9903130152
DETROIT FREE PRESS
990313
Saturday, March 13, 1999
METRO FINAL
1A
Photo JULIAN H. GONZALEZ/Detroit Free Press
Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State drives to the basket against Mount
St. Mary's on Friday. Cleaves scored only eight points but contributed eight
assists as the Spartans, 30-4 and ranked second in the nation, won handily.
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1999, Detroit Free Press
FIRST-ROUND KO
SPARTANS BEAT UP ON THE LITTLE KIDS BECAUSE IZZO FEARS THE BIG ONES
CORRECTION RAN MARCH 15, 1999
Due to a production error, a small percentage of
Saturday papers did not include the continuation of Mitch Albom's
"First-round KO" column about Michigan State's victory over
Mount St. Mary's. If you received one of those papers, you can
find the column at www.freep.com/sports/albom/index.htm
Or we'll mail you the full column if you call Free Press Plus at
1-313-962-7587 (1-800-975-7587 from outside the metro area) on a
Touch-tone phone. Press code 5500. You'll be asked to leave your
name and address. The Free Press apologizes for the error.
MILWAUKEE -- The ball came loose and several players reached for it, bending at the knee.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo flew off the bench, cursing through clenched
teeth. He looked as if he'd just popped a blood vessel.
"YOU X#@$#!! DIVE for that X#@$#!! BALL!"
He spun and yelled for a substitute. Out came the offending Spartan, Jason
Klein, with Izzo turning his back angrily, ignoring him, biting his tongue, as
if the kid had just spat at his family crest.
And his team was winning by 23 points.
Welcome to the first round of March Madness, where, if you're a No. 1 seed
like Michigan State, the game isn't really the game you're playing, the
opponent isn't really the team on the floor, and the things that set you off
aren't the things you see but the things you don't.
So Izzo went ballistic because he wants his kids diving not necessarily for
that ball, but for every ball in the future. And he buried his face in his
hands more than once not because he was really worried about losing this game
to lowly Mount St. Mary's -- his team would win easily, 76-53 -- but because
making those same mistakes against a better team will get you beat.
"I knew by his face when we came in at halftime," guard Mateen Cleaves said.
"It was so red. It was like an apple! Man, when he gets like that, you just
get in your seat and strap on your seat belt, 'cause he's gonna take you for a
ride."
Let's face it. For guys like Izzo, and for favored teams like MSU, games like
Friday night's first-rounder against 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary's -- a school
whose entire population could fit into an MSU lecture hall -- are no-win
situations. Blow the little guys out, and you're only doing what's expected.
Struggle, and people question your skill, your ranking and your manhood.
So when the Spartans came out a little flat, and the Mount -- that's what its
students like to call themselves, the Mount, and who are we to spoil what
little fun they have? -- when the Mount came out hitting a few three-pointers,
well, you could hear the tongue-clucking all the way across Lake Michigan. The
Spartans threw the ball away. They missed some easy shots. They looked, at
certain moments, like, well, like the team they were playing.
But this is normal. You don't change your oil without getting your hands
dirty. You don't eat pizza without squirting a little cheese. And you don't
play inferior teams without getting a little sloppy yourselves.
Eventually, like an airplane coming through turbulence, the big ship rights
itself, and things go smoothly.
Exhale.
A halftime firestorm
The Spartans did. Eventually, Morris Peterson hung in the air and hit one of
those twisting four-footers. And Cleaves went the length of the floor, got
fouled and hung long enough to bank in the layup as well. And just before
halftime, A.J. Granger squared against a sagging Mount defense (can Mounts
sag?) and banged in a three-pointer. The lead was 14 and the game, if not the
score, was pretty much decided.
Not that you'd know it by Izzo's halftime speech.
"I'd rank it in the top 10 angriest of the year," Peterson said.
"He chewed some people up," Cleaves added.
But can you really blame him? Already in the first round, such storied
programs as North Carolina, Arizona and UCLA have been unceremoniously booted
by the likes of Weber State, Oklahoma and Detroit Mercy. Don't think Izzo
didn't hear a ghostly voice echoing in his head, "The biggest upset in the
history of college basketball took place tonight, when the Michigan State
Spartans fell to . . ."
No. That wasn't going to happen. The nice thing about this Spartans team is
when its shooting goes flat it can always play defense. The Spartans clamped
down on the awkward and gangly Mountaineers (15-15), forcing them to shoot 29
percent in the second half and outrebounding them by 46-22. And while
Peterson, MSU's leading scorer, was held to just eight points -- same as
Cleaves -- he did have 12 rebounds, and Cleaves had eight assists, and the
Spartans overcame their turnovers and moved on to play Mississippi on Sunday.
"Look, don't make me out to be the mad hatter," Izzo said afterwards. "These
guys know they can play better.
"But it's like ...you know what I hate? I hate hearing coaches on TV after a
game saying, 'We came out flat, and we were never able to get it back.' We
were never able to get it back. That's what scares me. That's why you can't
let it happen."
March Madness. It's maddening.
More on the Mount
A few brief words about the Mount. It is a lively bunch, although its entire
rooting section seemed to be five rows of young kids waving blue-and-white
balloons, the long, thin kind you can bend into animals. I wasn't sure if it
was basketball or a first-grader's birthday party.
The coach, Jim Phelan, is a legend, owning the second-longest career in the
history of college hoops. How long has he been coaching? He has former players
on Social Security. He calls Strom Thurmond "kid." In his trophy case, he has
balls, nets and peach baskets.
OK, it's not that bad. I just wanted to use those lines. Phelan is in his 45th
year of coaching, which is remarkable, especially if you saw Izzo's steaming
face Friday night. You wonder how anyone lasts a decade in this business, much
less four.
But that's what comes with being a favorite. It's likely MSU will lift its
game as the tournament continues. But if you're a Spartan fan and your nerves
are a bit jangled this morning, remember, as a No. 1 seed, you don't always
dominate your games; at times you don't really win them. You survive them, and
your reward is getting to toss out that team's game film and throw in somebody
else's.
"At one point tonight," Izzo said, "I told myself, 'Aw, lay off 'em.' "
He paused.
"Then I said, 'Nah, stay on 'em.' "
March Madness.
You want calm, watch golf.
To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581 or E-mail
albom@freepress.com
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MSU;BASKETBALL;GAME