Foul trouble crippled the men’s basketball team early against Nebraska on Saturday. Senior forward Branden Dawson, sophomore forward Gavin Schilling, junior forward Matt Costello and junior guard Denzel Valentine each picked up two in the first half, and head coach Tom Izzo was forced to turn to his bench sooner than he would have preferred.
It certainly wasn’t the first time Valentine had gotten himself into early foul trouble this season. But Izzo was more critical of the new hand checking rules, introduced before the start of the 2013-2014 season, during his press conference Monday.
Izzo said he has noticed changes in the way teams play basketball since the new hand-checking rules have limited what players can get away with defensively. The new rules were certainly felt during Saturday’s 79-77 loss, as Izzo said the Spartans are not deep enough to handle early foul trouble.
“His two fouls were unbelievable,” Izzo said. “But that has been — we talk about all the problems, and there are a few. But perhaps more than anything, we had four starters on the bench. Costello played three minutes in the first half, Schilling played seven. Valentine played, I think it was nine or 10. Somebody else was on the bench. And we’re just not that deep, nor are most teams that deep.”
Since the new rules were enacted, Izzo has noticed changes in the way teams play defense. Specifically, teams are using more zone defensive schemes than man-to-man, which slows opposing teams down on offense.
He revealed he has used zone defense twice this season, which shows how coaches are learning to defend effectively with the new rules in place. He also said the Spartans could play more zone in the future.
“I think we outfoxed ourselves a little with all these rule changes,” Izzo said. “They wanted to speed up the game, they wanted to have more scoring, and it’s kinda working into the opposite.”
Teams are also beginning to press more, a defensive concept Izzo is less willing to try.
Izzo said he may have to begin playing his starters with three first-half fouls to prevent the offense from stagnating, which he admitted is a “coin flip.”
“If he gets his third one, then we’re really in trouble because then he has to play a completely different way,” Izzo said. “It’s a coin flip, and I guess I don’t trust the guys I’m flipping against, if you can read between the lines.”
