At this time last year, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo found himself in a most unfamiliar situation. His Spartans, for the first time in this century, were not considered one of the Big Ten’s elite teams.
That is not the case now, which is why he could laugh out loud when asked if he likes his current position better than the one he confronted last winter. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “I just hope it ends up as good or better, I should say.
“Last year, when the year was over, we looked at it and said, ‘You know what? We got 99 percent out of what we had.’ In some ways we have a little more [talent], and we’ll have to get 99 percent out of it to win this league. There are a lot of good teams, but Indiana is awfully good.”
The Big Ten may have a host of unanswered questions, but looming above them all is the race that promises to come down to Izzo’s Spartans and Kelvin Sampson’s Indiana Hoosiers.
Izzo has senior point guard Drew Neitzel, who is sure to end the year on many All-America lists. Sampson has freshman guard Eric Gordon, who is expected to end his year by jumping to the NBA.
Sampson has a proven performer down low in 6-foot-9-inch senior forward D.J. White. Izzo has a committee of players who can operate down low, none of them as talented or versatile as the accomplished Hoosier.
Izzo has an experienced sidekick for Neitzel in 6-2 junior Travis Walton and an emerging star on the wing in 6-7 sophomore Raymar Morgan. Sampson has an experienced sidekick for Gordon in 6-1 Armon Bassett and a potential force plucked from Chipola Junior College in 6-8 forward DeAndre Thomas.
Both coaches insist that their teams play with a will that is unbending. Both demand that their players defend with purpose and vigor. Both have been to the Final Four and know how to lead, and both have faced down adversity and know their teams are still a long way from doing that.
“A lot of that depends on the players, it really does, and the leaders,” Izzo said when asked if he expects to get 99 percent out of this team. “That’s why I like our chances. Neitzel and Walton are such great leaders.
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“But I don’t think we’ll know that until we lose a couple of games and see how we handle that. Are we going to challenge ourselves and get better every day and realize we have some ultimate goals, or are we just going to go through the motions sometimes like some teams do?”
The Spartans lost sooner than anyone envisioned when Division II Grand Valley State dropped them in an exhibition game. That got their attention.
Sampson claims to be turning a deaf ear to others’ expectations. “It’s a lot easier to coach them when people aren’t telling them how great they are,” he said. “What I’ve told this team is they have a chance to be pretty good. But they haven’t done anything yet.”
1. Michigan State Spartans
2006-07: 23-12, 8-8.
Coach: Tom Izzo (278-121).
The skinny: The Spartans return all of their starters, including the superb Drew Neitzel, and add three highly regarded freshmen. So talent is not an issue here. But Izzo says they must retain the unselfish attitude they developed and displayed last season. Their big men, who are plentiful, must improve. And the freshmen, he said, “have to fit in. They have to realize it’s not an entitlement.”
2. Indiana Hoosiers
2006-07: 21-11, 10-6.
Coach: Kelvin Sampson (476-268, 21-11).
The skinny: At this time last year, Sampson’s team did not have a leader. “We were kind of looking for one,” he says. At this time last year, as he pushed them to embrace his ways, they were unconvinced. “They were just kind of like shopping. They really hadn’t decided what they wanted to buy yet,” he says. Now he has a leader, the talented D.J. White, and a roster filled with players who have bought into his philosophy of relentless effort and defense. Those developments, while ephemeral, are hugely important and so is the addition of Eric Gordon, who is expected to be one of the top freshmen in the country.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
2006-07: 35-4, 15-1.
Coach: Thad Matta (183-53, 81-22).
The skinny: The Buckeyes were stripped not only by the early exits of first-round draft choices Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook, they also lost Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris to graduation, which left them with just four players who have significant college experience. That would augur a precipitous fall at most places, but not here. The presence of senior point guard Jamar Butler is one reason — he has started since late in his freshman year. The expected improvement of sophomore swingman David Lighty is another. Then there is another talented group of freshmen, which includes 7-foot center Kosta Koufos.
4. Wisconsin Badgers
2006-07: 30-6, 13-3.
