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. 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