Neitzel's high-scoring games shows point skills

| STATE NEWS FILE PHOTO MSU sophomore guard Drew Neitzel, right, drives past Lake Superior State freshman guard Matt Miller during the first half of the Nov. 7 exhibition game at the Breslin Center.

Not only is the sophomore guard becoming a more effective scorer, he is doing it while playing nearly double the minutes he did as a freshman.

"He's improved a lot, and I'm happy for him because he takes most of the grief," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "Quarterbacks always do; point guards always do. And he's handled it pretty well."

With three of his four coaches being former point guards, Neitzel has the chance to learn from them, but that also brings increased expectations.

"It's difficult to be a point guard in any program, but here it's especially difficult," junior guard Shannon Brown said. "You've got coach (Izzo) that used to be a point guard, (Mark Montgomery) used to be a point guard, Jim Boylen used to be a point guard, so you got three guys screaming at you constantly telling you what to do."

Neitzel averaged 16.4 minutes a game as a freshman, and now that number has ballooned to 32.2 minutes per game, ranking third on the team.

"He plays a lot of minutes for that position, and I think he plays them pretty well," Izzo said. "I think he's averaging more minutes than Mateen (Cleaves) did as a senior, and that says a lot."

Izzo constantly harps on Neitzel to look at the basket more and take shots when they are present. Judging by the past two games, it appears that that message just might be getting through.

Against Michigan, Neitzel scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, then against Penn State, Neitzel poured in a career-high 19 points, with 16 of them coming in the second half.

"I'm just trying to play more and more aggressive every game — just learn and improve every time I step on the court," Neitzel said. "If I can keep on doing that and moving in the right direction, I'm happy with that."

When Neitzel gets chances, he makes them count. He currently ranks eighth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage at 45.2 percent.

"He's become a better shooter because he's looking at the basket more, and I think he's done a great job at that," Izzo said.

Because of his skills, Neitzel always ended up playing against older, and thus taller, players growing up. This led him to develop the floater, which is just now becoming a part of his regular arsenal at MSU.

"I could never get all the way to the basket, so I developed that shot when I got in the paint to get it over the bigger guys," he explained.

It was that floater that helped MSU overcome Ohio State in double overtime back on Jan. 15.

Not only is the floater dangerous on its own, it is a bigger weapon for Neitzel than most because he can put it up with either hand. It's not just the floater, though, that he can do with both hands. He is ambidextrous, so he can shoot and dribble with either hand, rendering traditional scouting reports moot.

"Defenders have to play me more straight up, so I think that's an advantage," Neitzel said.

Not only can Neitzel give his defender trouble on the offensive end, he is developing into a reliable defender himself.

"He's getting better defensively," Izzo said. "People aren't driving around him as much."

While he is focusing more on his scoring, Neitzel apparently hasn't forgotten about his bread and butter — passing. He is averaging 5.5 assists per game. Last season, he averaged just under three assists a game.

"He's growing more confident — he's doing more things," Izzo said. "I'm really pleased."

It's been nearly a year since Neitzel first started in Iowa City, Iowa. And make no mistake about it, it's been quite the year.

"There's been some ups and downs since I first started, and that's the key: to keep on trying to improve," Neitzel said. "If you take one step back, you gotta take two to three steps forward and keep on improving. I think I've done that for the most part, and my teammates have helped me out a lot through that, too."