Michigan State Spartans Insider on Basketball Struggles, Hockey Soars, Football Looming

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp discuss the Spartans' loss to Indiana, MSU hockey's rise, Jonathan Smtih's success on the recruiting trail and more.
Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans On SI

We're in the thick of February, which means winter is nearing its end, spring is on the horizon.

Michigan State winter athletics are entering the home stretch of their respective regular seasons, and spring football is inching closer and closer.

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp break down the lull Michigan State men's basketball has found itself in, the climb that Spartan hockey has made as it heads into the last leg of the regular season, Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith's success on the recruiting trail and more.

You can watch the episode below:

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after his team's loss to Indiana on Tuesday. Below is a transcript from his opening statement:

Izzo: "Well, to say disappointment would be an understatement. Give Indiana a lot of credit. Everybody knows they've gone through hell, and give Mike [Woodson] credit. I mean, he did a better job than I did. And there's so many areas that I am disappointed in. The three layups we missed in the first half, they get costly as you go, but the foul trouble we got in and poor job that we did -- we couldn't double the post, but we sure could have dug down, and we didn't do that. And I take full responsibility for that. I mean, the guy [Malik Reneau] just killed us second half. I told you [in the] press conference earlier, I was worried about him, but there's not a lot of film on him, because he hasn't played in a month. And we didn't do a very good job on him. And we were in so much foul trouble that our bigs really couldn't guard well. But we also missed the three, four layups, and we missed some incredible, I thought, open 3s, but that's the way the game goes. That's why got to win games defensively. The 3s don't always come. And did a decent job with our turnovers. OK job rebounding the ball against a good team. But a lot of people, including my two college roommates, that came a long way, and Steve Smith and a lot of people came in for it, and I feel bad for them because we had an opportunity for a special night. And I don't think the players played very well, and I don't think the coaches coached very well. So, that's a bad combination against a team that was desperate. I don't want to take anything away from Indiana. They didn't hardly take a shot in the second half, they just pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside. And again, we were in so much foul trouble, we didn't guard it very well, and then, we didn't adjust to some of that, and we lost the game."

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