Izzo Says Spartans Need Dawson, Trice, Valentine At Another Level In Tournament
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - As the Michigan State Spartans prepared this week for their first game in the NCAA tournament, head coach Tom Izzo made it clear he wants the team's trio of leaders - his "three amigos," as he calls them - to step up their games.
Travis Trice, Denzel Valentine and Branden Dawson each average at least 30 minutes per game, and they all average at least 12 points. From those three players, two seniors and a junior, Izzo wants more.
"There's no question we need the three of them – Valentine, Trice and Dawson – to be at another level," Izzo said Tuesday. "But most of the teams that are playing in this tournament, other than probably Kentucky, need the same thing. They need their best players to play well, they need their role players to play their roles, and then you've got to get lucky. Good whistle, stay injury-free, all those kinds of things that happen in the tournament."
Izzo noted that getting the best out of Dawson, the team's leading rebounder as well as one of its top scorers, could be particularly uplifting for Michigan State.
"90 percent of that Wisconsin game he did some things that he didn't even do last year, just kind of rising up over people and making all his free throws," Izzo said. "If he plays with that energy, we are a different team. That puts a lot on Branden, but he should be willing to take on a lot now when you're a senior."
In their first game of the tournament, the seven-seed Spartans face 10-seed Georgia, a team that played undefeated Kentucky close on two occasions this season. Izzo believed the Bulldogs would have been ranked higher had they not dropped a couple of games to lesser foes late in the year.
"They've shown that they can play," Izzo said. "They're a very good defensive team. They run a very kind of patterned offense with a lot of wrinkles in it. They get to the foul line a ton. You've got two guys inside that can drive the ball and get to the foul line a lot. They have a point guard that ... doesn't shoot as well from the perimeter but draws a lot of fouls, and they're one of the better defensive teams.
"I think they're second in field goal percentage, third in three-point field goal percentage, so kind of a lot like us in that respect," Izzo continued. "So when you get a good team that's got some veterans on it, and you get a very, very, very good coach who's done an incredible job through the last couple of years there under the circumstances he's been placed in, we've got our hands full with the opener. There's no question about it."
Michigan State appears to be on the upswing, having won eight of its last 11 games. Not surprisingly given the team's history and Izzo's reputation, the Spartans have become a popular sleeper pick.
Izzo made no predictions Tuesday about how far his team might go. The coach has not been encouraging the players to use the Final Four as their rallying cry. He does, however, believe the program is at a level where the team should win at least two games. To get the first victory, the overall goal is simple.
"As I tell our guys, we've got to play better, harder and smarter," Izzo said. "We've playing better, we've been playing harder, and once in a while we're not playing smarter, and that's kind of the next step that we have to take, play a little smarter."