Couch: How teams scout, view Michigan State basketball, through the lens of Southern Utah

A behind-the-scenes look at the experience of a smaller-school opponent preparing for and then taking on the Spartans

EAST LANSING – Cassius Winston: “Terror in transition.”

Miles Bridges: “Athletic scorer.”

Nick Ward: “Rim-running machine.”

That’s how Southern Utah’s written scouting report began its assessment of three of Michigan State’s most prominent players.

What college basketball coaches share publicly about their opponents is usually a pared-down version of what they tell their players, the truth edited with tact.

Southern Utah coach Todd Simon, who grew up outside Lansing in Fowler, opened up his program to his old hometown newspaper last week before, during and after the Thunderbirds’ 88-63 loss at MSU, a game more competitive than the final score.

It allowed for an inside look at how a program like Southern Utah prepares for the opportunity of a lifetime. And a glimpse at how an opponent truthfully views the Spartans and their roster.

We’ll start in a film session last Friday morning in a conference room at the East Lansing Marriott, where Simon and his staff were taking their players through the scouting report.

“This isn’t transition D. What UConn’s doing, this ain’t it,” Simon interjected, as his players watched on a projector as UConn defended the Spartans a couple of weeks earlier at the PK80 in Portland. “Don’t think just because you ran down the court you’re playing D. 

“He’s not in position to guard anybody. He’s looking the wrong way. He’s playing behind a monster,” Simon said, pointing out three different UConn players. The "monster" in question was Ward.

“This is a mess. We can’t have it look like this. We’ve got to sprint back, show in numbers in stance, ready to guard.”

Simon and assistant coach Trent Angelucci took the Thunderbirds through the Spartans, player by player, beginning with MSU’s point guard, Winston:

“Can’t fall asleep on him off the ball in the half-court,” Angelucci said. “He’s shooting 57 percent from 3. The key to him is the key with everybody, we’ll say it a million times, transition, transition. He’ll stop on a dime, (he’s) showing (a) mid-range (shot). Didn’t do it a lot last year. Stay down, hand in front.” 

Then Joshua Langford:

“He takes and makes long 2s,” Angelucci said. “He will shoot a lot of bad shots. He makes a lot of bad shots. (He) sprints in those wings in transition. Loves to pump fake.

“Once he gets past this point (on the drive), he will get out of control. You can look to draw charges on him.”

“Stay down,” Simon said. “So much of where they score is transition and teams doing that nonsense, where they’re sprinting into the bench on guys who are just OK shooters.”

Next, Bridges.

“We want him settling for jump shots. He’s best when he’s doing that — driving, attacking, being aggressive,” Angelucci said. “(He went) 5 of 11 from 3 the last game. He’s attempted 47 3s on the year, that leads the team.”

“We’re OK with that,” Simon said, jumping in.

“Let him shoot those long step backs (too),” Angelucci continued. “Just contest high and stay down.”

“One thing about him, he touches it a lot,” Simon interjected. “So 14 assists on the year for a guy who touches it nearly every possession is not a lot. Make sure we’re loading to help.”

Then it was on to Jaren Jackson Jr.:

“Had eight blocks last game, he’s really starting to become more comfortable, starting to come into his own,” Angelucci said. “This is where he’s best at, just going to the glass. Free throw block-outs will be huge (against) him. He’s going to go up with two hands, he’s going to try to punch it in on your head. 

“He’s not a horrible shooter, but we want this. We want him to settle for jumpers and 3s.”

Then they dissected Ward:

“Long strides, 385 pounds, whatever you want to say. This man is rumbling, tumbling and he’s going to that rim, especially on this end,” Angelucci said, watching Ward race down the court and catch a pass from Winston for a layup. “That’s not an outlier. He does this. Long strides, he has nice hands.”

Simon jumped in, “If he’s scoring in 3.5 (seconds), we better be there in 1.5. (On rebounds) if you think you can get around him late, you’re done. You have to get around him immediately.”

And then on to the bench. (Scroll beneath the column for the scouting reports on MSU's bench players.)

Later Friday morning during practice at Breslin, it became clear that Southern Utah would run it’s offense differently depending on which Spartan big man was defending ball screens. Anytime Xavier Tillman was in the game, the Thunderbirds would attack. Same for Ward. But Gavin Schilling would force them to get their offensive elsewhere. Jackson’s rim protection meant what usually was a good shot near the paint, wasn’t. That changes things, too.