Coach: Bo Ryan (525-158, 142-55).
The skinny: The Badgers lost Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor, who together scored nearly 46 percent of their points last year, but did get back senior guard and premier defender Michael Flowers, who recently returned from indefinite leave. That still leaves them with a lot of points to replace. But Ryan, who does have some pieces he can form into a unit, has proved over the years that his system is greater than any of his team’s parts. That should be the case again. “Every time I’ve started practice,” he says, “I’ve always believed that our team has the potential to be pretty good.”
5. Purdue Boilermakers
2006-07: 22-12, 9-7.
Coach: Matt Painter (56-36).
The skinny: The Boilermakers’ roster is loaded with newcomers, which leaves Painter the daunting task of mixing his disparate ingredients into an effective whole. His only givens are sophomore guards Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant, who started a combined 45 games last year. But his real keys are the development of 6-9 junior Nemanja Calasan, a JC grad from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a freshman quartet that includes 6-3 guard E’Twaun Moore, who is expected to have an immediate impact.
6. Illinois Fighting Illini
2006-07: 23-12, 9-7.
Coach: Bruce Weber (215-82, 112-28).
The skinny: The Illini look like a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team that will be good enough to make it to the NCAA tournament but has enough weaknesses that it will likely be fighting for a berth right up to the Big Ten tournament. They need good senior years from center Shaun Pruitt and forward Brian Randle. And someone will have to consistently hit jumpers from the backcourt. The Illini’s schedule is challenging again, with possible meetings with No. 13 Duke and No. 11 Marquette at the Maui Invitational. And they caught no breaks in the first year of the Big Ten’s new schedule, which falls just two games short of a double round robin. The teams they play only once, Iowa and Northwestern, are picked from the bottom of the conference.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
2006-07: 11-19, 2-14.
Coach: Ed DeChellis (147-169, 42-76).
The skinny: The Nittany Lions were expected to improve last season. Instead, DeChellis admits, “We blew up.” So they are looking to achieve it now behind senior Geary Claxton and junior Jamelle Cornley.
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8. Minnesota Golden Gophers
2006-07: 9-22, 3-13.
Coach: Tubby Smith (387-145, 0-0).
The skinny: The Gophers’ biggest name is Smith, whose resume is as impressive as it is long. Among its highlights is a winning record in each of his 16 seasons as a head coach. There will be adjustments, but among the blocks he has to build on are Lawrence McKenzie, Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson, the team’s top three scorers a year ago. Smith will have them playing faster and scoring more, but that won’t be the biggest change. That will come on defense, where he will push them to be tough.
9. Michigan Wolverines
2006-07: 22-13, 8-8.
Coach: John Beilein (551-318, 0-0).
The skinny: The Wolverines not only lost their four leading scorers from last season, they also dismissed Tommy Amaker and hired Beilein. “This will be a year we’re playing against ourselves,” Beilein says. “Right now we’re not saying, this is how Wisconsin guards you, this is how Minnesota will play you. We’re saying, this is how you pass and catch the ball.”
10. Northwestern Wildcats
2006-07: 13-18, 2-14.
Coach: Bill Carmody (187-138, 95-113).
The skinny: Until last month, Carmody thought his biggest project would be replacing graduated do-everything guard Tim Doyle. Then versatile sophomore Kevin Coble, the team’s top scorer and rebounder last season, took a leave of absence. This figures to be a season of intense on-the-job training for the freshmen and sophomores, and that could pay dividends down the road.
11. Iowa Hawkeyes
2006-07: 17-14, 9-7.
Coach: Todd Lickliter (131-61, 0-0).
The skinny: The Hawkeyes are not far from being a mirror image of Michigan after losing three of their top four scorers and coach Steve Alford, whom they replaced with Lickliter, another strict fundamentalist. “What you’re asking guys to do is get out of their comfort zone and understand what you want,” he says. “And not only understand, but do it physically and do it at a high rate of speed. You’ve got to balance the patience that common sense says you need to have with the demands of competition, that sense of urgency that we have to get it done.”