Izzo says there's a 'higher ceiling' for his Big Ten champs

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If you had told MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo at the beginning of the season that the Spartans would win the Big Ten by four games, he’d have called you crazy.

If you had told him that after doing that, the team still wouldn’t have met his expectations, he’d probably think you were insane.

But low and behold, that’s been the case all season, and during his Monday press conference, he made clear his mindset still hadn’t changed after the Spartans ended the season with a convincing 62-51 victory over Purdue.

“To win a league like this in four games, I’d have to say yes,” Izzo said when asked whether the team had met his expectations. “Yet looking at the team and what I think I can get out of it, I’d have to say that we’re not as close as we’ve been the past two years.

“I still think there’s a higher ceiling, I hope I’m not saying that at my last press conference unless it’s the last game of the entire season, but I don’t think we’ve met that yet.”

Izzo hopes his team will reach that ceiling during the Big Ten Tournament, which begins Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Spartans — who earned a first-round bye — don’t play until Friday.

As the conference champion, MSU earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament and will play the winner of the opening round game between No. 8 Minnesota and No. 9 Northwestern. Tip-off for MSU’s Friday game is scheduled for noon on ESPN.

After the press conference, Izzo said he had scheduled a meeting with his team to discuss the challenges it will encounter during tournament play.

“We’re going to talk about some things that have happened in the past, good and bad,” Izzo said. “We’ve been a one-seed going in and got beat the first game.”

Rebounding champ
MSU senior center Goran Suton finished the season as the Big Ten’s leading rebounder, averaging 8.4 boards per game in conference play.

Suton, who entered the season as the Big Ten’s top returning rebounder, averaged 7.8 boards per game for the season despite a knee injury he suffered during the second game of the season.

Izzo credited Suton’s improved toughness as one of the biggest reasons he took the honors. That’s hardly the only thing he had to say about Suton, who has developed an interesting and somewhat comical relationship with Izzo over the years.

“If I was Goran Suton, I don’t know if I’d love me or hate me, I might do both,” Izzo said. “I’ve gotta find somehow a new whipping boy because he’s been mine, there’s no secrets about it.”

Izzo said he’s pushed Suton so hard over the years because he feels Suton never realized his potential. If Suton maximizes that potential, Izzo said there’s no reason he can’t play professional ball.

“If anybody gets to that point on my Richter scale, it’s because I must think they’re a hell of a player and I must think they really have something special to give,” Izzo said.

“This kid still is one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached; this kid is one of the most skilled big men I’ve ever coached. He is falling for in love with the game, that is a process.”

Planting a seed
Izzo said he doesn’t care which seed his team earns in the NCAA Tournament, although he thinks a one-seed might raise program prestige.

The only thing Izzo cares about is playing as close to home as possible.

“I’d say in a nutshell, what I would like is to be as close to home and not worry about the seed because I don’t think it’s going to matter anyway,” Izzo said.

Based on Izzo’s preferences, the Spartans might be better off with a two-seed because it would give them a better chance of playing closer to East Lansing, according to most “bracketologists.”

In ESPN’s latest projections, which were updated Monday, expert Joe Lunardi has the Spartans slated as a No. 2 seed playing against Robert Morris in Minneapolis for the opening round.

Rank and file
MSU moved up one spot to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press poll, which was released Monday.

Purdue (24) is the only other ranked school in the Big Ten, although Lunardi currently has eight Big Ten teams headed to the Big Dance.

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