All of it was a fascinating look at how an opponent sees MSU. Some of it just confirmed what we know — that Tum Tum Nairn isn’t a scorer, for example. Some of it was illuminating, however.

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You begin to realize that Bridges’s improved 3-point shooting — from 34 percent last year to near 38 percent now — is making him a pick-your-poison player. Remember, “Contest high, stay down.” A year ago, I bet that scouting report was all about protecting against him going to the rim.

Also, it’s clear that film can lie about a player’s intent. Bridges had 14 assists in MSU’s first nine games. The Southern Utah coaches saw Bridges' game as being more me-first than it is. Bridges tied a career-high with six assists on Saturday.

The scouting reports on Langford and Matt McQuaid were compelling, too. They are respected but not feared as shooters. Not worth flying past on a close-out against the risk of a pump-fake, which both of them do regularly. Also interesting, the notion that Southern Utah’s coaches see Langford as taking — and making — a lot of “bad shots” and that opponents are noticing he can be had for a charge on the drive.

And defensively, that whether it’s Ward or Schilling at the 5 for MSU, alters an opponent’s perimeter offense — at least for this opponent.

A once-in-a-lifetime experience

“These are the games why you came to Southern Utah. This is why I’m here.”

I guarantee you Tom Izzo’s final words to his players before last Saturday’s game were less dramatic than what Simon told his Southern Utah team just before they took the court.

“We have bigger dreams beyond the average. This is our opportunity,” Simon continued, in the visitor’s locker room at Breslin Center. “This is our chance to strike. Today is our one chance to do it. … We’re going to go after it, go after it with everything we have. We’ll see where the chips fall. I know this: I believe in this team. I love you guys. Let’s go out and have some fun while we’re doing it.”

And you thought this game didn’t mean anything.

Life as behemoth in college basketball means playing a handful of forgettable games each year. As in, immediately forgotten. The name “Southern Utah” didn’t come up once in a half-hour Izzo press conference Monday. I’m guessing you didn’t bring them up at the dinner table. 

For those smaller programs, though, what transpired Saturday is a lifetime memory. It’s THE game circled on the schedule. 

Southern Utah is a low-major program. Not the lowest of low-major Division I programs, but the Big Sky Conference is a one-NCAA tournament-bid league with a ceiling of about a 14 seed. Most teams at this level get run out of Breslin Center, even by lesser MSU teams. By halftime, programs like the Thunderbirds usually don’t still believe they’re going to win. Most of these teams can’t take a punch from a top-five team and swing back.

Southern Utah, I think, believed it could. And did.

Simon, in Year 2 in Cedar City, Utah, has assembled an eclectic roster — both in size and skill and origin. The Thunderbirds have players from British Columbia, Ontario, Alaska, Croatia, the Congo, Maryland, Minnesota and a few from closer states, too. Simon’s connections from his days at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas and UNLV have provided a helluva rolodex. 

“Coach sold us on that dream,” said leading scorer Jadon Cohee, a transfer from Seattle University by way of British Columbia. “I’d never even heard of Southern Utah. 

“He said, ‘I promise we’re going to bring in some guys, and we’re going to compete for championships. I need some of you guys to believe in me.’ He kind of sold the dream of helping to put a program on the map.’”

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At halftime, as the players waited for Simon and the coaches to enter the locker room, they definitely believed as they talked strategy with confidence, trailing just 42-30.

“They’re not that good,” one said.

“They think we’re scared. We’re good,” said another.

Simon burst into the room. He did not congratulate his players.

“They got 21 of 42 (points) in transition. We knew it was coming. We told you.

“If we took away our selfish possessions and probably you three are the culprits,” he continued pointing at his guards and wings, “we’re probably winning this game right now. We had a stretch for six minutes where it was just me shot, me shot, me shot, me shot, not move the ball, hold it and reluctantly move it. If you just move it and set a couple screens, every time we reversed it, we got unbelievable shots. 

“We’re right there. I mean a 12-point game at half. Let’s win this four minutes, win another four minutes, it’s a tie game. We’ve got to take their punch now. We’ve got to take their punch. Let’s get this thing going in the second half.”

