Tom Izzo analyzes where Michigan State's consistency is at

It’s been an up-and-down 2023-24 season for Michigan State men’s basketball and head coach Tom Izzo. After entering the season as one of the top-ranked teams and a Final Four favorite, the Spartans sit at 17-9 with March looming.

But slowly and surely, Izzo sees this team taking the steps to be a more consistent force on the court. It’s a still-evolving process, he said recently, but one that is bearing fruit.

“So consistency some times goes from practice to the starts of games to the middle of games and to the end of games,” Izzo said. “And I don’t think we’re where I wanna be at. I don’t think we’re where we need to be at. But I do think we are making some progress. And I think, as I hear my players talk about it, like we talked in one of the huddles in the last game about, ‘OK, somebody on the court’s got to take over.’ And I saw a little more of that. So, that has been encouraging.”

Entering a Jan. 30 matchup with Michigan, Michigan State was 12-8 on the season and not looking like an eventual NCAA Tournament team. Since a win that day, Michigan State is 5-1 and now more firmly in the picture to make it into the dance.

And speaking with five games remaining in the regular season, Izzo acknowledged he’s probably not the only coach in America haranguing his team to play its best ball for 40 minutes.

If the Spartans can sort out whatever issues are causing lulls in-game, it could be a scary proposition for a team facing Michigan State in a single-elimination setting. But they’ve got to get there, first.

“As you know, I am harping on that. I bet you after this weekend there’s a lot of coaches harping on that right now,” Izzo said. “But I really am harping on that. I just — do I feel it’s getting better? I do. I feel we finish games better. There’s some things that are happening. But can we consistently do it both halves? Can we consistently get three or four of our top players playing that consistent? It is a funny word. It’s a word that you wouldn’t think you’d use as often as I’ve used it. But I think everybody’s using that word a little bit more. We’re all trying to figure out how to push buttons to get guys to prepare right and then to execute right and then to finish right.”