INTERESTING STUFF

1999-00

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• SPORTING NEWS ARTICLE

RULES CHANGES

NOTES

SPORTING NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT SEASON

While the heart, desire, leadership, shooting and defense provided by Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and A.J. Granger were vital against Florida in the national title game, it was the senior trio's stick-to-itiveness that makes this a magical season worth celebrating

This is a celebration. This is a celebration of everything that is so enjoyable and exciting about college basketball. This is a celebration of a championship team that demonstrates how experience, fine coaching, sufficient talent and splendid role playing can combine to produce wonderful results. Most of all, this is a celebration of how, amid an era of offensive glitz, a squad grabbed hold of defensive toughness and rode that most fundamental of traits to a national title.

This is a celebration of a Michigan State team that brought sanity to an NCAA Tournament filled with nonsensical upsets and goofy seedings. The Spartans never will be remembered in the same context with greatness, but that doesn't matter. What's important is that they showed all of us what determination and dedication and-wonder of wonders-a commitment to stay in school can produce. This should have been their tournament, and it was. The only No. 1 seed to make the Elite Eight, they overwhelmed young Florida, 89-76, Monday night by simply having too much of most every basic winning ingredient. More than anything, Michigan State had too much of seniors Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and A.J. Granger. The members of this trio, the heart of coach Tom Izzo's reconstruction of the Michigan State program, capitalized on the most important night of their long careers by combining for 58 points on 21-of-36 shooting. Just as crucial, they provided the steadiness and the poise that never really gave Florida much hope of pulling off an upset. Cleaves, the unflappable point guard, won the most outstanding player award by providing 18 points, four assists, clutch shooting and the guts to overcome a badly sprained right ankle in the final 16 minutes. Peterson, who has been a second-half master throughout the tournament, followed suit in this one, scoring 15 of his 21 points after intermission, including a couple of 3-pointers that knocked the wind out of Florida. Granger, who somehow elevated his game in the postseason, burst out to tie a career high with 19 points, including three baskets from 3-point range.

These three now have won 104 games in four years, the best such stretch in school history. And now they can add an NCAA title-the Spartans won their first in 1979 behind Magic Johnson-to a trophy case that includes three regular-season Big 10 championships and two conference tournament crowns. Their only major misstep came in last year's Final Four, when they lost to Duke in the semifinals. But that loss kept Cleaves and Peterson in school instead of causing them to skip off like so many of their peers to the NBA. Celebrate that decision for its lack of selfishness amid a very selfish sports world. "I don't know how I can make everyone believe how special these seniors are to me," says Izzo. "They have done an incredible job of helping to build this program, and I hope they'll come back and teach the guys what they did so gallantly tonight, which was to play with as big a heart and as good an effort as I've ever seen." Give Izzo and his players credit for their flexibility. Before this game, he maintained that the Spartans could run with Florida. That boost seemed ludicrous, considering the Gators' love of a fast pace. But Izzo was right. So the celebration should include Michigan State's 35 points off fast breaks and transition situations. And the Gators? They had only two breaks all night, without a point to their credit. And, more than anything, give Izzo and his players credit for displaying a defense throughout the season, and particularly in this tournament, which could fill a tape for a coaching clinic. Just look how defense won this game for the Spartans.

When mapping out a game plan, Izzo understood Florida could hurt his team with its solid inside play and with its long-range shooting. He made a crucial choice. He would extend his defense enough to try to neutralize the 3-point baskets. If it meant giving up some inside points, he could accept the trade-off. But he knew Florida drew its lifeblood from the adrenaline produced by 3-point flurries. Neutralize that dagger and Michigan State could win.

That's what the Spartans accomplished. Florida simply couldn't find room for its 3s. The Gators made six for the game but only four when the contest still was in doubt. They attempted 18, most of them wild and under pressure. This from a team that set a school record for 3s and has more top-notch outside marksmen than any program in the country. They looked to their 3s for a spark, but the spurt never came. "We couldn't get a lot of real good looks," says Florida guard Teddy Dupay. "They come at you real strong all the time." But this kind of defensive celebration is nothing unusual for Michigan State. Amid the increasing influence of nightly television highlight clips, which emphasize mindless offense over substance, defense made a glorious statement in this Final Four, thanks mostly to the Spartans. Michigan State and Florida came into the final with differing defensive styles, but each was stifling in its way. The Spartans relentlessly challenged every movement out of a halfcourt man set; the Gators used a full-court, trapping press to harass and fluster, hoping to create uncertainty, if not turnovers. These were intense, driven players understanding that good defense, not highlight-reel dunks, produces champions. And to play defense effectively these days, you better take that finesse stuff and put it in a seat next to Dick Vitale. With the NBA draining off college basketball's elite talent, there is room now for the hard-nosed grinder with a decent level of skill. "If you can't play physical basketball and learn to bang and deal with the fatigue, then you can't compete for a title," says Maryland coach Gary Williams. "There's a lot more contact, particularly inside, than ever before, and you have to learn to cope with it, or you'll be shoved out of a game." Because of the way Wisconsin plays defense, please don't consider the Badgers, who lost to Michigan State in the semifinals, to be that much of a Final Four fluke. The Badgers frustrate the finesse teams, irritate the highlight-film seekers and bang opponents into frustration and mistakes. Get accustomed to it; you are going to see more Wisconsin-type teams make it this far in the future, too. Coaches who recruit for defense have a good chance of keeping their squads together longer-what McDonald's All-American wants to think about signing with a defensive coach?-and can parlay this experience level into effective tournament runs, when scoring averages traditionally dip around 10 points under the national norm in the regular season.

