Tom Izzo, Spartans know there's much work to do to fulfill title hopes
TULSA, Okla. – So now what?
Now that the streak remains intact? Now that they reached 20 wins? Now that they may – or may not – have played their last game with Miles Bridges?
What becomes of these Michigan State Spartans?
Tom Izzo dug into the topic early last week, before 9-seed MSU exited the NCAA tournament with a 90-70 loss to No. 1 seed Kansas on Sunday. His young players, he said five days earlier, needed to discover what playing in March meant to the Spartans and their fans.
“We’re trying to understand what they’re going through, but you can’t accept that because the program is bigger than the coach and the player,” Izzo said. “The program stands for this – and if they’re playing in that program, we got to raise that standard quicker.”
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By the time the final horn sounded on MSU’s 20-15 season, it was another game in which the young Spartans played closely with a top-flight opponent for three-fourths of the game on a major stage, only to fade late.
And it’s a lesson Izzo said afterward that was critical. The standard for next year just went up.
“All year, what I was trying to do is coach for games like this,” he said Sunday. “I wasn't coaching to win games, I don't need to win any games. I mean, that's good, but it's not – that doesn't really excite me. What excites me is getting good enough to compete in these kind of games.
“And I think we learned a little bit in those last 10 minutes, that we got some work to do in that respect.”
That work, freshman forward Nick Ward said, would start Monday. But the reality is it can’t begin in full until who the Spartans know they have coming back for sure and who new will join them.
There is no question going into next season who this team belongs to at least. The four-player freshman class of Bridges, Ward, Joshua Langford, and Cassius Winston asserted their talents from the start and continued their growth through the final game. The quartet scored 52 of the Spartans’ 70 points against the Jayhawks and 57 of their 78 in the win over Miami.
“They’re really so humble and came in just wanting to win games and worked hard every day,” junior captain and starting point guard Tum Tum Nairn said. “I was with them every day in the summer, and I’ve grown real close to these guys. Blood couldn't make us any closer, all the things we went through this year.
“As far as the freshmen, man, they've grown so much. We ask a lot of them and they never back down from a challenge, and it speaks about their character and what they stand for.”
Bridges’ NBA decision could break them up, or it could galvanize MSU into a position of being a potential title contender. He is unsure of his decision and plans to meet with Izzo and his mother this week to discuss it.
“I’m really frustrated because I wouldn’t want to win a national championship with any other team,” Bridges said. “We really had a special bond.”
After injuries cost them big men Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter in the preseason for the entire year, the Spartans will be a significantly bigger team next fall even without Bridges. Schilling will return for a fifth season, while Carter is hoping the NCAA will grant him a sixth season. Signees Jaren Jackson Jr. and Xavier Tillman arrive and will have roles immediately. And MSU continues to chase both Brian Bowen and Brandon McCoy to build another super class.
Ward at 6-foot-8, Bridges at 6-7 and 6-6 Kenny Goins were the Spartans’ only players taller than 6-5 after the injuries to Schilling and Carter.
“We think about that every day,” Ward said of himself and fellow center Goins. “But that’s another motivation to work even harder. It won’t be just us two. Next year, it’ll be a lot easier because we’ll have Jaren Jackson and Xavier Tillman.”
Winston will need to continue his defensive progression. Langford will need to continue his late-season offensive rhythm. Matt McQuaid will need to continue his resurgence as a shooting threat going into his junior season.
Nairn will need to continue improving his jump shot and become an even better senior leader, perhaps in a more limited role if Winston progresses. Kyle Ahrens will need to continue to get better defensively to give his outside shooting a chance to get on the court.
And then there’s Bridges, Izzo’s coachable “weirdo.” Like the other freshmen, Izzo has been hard on his “blue-collar superstar” to make him a better player. He’s responded, like his classmates.
Another year together and they could do the one thing that matters most to all of them, the one thing they all dream about.
“I have no interest – zero interest – in winning games. I have interest in winning championships,” Izzo said. “I have interest in these guys getting a chance to play on these kind of stages. That's it. That's my only goal in life and then watching them fulfill their dreams.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free onAppleandAndroiddevices!