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MEN'S BASKETBALL Following the win over FAU, according to Izzo for Coen Carr and the Spartans ‘the best is yet to come’

Sure, Michigan State beat a solid mid-major opponent by close to 20 points. That's nice. But following Saturday's win, the discussion was mostly about the growth of sophomore Coen Carr.

Izzo also had some interesting things to say about Fears and some of the players who need to step up (Cooper) or show more consistency (Akins, Booker, and Kohler).

But all-in-all, it was hard to find much to complain about.

There were a couple of interesting quotes that were left on the cutting room floor. As for the 10-man rotation, Izzo described as follows:

"We had 43 points off the bench," Izzo said. "We were getting over half our points off our bench, because it's not really a bench, it's just another bunch of starters."

Yeah, that's not surprising. As we have discussed before, the top 10 guys are almost interchangeable and that could be a nightmare for opponents.

There was also a slightly eyebrow raising quote towards the end of the presser that I am not 100% sure how to interpret:

"I was disappointed that some guys didn't play, you know? And everybody says, well, give me another chance. Well, last year, I gave guys another chance, and we lost five games down the stretch. How about give me a chance to keep you in the game? Give me a chance. If it's effort related, no, there's no excuse. Saddi (Washington) said it at halftime. A couple guys took some tough shots. He said, 'this is an unbelievable place. He hasn't taken one guy out because of their shooting.' I only take them out because of their effort. And so, you know, are the minutes going to change a little? I can see some going up, some going a little down, but we need a couple guys to play better."

So it seems that one or two guys were not giving good effort at the end the season last year and Izzo kept giving them more chances then maybe they deserved. I would suspect one of those guys now plays for Vanderbilt.

Izzo also said that he was a little mad at his team that they did not build up a better margin at the end such that the scout team guys could get into the game. That was also interesting:

"I was mad at my team for today, because we have a scout team right now. You know we got the two twins from Okemos (Colin and Brennan Walton), Jesse (McCulloch), who's been unbelievable, and we put Kur (Teng), Gehrig (Normand), and, of course, Nick (Sanders). Nick, Gehrig and Kur deserve to play more. And I was mad at my team for that, because they know how much those guys helped them. The only thing they get is some crumbs, and they deserve to get maybe a half a meal tonight instead of some crumbs. And I think my team agreed."

Check out my full article here:

OFF TOPIC: God have mercy on my soul

Today I am going to the mall. Yes, the mall. I ordered a bunch of stuff online for my ex-wife (we are very close friends) and it was almost ALL out of stock. She loves pajamas and so I was on the Macy's website, threw a bunch of PJs in the cart, and a few days later told me that they were out of stock. I bought her some Lululemon pants and sweatshirt too, but now have to go get her some pajamas. This, after I spent 3 hours at the Apple Store on Thursday night -- I ordered my daughter a new iPhone and decided to upgrade mine while I was there, but there was an issue with my FIndMy and it needed to be sorted out before I could purchase the phone. Luckily, I had my MacBook with me and so I sat there working but when 9:00 p.m. rolled around, I said "F it" and started walking out. The lady came over and told me that the issue was resolved. BUT .. I still had to transfer my data to my new 16 Pro Max. Smh... I was the last person at the Apple Store that night. So yes, mall today --

Wish me luck, fellas .... and feel free to share your Christmas shopping horror stories.

MEN'S BASKETBALL Michigan State men's basketball cruises past Florida Atlantic, 86-69

Michigan State cruised past Florida Atlantic by a final score of 86-69 on Saturday.

The Spartans were catalyzed by a career-high 17 points from forward Coen Carr, and improve to 10-2 overall on the 2024-2025 season. This is the fifth win in a row for MSU.

@CarterElliott recaps the action here:

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