Izzo To Coach Against Nephew In Preseason

Lansing State Journal

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20121102/GW0201/311020044/MSU-men-s-basketball-Izzo-coach-against-nephew-exhibition?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

These preseason exhibition games often provide a chance for Tom Izzo to reunite friends and family — Draymond Green and his brother in the past, Izzo and his pal Rollie Massimino on Tuesday night.

Tonight, Izzo will take on his nephew at Breslin Center. Kevin Levandoski of Appleton, Wis., is the son of Izzo’s sister, Anne, and a sophomore guard for St. Cloud (Minn.) State.

Once the hugs are out of the way, Izzo has some tinkering and analyzing to do. The No. 14 Spartans are just a week from opening the season against Connecticut at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Tuesday’s 85-57 win over Massimino’s Northwood (Fla.) team was predictably sloppy, with Izzo often subbing five at a time. Tonight may see more of a traditional substitution pattern as he explores what works and what doesn’t.

“The way we played them, we did it for a reason, he said. I went in with a scripted rotation. I went in with a scripted set of guys that I wanted to get in, when I wanted to go real small with (Travis) Trice and (Keith) Appling together — which, by the way, wasn’t a bad lineup.”

Izzo To Coach Against Nephew In Preseason

Lansing State Journal

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20121102/GW0201/311020044/MSU-men-s-basketball-Izzo-coach-against-nephew-exhibition?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

These preseason exhibition games often provide a chance for Tom Izzo to reunite friends and family — Draymond Green and his brother in the past, Izzo and his pal Rollie Massimino on Tuesday night.

Tonight, Izzo will take on his nephew at Breslin Center. Kevin Levandoski of Appleton, Wis., is the son of Izzo’s sister, Anne, and a sophomore guard for St. Cloud (Minn.) State.

Once the hugs are out of the way, Izzo has some tinkering and analyzing to do. The No. 14 Spartans are just a week from opening the season against Connecticut at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Tuesday’s 85-57 win over Massimino’s Northwood (Fla.) team was predictably sloppy, with Izzo often subbing five at a time. Tonight may see more of a traditional substitution pattern as he explores what works and what doesn’t.

“The way we played them, we did it for a reason, he said. I went in with a scripted rotation. I went in with a scripted set of guys that I wanted to get in, when I wanted to go real small with (Travis) Trice and (Keith) Appling together — which, by the way, wasn’t a bad lineup.”