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Grab a seat at the round table. It's time to introduce a new host: Bella Johnson! In her first episode with guests Jenna Malinowski and Brendan Schabath they're discussing Spartan basketball and gymnastics.
The State News sports reporters discuss all MSU sports.
(Bella) Hello, welcome back to the sports roundtable podcast. My name is Bella Johnson. I'll be taking over this semester for Nick Lundberg. And here today I am with my guests, Brendan Shabbat and Jenna malinovski. If you guys want to introduce yourself, and go ahead do that right now.
(Brendan) Yeah, I'm Brendon Shabazz. I'm the Sports Director here at impact. And this is a fun collaborative podcast that the state news and impact have done. Last semester, Nick did a great job with it. We had a lot of good guests on here. I was on here a couple of times, talking Michigan State sports with Nick, it's always fun to work with student journalists from other organizations. You know, I feel the pity, you know what everybody goes through at impact. But I don't have the same experience that state news people have. So it's fun to get to work with you guys and share a space like this. Talk about Michigan State sports. It's always a good time. Yeah, it's fun to be here as my first time as a while. So I'm happy to be here with you guys and work with impact.
(Jenna) It's okay, Bella, no one ever gets my last name, right.
(Bella) Did I get it wrong.
(Jenna) Just a little bit. My name is Jenna Melanauski. I'm the sports editor at state news. This is my first semester of doing that. So I'm excited to be doing that and be here with impact today
(Bella) So it's been a little bit some sports roundtable podcast has been updated just because of winter break and everything. So that's been happening with everybody. I thought first we could jump into a little bit of men's basketball. They obviously had a tough loss a few days ago to Indiana, which moved them to five and four and the big 1013. Seven overall. There were some great moments, especially at the beginning, and towards the end, it kind of just fell off. I mean, what did you guys think we were watching the game?
(Brendan) Yeah. So we at impact actually were lucky enough to go down there to Bloomington for the game. And we broadcasted that game and AJ Evans, our sports editorial assistant wrote the recap. And one thing that kind of stood out to me from that game as the theme this year for Michigan State, basketball has been starting slow. They did it against Rutgers, they did it against Purdue. And they were able to against Purdue, get back in that game and ultimately lose against Rutgers get back and win. Excuse me, but against Indiana, they started fast, really well in a hostile environment, one of the best places in college basketball to play, if you're a Hoosier at least. And they started off really well and had a good first half and then ended up losing that game more and more as it went on. So it was close for a minute, and Indiana came back. And then it was back and forth. And then Indiana ran away with it in the end. And I asked Head Coach Tom Izzo about that after the game like, you know, the whole theme has been starting slow. But you guys got to start fast today and still lost, like is that a little bit deflating? And he said, No, he knows why they lost and what they did wrong is just and he was almost redeemed by the fact that they had a fast start. But for Michigan State, the big thing is they just need Malik Hall to be back as soon as possible. And not just back on the court. But back at 100%. Because when he came back from the injury the first time, you could still tell he wasn't quite all the way there, he couldn't cut the same he couldn't do the same things on offense that he used to be able to do. And so this is a team that you can't really judge without Malik Cole. They're so different and so much more versatile, and just plain better when he's playing. That it you know, those are the results you really take into account these results without Malik are really hard to judge because you can't you can't help it. You know, you don't want to play the hypothetical game and sports too often. But you can't help but look at a game like Indiana or a game like Purdue and think what if Malik calls there? You know, how does this game go differently? And I'm sure Michigan State feels that way right now. But they just got to get him back.
(Bella) Yeah, and definitely having getting Jamaicans back. I know, coaches have said recently that he's back to just about 100%. And that helps a lot, but there's only so much that they can do without a full roster. And I think that Jackson Kohler has really had the minutes, I think he's been able to help and step up a lot. But again, really cause a leader on the team. And he is so crucial to the game and you can see how different they play when he's in it.
(Jenna) Yeah, being without Malik, I think has just been just destroying the confidence that they have right now. Because I mean, honestly, when I got to college, I was kind of shocked. He was still here because I thought he was so much older. He just played so beyond his years. So being without him is a sleep losing veteran leadership. And I'm sure still off the court that's still there, but not having it on the court has been really detrimental, I think. And I know they said to that the other guys are having to pick up the minutes Joey AJ Tyson. They just I mean as much as they do as much as they can do but as though said himself, I'm pretty sure it was he was talking about it. Yes. It is that they just, you know, you can't play a full 60 minutes, you know, you need time for us and they just don't have that time for us without Malik.
