Speaker 1: Tom izz ostein one of the best team in the country.
Speaker 1: In the latest AP Top twenty five pool, they are
Speaker 1: now ranked twelve in the nation. Matt Stegana sees that
Speaker 1: day in and d out, day out. He's at practice,
Speaker 1: he's calling every game. He does a hell of a
Speaker 1: job on the Spartan Basketball on Network. The former Mister Basketball,
Speaker 1: the former Spartan starter of three years, and the former
Speaker 1: McDonald's All American joins us here on exis and bros.
Speaker 1: How you doing, Matt, Hey, I'm doing great, Chep, how
Speaker 1: are you hey? It's great to talk to you. All
Speaker 1: the best to you and your family. What's been the
Speaker 1: biggest difference between Michigan State this year and MSU last year?
Speaker 1: Do you think?
Speaker 2: Well, we had a lot of turnover, and I think
Speaker 2: the number one key to it has been Jeremy Fears
Speaker 2: at the point guard. I mean, it's pretty basic tom
Speaker 2: Izzo basketball. We always seem to have really good point
Speaker 2: guards and when they're a bit like him, we do
Speaker 2: really well. And Jeremy Fears is just a tough, up
Speaker 2: nosed kid and he's playing some great basketball, I mean
Speaker 2: just defensively, offensively, he is in at the difference maker
Speaker 2: and the way he's pushing the ball in transition. It's
Speaker 2: kind of back the old time. Is a basics, it's
Speaker 2: just fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how important do you think that that is overall?
Speaker 1: And how tough is that to identify whether the player
Speaker 1: plays like that? Like I said that earlier this year
Speaker 1: when we were talking about your team, I had mentioned
Speaker 1: him and I had talked about his ability to push.
Speaker 1: Now I can bring up Eric Snow in the past
Speaker 1: and certain players who I appreciated doing just that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean you have to be that type of player to
Speaker 1: be an effective point guard. I don't think you know,
Speaker 1: Cashius Winston pushed it in a different way. But how
Speaker 1: important do you think that is for his offense and
Speaker 1: how do you as a player recognize that that specific
Speaker 1: player has that in him.
Speaker 2: Well, I think with Jeremy he's a pass first point guard,
Speaker 2: you know, and he's learning to get better finishing at
Speaker 2: the rim. But right now, if you're a player running
Speaker 2: the wing, you're going to run to get open. You're
Speaker 2: going to run to that three point line find a spot,
Speaker 2: or if he goes to the rim, you're going to
Speaker 2: make sure he sees you. And it's just the luxury
Speaker 2: of the player. I mean I was a wing player.
Speaker 2: I remember when Magic Johnson would come back and play
Speaker 2: with us, and if I did have my eyes on Magic,
Speaker 2: the ball would hit me in the side of the
Speaker 2: head or on the back of the head. You know,
Speaker 2: is that he Jeremy's that kind of passer, and you know,
Speaker 2: it's a huge luxury. And what is really great about
Speaker 2: him though, is when players don't respond or don't do
Speaker 2: what he wants, He's in their face. He's the director,
Speaker 2: he's the floor general, and he really exudes that. He
Speaker 2: doesn't do it with us by the way he plays well.
Speaker 2: He does, but he doesn't both vocally and with his player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Matt Staging of the outstanding MSU radio analyst johnn
Speaker 1: is here on Exies and Bros. As the Spartans get
Speaker 1: ready to take on Penn State tonight, Michigan State, right
Speaker 1: or wrong? I think we oftentimes label players and we
Speaker 1: label teams. We label programs at the collegiate level. Viewed
Speaker 1: as a defensive minded team scoring at eighty one points
Speaker 1: per game, third best defense in the Big Ten, how
Speaker 1: would you describe this team overall?
Speaker 2: You know, it's a team of nine to ten starters.
Speaker 2: Everybody's buying into the call it. You know, this theory,
Speaker 2: this this game plan, and with them many guys in
Speaker 2: the playing rotation, you can't take a day off. I mean,
Speaker 2: practice is a battle. It's just like a game, and
Speaker 2: that translates to playing every day. We've had really kind
Speaker 2: of one letdown. We've got well, and I think at
Speaker 2: the beginning of the season we were learning how to play.
Speaker 2: I mean, we were very competitive in that Kansas game,
Speaker 2: not knowing how good we were, but maybe the Western
Speaker 2: Michigan game we kind of took our foot off the
Speaker 2: gas a little bit. But I think there's a great
Speaker 2: learning lesson for this team. Now these are kids again,
Speaker 2: and it'll probably happen again, but right now there's no letup,
Speaker 2: and I think that's what this makes this team special.
