Old School Cool

Legendary coaches fly in the face of everything we thought we knew about basketball.

While the college basketball tide decisively lurches in one direction, a few stalwarts of the old guard harken back to the halcyon days when men were men and contested mid-range jumpers were liquid gold. While I trend towards being an analytics guy, my loyalty towards that brand of basketball is pragmatic, not aesthetic. I have no problem with other styles of play if teams can win with them, and believe me, these heavy hitters have had no problem doing that this season.

H to the Izzo

With four of five starters from last year’s 9 seed graduating or transferring, it seemed like the Michigan State Spartans had a formidable rebuild on their hands. The players that remained simply did not seem good enough to occupy the vaunted Breslin Center and push Sparty above the 7 seed line for the first time in five seasons. Tom Izzo would have to break with his orthodoxy, raid the portal for talent like everybody else, and make sure they knew the fight song by January.

Per BartTorvik, last season’s Michigan State ranked top 50 in the nation in three-point percentage and 300th in tempo. The year prior, Sparty was 3rd in three point percentage and 306th in tempo. MSU was slow, methodical, and focused on generating high quality three-point looks without putting much pressure on the basket (Michigan State got to the foul line less than 80% of Division I teams over that two-year stretch).

Tom Izzo can be a stubborn little elf sometimes. His big transfer portal haul consisted of Szymon Zapala, an obscure Polish center who put up a decent game in the Big South Championship for Longwood, and Frankie Fidler, a goofy headband guy who put up 20 a game in the defense-optional Summit League. The two are on the floor together less than 5% of the time for the Spartans. Izzo looked down his bench last season and decided that he could win with the guys who weren’t even playing. He was right.

Tom Izzo took things back to the way they were before. He knew who he had in reserve, and he knew the style of basketball that fit them, and fit him. These were players who had been in the system, players he could trust to execute his vision, players who could be given the freedom to make the right decisions in a fast-paced environment. So, he loosened the reigns. Gone were the plodding possessions, three-point rainbows, and isolation basketball. Back, was Michigan State basketball.

There’s no star on this team, although freshman Jase Richardson (yes, it’s his son) might be one before it’s all said and done. Tre Holloman, Jeremy Fears, Jaden Akins, and the aforementioned Richardson all share the guard duties, while it’s center by committee with Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, and the transfer Szymon Zapala. The wings get a little more exciting, as Xavier Booker is a rare 6’11 unicorn with athleticism, guard skills, and three-point touch. Unfortunately, like most unicorns, he lacks practical utility. The real one-of-a-kind talent is Coen Carr, a player who I cannot emphasize enough, does not do anything on the floor except dunk. And dunk, he does. Carr is a lob threat from anywhere on the floor, a putback dunk waiting to happen on any missed shot, and has dunked the darn thing more than any player of his height in college basketball this season, as well as hundreds of taller ones. Coen Carr is a human pogo stick. He has made only one three pointer in Big Ten play.

In fact, Michigan State has made and taken fewer three pointers than any other team in the conference, and only more than about 7% of teams in the country. Everyone said the game had changed. Everyone said Tom Izzo was a dinosaur who should’ve retired. Everyone said that this bunch from the bench couldn’t take the reins. Michigan State ranks #10 in the nation on KenPom, projects for a 4 seed on BracketMatrix, and just beat their archrivals on the road for sole possession of first place in the league. They share the ball, run an electric fast break, and raise the roof with Coen Carr alley-oops at the slightest opportunity. Ladies and gentlemen, let's put our hands together for this dynasty.

Just Win, Baby

Nothing says old school quite like Rick Pitino stalking up and down the sidelines at Madison Square Garden in an immaculate all-white suit. In an era where most coaches consider wearing dress pants with their quarter-zip formal wear, Pitino stands defiant, both in his fashion choices and in his decidedly unusual style of play. What makes Pitino special, however, is not what has been consistent, but rather what has changed.

While Tom Izzo bellyached about the state of the sport in the wake of limitless transfers, while Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim, Tony Bennett, and numerous other legendary coaches quit the game once it stopped being quite to their liking, Rick Pitino has reinvented himself to harness the potential of the portal at a level unseen by any other coach from his generation. Six of seven regular rotation pieces started their careers at another school. Some were major recruits, others have worked their way up the ranks. Rick Pitino doesn’t care. If the transfer portal is how you win, so be it. If you get banned by the NCAA for turning a blind eye toward staffers hiring escorts to woo recruits, go coach in Greece until things cool off. Rick Pitino isn’t here to make friends, he’s here to win. He’ll do that however he can, no matter how unconventional or unpopular that approach may be.

St. John’s cannot, and more importantly, will not shoot threes. The Johnnies are 350th in percentage, while taking them less often than 93% of teams in the country. St. John’s know who they are, and they won’t apologize for it. Coach Pitino actually draws up sets for midrange jumper at the elbow. I think most NBA fans under 30 would combust if they saw that. It’s no wonder though, as star scorers R.J. Luis Jr. and Kadary Richmond excel at these typically difficult shots, with Richmond’s line drive jumpers about as far from a Steph Curry rainbow as New York is from the Bay.

Pitino’s teams press, harangue, and harry opponents up and down the court in a way unseen since Bob Huggins’ last great Press Virginia teams of the late 2010s. The fast breaks that result from these turnovers are lethal thanks to the incredible athleticism and unselfishness of role players like Zuby Ejiofor, Aaron Scott, and triple-double-threat point guard Deivon Smith. They fire off down the court, whether they’ll get a chance to finish the play or not, and are first to the floor on any loose ball, immediately picking their heads up to try and find an outlet pass no matter their location or orientation on the court. The Johnnies rotate, recover, and block shots from the weak side better than almost any team in the nation. All of this while Pitino screams at them from the sideline, dresses them down in postgame interviews, and questions their upbringing during halftime of Big East games. Out on the hardwood, his Red Storm play like that’s the exact intensity of coaching they demand from their leader.

What’s craziest about all of this is that it isn’t Pitino’s first pivot. At Providence, Pitino was revolutionary in his incorporation of the three point shot during a 1980s in which college basketball still largely eschewed it. Rick Pitino has repeatedly proven that he will do whatever it takes to win, regardless of how that action, style of play, or choice of suit affects his image, popularity, or trendiness. He’s given New York City a legitimate college basketball team to root for, perhaps for the first time in decades. It’s no wonder, as Pitino matches New York to its core: hustling, innovating, and definitely involved in some shady stuff out the back door. Until the NCAA starts rooting through his garbage, enjoy his Johnnies trapping the corners, running the break, and making that undertaker of a man in the white suit proud.