(Bella) Yeah. And even at the moment, produced the only big time team ranked in the AP top 25. And they're one I believe, yeah, they're first ranked. And if you look at the, the rest of the big 10 standings, it's all like 5463, like, all the other teams are on top of each other. And Purdue is the one standing leader at the top, everybody else is just kind of going after each other. And with that makes those games exciting to watch. But it is hard to kind of see what's going to happen towards the end of the year.
(Brendan) Right. And Tom Izzo has talked about that, that know, the big 10 has had maybe better years where more teams had been ranked in the top 10. I mean, even recently, you know, a couple years ago, in the COVID season, at one point, Michigan State was ranked number three in the country. And there were three or four big 10 teams in the top 10 of the AP rankings. But this year, you know, is what he's talked about. And I kind of agree with it, it might be the deepest and the best, the big 10 really has been one through 14, obviously Minnesota stands out at the bottom. But just above them, it's been a crazy flux of Iowa was at 13. Now Maryland and Illinois in Indiana within Indiana wins three games in a row and Michigan State was second and then they were six, another third or whatever. And so like like Michigan, for example, they are squarely right now, not in the NCAA Tournament if it started today, but they're second in the big 10. Like it's just they've just been beating each other up. And it makes it really fun. And it's redeeming for a team like Michigan State who should be competing at the top and has dealt with some injuries that dealt with some tough losses that they shouldn't have, they shouldn't have lost in northwestern at home, they probably should have beat Illinois on the road being up by nine, you can argue they should have beaten Purdue if they don't start slow. But it's redeeming for a team like Michigan State to know that if they can get right and maybe just get a hinge above some of these other teams, they can rattle off four or five wins in a row and put themselves in a good spot. Maybe not to win the big time with how good Purdue has been already, I think they pretty much have it locked down. They're gonna be the regular season champion. But if you can be Michigan State and get yourself within the top four seeds, you get a bye in the first round of the big 10 tournament, you know, you can be in a good spot to be locked into the NCAA Tournament and maybe make some noise and move up a seed line or two in the big 10 tournament.
(Bella) Yeah and then I'm going to transition over a little bit keeping with the basketball theme. But over to women's basketball. They just beat Rutgers at home by a pretty large margin. But they had a skid of some pretty close losses to some really highly ranked team. They've been playing some really good people, some really good players. Games like Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, they were all in the running for those games. For most of it until right up until the very end. And Jen, I know. You're a women's basketball fanatic. Do you want to talk a little bit about what they've been doing recently?
(Jenna) Yeah, so I actually covered the team last year for the state news and they were very injury plagued obviously last year having Miss Tori asthma and Julia a row all season and then just having people in and out especially Myra Joyner with her concussions. But I mean, this year, I can really see even though that they're not like winning those close games right now, they definitely have been making some progress. Because last year, those games were in close, like they have brought it up to a new level. They're not at the level where they're winning those games yet. And that could you know, be turned around this season. But last season, they weren't winning those games. So and I think you know, they still are injury played Gabby Elliot tearing her ACL. But I mean, just the fact that they were that they had won by such a large margin over records. They I don't think they would have done that last year. And the fact that they are, you know, keeping it close with Iowa, Michigan are not as close with Michigan, but Iowa, you know, taking down number four, Indiana, that's not something that they would do last year. So I really think that they are taking the next step to get past where they were last season, they have some more steps to take before they can get to where they're in the NCAA tournament level. But I think that they, this recent couple of games has proven that they are at a different level than they were last year.
