b 4& Am A& Aft AIL Alikk
Awk
0
16B - The Michigan Daily - Tipoff'99 - Thursday, November 11, 1999
Despite loss of point guard, Spartans shoot to win it all
Thursday, November 11, 1999 -
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Dave Thomas is known around East
Lansing as more than just the founder
of Wendy's fast food restaurant right
now. This winter, it's his job to uphold
tradition at the Big Ten university.
No, Thomas won't be working at
Wendy's, but the ball-handling duties
on the team have fallen into his inexpe-
rienced hands until All-American
Mateen Cleaves returns sometime in
January.
Cleaves suffered a stress fracture in
his right foot on Oct. 25, putting
Michigan State's national champi-
onship aspirations on crutches for the
time being. But the Spartans hope their
court leader will be back at full
strength, running the floor by NCAA
Tournament time. Cleaves should be
out of action for 8-10 weeks.
Michigan State is ranked No. 1 in the
country in some preseason polls after
last year's trip to the Final Four. So
Cleaves' injury couldn't have come at a
more unfortunate time.
"It's not only the player we lost, said
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo before
the season. "It's the position which is
the killer. If it was a forward or a center
you can adjust easier in my mind than if
it's your quarterback. So we've got our
work cut out for us:'
Michigan State will play without its
star point guard through the non-con-
ference season, and only time will tell
how many conference games Cleaves
will miss. But the Spartans may still be
the most talented and hardest working
group in a very tough conference.
"The word is out that we're a one-
man team," said Izzo. "I don't think we
are anymore. We have other guys that
we think are ready to step up like
Charlie Bell, A.J. Granger and Andre
Hutson."
And Thomas, of course. The tall,
skinny junior will step into Izzo's half-
court offense and call plays where leg-
ends before him have stood. Thomas
redshirted last season and only saw
playing time as a backup during his first
two years. But his height, at 6-foot-7,
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
When Mateen Cleaves returns, the Spartans could return to the Final Four.
could give him some advantage over
other point guards.
"He's tall and lanky," said Izzo, who
pulled in national coach of the year
honors a season ago. "I'm hoping we
can- use his size to look over the
defense. We can penetrate more with
the pass than the dribble"
The scoring load won't be dropped
solely on Thomas' shoulders though,
thanks to the depth that makes the
Spartans a candidate to cut down the
nets in Indianapolis in April.
All-Big Ten forward Morris Peterson,
returning starters Charlie Bell and
Andre Hutson and key reserve A.J.
Granger should pick up the slack in
their leader's absence. Peterson aver-
aged 13.6 points per game last year and
Izzo said he has improved his three-
point shooting over the summer.
As if one all-American wasn't
enough, Izzo added Michigan's high
school Mr. Basketball, Jason
Richardson, to an already accomplished
group. Richardson, a McDonald's all-
American guard from Saginaw Arthur
Hill, was deemed eligible days ago,
prompting Izzo to call his presence "a
shot in the arm" in Cleaves' absence.
Duke defector Mike Chappell also
joins a hungry Michigan State squad.
The 6-9 forward with a soft shooting
touch started at Duke two years ago
before sitting out a transfer year. The
winning experience he brings from that
program can only help push the
Spartans closer to a championship.
"When you can add a guy to the fold
that has that kind of experience with a
major caliber team, it really helps," said
forward A.J. Granger.
Anything short of gold rings will be a
disappointment for Izzo's squad this
season since the Spartans were expect-
ed to advance to the championship
game a year ago. This is a team that
returns three starters after winning 22
straight games and posting a Big Ten
record 33 overall wins.
"We were a little disappointed last
year, not winning a national champi-
onship and falling short of our goal,"
Granger said. "That just kind of drove
us all summer long. Right now we're
anxious to get the season started rather
than think about the pressure."
Michigan State S
Coach: Tom Izzo (fifth season)
Last season: 15-1 Big Ten (1st),
33-5 overall
Key returners: Sr. G Mateen
Cleaves, Jr. G Charlie Bell, Sr. F
Morris Peterson
Losses: G Jason Klein, F
Antonio Smith (21.8 per-
cent of offense)
Nonconference tests: Kansas
(neutral-site) Dec. 7, at Arizona
Dec. 11, at Kentucky Dec. 23
Make or break: Do the Spartans
stay afloat during Cleaves' injury,
or do they blow their chance at a
No. 1 seed in the tournament?
