“We were a product of the sum of our parts, and on that night we were in defeat a product of the same thing,” Izzo said. “We just had nobody play well, and our energy just did not seem to be there. I think it was more of a situation of accumulation of a long season where we played at an extremely high level a large amount of the time.”

The loss also might stem from playing a team the Spartans — who finished the season 29-9 — didn’t quite match up with.

But looking back on the season, Izzo knows the season wasn’t about expectations. But the chemistry they rode turned it into an extremely special season.

“This team will be something that I think a lot of people should look at and realize talent isn’t the only thing,” he said. “You have to have chemistry. Chemistry and maybe a talent, maybe a talent in itself, a 7?foot center or a great point guard. It’s very important to have no matter what you’re trying to accomplish in life, if you’re trying to accomplish great things.”

Although Izzo is proud that the team did a lot of things others didn’t, he’s also incredibly happy with the season senior forward Draymond Green had and noted the likelihood of No. 23 eventually being retired.

“There is no question that Draymond Green had a banner year, maybe one of the best in MSU history. If you look at all his stats and what he did, what he’s first and third in, 10th in. They were all things that helped us win. But I thought he said it best that his teammates helped him accomplish.”

What’s next
Now that the season is over, Izzo must concentrate on next season.
And with most players coming back, just one senior and a loaded recruiting class, Izzo has a lot to build on.

One area he said helped this season was last summer’s practice time, and he looks forward to getting a lot of work up this summer.

“We’ve had the best team we’ve had in a while because of summer improvement, sacrifices made during the summer,” he said. “We’re looking for that kind of improvement or more this summer.”

The new guys
Coming into MSU next season, Izzo brought in a class loaded with four top-100 recruits, including top-10 guard Gary Harris.

“We think we have an incredible class academically and athletically coming in,” Izzo said. “We have something that we needed. We got a big guy. We got a shooter. That’s something we needed. We got an athlete. That’s something we needed. And we got an incredible passer.”

With great pieces coming back and new ones coming in, Izzo said he should have a good squad next year.

“If I don’t screw them up, we have a chance to be pretty good next year,” he said.