Friday, March 29, 2024

3-year starter Torbert steps back without complaints

Senior guard Kelvin Torbet defends against Florida A&M guard Jason Thomas during Friday's 104-72 victory. Torbert had 21 points during regular-season opener at the Breslin Center. —

It's possible that Kelvin Torbert will become the next Morris Peterson, a senior sixth man whose talents off the bench pushed MSU toward the 2000 NCAA National Championship.

Head coach Tom Izzo has asked Torbert, for now, to adjust to a new role, to move from starter to bench player.

It's a big change for someone who started 86 of the first 96 games he appeared in during his first three years at MSU. But Torbert has the maturity to handle the change, Izzo said.

"I'm past that point, being in the starting lineup," Torbert said. "As long as I'm going out there and producing, I think I'm happy with just doing that."

Torbert was MSU's most productive player in the Spartans' 104-72 rout of Florida A&M on Friday in the season opener, his first night as the sixth man of the season. He scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Torbert played 24 minutes against the Rattlers, three fewer than senior swingman Alan Anderson, who played the most, with 27 minutes.

The senior guard from Flint will again come off the bench tonight, when No.10 MSU plays Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-0) 8 p.m. at Breslin Center.

By then, Torbert might have talked to Peterson, who led MSU in scoring as the team's sixth man in the 1999-2000 season, about his new assignment.

"I did call Morris, but I didn't tell him to talk to (Torbert) yet," Izzo said. "I told him what I was looking to do and I'm going to have Morris talk to him."

Peterson, now playing for the NBA's Toronto Raptors, was the ultimate spark plug off the bench for Izzo and MSU during the 1999-2000 season, with his dead-eye shooting and dribble penetration.

Torbert envisions himself making a bigger impact on games coming off the bench, he said, where he can study opponents in the games' opening minutes and figure more ways to beat them.

Izzo said the decision to play Torbert off the bench is not permanent, and he'll monitor how Torbert and the team reacts to the change as the season progresses.

Junior guard Maurice Ager, who started only four games last season, moved into the starting lineup against Florida A&M. Starting games gives Ager the chance to help MSU take leads early in games, he said, something the Spartans struggled to do last season.

Ager recently told Izzo he feels the best he's ever felt on the basketball court.

"He's worked as hard as anybody," Izzo said of Ager. "He should feel good; he's earned the right to feel good about himself."

Torbert's willingness to accept not starting shows his high character, sophomore guard Shannon Brown said.

"He probably did want to start, like everybody does," Brown said. "Him not showing it, going out and playing, just shows that he's a big man."

Brown's praise for Torbert, who helped him along as a freshman, is common among those within the MSU basketball program.

Torbert came to MSU with astronomical expectations. He was Michigan's Mr. Basketball in 2001 and a McDonald's All-American.

"Kelvin Torbert's been different to coach than I thought he would be," Izzo said. "And, unfortunately, in every way better, except that he hasn't had that elite career that we had all hoped, so far."

Although Torbert has not become the high-flying scoring machine some imagined, he has earned Izzo's utmost respect with his unselfishness and commitment to the team.

"I pull for K.T. every night," Izzo said. "He's the one guy that I said never complained, has never squawked about anything. He's had tremendous pressure on him."

Joe Guillen can be reached at guillenj@msu.edu.

Discussion

Share and discuss “3-year starter Torbert steps back without complaints” on social media.