They never tied the game, but they had the deficit at 63-56 with 9 minutes remaining. It fell apart for Southern Utah from there. The final score will always burn a little. But they knew they had pushed MSU. And MSU and its fans knew it, too. The Spartans didn’t play poorly. Izzo admitted as such after the game, staring at the stat sheet, realizing his guys had 24 assists on 28 baskets. 

“I know that this, I feel like there’s not a game on the schedule, that we’re not going in expecting to win the rest of the way,” Simon told his players. “You should be mad. You should be mad. We had some opportunities. The only reason we had some opportunities is we prepared and put ourselves in that position. We had it. Did you guys feel it?”

“Yeah,” they replied in unison.

“They had to leave their starters in almost the whole game,” Simon said. “They had to play their dudes. They had to play dudes in to beat us. They had to go small, they had to put Bridges at the 4, make an adjustment on us.

“They had to play well to beat us. We aren’t walking out of this arena with our head down, I promise you that. We walk out of this arena, saying, ‘We put No. 1 on the ropes for a while.’ A couple things go the other way, neutral floor … You learn from this. This is life.

“When we’re playing in the NCAA tournament, this environment will pay off 10-fold.”

Reality did set in for Southern Utah. Not discouragement, though.

“They’re so tall and athletic and fast,” said Cohee, who was matched up with Bridges. “In the second half we made our run. And just burned out at the end.

“At the end of the day, it’s just basketball. We’re not being paid to play yet. It’s just fun. It’s exciting to play in front of a crowd 15,000 people. I just took it as a challenge. I wasn’t going out there scared. That’s not who I am. (Bridges) is the biggest guy I’ve ever guarded. It was definitely an adjustment, how quick he was and how strong he was. There was no fear.”

As Simon left the postgame press conference, you could see the pride in his face. 

“We’ve got some tough dudes. The hardest thing in building in a program is the actual believing. Not the make-believe, ‘We can do it!’ ‘Oh, well it’s not going well,’ so ‘Woe is me’ or ‘I’ll just get mine.’

“After the 8-0 run, are people still believing? Or after you have zero points and someone else has 20? I was pretty happy overall.”

And then, his final scouting report, a postmortem on MSU.

“They’re so tough. They’re so tough. You don’t get any lulls in 40 minutes,” Simon said. “That’s the difference between them and (them) other years or other teams out there — there’s no gaps in there for 40 minutes.”

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

Here are Southern Utah's scouting reports for MSU's rotation bench players from Friday morning’s film session, beginning with Tum Tum Nairn:

“He’s shot 15 shots on the year,” Todd Simon said. “When he’s coming down the floor or he’s in the half-court, everybody stay home. If he drives, the only area we will help on him is this cup (around the hoop). He drives middle, everyone will deny. That’s the only spot that we’ll help. Everywhere else, do not help. Even when he’s got you beat, he’s trying to shoot one time a game. Make him be a scorer. You’re almost watching all of his makes on the year. I think that was all his makes. He’s shot 15 times.”

Next, Matt McQuaid:

“Corner 3s. He shot 35 percent last year, shot a little bit better (this year),” Trent Angelucci said. “When he comes in, he’s looking to get open shots. 

“Thirty-eight of his 50 shots are 3s,” Simon said. “Plays extremely hard. What are we doing on that (showing a clip of him catching it)? Stay down.”

Ben Carter:

“Stay down on those fakes,” Simon said. “Crafty, not an above-the-rim guy. But he’s great on the offensive glass. He’s going to play all over. He’s going to draw fouls. Fifteen feet is his shot. He’s not going to shoot 3s. Just be in front of him.”

Gavin Schilling:

“Very good defensive player, good on ball-screens,” Simon said. “Don’t let him get hands on the ball. Great offensive rebounder, rolls hard every time. If you get stuck behind him, stay there. Make him shoot over you. He needs a little bit of an angle. If you just stay between him and the rim, you’re going to be just fine.”

Xavier Tillman:

“A younger, poor man’s version of Ward,” Angelucci said. “When he’s on the floor, rim-run, sprint the floor, make him guard you on ball screens. He’s going to push you, he’s going to shove you, he’s going to hit you with his hips. Stay down in a stance the entire time. Attack him on the glass.”