Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo addresses the media on the first day of practice for the 2018-19 season. Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
EAST LANSING — It’s October, so it’s time for Tom Izzo to float the idea that maybe, just maybe, this is the year Michigan State basketball will play some zone defense.
He might be serious this time. And not just for one play in an exhibition, like the Spartans did last season as a tribute to former coach Jud Heathcote.
Izzo – who earned his Hall of Fame jacket with his teams playing hard-nosed, man-to-man defense – said Tuesday that he dispatched assistant coach Dwayne Stephens this summer to learn from other programs about how they run their zones.