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Cleaves turned the tide
Posted: Friday March 24, 2000 02:18 PM
By Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated AUBURN HILLS , Mich. -- It's hard to put a finger on exactly what makes this Michigan State team so successful. As the Spartans demonstrated once again last night during their 75-58 win over Syracuse, they cannot win the national championship by relying only on their talent. For 22 minutes MSU looked quite ordinary, and I could tell they were in trouble just by looking across the court at the pained expression on the face of 24-year-old Matt "Doogie" Larson, the school's boy-wonder assistant sports information director. Matt didn't look happy, and neither did Tom Izzo . This game turned around at one precise moment. It happened with 17:46 left to play. Syracuse led 42-39 and Mateen Cleaves, who was 0-for-7 from the floor to that point, nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key. It wasn't just the fact that Cleaves finally made a bucket, it was the way he made it. He stepped into the shot and fired with full confidence. After it went through, Cleaves nodded emphatically and shouted to his teammates as he backpedaled downcourt. The psychology of the game changed, and it never changed back. Cleaves is one of the most impressive and enjoyable college basketball players I have ever had the privilege to watch. The main topic of conversation after the game was the profanity-laced philippic he delivered to his teammates during halftime, which was so fiery that Izzo was left to, as he put it, "dig up the bodies." But it is Cleaves' verbosity on the court that really affects the game. I had a chance to visit with Mateen's parents, Herbert and Frances, before the game. Ironically, they both told me that Mateen is quiet when he's at home, that it's around his teammates that his comedic, garrulous side comes out. Frances delighted in recounting the story of when Cleaves, moments after the Spartans' Senior Day thrashing of Michigan, looked into a television camera and said, "Wasssssuuuupppp!" just like they do on that beer commercial. Michigan State picked up its defense after Cleaves' three, and the other players finally started hitting some outside shots, too. But the Spartans are going to have to get out of this habit of starting games slowly. Morris Peterson, especially, needs to come out of the locker room with more focus. There's just no excuse for only getting three shots in the first half, especially against a zone. I also thought Izzo made a mistake by having his team play so much zone in the first half. Strategically it might make sense against a team that doesn't shoot well, but I think playing man-to-man defense gives the Spartans an intensity that carries over to all aspects of their game. I'll tell you this much: if Michigan State doesn't play better on Saturday night, its season will be over. Think about this: Who will be a better pro, Marcus Fizer or Peterson? How about Jamaal Tinsley vs. Cleaves? In both cases, I'd give the edge to Iowa State. That's not to say that the Cyclones are necessarily the better team, but it does say that Michigan State will need its A game to get to the Final Four. Iowa State continues to impressYou would never have guessed during Wednesday's practice that Iowa State was going to beat UCLA by 24 points. It looked more like a grade-school recess than an NCAA tournament prep session. Coach Larry Eustachy spent most of the time talking to people on the sideline. I hung out with him for about 10 minutes with a couple of other people. At one point he looked at his team, which does not have any player taller than 6'9" and said, "Can you believe this team won 31 games? It looks like a swim team." With about 20 minutes still remaining in their allotted practice time, half the team repaired to the locker room. The players who stayed played one-on-one and practiced circus shots. There's no question, however, that Eustachy is a first-rate coach, as his team proved yet again last night. This is an entertaining team to watch -- especially Tinsley, a whirling dervish of a playmaker. Every action Tinsley takes is informed by his days as a playground star in Brooklyn. At one point he was defending Earl Watson off the ball, and as Watson swung his arms in an effort to break free he caught Tinsley on the jaw. "Whoa! Whoa!" Tinsley yelled, looking for a referee. Then he smiled at Watson and said, "I like that!" People keep talking about the Cyclones' lack of height -- Fizer is a 6'8" center and they have a 6'4" power forward in Stevie Johnson -- but they also create matchup problems for bigger teams. Michigan State is going to have to be crisp and patient on offense in order to wear the Cyclones down and prevent their transition opportunities. The upsets and the Cinderellas are great for the tournament, but as far as I can tell the two best remaining teams will be playing each other in Auburn Hills tomorrow night, and there's no place I'd rather be. Seth Davis is a Sports Illustrated writer-reporter. The opinions expressed
here are solely those of the
writer.
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