Izzo Feeling Better About Michigan State's Free Throw Shooting
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Poor free throw shooting hampered the Michigan State Spartans throughout the regular season, costing them at least four games, by the estimation of head coach Tom Izzo.
The team has made 63.3 percent of its shots from the foul line, but Izzo feels better about the team's chances there now than he did earlier in the season.
"You kind of learn to live with if we're not as good a free throw shooting team, we've got to be better defensively or something," Izzo told Stoney, Bill and Sara on 97.1 The Ticket. "That's been a little tough, but it's contagious. It's like the measles or mumps or chicken pox, whatever's contagious. I'm not a medical guy. But it's like that, and I think we've cured it a little bit. I don't think it's going to be a strength of our team, but I don't think it's going to be the detriment that cost us for sure four to five games this year.
"We had two games we led by three with two seconds left, you had three other games that free throws, not shooting 60 percent, but we didn't even shoot 55 percent," Izzo continued. "That's the encouraging part, though. I think we played well enough in those games to win, just didn't make free throws. That's a little more correctable than if you're just flat-out not good enough."
The selection committee designated Michigan State as a seven-seed. Izzo did not express disagreement with that decision, but he noted the Big Ten conference in general was not rated as highly as it deserved.
"I just don't think people realize how hard it is," Izzo said. "When you lead the nation in attendance 35 years or whatever we have, you talk to coaches from Bill Self to John Beilein to anybody who comes into this league, and I think they all say the same thing, from different conferences and things, that it's so hard to win on the road here ... From a respect factor, yeah, it bothered me a little it. Bothered me more on the conference than it did on ourselves."
Michigan State plays 10-seed Georgia in the first round of the tournament, and Izzo said the Bulldogs will give the Spartans everything they can handle.
"They had some injuries this year and got upset late in the season by South Carolina ... and Auburn, otherwise they'd probably be an eight-seed, so we've got our work cut out for us," Izzo said. "Very good coach, tough, tough interior guys, a great shooter in [Kenny] Gaines, a very good point guard, and a team that's a little hard to scout because they had some injuries but now they're all back. It kind of reminded me of USC a few years ago, when they had a bad year and they won their conference tournament, that's how they got in, but they had a bad year because they had three pros that were hurt.
"They're in every game," Izzo added. "It'll be a dogfight, which has been the norm for us this year."
Izzo's nephew Matt Bucklin is the operations coordinator for Georgia. Izzo spoke highly of Bucklin but made it clear he will show no mercy despite the family ties.
"It's going to be like the Hatfields and the McCoys," Izzo said jokingly. "I'm proud of what he's accomplished. He was a walk-on there and worked his way up, so I'm happy for him for 364 days and 22 hours and the other two hours I [don't] give a damn if he's family or not. How's that?"
The Spartans and Bulldogs play Friday at 12:40 p.m.