The last time the Michigan State basketball team was under .500 after nine games of the season, Tom Izzo was in his first season as the Spartans head coach. Now, nearly three decades later, Izzo and the Spartans have made 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and eight Final Fours, establishing themselves as the Big Ten's most consistent basketball program in the process. But now we're right back to square one.
Michigan State has started the 2023-24 season with a 4-5 record, a stunning opening nine game mark given the fact that the Spartans opened the season as the 4th-ranked team in the AP Poll. But Tom Izzo isn't ready to wave the white flag or spend too much time agonizing over the sluggish start.
“I'm not panicking, because there are some good things that we've done,” Tom Izzo shared, per Chris Solari of The Detroit Free Press. “We're looking at the things we can control.”
Those things that Tom Izzo and the Spartans could control are improving their shooting and continuing to take good care of the basketball. As things stand right now, Michigan State is 174th in field goal percentage (ew!), 266th in free throw percentage (gross!), and 309th in three-point percentage (yucky!). I'm not a cook, nor am I a basketball coach, but I know that's not a winning recipe in the kitchen or on the court.
Michigan State has plenty of time to turn things around after a brutal start. In fairness to the Spartans, four of their five losses have come to teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 (James Madison, Duke, Arizona, and Wisconsin). If the Spartans can find a way to rise to the top of the Big Ten — considered one of the best and deepest conferences in the country — they could easily find themselves in solid position to make another deep postseason run.
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