 Ward as MSU’s only healthy true big man. Kenny Goins, at 6-6, has often had to play out of position this season at center to spell Ward. That’s led to mismatches in the post on the court, but Izzo stood by his decision to use them in tandem – in part to help teach Ward about the responsibilities he needs to learn on the defensive end.
And he also is impressed with Ward’s development without Schilling and Carter healthy to push him in practice and for playing time. He called the 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds a game this season “a tribute” to the work Ward and assistant coach Dwayne Stephens have put in.
“Does he have me over the barrel? Do I have enough guys to put in? He’s been really, really good about that,” Izzo said of Ward. “I think he understands and I think he knows I’m crazy enough to lose if I really thought he was doing something wrong, which he hasn’t. … He doesn’t get to go against the same competition that 90 percent of the guys have gotten to go against every year.”
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Miami has five players 6-8 or taller, though 6-8 senior center Kamari Murphy (7.3 points, 7.5 rebounds) is the only one who averages a significant contribution.
“I feel like I match up pretty well. They don’t double the post or anything like that, so it’s just me and him one-on-one,” Ward said. “So I think I match up pretty good. Hopefully they don’t double-team. But if they do, I just gotta prepare myself for it and recognize it.”
That’s an area where Ward has continued to grow since Duke paid more attention to him in late November than anyone after his strong and somewhat surprising start to the season. It took another step in late December, when Ward shredded Minnesota’s double-teams after the catch in the second half of the Spartans’ road win to open Big Ten play.
He’s starting to recognize when an opponent will drop a quick-handed guard off the passer or when they are just decoying him. Or if a second big man will be coming across the middle of the paint or along the baseline to double him.
He’s learning how to kick the ball back out to his guards and repost. And, like the Gophers did Friday by forcing him to his left, he’s also learning how to adjust to defenses’ adjustments to his talents.
Much of that comes from watching film and studying scouting reports.
“A lot of times as a big guy, you sit there and you’re watching and it looks like you’re watching a wrestling match,” Stephens said. “I think that he’s really watching. He’s screening better, that’s something we’ve been trying to focus on. Now we gotta get him blocking out on a consistent basis and sprinting into his ball screens. And obviously defensively, he’s gotta continue to get better with his ball screens.”
Ward has been spending more time watching his own play on tape. With it comes questions, Izzo said. “What am I doing?” “Why did I do that?” It’s a natural progression that’s had to happen at an accelerated pace, and Izzo knows it.
“It’s remarkable how far Nick has come. And when the year is over I’m going to sit there and say, ‘Wow,’” Izzo said. “I ain’t gonna say that to him now because he’ll believe it, so I’m not going to tell that now. But I do believe that he, under the circumstances, has progressed as well and rapidly as — not many players I’ve had have done a better job of that than he has.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.