WATCH: Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. Talks Maui Invitational, State of the Team, More
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State is still a team far from finding its identity, but it's off to a solid start to the journey.
The Spartans' participation in next week's Maui Invitational will play a big part in that journey, as they have a great opportunity to face some very good teams before conference play begins.
Michigan State redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. discussed this and more when he addressed the media on Thursday.
You can watch some of his availability below:
Below is a partial transcript from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's opening statement from his postgame press conference following the Spartans' win over Samford on Tuesday:
Izzo: "Wow. Those of you that I did talk to, a few of you, I didn't lie to you. That game was everything I thought it would be and a little bit more. I felt at the end that it was an incredible team win. I mean, everybody got a rebound -- I think, except Kur [Teng]. I was mad at him for not getting one in 9 seconds. But we had different heroes, and our crowd was one of them. ... I thought our crowd, when Coen [Carr] made a couple of those plays, really got us back in it, too. But as I look at this thing, we struggled. Jeremy [Fears Jr.] struggled early. He's still not where [he needs] to be, and it's just going to take a little more time. I didn't think our bigs played as good tonight as they've played, yet they all made some big plays at certain times. Jaden Akins, after a rocky start, played very well and made some big plays. I mean, how do you go from a 25-point swing in 7 minutes? I mean, that's encouraging, I guess. Tre Holloman did a lot of really good things, and yet shot it terribly, but nine assists, -- he had five turnovers, and that was a problem, but he did defend pretty well. Carson Cooper, Coop was -- I thought their big guys played well, and usually Coop as good a defender as we can. But probably other than Jaden, the star of the game, for me, was Xavier Booker, 10 minutes, he made that big 3, he made the tip in, and then he came back with that rolling hook. So, he's going to play more and more and more, but it is hard when we're playing small. And we were getting driven, and we had to get Coen to play at the 4 a lot. That was the only reason. Now, we'll start playing guys in regular size again. It's been hard with some of these preseason games. And I thought Jase Richardson was phenomenal. He just looked comfortable to me, and it's going to take me a little time to understand him. It's going to take him a little time to understand things. But he [is] very smooth and doesn't panic. And did a hell of a job."
Michigan State will play its first game of the Maui Invitational against Colorado on Monday at 5 p.m.
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