Tom Izzo has no regrets on handling of Xavier Booker: 'I didn't forget how to coach'

EAST LANSING — The conversation began about offensive spacing with Mady Sissoko on the floor against Ohio State late in Sunday’s game.

But Tom Izzo knew where it was going, and quickly turned it around to one of Michigan State basketball’s other big men.

“Get to your question,” Izzo said after practice Wednesday. “Why aren't you playing Booker or why didn't you play Booker?’”

Three days later, Izzo continued to explain his decision-making in the Spartans’ stunning 60-57 collapse against the Buckeyes — from why he started Booker over Sissoko, to why he went back to the senior and others as the five-star freshman sat out the final 15-plus minutes.

And why he’d do it again.

“I appreciate all the armchair people. I really do. Including you guys. But there's a reason,” Izzo continued to the assembled media. “I mean, I didn't forget how to coach, contrary to what most of our probably alums feel right now. And I'm gonna do the same thing I always did. But I tell you this: In not one ounce of a night do I worry about how I've dealt with Booker.”

'I THOUGHT I'D GO BACK IN': Tom Izzo made Xavier Booker sit and watch MSU's epic collapse

Izzo inserted Booker into the starting lineup for the first time against OSU, and the 6-foot-11 big man — who is now up to 236 pounds after putting on some muscle — responded with a strong showing. He finished with seven points (including a 3-pointer), three blocks and three rebounds in 17:15 of court time and led the Spartans with a plus-11.

“Book, he has tremendous hands. The ball just finds him being around the rim,” senior guard Tyson Walker said of Booker. “Just him being out there, being big, he's definitely gonna get a lot better. But he sure helps us just being out there, stretching the floor, running hard and just being tall.”

Most of Booker’s time came before halftime. He played the first 4:50 of the second half, dunking his only basket off an A.J. Hoggard lob while getting fouled, blocking a shot and grabbing a rebound. MSU led by 10 points when he exited. However, the Buckeyes had a 9-2 rebounding edge in that stretch, and Booker got lost defensively in the paint a few times.

Izzo did not go back to him after Sissoko replaced him. On Wednesday, though, the Hall of Fame coach gushed about the positives he saw from Booker, even with the improvements he still sees needed at the defensive end of the floor.

“I just told him, when the season's over, I'm going after him like I never have. And he laughed,” Izzo said. “And he said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because you made a couple moves (Sunday) that you wouldn't have come within 20 feet of going to the basket three weeks ago.’ And he just wasn't ready.

“Now, it’s easy to say, ‘Well, if you play him, he gets ready.’ Well, I'll be the football guy that I am — some quarterbacks get better as you play them, and some get deep-sixed and never come back because they get ruined because they're not ready. … I feel great, because I'm interested in Book in the big picture. And the kid has made great progress, and he's making great progress.”

MSU’s other three big men, Sissoko and sophomores Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, split time the rest of the game in the post. Sissoko, who came off the bench for the first time since Nov. 19 against Alcorn State and has started 24 of the Spartans’ 28 games, played 10:30 in the second half. That included all but the final 6 seconds after re-entering with 7:43 to play after Cooper and Kohler went to the bench after a 4:34 stretch playing together.

The lead eventually disappeared with Booker out. The Buckeyes rallied and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to finish the comeback and deliver MSU consecutive home losses for the first time since January 2016.

Sissoko (minus-6 in 15:54 for the game) scored four points and six rebounds but took just one shot and got to the free-throw line for two points. Kohler (minus-1 in 11:38) had two points and two rebounds in the first half but just one board in the second half. Cooper (minus-5 in 7:03) did not score or get a rebound.

All four players have shown their definitive strengths and weaknesses, and Izzo admits the challenge for him and his staff is to figure out how to maximize the things they do well and mask their issues.

“Am I disappointed on how a couple of our bigs played compared to what I thought from last year? Well, of course,” Izzo said. “I'm disappointed that (Kohler) got hurt. But it's not as easy to make some of the adjustments you think — one would be better maybe offensively, but not defensively. We're already not getting to the free-throw line enough. … It's very difficult. And some of it is they didn't play as well as I'd expect, it's some of that. And there's been reasons — injuries, family situation. There's reasons that the general public has no clue on, and I understand that.”

WHAT BOOKER SAID: Tom Izzo made Xavier Booker sit and watch MSU's epic collapse: 'I thought I'd go back in'

Still, Izzo refused to pin the loss on anything that happened with his post players. He pointed to Walker and Jaden Akins going a combined 6-for-24 shooting and the Spartans making just 4-of-16 3-pointers as primary reasons for the loss to Ohio State. That came after those two and Hoggard combined to go 14-for-34 five days earlier in MSU’s home loss to Iowa on Feb. 17.

“You figure your veterans are gonna come through for you,” Izzo said. “I mean, Book or Mady didn't make the difference (against OSU). Our two shooters went (6-for-24) — do you think we're gonna win many games like that?”

Next up is a daunting trip Saturday to No. 3 Purdue (8 p.m./Fox), where the Spartans haven’t won since 2014. Izzo plans to continue to mix and match his four big men against 7-4, 300-pound Zach Edey, the reigning national player of the year, in the Spartans’ third straight single-play game.

Edey leads the Big Ten at 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds a game this season. He's averaging 24.9 points and 13.2 boards in Big Ten play. He scored 70 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in two MSU losses to the Boilermakers last season.

“We're gonna bring all of our centers down there, stack them on top of each other and try to defend him,” Izzo joked. “It'll be by committee. We'll be sending guys in every three or four minutes.”

Izzo said he still has decisions to make between now and Saturday, including whether to give Booker a second straight start, move the 6-9, 250-pound Sissoko back in at the outset to present more size against Edey, or take a different route with his lineup.

As for Booker, he added: “I just gotta make sure that he's keep progressing out there.”

“You guys look at it and say, ‘You should've done this,’” Izzo said. “We look at it as, ‘Maybe the way we did it helped him get to where he is without losing all the confidence and things in himself.’”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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Next up: Boilermakers

Matchup: Michigan State (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) at No. 3 Purdue (25-3, 14-3).

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Saturday; Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana.

TV/radio: Fox; WJR-AM (760).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo after Xavier Booker benching: 'I didn't forget how to coach'