(Brendan) I think that's a really good point too, because a lot of fans and coaches and even athletes don't like to take moral victories, especially in losses to and losing seasons. And this isn't a losing season currently for Michigan State but who knows, with the way the rest of it goes. But at some point, you have to look at the moral victories. And I think that's a really good point that the fact that the close games last year were against the unranked teams in the middle of the pack, big 10 teams, and now they're, you know, handling those teams like they should for the most part, and competing more closely with the best teams in the country. I mean, Caitlin Clark, the best player in the country, was here in East Lansing and Michigan State gave her everything she could handle And, you know, Wisconsin, they had one of the best freshmen in the country have her career best games, you might never ever game like that the next four years. And it was a close game now Wisconsin's at the bottom of the big 10. And that's a game Michigan State probably should have won. But the fact that they are close in some of these games where you're right last year, and maybe in previous years, with this kind of same team that they have, the fact that they're in those games now does say a lot to the improvement in the offseason, the adversity to deal with the injuries that they've had. And kind of their their player development. I mean, it can't go on said that Suzy merchant is, you know, she's underrated, in my opinion as one of the best coaches in all of women's college basketball, obviously, names like Chino, Rem, and Terry Morin and stuff like that come up. But Susie has had one losing season in 27 years, and one season where she finished right at 500. That's 25 winning seasons, half a century or a quarter of a century, of winning seasons in college basketball, that's not easy to do, especially at the division one level, and many of those have come at Michigan State at the big 10 level, one of the best conferences for college basketball. So you know, you don't want to take too many moral victories, but they are more competitive this year. And I think they're more fun, it feels like there's a different fight with this team. And I think you look at a lot of the close losses. And it's like, man, they're just one play away from really kind of changing these games. It's one stop that they didn't get or one bad shot, laid down this the stretch where you know, the experience and being in close games will help you in future close games. And so the more they're in and the more ways they figure out how to lose the it's kind of process of elimination. Okay, we got that one out of the way. We got that one out. We got that one out. Now, let's win one. And so they're getting there. They're getting close. I really this is a really fun team to watch. Yeah,
(Bella) I remember, I believe it was the Iowa game. They it was a play to either tie the game or take the lead, and McDaniel had the ball and she was right up under the net. And then she got to travel. And it's little mistakes like those that kept them just from getting to that point where they could have taken the game. But it's been so fun to watch them. I think they're really exciting team and I think every game they're getting better. And I'm really excited to see how they close out the season. Also on Sunday night was the first home gymnastics meet. And it was against Michigan and the gymnastics team clock their first win over Michigan since 2007, which is a very big deal. And they had multiple gymnasts completely stand out in my opinion. They have their underclassmen, the roster that they have underclassmen is incredible. Nikki Smith had a nine five vault to start off the meet. She won the all around, she got first place in Vault and she just had an incredible day altogether. I don't know if either of you watched but it was really incredible to see.
(Brendan) Yeah, I wasn't able to catch that one. Because we were down in Indiana, I was driving back actually, right after the game for men's basketball against Indiana. But I've caught a lot of this gymnastics team last year and covered a lot of them. And hopefully we'll moving forward this year for big 10 plus. And you know, I think last and all the fact that first win over Michigan since 2007, is they beat the number three team in the country. You know, Michigan is no slouch at all, and that goes for any Michigan program and their athletic department. But you know, it's a huge win for this team. And last season kind of felt like a dream season for them. And they went to the regionals in the NCAA Tournament and they set so many program records. as the season progressed, they just kept beating themselves and getting better and better and better. And had Coach Mike Rowe talked about it that, you know, he's so proud of his team, and the women on that team that have worked so hard. And I coming into this season, it kind of felt like you know, last year was their big year. Can they repeat it? Will they be roughly around the same? Maybe will they lose a step? You know, it's easy to have a big season like that a season ago and you know, step back and it's understandable, nobody would blame them but with the way they've started this year, I mean being close against number seven, Alabama down in Alabama and then beating number three Michigan like it's they've set themselves up very well to do even better than they did last year. And I know they felt like they fell short at the NCAA tournament. And I know a lot of the women on this team are hungry, and were there last year and are hungry to get back to that and and even, you know, go beyond what they did. And they've really set themselves up in a fantastic spot. There's so much fun to watch. Even if you don't know anything about gymnastics. It's a joy to just kind of sit back and watch what these women do and how talented they are. Are you know, I have frequently found myself in arguments with other sports fans and roommates and parents about you know, the hardest sport in the world, the age old debate, whether it's hockey or golf or boxing, I am a huge advocate that gymnastics is in the top three, for sure it is so difficult what these women do and just how good they are added. And for so young, you talked about the freshman class, they've got 18 and 19 year olds out here doing stuff that Olympians are doing and doing it at as high level if not better, and so it's really fun to watch. I have so much fun covering this team a lot.