Speaker 1: When you're in film sessions and watching this when did
Speaker 1: when did it click for you? When did you recognize
Speaker 1: Like people talked about the North Carolina a game, Matt,
Speaker 1: I thought, Michigan State has been playing sound basketball for
Speaker 1: the most part. It's hard to put together a perfect game,
Speaker 1: but sound basketball really all year long. Maybe one kickup,
Speaker 1: when did it click for you and you recognize you
Speaker 1: know what, this team's this team's pretty freaking good.
Speaker 2: You know. I hate to admit that it was the
Speaker 2: North Carolina game, but in retrospect, you go back maybe
Speaker 2: a two games before when we played Colorado and Maui.
Speaker 2: We were worried about that game. It just seemed like
Speaker 2: a bad matchup, and yet we handled it with ease
Speaker 2: and blew them out really and that was kind of
Speaker 2: the beginning of Wow, Okay, maybe this team has something.
Speaker 2: Then we fell flat against Memphis and they threw out
Speaker 2: an athletic defense that we just kind of panicked, and
Speaker 2: that was other than the Western game. That, you know,
Speaker 2: bad performance. But then to turn it around and you know,
Speaker 2: you know, it's like in Maui. It's it's three games
Speaker 2: in three days. You don't have time to think about
Speaker 2: it too much. But so many players spent extra time
Speaker 2: with the coaches. When I came out of my hotel
Speaker 2: room and I took my family there, I didn't have
Speaker 2: a lot of time to spend with a team, but
Speaker 2: I would see these one on ones with the coaches
Speaker 2: watching on their laptop, and they were doing the work
Speaker 2: and they were getting it done. And that performance later
Speaker 2: that night against Carolina was spectacular even though Carolina is
Speaker 2: showing you know, in December, maybe they weren't that good
Speaker 2: and now they're starting to win again. And it was
Speaker 2: that performance.
Speaker 1: See see, I'm with you. It was the Colorado game
Speaker 1: for me, and not that I'm some expert on the
Speaker 1: Buffaloes basketball program. But you knew they had length, right,
Speaker 1: you knew they had size. I thought that was the
Speaker 1: difference when people look at North Carolina. I get it
Speaker 1: because of who North Carolina is supposed to be and
Speaker 1: who they have always been. But I thought from a
Speaker 1: matchup standpoint, the Colorado game was really impressive. And now
Speaker 1: on this nine game role, are you of the belief
Speaker 1: And we were talking about this earlier in the show.
Speaker 1: When it comes down to football, some people believe, oh,
Speaker 1: this is it's the perfect time to lose, because once
Speaker 1: you get in a role, eventually it's going to end.
Speaker 1: I've never been that type of person to believe that,
Speaker 1: but I do understand you can learn from losing Red Wings.
Speaker 1: Last night, Todd McClelland basically talked about how his guys
Speaker 1: weren't even playing great at the end of a blowout
Speaker 1: went over Seattle, but it came to roost last night.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about winning streaks and where they
Speaker 1: come during the season. What's your philosophy on that and
Speaker 1: should you even mention it or worry about it.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I don't buy into it. I think
Speaker 2: with every game, no one can play a perfect no
Speaker 2: team can play a perfect game, and so you can
Speaker 2: always find things to improve on no matter what. And
Speaker 2: that's my philosophy. But I don't think your team's going
Speaker 2: to run the table, not in this league anyway. It's
Speaker 2: such a gaulllet But yeah, I'm with you. And by
Speaker 2: the way, going back to the Colorado game, Yukam played
Speaker 2: the game right in front of us and we all
Speaker 2: witnessed that that Danny Hurley meld down. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: think we kind of learned, like, Okay, we better pay
Speaker 2: attention here because anybody in this tournament, that Maui tournament
Speaker 2: can beat anybody, and we did not take color moddo whitey.
Speaker 1: I was excited before the season began about Michigan State
Speaker 1: basketball because I truly felt like this team would play
Speaker 1: the way we're used to seeing them play, and that
Speaker 1: is and maybe it's unfair, and I'll be willing to
Speaker 1: accept it. Defense and rebounding, and right now Michigan State
Speaker 1: is I look at field goal percentage against. I don't
Speaker 1: look at necessarily points per game against, number two in
Speaker 1: the conference in that regard. Am I wrong there? And
Speaker 1: is it an unfair label to say that's who you
Speaker 1: and your teammates in Michigan State have always been first,
Speaker 1: physical defense and rebounding. Shooting comes a little bit later.
Speaker 2: You know. I don't think we were physical the last
Speaker 2: couple of years. And that's the difference with this team.
