Spartans Woes Started Years Ago

Since Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, and the rest of the cast of the 1999-2000 Spartans left the court, there hasn't been much celebration in East Lansing. The Spartans, mostly due to people leaving for the NBA early, have struggled to find the consistency and toughness needed to win at a high level. The loss of Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson nearly took the spirit out of the team. Toughness, agility, and the ability to close games have been suffering ever since. On the court, Cleaves provided toughness and leadership, while Peterson helped elevate his team to the level of National Champions.

After the 2000 season, Coach Tom Izzo faced a challenge of filling these holes. He vowed not to change his recruiting style. He had relied on tough players from the Midwest, and wanted to stick to his plans. Many of the Detroit and National sports media continue to criticize him for not expanding out to find more talented players instead of looking for tough players. Yahoo sports wrote that Izzo isolates himself too much to the Midwest tough guys. Local radio questioned whether he had what it takes to recruit at a high level on a national level. Whether or not Izzo can recruit well, or needs to get out of the Midwest, it seems the popular opinion is he isn’t recruiting tough enough players for his brand of basketball.

Throughout the conferences of NCAA Division I-A Men’s Basketball, you will find different types of play. You will find the fast break high scoring offenses in the ACC. In the PAC-10 and SEC, you’ll find the teams relying more on fundamentals. When it comes to the Big Ten no one can deny their strength. They are tough, physical basketball players.

Izzo built his 1999-2000 National Championship around this. From the streets of Flint, he brought in the likes of Mateen Cleaves. Cleaves wasn’t a particularly talented player, but he was tough and showed strong mentality agility on and off the court. Izzo’s constant mind games with the team were met as challenges to grow tougher and play harder. They responded to Izzo’s challenge with a 6-0 run in the NCAA tournament, finishing it with a 76-61 win over Illinois. Cleaves finished on a badly sprained ankle. Would the likes of Paul Davis or Maurice Ager have the mental toughness to play through such a harsh injury?

Playing with toughness is not always physical. You cannot compete with your body alone. Part of toughness is keeping your mindset in the right direction throughout the entire game, and not let tough situations wear you down. When you are in the closing seconds of a game, if you don’t have mental toughness, you aren’t going to be able to make key free throws that could make or break your game. Clutch shots will fall short, sending you back to the locker room disappointed. Without mental toughness, it is impossible to come off a loss, and start your team on track to a new winning streak.

Izzo’s new team in the 2000-2001 season consisted of much of the same. They played tough, physical basketball, and showed the ability to close out games. Everything seemed like it was going ok, and the Spartans were even talked about as contenders of a repeat. The Spartans finished their season with a 28-5 (13-3 in the Big Ten) record, and played their way as far as the final four before losing 80-61 to Arizona. They seemed to run out of gas, and it all went down hill from there. They posted a disappointing 10-6 Big Ten record in the 2001-2002 season. With a record that was only good for fifth in the Big Ten conference, the Spartans bowed out in the first round to NC State.

The mental toughness that fueled this team in previous years was gone. MSU was a young team that wasn’t bread on the tough streets of Flint. They were a Midwest physical team that was able to get ahead early, but lacked the toughness needed to close games out. They missed key shots and were dormant from the free throw line. Even though it was disappointing, it was accepted that they had made a good run the previous two years, and would be back to competing for the National Championship the following season.

Marcus Taylor, a promising young guard Izzo was counting on, had other ideas. Against the wishes of Izzo and others from the NBA, Taylor declared himself eligible for the 2002 NBA draft. Taylor was an average guard who was hyped to be the potentially best guard in college basketball in the coming season. Taylor let all this get into his head, hired an agent, and ended his college career. This was the single most damaging event for the Spartans since Cleaves and Peterson graduated. Taylor was picked by Minnesota 52nd overall in the draft, was later cut, then drafted into the NBDL, cut again, and eventually cut from the CBA. Where Marcus Taylor is today is anyone’s guess. Taylor, last seen heading for Europe, would never make it in the NBA. Izzo’s team would never be the same.

This is the age of glamour and fortune. Every college coach has to deal with players leaving early for greener pastures. No matter what the sport is, millions of dollars will always be more attractive than books and studying. This is especially true for college basketball players. More players are leaving early each year. This has prompted talks with the NBA about a possible age requirement similar to NFL rules. Until that happens, a coach must be prepared for early exits, and have a contingency plan in place at all times.