Daily Basketball
Writers'
Preseason Picks
Big Ten Champion
Michigan finishes
All-Big Ten team Scoo
(Player of the Year Mate
in bold) Mi(
B
Jam
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Big Ten Tournament Champion
NCAA Final Four
(Champion in bold)
Most overrated team
Surprise NCAA team
Michigan's fate
Michigan MVP
Loudest crowd at Crisler
Ugliest Big Ten city
First 'M' freshman to'leave
Favorite bar
Date
DAVID
DEN HERDER
Ohio State
4th
onie Penn - Ohio State
en Cleaves - Michigan State
chael Redd - Ohio State
rian Cardinal - Purdue
mal Crawford - Michigan
Brian Ellerbe
Purdue
North Carolina
Michigan State
Connecticut
Florida
Duke
Georgetown
NCAA first round
Jamal Crawford
Michigan State game
Columbus
Woodson
Brothers (Madison)
DUPREY
Michigan State
6th
Penn
Cleaves
Dean Oliver - Iowa
Cory Bradford - Illinois
A.J. Guyton - Indiana'
Tom Izzo
Ohio State
Temple
Michigan State
Connecticut
Auburn
Florida
Kent
NCAA second round
Kevin Gaines
Oakland game
Columbus
Crawford
Casino Windsor
FRANCESCUTTI
Michigan State
6th
Penn
Cleaves
Redd
Brian Cardinal - Purdue
Guyton
Lon Kruger
Michigan State
Cincinnati
Michigan State
Connecticut
Auburn
Syracuse
Valparaiso
NIT second round
Josh Asselin
Duke game
Columbus
Crawford
Coke machine
JACUB
WHEELER
Michigan State
5th
Penn
Cleaves
Bradford
Josh Asselin - Mich.
Guyton
Jim O'Brien
Ohio State
North Carolina
Illinois
Connecticut
Florida
UCLA
DePaul
Sweet Sixteen
Gavin Groninger
Dance team at halftime
Columbus
Blanchard
Blind Pig
Nov. 19
Nov. 23
Nov. 27
Dec. 1
Dec. 4
Dec. 8
Dec. 11
Dec. 19
Dec. 23
Dec. 28
Jan. 2
Jan. 5
Jan. 8
Jan. 16
Jan. 19
Jan. 22
Jan. 25
Feb. 1
Feb. 6
Feb. 9
Feb. 13
Feb. 16
Feb. 19
Feb. 24
Feb. 26
Feb. 29*
or March 1
or March 2
March 4*
or March 5*
i
K
Mi
* denotes te
Who doesn't play whom in the Big Ten
Michigan
Doesn't host: Minnesota, Wisconsin
Doesn't visit: Ohio State, Penn State
Michigan State
Doesn't host: Purdue, Iowa
Doesn't visit: Illinois, Minnesota
Ohio State
Doesn't host: Indiana, Michigan
Doesn't visit: Iowa, Purdue
Purdue
Doesn't host: Ohio State, Illinois
Doesn't visit: Michigan State, PennState
Illinois
Doesn't host: Wisconsin, Michigan State
Doesn't visit: Indiana, Purdue
Indiana
Doesn't host: N'western, Illinois
Doesn't visit: Iowa, Ohio State
Wisconsin
Doesn't host: Penn State, N'western
Doesn't visit: Illinois, Michigan
Iowa
Doesn't host: Indiana, Ohio State
Doesn't visit: N'westem, Michigan State
Penn State
Doesn't host: Purdue, Michigan
Doesn't visit: Minnesota, Wisconsin
Minnesota
Doesn't host: Michiga State, PennState
Doesn't visit: N'western, Michigan
Northwestern
Doesn't host: Minnesota, Iowa
Doesn't visit: Wisconsin, Indiana
308 S. State St., S. of Liberty Ann Arb
160 Old S. Woodward, S. of Maple Birmin
Opening soon in Chicago, Georgetown, Los Angel