5. Michigan State
Where once was Earvin Johnson, there's now Mateen Cleaves, another Spartan guard sparking talk of magic in March
Posted: Wednesday November 18, 1998 01:55 PM
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Cleaves should lead an otherwise nameless cast to another Big Ten title. John F. Grieshop/Schwartzman Sports |
We
know what you did last summer,
Mateen Cleaves. As a member of the jerry-built team that
represented the U.S. at the world championship in Greece,
you learned all sorts of useful (and as you say yourself,
dirty) tricks from the pros. Like how to furtively
grab a fistful of jersey when setting a screen, or how to
subtly tap a shooter's wrist just before he releases his
shot. "Lots of little stuff that the referee
doesn't see," as you put
it.
Not that Cleaves needs many more advantages on the court.
Last season the muscular Spartans point guard averaged a
team-high 16.1 points and 7.2 assists (eighth in the
country) to win the Big Ten Player of the Year award as a
sophomore. Entering this
season, Cleaves, one of five returning starters from last
year's surprising Big Ten co-champion, is on everybody's
A-list of national player of the year
candidates.
His game, though, could still use a few finishing touches.
Last year Cleaves shot 40% from the field, a conspicuously
low figure even by Michigan State standards. (Of the
Spartans starters, only center Andre Hutson shot better
than 44% from the field.)
To free up shooting space for Cleaves, Spartans coach Tom
Izzo is counting on more inside scoring, particularly from
senior forward Antonio Smith, who averaged more rebounds
(8.7) than points (7.9) a year ago. "We're not a good
shooting team, so we have
to be a good rebounding team," says Izzo.
Last season the Spartans were fifth in the nation in
rebound margin, despite not having a starter taller than
6'8". Their secret? Several times a week they practice a
drill called "war," in which Izzo will line up 10
players around the basket,
clang the ball off the rim and see who comes down with the
prize. Darwinism reigns. "It turns into a football
game, my kind of game,"
growls Izzo, whose best friend is San Francisco 49ers coach Steve
Mariucci.
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| STARTING LINEUP |
| POS. | HT. | CLASS | KEY STAT |
| SF Jason Klein * | 6'7" | Sr. | 11.2 ppg |
| PF Antonio Smith* | 6'8" | Sr. | 8.7 rpg |
| C Andre Hutson* | 6'8" | So. | 61.3 FG% |
| SG Charlie Bell* | 6'3" | So. | 9.2 ppg |
| PG Mateen Cleaves* | 6'2" | Jr. | 7.2 apg |
'97-98 record: 22-8
Final rank (coaches' poll): No. 10
*Returning starter
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An upgraded non-conference schedule, which features games
against Temple, Duke and Connecticut (none of them at home)
in the season's first month, should further toughen the
Spartans. "We could be really good and be 4-3,"
Izzo says. "The question is how
do we handle that? And how do we deal with it if we win?
Are we going to go back to
work?"
Perhaps he frets too much. His battle-tested lineup
includes senior guard Jason Klein, a wicked, albeit
streaky, outside shooter; sophomore guard Charlie Bell, the
team's best defender; and Hutson, a sophomore who shot
better than 61% from the field.
And, of course, there is Cleaves, who learned more than dirty
tricks from the NBA castoffs on the world championship
team. "I was around guys who have to stay at the
crappy hotels in the CBA," he says. "They told me
it's a cruel world, that I
shouldn't be
in any hurry to leave
college."
For now Cleaves says he plans on staying in East Lansing
through his senior year. If he does, the Spartans'
surprising success last year is only a hint of bigger
things to come.
—Grant
Wahl
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