Appling resurfaces in U-M game

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After a short, midseason slump, Keith Appling surfaced in Sunday’s 64-54 win against No. 22 Michigan, No. 11 men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said at his press conference Monday.

The sophomore guard helped MSU (18-5 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) avenge its Jan. 17 loss in Ann Arbor with 10 points and superb defense on guard Trey Burke.

The slump peaked in last week’s one-point loss at Illinois when he tried to do too much during senior forward Draymond Green’s late-game absence, Izzo said.

“Forcing shots is so unlike him,” Izzo said. “I think he was just putting too much pressure on when himself when Day-Day goes out.”

Izzo said Friday Appling went in to shoot extra shots and sat down with the coach for a talk, and he admitted he was struggling.

“Sometimes there’s comfort in admitting, ‘I need to do this better,’” Izzo said. “Just talking about it helps. Part of the process of getting better in anything is being able to admit you’re not doing it as well as you should.”

Although Izzo said he doesn’t think Appling is where he was a few month ago, he believes the confidence is back in his point guard, and that’s the first step.

Back to basics
MSU outrebounded U-M 40-16, including a 16-board performance by Green.

The effort on the glass is what helped the program to three-straight Final Fours in 1999 to 2001. The rebounding philosophy and defense was started in Izzo’s first games as a head coach.

“This whole thing started (when) we missed so many shots and finally it just seemed like it fit,” he said. “We had some guards that were good rebounding guards, and it was part of the mentality to just be aggressive all the time and just kind of grew from there.”

Although rebounding hit a snag last year, Izzo has always harped on it and is impressed with Green and senior guard Austin Thornton in leading the team in defense, rebounding and effort.

“Day-Day and Austin were here for some of the other championship runs; they deserve all the credit,” Izzo said. “I’m amazed myself. Over the last couple of games, we’ve held teams to 36 percent (shooting). We’re outrebounding opponents by 20. We are doing a better and better job of that. Even with the loss to Illinois, we were pretty good defensively.”

Green chances
Izzo said he thinks about Green’s chances to play at the next level everyday.

“I think about how we can make each player better, how we can make our team better,” he said. “I think the only way you can do that is to look at goals that are personal and some that are team.”

Despite the limited size and speed, Izzo believes Green has a shot at making a contribution in the NBA, but he still needs to improve, especially his defense.

“There’s a need for people with a high basketball IQ,” Izzo said. “(He’s) got a big heart and a tough kid and (he’s) versatile. He has five or six parts that are pretty good. When you have that, you have a great chance to play beyond here.”

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