(Jenna) Yeah, I would say that they are just incredible in gymnastics is just a wonderful sport to watch. You can replicate that anywhere, like you can play basketball, you can go out and play hockey with friends, you can not do what they do. Like they are just incredible. And especially Nikki Smith, oh my god, like I wrote a piece on the gymnastics team over the summer. And she was just starting. It was like their first couple workouts of the year. And everybody was like, You got to talk to her. She's gonna be a star. And I was so excited to talk to her. And she is like, just watching her warm up. And she's doing her bar routine, I think. And I was just like, it's incredible how they can just move like that in the air. And they're so high in the air too. It's like, I don't know how they come down without falling like that. I mean, that's a sport, but they're just so good at it. And she has been incredible this season to choose all around champion against Michigan, I believe. Yeah, she's just off to a great start. And I think she's gonna continue with this whole season.
(Bella) Yeah. And I know, I spoke to coach row after that me. And he was talking about how many amazing gymnasts he has on his roster. And he's like, it comes down to a game time decision, like, who's going to be competing on what because there are so many incredible gymnasts. And there's going to be more coming in next year. And they're all competing at such a high level, trying to keep those spots and supporting each other while doing it. It's really, really incredible to see,
(Brendan) I think the big thing too, was the crowd that was there. Obviously, it helps being against Michigan, and that's an in state rivalry, and you're always gonna get a bigger crowd for the in state games. But that was a sold out genossen. And Mike Rowe had said it that, you know, he's never seen it like that. And even last year, they didn't have any meats like that, where the full crowd was there, and they were into it. And gymnastics is so much fun, and, and the crowd really can get behind it. And I think what makes it fun for those that don't watch gymnastics is, you know, when a woman is doing whatever routine it is, whether it's the fault or the floor or the beam, her teammates are all right, they're watching and cheering her on and they go nuts. They go crazy. And it's great reactions. And it really brings the crowd into it too. And it makes it a very fun event to catch in person for any students listening. They definitely have to try and go to a gymnastics meet at some point this year. Because it really is a lot of fun. And you can learn a lot but yeah, the crowd really I think they fed off of that on Sunday. And that was such a cool moment for them to
(Bella) Yeah, the crowd was incredible and you do not need to know gymnastics to understand just looking at it how amazing it is and how like mesmerised
(Brendan) You can I mean, their athletes you know, you can tell you don't have to know anything about soccer to know good soccer play, you can tell it's the same thing with gymnastics, you can tell when someone kills a routine and kills a landing and sticks it that they just did a good job. And that's gonna be a big score.
(Bella) Yeah. And the energy in the room when something like that happens. Oh, it's incredible. So moving on to hockey, they had a bye weekend this past weekend. But before the weekend before they took on Penn State at home. Number five, I believe they were ranked. And that was a great series. I think they played really well all together. And that was coming off of a pretty long road losing streak for them. That losing streak that they went on. I know, some people that I talked to were having some issues, keeping faith in the team. And it is hard when they at the weekend before they were blown out by Ohio State but coming back and having that huge win over Penn State helps restore some of the faith in the team I think and the energy at mon was insane. I was there. I think they play so incredibly at mon and I think, again, the energy has something to do with it.
(Brendan) I think a big thing for this team and a lot of talks about this you know we've here on the green and white report. Our Sunday morning sports talk show in this very room. We've talked about this hockey team and you know, are they back? You know that age old question on Michigan State hockey's back well, they were winning a national championship almost a decade ago. So back I don't know that they're at that level yet. They're in the the USC H O poll as the top 15 team in the country and that's kind of where they've been all year. And they're much better than they were last year. You're undoubtedly hands down. Adam Nightingale has done an amazing job in his first year here. And you can see not just the playstyle change, but the culture switch that has happened with this team. And it's easy to see, because there were a lot of returners who have I think, been a lot better than maybe some of us expected. And Nightingale has just done a fantastic job. The big thing is that, like you mentioned, they play so well at Mon, they got to learn how to win on the road. Now they did win at Penn State earlier in the year when they split with the Nittany Lions, but you know, they lose against Michigan on the road close. And then not even on the road. But at the Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids at was a really bad showing for to to Ferris State and then to three and overtime to Michigan Tech had to feel like they were going to win one of those games going into it. And that was just a poor performance, followed by the the bad road showing against Ohio State. But they picked themselves up with the wins over Penn State. Again, now they're on the road, they got to take on one of the best teams in the country in Minnesota. I think if this team really wants to prove themselves this season, they have to win one of these games against Minnesota, they have to at least split against the top three teams in the country. I don't know that that's going to happen. But and you know, if they don't win anything on the road this season, and they don't necessarily, quote unquote, prove themselves this season, that's okay, they have proven that they've gotten better, and that they're back at a level where they can compete on given days with the best teams in the big 10. And the big 10 is, you know, in my opinion, the best conference for college hockey. So if they can do that, then there'll be fine.
