Tom Izzo defends Xavier Booker's second-half playing time vs. Ohio State
Tom Izzo has heard the noise. He's heard it from fans, the media, and probably some of his coaches or players: Xavier Booker's second-half playing time against Ohio State didn't make much sense.
The Hall of Fame head coach is just that for a reason, however. He's used to making the decisions on playing time and he trusts his guy.
That was once again true during Sunday's loss to Ohio State in East Lansing. He took out a red-hot Booker for Mady Sissoko for the final 15 minutes of the game and a 40-31 Michigan State lead became a 60-57 loss.
Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler even said that he was able to do more things offensively with Booker out of the game.
Izzo, however, defended his position to not play Booker late in the second half.
Strong defense from Tom Izzo today on his decision-making, particularly with Xavier Booker. Story to come.
— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) February 28, 2024
“I didn’t forget how to coach, contrary to what most of our probably alums feel right now. In not one ounce of a night do I worry about how I’ve dealt with Booker."
That's a strong statement from Izzo and you rarely see him calling out fans and alums like that, but he's probably a little fed up with people claiming he just can't coach like he used to and pointing to the Xavier Booker situation as a prime example. Izzo is allowed to react this way and it's refreshing to see that he still has passion and trusts himself.
However, it's hard to disagree about the Booker usage on Sunday when the opposing coach even admitted that it was a reason the Buckeyes were able to make a comeback.
Michigan State has a daunting task ahead of it at Purdue this Saturday and then it ends the season with Northwestern at home and then at Indiana. If Izzo wants to make his 26th straight NCAA Tournament, he'll need to trust that Booker is his best big man.