"Teams that pay attention to defense, it works to their advantage," says Oklahoma State swingman Glendon Alexander. "Like Wisconsin. They are very physical. They bump cutters, they are in your face, they hand check. And look where it got them." Tulsa center Brandon Kurtz says he noticed an increase in physical play throughout the season. "It's more physical inside," he says. "Players are working harder. It has changed and gotten more physical all over the court. You have to be physical to play these days. If you aren't, there is no place for you in the game."

You could see toughness just by looking at the well-built, honed bodies of Michigan State. But Florida was no patsy, either. With a four-man inside rotation of wide-body bangers, the Gators can trade hip checks and body bashing with anyone in the country. Indeed, it was the development of this ability to defend around the basket that transformed them from pretenders to contenders.

Forget statistics. Michigan State was the best defensive team in the country this season. The Spartans, who ranked second in the Big Ten by allowing just 58.9 points per game, had to be. From a talent standpoint, they have one sure pro-Peterson, and a "maybe" in Cleaves. They aren't good enough offensively every night to win a title, so Izzo instilled a defensive mentality that accurately can be likened to smash-mouth football. When he senses his players are letting down, he'll put them in shoulder pads and helmets during practice and let them go at it. That's why it was so difficult to get wide-open looks on the 32-7 Spartans. Their mentality is such that they refused to get lazy against screens or picks, or to break into the basket without encountering help from a Michigan State player. Opponents shot only 39.4 percent against them all season, and only three teams made 50 percent or more of their attempts. And in winning their last 11 games, when they gave up only 56 points a contest, that percentage dropped to 37 percent, including a mere 28 percent from 3-point range. "Guys know from the start that when they come here, if they don't play defense, they won't be playing," says Cleaves, who helps Izzo's defensive sales pitch by working extremely hard at both ends. Izzo agrees. "I think what you have to do to play good team defense is to sell your best players on it. And our best players have been our best defensive players."

This is defense: In the two national semifinal games, none of the four squads shot better than 39 percent. Wisconsin isn't a good shooting team anyway, but faced with Michigan State's relentless in-your-face challenges, the Badgers barely resembled an average intramural club. They managed only 41 points, just two more than their 1941 national champions scored, including a horrid 17 in the first half. That was record-breaking defense: No Final Four team had scored fewer points in a game since the shot clock was introduced in 1985. "Welcome to the Rose Bowl," Izzo told a coaching buddy at halftime. "We couldn't score inside, and they wouldn't give us any looks outside," says Badgers coach Dick Bennett, who explains what it is like to play against the Spartans. "They give you one shot; they don't give you a second shot very often. And their overall team quickness and reaction and positioning cuts down your comfort time. You get so much time to get a shot off in terms of receiving the ball and getting a look at the rim. I think they have reduced that time more than any team we've played. They are in your face so quickly it affects your percentage." "We were boys against men out there," says Badgers forward Andy Kowske. Guard Jon Bryant, who was held to two points after averaging 16.7 in the tournament, also was impressed. "They know how to defend," he says. "They chase you down off screens. They clog the middle. They help out. They don't give up anything easy."

"We laugh when they talk about other teams having a great defense," says Michigan State guard Charlie Bell. "We think ours is better than anyone's. We get after people. That is all coach preaches from the first day of practice. If you don't give the effort, you don't play." And when the Spartans' offense matches this defensive intensity, pity the poor opponent. Just look at what happened to Florida. The No. 5- seeded Gators couldn't depend on 3s, they couldn't depend on their press-the Spartans relied on good passing and poise to throw over the top of the pressure-and they couldn't stop Michigan State from scoring. The Spartans shot a stunning 55.9 percent, including 60 percent through the pressure of the second half. This even was the better 3-point team, hitting 11-of-22. Nor could Cleaves' injury help Florida, which finished 29-8. He went out with his squad ahead, 50-44. The Spartans were up, 58-50, when play got under way after his return four-plus minutes later, thanks to 3-pointers by sub Mike Chappell and Granger. That set the stage for three dynamic 3-pointers by the smooth-working Peterson around a flurry of fast breaks. With a little more than five minutes left, Michigan State was up by 20, and their fans, including Magic, could begin a celebration of an admirable team playing at its best at the most opportune time. "Every time we made a run (at them), they answered," says Florida coach Billy Donovan, whose freshman- and sophomore-dominated club was trying to become the lowest seed to win the title since No. 6 seed Kansas in 1988. "They stepped up and made plays. That is what makes them a great team." tsn

Paul Attner is a senior writer for The Sporting News.