Regardless of the loss of Marcus Taylor, the Spartans vowed to win. They saw much of the same type of playing during the 2002-2003 season. They had trouble against ranked teams, had trouble at the start of conference play, and had trouble finishing games. Their most consistent state was their low free throw percentage. A problem that is still haunting them today.

There have been many games lost by just a handful of points. Correcting the poor free throw shooting certainly won’t correct all games, but it could be the difference in placing second, rather than fourth. A placement that could ultimately affect who you play in the first round, and with which teams you are seeded. Remember NC State? Had the Spartans won two more games, they would have been matched against a lesser team, and had the chance at a better tournament path.

The Big Ten has remained competitive. Teams, such as Illinois and Wisconsin, have polished their programs, and turned their winning into a yearly tradition. This has put more pressure on Michigan State to beat unranked teams, and remain highly competitive in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, neither has happened.

Michigan State has been ranked as high as ninth this season. They started off scoring over 100 points in their first three games before finally losing 81-74 to Duke. They lost another game, this time to George Washington, before winning seven games in a row. They played well, hit free throws, and were able to close games. All things seemed to indicate that Izzo had finally put the right pieces together.

When a team finally comes together, and starts playing well together, it’s often easy to forget where that success came from, or the problems you had to work out to get there. Winning can be an addicting feel that puts you into a state of pleasure. In that pleasure, you feel more invincible with each win. It engulfs your sense of reality. Taken out of this reality, you begin to realize that you can’t lose. When this happens, the unexpected usually happens.

Michigan State traveled to Wisconsin to play against the one team they haven’t been able to beat in a long time. Michigan State remained in control most of the game, but at the end fell apart. They shot poor from the field, poor from the perimeter, and poor from the free throw line. Michigan State led by as many as eight, and Wisconsin never stopped playing hard. The result was a 62-59 victory over the Spartans.

The problems have remained the same for several years now. The mental toughness is gone, and they still aren’t hitting free throws. Izzo continues to challenge his team, but doesn’t seem to be able to get what he wants from his players. One of his biggest challenges is Paul Davis. Davis, the team’s best rebounder and second in scoring, has admitted to finding difficulty playing the tough game each night that Izzo has asked for. He isn’t sure if it comes down to motivation, but one thing is clear, something is wrong.

Players like Davis build a good case for Izzo scouting outside the Midwest region. He needs to find players that can sustain mental toughness, but also needs players that can score from the field, run the ball, and hit free throws at crucial times. A team effort of .795 from the free throw line and .500 from the field is rarely seen together in games.

This team has talent. They have a combined average of 81.6 points per game, and, at times, show the type of game you see in the Final Four in March. Some question the seniors and their leadership on the team, accusing them of playing below their potential. Some blame Izzo for not opening up the playbook and running the ball more. Either way, no one can deny that the problems we’re seeing stem deep into their past.

A little bit of that team was lost the day they won the National Championship. The piece of winning and toughness that allowed them to walk into any building on any given night and win a game. What they thought might have been something to build on may in fact have been the beginning of the end.

The Spartans are playing better than any of us are giving them credit for. Aside from poor losses to Wisconsin and George Washington, the Spartans have played well, and taken care of business. They played well against a better Duke team, and are positioned to take second place in the Big Ten. It won’t be easy, but there is a path they can take to win.

The first thing they have to do is overcome themselves. Izzo needs to know that he can count on his starters, specifically Paul Davis. Davis is the one element on the team that can make or break what they do in the game. If he’s on, they are dangerous. If he’s off, they are in trouble.

The rest of their schedule is tough, but most games are winnable. Aside from an above-average Illinois, the Spartans’ only ranked opponents are Iowa and Wisconsin. Another obstacle for the Spartans could be Michigan and Indiana. Indiana’s head coach Mike Davis is fighting for his job. Wins will be the key decision to keep him, and you know the Indiana team will be behind Davis every step of the way. Michigan, the best non-ranked team of the Big Ten, has played Michigan State well in recent years. The games won by Michigan State haven’t all been dominating.

By mid-February we will know if the Spartans have regained what they once had. A winning tradition given up on in the last two years could very well be on the horizon again. A second place Big Ten tournament placement could be what the Spartans need to get back to the final four and contend for a rematch of the 2000 Tournament.