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WATCH: Jay Williams gives surprising take on Gabe Brown, Michigan State

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•02/19/22•

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Photo by Lance King/Getty Images

It’s been a rough go for Michigan State lately. The Spartans lost three of their last four games entering a big Saturday showdown against Illinois, and fans are left wondering what’s gone wrong.

ESPN analyst Jay Williams had some thoughts, and pointed to a pregame video of leading scorer Gabe Brown and the rest of the Spartans dancing. Williams, who played at Duke for Mike Krzyzewski, specifically asked about the on-court mentality and how that translates to the product on the court.

“I’m going to give our audience something to pay attention to,” Williams said. “When I spoke with Tom Izzo yesterday, he said the energy they’re coming into this game with and what their mentality is. When I think about Michigan State basketball, I think about people that want to attack. There’s grittiness, there’s a grind, there’s a blue-collar mentality. And I know that people have fun before games. This is Gabe Brown, this is your senior, this is your leader. And that’s before the game, him running around [and] joking. My thing is there has to be a war-like mentality.

“When I’m around town, I tense up. You know what I mean, Dave? My fists get tight. I’m ready to run through a wall. When I think about Cassius Winston, when I think about Mateen Cleeves, there was a mindset that you had entering every game. I didn’t see a lot of that. I was surprised I saw a lot of that kind of quote-unquote ‘fun’ happening before a game like this.”

Jay Williams: ‘I wonder who is that extension of Tom Izzo on the floor’

Williams’ broadcast partner, Dave Pasch, responded by asking Williams about Izzo’s edge and toughness and if Williams is seeing that from the players. He said he’s not.

“I feel like I missed that translation on the floor, right?” Williams said. “They always say a point guard is supposed to be an extesnion of the coach on the floor or your leader. As I watch Michigan State play, I wonder who is that extension of Tom Izzo on the floor? And that’s lacking right now.”

Michigan State is in sixth place in the Big Ten standings, but sits just two games back of Purdue for first place in a tightly contested race. The Spartans trailed Illinois 34-22 at halftime at the Breslin Center on Saturday.