'Bringing Some Joy to Detroit'

By John Feinstein
Sunday, April 5, 2009

DETROIT

There were all sorts of reasons for Michigan State's surprising 82-73 victory over Connecticut on Saturday night in the opening game of the Final Four. The Spartans played great interior defense, collapsing on Hasheem Thabeet every time the ball got anywhere near him. They consistently beat the Huskies down the court for easy baskets after creating turnovers. They blinked just a bit near the end, but got their act together and attacked when U-Conn. least expected it in the final moments.

But there was one other reason that Michigan State, and not Connecticut, will play in Monday's national championship game: joy.

This has become a joy ride, not just for this basketball team, but for a city and a state that has known almost nothing but heartache in the past year. Ford Field was predictably packed with people in green and white Saturday night and even in the cavernous confines of this massive building, it was apparent all evening that they were very much along for this ride.

"It's very hard to explain the emotions of this day," Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said not long after reaching his second national championship game. "I told the players before the game that I'd coached in four Final Fours, but I didn't think anything that happened in them could prepare me for what it was going to feel like walking out of that tunnel tonight. I was right; I've never felt anything quite like that."

Connecticut is an experienced team, one that has been through a myriad of ups and downs this season that have included key injuries, a six-overtime loss in the Big East tournament and an embarrassing NCAA investigation that began 10 days ago. Coach Jim Calhoun made a point of saying that the crowd -- an announced 72,456 -- had no effect on the Huskies' play, and his players said the same. But the emotions attached to this game went well beyond crowd noise, which Calhoun was keenly aware of.

"I think Tommy Izzo has done a masterful job of putting the woes of an entire city and the auto industry on his back," he said. "I was shocked by the way they beat Louisville [in the Midwest Region final]. They were not the same team then or tonight that I'd seen on tape. They became special. They had a cause, and they did a great job rallying around that cause."

Ever since the Spartans beat Louisville last Sunday, Izzo has spoken emotionally about how this Final Four run is like no other he has been involved with. He has talked to his players often about bringing happiness to people desperately in need of something to feel good about.

"We've talked about the fact that just by being in the Final Four we're bringing hope to a lot of people who have had tough times," point guard Travis Walton said. "We've felt all week like we were bringing some joy to Detroit."

Right from the beginning Saturday, Michigan State was the aggressor. Izzo believed his Spartans, contrary to the image of his team and his league, could beat the Huskies down the court and, by doing so, take Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 center, out of the game.

"People think of our league as a plodding league," Izzo said. "Part of that is because we all check pretty good. But we can run when we want to and tonight we thought it was going to be important."

There were other key factors. Michigan State had a 22-10 margin in fast-break points and a 33-7 margin in bench scoring. U-Conn. missed a slew of free throws that helped the Spartans push the lead to 73-62 with a little more than two minutes left. The basket that built the lead to 11 in many ways encapsulated the game.

Izzo called time out with 2 minutes 22 seconds left and 28 seconds on the shot clock. Guessing that Calhoun would attack defensively to keep the Spartans from using the clock, he called a play that sent Durrell Summers to the basket on an immediate back-cut. Goran Suton spotted him wide open with all the Huskies above the foul line, and Summers had an easy layup.

"Ninety percent of the time you call a play because you're anticipating something and you're wrong," Izzo said. "That time I guessed right, and the players made it work."

It wasn't that the Spartans played a perfect game. They had trouble with the U-Conn. press late, allowing the lead to shrivel to 73-69 before catching their breath just in time. But the difference always seemed to be that extra bit of energy, closing on a shooter at the last second, finding a seam that didn't appear to be there.

"The team that did all the little things ended up making the big plays," Calhoun said. "They deserved to win."

This tournament changed for Izzo, for Michigan State and for everyone involved last Sunday in Indianapolis when the Spartans pitched a near-perfect game to beat top-seeded Louisville going away.

"That was when it first became a joyride," Izzo said. "I felt it when we first came here; I felt it during the open practice; and I really felt it today driving over, going past some houses in tough shape and some neighborhoods in tough shape. I'm very glad we can do this right now for our school, for our conference and for our city."

When he reached the word city, his voice caught just a little. Izzo is a smart and experienced coach who knows the task facing his team Monday will be daunting. But he also knows that while this may be a basketball tournament for North Carolina, Villanova and Connecticut, it is far more than that for his school and what is now very much his city.

It may all sound corny if you aren't here, if you haven't walked around downtown and seen the empty store fronts and heard the stories from locals about people losing homes they have lived in for years. But the Michigan State players and coaches have lived here; they all know people who have struggled.

Soon after the Berlin Wall went up, President John F. Kennedy stood in front of the wall and said, "Ich bin ein Berliner": I am a Berliner. Saturday night, all the Michigan State players were from Detroit and so were most of those watching them light up this building and this city.

When Izzo walked over to do his postgame interview with CBS, the network was in commercial and he had to wait a couple of minutes.

"Jim Nantz was getting antsy because he didn't want me to have to wait," Izzo said. " I said to him, 'Chill out, I could stand here all night.' It was surreal the way it felt at that moment.

"Of course now, we've got one more game to play to make the dream and the miracle come true one more time."

That may be true. But regardless of the outcome here Monday night, Izzo and his players have turned a lot of nightmares into dreams in the past week. In that sense, they have already created a miracle.