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Andreas continues to improve

January 23, 2002
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo speaks to sophomore center Jason Andreas at Saturday’s game against Penn State in State College, Pa. Andreas contributed eight points to the Spartan’s first road win. —

Before the season even began, Jason Andreas lost his nose for the ball.

The 6-foot-10, third-year sophomore center broke his nose three times in the preseason and hasn’t been the same since, MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo said.

“He was playing more like Rambo as a freshman and sophomore, and more like Tinkerbell as a junior,” Izzo said. “We have to get back Rambo, that’s what he is.”

Rambo returned for the sequel Saturday as MSU ambushed Penn State 77-65, Izzo said.

“He was a big key to that game,” Izzo said. “We don’t win that game without his four offensive rebounds and eight (total) rebounds.”

Andreas also recorded four assists and eight points in 20 minutes.

And that contribution was especially crucial after sophomore forward Adam Wolfe went down early in the game with a torn hamstring. The injury is expected to keep Wolfe out two to three weeks.

After struggling all season, even Izzo couldn’t have predicted Andreas would step up in Wolfe’s absence.

“I told him if he doesn’t want to be pushed and figure out what he’s doing wrong this is not the right school for him,” Izzo said.

Izzo’s tough love made all the difference, Andreas said.

“Personally, I was a little tentative in there, going to the boards,” Andreas said. “Coach was on me this week, just to go up there and not worry about getting bumped from other guys. Not worry about getting hit in the face or anything like that.

“I think it helps to have someone on your back driving you.”

While Izzo was on Andreas’ back, athletic trainer Tom Mackowiak got into his head.

“He gave me some things I can do,” Andreas said. “Just some mental things to think about before the game, to kind of remind myself that my nose is fine and I’m not going to have to worry about getting bumped, and if I do get bumped, just keep playing.

“He just said have confidence. He said (your nose is) one of the areas of your body that if you get bumped it’s a natural reflex to shy your head away.”

Andreas improvement couldn’t have come at a better time. With Wolfe out, and junior forward Adam Ballinger not yet 100 percent after a right ankle injury, Andreas can expect extra minutes.

No one is prouder to see Andreas regain his mental toughness than his father Dan, who was a three-year starter at Ohio State from 1968-70.

“Finally, all of his misfortunes were put aside,” said Dan Andreas, whose brother Bill also played at Ohio State. “The self-confidence it takes to play the game returned in a hurry. It was a special treat to see him play the game we know he can play.”

While he was trying to get his game back, Andreas never blamed his injuries, Ballinger said.

“The broken nose, I know he wouldn’t use that as an excuse,” Ballinger said. “But he did break it, I was one of them that broke it. It probably had something to do with it, but he’s really coming along now.”

The Spartans will need Andreas to continue improving if they hope to make a run in the Big Ten. That’s exactly what Ballinger expects to see.

“Jason is the kind of guy you don’t need to tell very much,” Ballinger said. “He knows when he’s playing bad, he knows when he did something wrong and he’ll be in the gym the next day working hard on it.”

That attitude comes from his family, Dan Andreas said.

“I’m prejudiced,” he said, “but I think he got it from his parents, and it was reinforced by the MSU coaching staff.”

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