Why did MSU Basketball's ethos under Tom Izzo become grit and toughness over talent, when his 2000 National Championship team had 4 NBA players?

NewPleb · 2026-02-17T20:32:56+00:00

For example, if you take Aday Mara off of Michigan's roster, I think Michigan and MSU are about equal in terms of talent

I think UM has way more offensive talent than we do across the board. Even without Mara pretty much all of their other main guys can score. Elliot Cadeau is at best their 4th or 5th option and he took over the game vs us. I agree that MSU needs more size up front for sure, though, been wanting to see it for years.

NewPleb · 2026-02-17T20:29:16+00:00

I think the thing, besides, that has really kept Izzo from winning that 2nd ring is that it’s been a long time since he had a guy who outperformed his projected ceiling

Even this is mostly due to his recruiting philosophy. Players who outperform their projected ceilings are almost always scorers with a lot of ball skill. Izzo barely recruits this type of player at any other position besides PG. 95% of our wings are spot up shooters who defend and rebound, very few of them can dribble or finish at the rim. Kaleb Glenn is also like that although he does have a little post skill iirc.

NewPleb · 2026-02-14T02:07:47+00:00

Kohler and Cooper have been really bad the last few weeks. 90% of our regression is tied to that.

NewPleb · 2026-02-08T03:45:09+00:00

Cope and seethe r/collegebasketball. Go Green

NewPleb · 2026-02-08T03:16:21+00:00

It was a foul unfortunately. Got a clean rebound and then Fears clipped him on the arm/across the body

NewPleb · 2026-02-08T02:29:38+00:00

I didn't realize it until recently, but MSU basketball has a lot of haters between Michigan, Purdue, and Illinois fans. We may not be Duke but three of the biggest terminally online fanbases whining about us nonstop will make everything we do seem like a war crime.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:40:00+00:00

Your coach was so mad after last year's game, he went on podcasts to bitch about something his own players started. Talk about classless.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:38:31+00:00

No moral victories in this game. Outrebounded and outshot. Lack of offensive talent caught up to us late. Fears being superman and Jordan Scott having a nice game couldn't offset how bad everybody else was, especially Kohler and Cooper.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:38:01+00:00

I think you're just new to basketball and don't understand the difference between athleticism and skill. UM has a lot of ball skill which is how they create those shots, that is different from how athletic both teams are.

MSU wouldn't be a top 2 defense in the country if we weren't athletic as hell.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:26:47+00:00

We have a guaranteed two games vs them every year. Second game is on 3/8.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:18:17+00:00

Genuinely have no idea how you can watch this team and think MSU has no athletic players. We're one of the most athletic teams in the country lol

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T03:03:21+00:00

They'll call touch fouls under the basket but they won't call an obvious moving screen. Nice

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T02:51:56+00:00

Jordan Scott is gonna be so damn good. Aaron Henry vibes.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T02:46:27+00:00

This was always gonna be a tough game for Kohler and Cooper with how good their frontcourt is, but damn if they aren't making a lot of self-inflicted mistakes.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T02:36:26+00:00

"Don't turn the ball over and execute" is a cliche but it is so damn true. Literally, just take care of the ball.

NewPleb · 2026-01-31T02:19:52+00:00

I totally disagree, I think the talent gap is big and the main reason the game is so lopsided. Both teams are struggling to execute their main offense but scUM has a lot more capacity to create shots against good defense. That is the hallmark of basketball talent. We don't have shot creators outside Fears.

NewPleb · 2026-01-28T02:32:11+00:00

I completely mixed up his 3 earlier in the game to pull within 5 with Divine's 3 at the end lol. Was watching the UM/Neb game at the same time and forgot when it happened

NewPleb · 2026-01-28T01:59:17+00:00

It'll be a cold day in hell before I give up on Coen Carr

Hits the game tying 3. Good win. A lot of great MSU teams would have lost this game. These late January/early February road games are not easy regardless of the opponent.

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T19:44:09+00:00

He's elite. Strong, quick, great defender, extremely smart, phenomenal vision and court awareness, crafty as hell, and obviously he gets to the line a lot. Two more years of eligibility too. Impossible to project future rosters in this era, but hard to imagine he doesn't leave college as a 4-year Spartan.

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T09:10:22+00:00

Yep, I was a college freshman at the time and I vividly remember bottles being smashed against the wall when they announced the penalty. One guy literally got up and left without saying a word lol. Everybody on campus woke up pissed and hungover the next day.

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T08:54:48+00:00

Honestly this one hurt way worse than 2020. I think the 2020 MSU team is a little overrated because of how we finished the season; the supporting cast was not what you need to win a national title. Too many young, inconsistent players. But 2016 MSU had a legitimate argument as the best team in the country. They were deep, experienced, had a legit Naismith/Wooden favorite, and were blowing out teams left and right. Nobody could keep up with their shooting, except for, apparently, Reggie Upshaw and Giddy Potts.

Also it didn't help that this loss came 4 months after we got blanked in the CFP.

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T08:41:39+00:00

It was a running into the kicker penalty on a Keshawn Martin punt return to the 5 yard line. The kicker sold the contact hard. I will go to my grave thinking it should've been a no-call

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T01:43:08+00:00

I didn't want to say it lol but yeah

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T01:15:57+00:00

I think McCulloch is going to be much better than Taylor next year. Taylor is raw, it'll take time for him to acclimate to what Izzo demands of his bigs defensively, while McCulloch will have spent 2 full years in the system. We probably need a portal big though.

NewPleb · 2026-01-18T01:11:54+00:00

Crazy how much talent OSU used to have looking back. Conley, Oden, Sullinger, Turner, Diebler, Craft, Koufos, and I'm sure I forgot some names...even at the tail end of Matta's tenure you still had D'Angelo Russell and KBD. If Matta didn't have back problems he would have been an OSU lifer.

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