Tom Izzo praises Malik Hall for accepting role at Michigan State

Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo has been able to rely on forward Malik Hall in recent games. In particular, Hall had an excellent game against the Michigan Wolverines, helping lead the Spartans to a win.

While speaking to the media after the game, Izzo praised Hall, explaining that he thinks Hall has improved while also getting himself into better positions to succeed.

“I think both,” Tom Izzo said. “I think you’ve all been with me. He fought being in the post some, and now what he is, he’s in the post and we get him scoring right off the bat. And then he moves out to the mid-range, and then he shoots a 3, and then he gets to the free-throw line. He’s become a complete player.”

This season, Malik Hall is averaging 12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. In the last three games, all of which were Michigan State wins, he’s scored 22, 29, and 18 points respectively, making his mark on the offense. In addition to that, though, Tom Izzo is also thrilled with how he’s been playing on defense.

“I talked to him after the game and just said to him, why players fight you on things, I said, ‘We’ve gotta trust them, but they’ve gotta trust us.’ Malik Hall has been not only as steady as you can be, but he had to do a hell of a job defensively,” Izzo said. “Because Olivier [Nkamhoua], he’s a damn good player. I mean really good player. He did it by committee, because like I said, sometimes we doubled but I thought Malik did a pretty good job on him.”

The Spartans have five games remaining this season and are in fourth place in the Big Ten. If things break their way and Malik Hall continues to step up, a late push at the conference is still possible for Michigan State.

Tom Izzo explains Michigan State rotation decisions vs. Michigan

After the win against Michigan, Tom Izzo broke down his rotation decisions throughout the game.

“Yeah, I did, and I will. I kept thinking Jaden [Akins’] gonna come back around, too. And Jaden, to be honest with you, has to cover [Dug] McDaniel. He’s just the guy that can cover him. AJ [Hoggard] was in foul trouble, Tyson [Walker] could but I need him offensively. I thought Jaden did a pretty good job. The second half, he did a real good job. I didn’t know if Coen [Carr] could do that, then you always got the free throw situation even though he hit some. As it got late, didn’t want to put him in there for that,” Izzo said.

“He’s gonna play more, so is [Xavier] Booker. Booker did just fine for me. I know it was only 3 minutes, but they are making progress. Disappointed in Mady [Sissoko], he had a rough night. So it is what it is. Best players are gonna play.”