Michigan State Basketball: How can the Spartans get back to Final Four?
By Stephen Robb
Michigan State had another early exit in the tournament. Now, with frustration mounting, how can the Spartans get back to the Final Four?
Much has been made about coach Tom Izzo’s record against the elite coaches such as North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim. Let’s face it, it’s not pretty and, in fact, it’s unacceptable. If Izzo were reading this article, he might even agree.
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The natural question after not making it further in the tourney three years in a row is, what’s wrong?
This is a complex question because there is nothing necessarily inherently wrong or that Izzo has lost a step as a coach. He is still one of the best in the nation and all-time at MSU.
However, it begs the question because this team was loaded with talent or at least had the stars in front of their names. In this day and age, it’s difficult for any young adult to live up to the hype that surrounds them. In many ways, it’s almost unfair, however, the fairness of something is defined by each individual.
So what is “wrong”? Nothing. It begs the next question, why isn’t MSU going further then? There are several reasons for that. Matchups are the easiest and shortest answer. It’s the reason Florida State is in the Elite Eight as well as Loyola Chicago. They got the breaks and sometimes that is all that is needed. Could Kansas State have defeated Virginia if the Cavaliers had survived UMBC? We will never know. It’s part of the tournament.
Krzyzewski has had his fair share of early exits with loaded talent and the same is true of Roy Williams. Is there something or someone to blame for this debacle? Is the other team in the state considerably better than the Spartans? The answer to all is no.
There has been years in this NCAA Tournament where the best team did win, but the better team on a given night did win. Everyone remembers how George Mason in 2006 beat North Carolina, Connecticut and Michigan State on its way to the Final Four. Sometimes things are what the are, which is a bad matchup.
Michigan struggled with Montana and then survived Houston to go on to blow out Texas A&M a team that destroyed North Carolina. The Tar Heels were supposed to go far too in this tourney. When UMBC played Virginia it was as if that basket was 10 feet wide. Everything went in and the Cavaliers could not stop the bleeding. That’s basketball.
How does MSU get back to the Final Four? MSU has a great class of players coming in and with the spotlight off of this team then they will shine brighter in 2019. They may not win as many games but they will go further in the tournament. Expectations are a double-edged sword, because they are great to receive all the hype, but if a team is unable to live up to them then it means they were a failure.
Having less hype surrounding this team next year will be a plus for the Spartans. Also finding a go-to player for this next year’s team is a must. The Spartans have had that in the past and at times this year it appeared there was either a lack of leadership on the floor or nobody wanted to assert themselves. Hence, stay around the 3-point line and jack up a bunch of threes.
In the past Izzo had great leaders like Mateen Cleaves and Draymond Green and many others for their runs to the Final Four. I am hard pressed to find who that was this year if anyone. Every Final Four team has that guy that pushes others to be better. This is a bit of the problem with the ‘one and dones’ because they are moving on. It was hoped that Miles Bridges coming back would have been that guy however it could be that is not his style or game. Finding and developing that floor general is priority number one for Izzo.
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MSU will be back in the Final Four maybe not next year, but Izzo is too good of a coach to continue to amass early tourney exits. He appears more determined than ever after the Syracuse loss. Time will tell on how the Spartans respond.