Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Who Has Impressed, Who Needs to Step Up For Spartan Hoops
Michigan State men's basketball is already 12 games into its season, and while it's already more than a third of the way through, the true test is only about to start.
The Spartans have certainly been battle tested, and with a win over Western Michigan on Monday, they would set themselves up nicely going into the new year. In order for them to continue to excel when they resume Big Ten play next week, they will need to continue to do what's gotten them to the No. 18 spot in the nation: excelling as a team.
Everyone seems to be playing well right now, and it's that unselfish team play that has led to their strong start.
On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Aidan Champion tells host Bryan Anthony Davis who he thinks has impressed so far this season, as well as who still needs to step up.
You can watch the epsiode below:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media on Saturday as he and his team get ready for their home matchup with Western Michigan. Below is a partial transcript from his media availability:
Q: How do you keep the team in-sync right now?
Izzo: "Yeah, I'm normally not -- I'm more of a pessimist than an optimist, but we came back, we had a great practice the 26th for like an hour and 15, and then, we went two-a-days yesterday, had two really good practices, and today was phenomenal. At the end, we got a little tired, which we should, and now we're into one-a-days with some meetings. But really pleased by the way they're kind of -- strength in numbers is really helping us right now."
Q: You don't love these games against former assistants?
Izzo: "Yeah, I don't. I don't like them. I like them because I think it's really good for them, from the standpoint they get to play here and make some money, but it's not good for me. I mean, there's a guy [Dwayne Stephens] that I coached and worked for me for a lot of years. And the funniest part is he's got a good team, they just haven't played together. He's had three guys that have been out a lot, two guys that are really good players. His best player has only played in three games. So the scouting reports -- they are a little different. The kid's averaging 17 a game since he's come back, and we don't have a lot on him. Here's a team that lost a 20-point lead and lost the last game that was a killer. But it's also a team that was 10-up on Dayton; we thought Dayton was one of the best teams in Maui. So, they got a couple of guys that can really fill it up, they got size, they got big size, and I'd say DJ knows our system pretty good."
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