Tom Izzo: Spartans will be a better team in time

INDIANAPOLIS – Tom Izzo left Bankers Life Fieldhouse late Tuesday with a 1-1 team that could look quite different – and better – in about a month.

By then, the Spartans should have all their players, sophomore guard Alvin Ellis (ankle sprain) to help with perimeter depth and freshman guard Javon Bess (broken foot) to provide more length and aptitude defensively. These elements were missed badly at times in No. 19 MSU’s 81-71 loss to No. 4 Duke in the Champions Classic.

By mid-December, the brace on the left hand of junior guard Bryn Forbes (broken third metacarpal) should be gone and forgotten, allowing him to catch and shoot better than seen in his 4-for-17 start from long range. MSU’s other freshmen should be further along and its halfcourt offense should have more flow. The Spartans should have a better idea of how to check.

“We’ll run a lot better offense, I promise you that,” Izzo said after his team fell to 2-2 in the fourth installment of an annual event featuring MSU, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. “We will shoot the ball a little bit better. But if we don’t defend better, we will be an average team. And we will defend better, because two of the guys out are better defenders than some of the guys playing.” - Read more at Freep.com