Big time performance from Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans yesterday in their 64-52 win over top seeded Louisville. I posted last week about how Coach Izzo stated that he thought his team was starting to 'get it' in terms of how to be winners. A couple of articles from espn.com and the Detroit Free Press show the mental preparation that the Spartans took into Sunday. According to the coach and players the victory started at their shootaround yesterday morning:
At 10 Sunday morning, the Michigan State basketball team reported for its walkthrough in a basement ballroom of the downtown Hilton.
What the Spartans showed their coach in that room was a monumental focus on the mission to reach the Final Four in their home state.
"They were locked in like they were in the army," Tom Izzo marveled. "I felt like saluting them.
"I went from worrying about things to leaving there saying, 'We're going to win the game.'"
"I went from worrying about things to leaving there saying, 'We're going to win the game.'"
Said freshman Draymond Green:
“We had a walk-through this morning,” freshman Draymond Green said. “Coach told us, ‘I can see it in somebody’s eyes when they’re ready, and I think they’re ready to play.’ And he could see it when we walked through the door before the walk-through, that we were gonna win this game.”
Senior captain Travis Walton was instrumental in helping his team gain the right mindset going into the game. His leadership has been noted in this blog before and continues to impress me everytime I read something on him:
Credit for taking Louisville forward Terrance Williams out of the game goes largely to Walton, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Despite giving away 6 inches, the rugged senior guard declared to his coaches Friday night, "I got Williams."
"The job he did on Williams was incredible," Izzo said.
If the Spartans had lost, he would have become the only four-year player in the Izzo Era not to have reached a Final Four -- a streak he did not want to see end on his watch. Michigan State staffers said Walton single-handedly demanded that his teammates approach this game with total focus.
"I had pressure," Walton said. "Seniors had pressure. Our underclassmen had pressure to deliver this last class and get them to the Final Four so Coach can go on the road, anywhere he goes, and say ... 'You know what, I know you watched the Final Four on TV, I know you dream about going there. If you come to Michigan State University ... we're going to get you to a Final Four.'
"And now he can say that to every person, look them in the eyes and not have to say, 'There was one player I did not get [to the Final Four].' ... Thank you, Coach, and our coaching staff."