Speaker 2: And Chris Collins talked about it postgame after on Sunday
Speaker 2: at Northwestern, So yeah, this team is different. Jackson cohle Er,
Speaker 2: it's playing with something to prove. Hasn't played a lot
Speaker 2: the last two years, and I don't think he wants
Speaker 2: to give up that starting role. And then guys come
Speaker 2: in waves and just get it done, and that's I
Speaker 2: think that's a luxury. There's no star on this team.
Speaker 2: Jay Nakens is emerging. But when the season started I
Speaker 2: thought that was a problem. Clearly it's not. It shows
Speaker 2: you how wrong we are at to beginning of the season,
Speaker 2: and I thought this team was going to go as
Speaker 2: far as Xavier Booker would take it now again that's
Speaker 2: proven to be wrong. However, if Xavier Booker plays great
Speaker 2: and he's shown the flashes, this team could be that
Speaker 2: much more special.
Speaker 1: Can I ask you about a guy who probably doesn't
Speaker 1: get nearly enough credit. And maybe I'm nitpicking here, but
Speaker 1: I really like Jace Richardson. Can you tell me what
Speaker 1: you like most about him and where you see him
Speaker 1: being an integral part with this team, not just this
Speaker 1: year but moving forward.
Speaker 2: Well, you look at his shooting percentages. I mean, he
Speaker 2: is the perfect guy to bring off the bench. Right now,
Speaker 2: he's shooting over sixty percent from the field, near fifty
Speaker 2: from three, and he's probably one of only two guys
Speaker 2: that can get his own shot. And so you need
Speaker 2: someone like that. And while we haven't had a lot
Speaker 2: of close games to you know, to watch him do it,
Speaker 2: either he or Jay Nakens will and have to be
Speaker 2: that guy. So that's what he brings. I mean, he's
Speaker 2: I mean you could argue you're starting to hear maybe
Speaker 2: the hype about him getting drafted next year. I mean
Speaker 2: that good.
Speaker 1: It's interesting you bring that up with close games. I'm
Speaker 1: sure as a player you wanted to beat the crap
Speaker 1: out of everybody, and I get it as an analyst, Now,
Speaker 1: how important do you think it is that a team
Speaker 1: play in close games? Because you know, damn well, when
Speaker 1: you're in the NCAA tournament, that's bound to happen.
Speaker 2: Well, it's going to happen. So I'm not really worried
Speaker 2: about it. As a broadcaster, I like close games. They're
Speaker 2: a lot more fun to call. All these blows out
Speaker 2: wins are the worst, so although you'll take them every time,
Speaker 2: but but it'll happen. It has to, and you know
Speaker 2: we've we've got some tough games. I mean, tonight's not
Speaker 2: going to be a night off. It could never handy.
Speaker 2: Anytime you let up, you're going to get beat. But
Speaker 2: you know we're we're going to start Daniel February is
Speaker 2: going to be a challenge, and then it'll happen.
Speaker 1: Matt Stagan joining us here on Exus and Bros. The
Speaker 1: former McDonald's All America, the former Michigan State three year
Speaker 1: starter and the former second round pick of the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bills Bulls Rather and now the outstanding color analysts from
Speaker 1: Michigan State Radio Network as they get ready to take
Speaker 1: on Penn State. Just a couple more for you the
Speaker 1: Big Ten as a whole. You know, everybody's looking at
Speaker 1: Tennessee and Auburn and Duke, and I get it to
Speaker 1: a certain extent, and I feel like the Big Ten
Speaker 1: is just kind of waiting in the weeds with some
Speaker 1: good teams here. How do you handicap the conference overall?
Speaker 1: And do you think nationally it is getting overlooked?
Speaker 2: You know, I turned on Sports Center this morning and
Speaker 2: all they talk about is the SEC. And I mean,
Speaker 2: maybe granted, obviously, you know, all those teams are ranked high,
Speaker 2: and ESPN has a huge vested interest in the SEC.
Speaker 2: But yeah, starting to really kind of piss me off.
Speaker 2: And I really think we are getting overlooked, you know,
Speaker 2: big time. But you know, until we start beating some
Speaker 2: of those teams and I have to go back and
Speaker 2: you know, we've had close games with a lot of them.
Speaker 2: I think, you know, Illinois was it with Tennessee, And
Speaker 2: you know, there's isn't any real marquee wins that I
Speaker 2: come to mind, but you know, it's the way it
Speaker 2: might be the rest of the rest of the way. Hopefully,
Speaker 2: you know, we're approaching the top ten, you know, Michigan
Speaker 2: start to move up as well, and it'd be nice
Speaker 2: to get you know, purdueing Illinois back in there and
Speaker 2: we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's seventeen right now, Illinois at nineteen, and as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, Michigan at twenty, Wisconsin actually at twenty four.
Speaker 1: I'm still getting used to the teams from out west
Speaker 1: UCLA who dropped out USC and things of that nature.
Speaker 1: One more for you before we let you go. Penn
Speaker 1: State tonight. As you mentioned, and you know this better
Speaker 1: than anybody, that you don't take teams lightly. I never
Speaker 1: think Michigan State teams if they lose, I never say
Speaker 1: it's because they took them lightly. I think that's a
Speaker 1: casual cliche that we oftentimes you use in sports talk
Speaker 1: radio and on TV that I don't think that happens.
Speaker 1: I think they're ready. Sometimes you just have off nights
Speaker 1: for crying out loud, it's bound to happen. What does
Speaker 1: Penn State? What about Penn State can concern you? And
Speaker 1: what will be most important for m issue to extend
Speaker 1: the winning streak to double digits tonight?
Speaker 2: Well, Penn State's best player, Ace Baldwin, didn't play in
Speaker 2: their last game, which they probably should have won, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, so there's an example if you just can't
Speaker 2: take anyone lightly, if they're missing somebody, you know, to
Speaker 2: come into East Lansing, teams have to shoot the three. Well,
Speaker 2: you know, they got to almost shoot maybe ten percentage
Speaker 2: points better than their season average, and they have to
Speaker 2: try to compete with us on the boards. And you're right,
Speaker 2: Michigan State has to probably have an off night. We
Speaker 2: haven't been a great three point shooting team all seasons long.
Speaker 2: But what people are noticing in the Big Ten play,
Speaker 2: I think we're forced so actually pretty good in Big
Speaker 2: Ten Play. But yeah, we'd have to have an off
Speaker 2: night shooting to lose this one.
Speaker 1: Do you encourage that? How do you weigh that a
Speaker 1: three point If you're not a great three point shooting
Speaker 1: team but you're left alone, should you not take it?
Speaker 1: If you're not a great three point shooting team, should
Speaker 1: you be more patient and work for a better too?
Speaker 1: Because two point shooting Michigan State is really good, but
Speaker 1: as you mentioned in conference play, your three point shot
Speaker 1: seems to be dialed in a little bit more. Take
Speaker 1: me under the head of a coach and an analyst.
Speaker 1: Here are you concerned when your team is getting open
Speaker 1: looks and not making or just rushing through to take
Speaker 1: a three, because that seems to the way basketball is
Speaker 1: being played these days.
Speaker 2: You know. I remember back four or five years ago
Speaker 2: when Fred Hoiberg got to Nebraska. Yeah, and he had
Speaker 2: this mindset that we're going to run and shoot the
Speaker 2: three every time, and they were shooting like twenty two percent.
Speaker 2: I remember talking with a team and before the game
Speaker 2: and we're talking about it, and I said, well, hey,
Speaker 2: will it just depends who's shooting them. It's great if
Speaker 2: you can make them, but if you can't make them,
Speaker 2: you got to stop shooting them because they were just
Speaker 2: getting run out of the gym. But he had to
Speaker 2: go out and recruit some better shooters. It's a tough one, right.
Speaker 2: I'm not a coach, but watching it so much, you
Speaker 2: got to really read your team. I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: we worked so hard at it. I just could never
Speaker 2: imagine that we would not take threes. But look at
Speaker 2: our game against Northwestern, they ran us off the line.
Speaker 2: We only took eight. Our season low before that was sixteen.
Speaker 2: So you know, you play the game the way it
Speaker 2: comes to you. Obviously, of defending your face. Some teams,
Speaker 2: some players keep shooting it. I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: Hey, last thing, sorry I've said that twice now, but
Speaker 1: last thing, you watch a lot of basketball because you're
Speaker 1: a basketball junkie. Do you like the NBA product?
Speaker 2: Boy, that's a tough one, you know, having played when
Speaker 2: it was such a different stuff. I'll you know my
Speaker 2: gut reactions always know. I've never been able to watch
Speaker 2: it posts my playing days during the season. I love
Speaker 2: watching the playoffs, so it's it's different, clearly, But you know,
Speaker 2: I was more of a six seven, you know, more
Speaker 2: athletic type player. I would have loved this style went
Speaker 2: back when I was in my twenties. But you know
Speaker 2: that's the way it goes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Hey, keep up the great work man, til will
Speaker 1: I said, hello, good luck the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: You got a hell of a basketball team. We're happy
Speaker 1: for you, and we're we're rooting the Spartans on. We
Speaker 1: appreciate the time today. Thanks Matt, you got it up anytime.