(Jenna) Yeah, I think we've established that every sport, the big 10 teams can just beat up on each other on any given day. But I guess every team has its, you know, skids where it'll win a bunch and then lose a bunch. And I think this is just hotkeys. You know, they started out pretty strong, and now they're out. They were on that losing streak before Penn State. So I think I mean, I think you're right, the Minnesota series is going to be very telling. I mean, they went up against Minnesota about a month ago, and that did not go well, even being home. So the Minnesota series will be a very true road test for them. But just because they've lost a few in a row, I wouldn't necessarily be, you know, sending the alarm bells out. I think that every team has its, you know, few weeks where they just aren't on their game. But this will be pretty telling and I think you're very right that this they have made so much progress with Adam Knight and Gale and just the fact that they're able to bounce back from a showing at Ohio State, like they did against Penn State is very telling on the culture change that they've been able to turn it around.
(Bella) Yeah. And it is it's Coach nightingale's first year as as he stays in East Lansing. And as he continues training with the team, you can only hope that they're gonna get better just seeing what he's done so far. There's some great recruits coming in, in next year, I think, no matter how the season ends, you just have to be glad that it's in a better place than it was last year. And I know you're talking about some players who stayed who you see get better. I mean, Jaeger, Joshua had a hat trick against Penn State. I want to say he got he's had more points this year than he had his entire previous time here at MSU. And I think that just says a lot about the progress that he's made as a player.
(Brendan) Yeah, he was he was not really an offensive player at all. For Michigan State in the first couple years, you know, find a goal find an assist here. And there any player does for the most part, but he was more of a bruiser guy he'd be on. He'd be on kind of the checking line and he would come in and you know, lay the wood on somebody and kind of set the tone maybe for Michigan State defensively, really good on the forecheck would get some turnovers in the opposing zone. But the offensive surge that he has had this year shows how much he has put in and I think what's been really impressive is obviously the big news that happened with him this season and everything that went on with Camille said loca from Ohio State and the racial slur and all the publicity that Jaeger got. He has been just as good as he has all season throughout all of that, you know, it makes more than enough sense for his production to maybe dwindle a little bit after the drama with Ohio State and if anything, it's gotten better. I mean, the hat trick against against Penn State. You know, he had a couple goals in the CLI to he's been very fun to watch and he always was and when you add in his physicality to the offense that he can produce for Michigan State now he's really become an all around skater and it's been very helpful for them.
(Bella) Yeah, and I know earlier in the season, I believe it was I'm trying to remember what game it was there was a game earlier in the season. Where coach Knight and Gil had taken him off the roster for the night because he was racking up penalty minutes he was leading the country in penalty minutes. And you definitely see their their penalty kill did get better during the Penn State series, but it was pretty bad. They weren't doing very well on the penalty kill and he was scratched for the time that he spent in the box. And since he came back from that, you can tell that he is definitely being a little more mindful of, okay, is this going to send me off the ice like, and you can see that in his playing and I think he's definitely gotten better. And that spent less time in the box and keeping them off the penalty kill is definitely a plus.
(Brendan) Yeah, Nightingale used that as a coaching moment and a way for Jager to realize, like you're being selfish when you do this, you know, he's, like I said, had the bruiser kind of calling card and was out there to be physical and set the tone. And that will naturally lead to penalties. A lot of guys in the NHL and college hockey, you know, over the course of history of just that have had that, you know, same personality on the ice have led the league or their respective divisions or conferences or whatever and penalty minutes. And Jager was no different. But that had to change this year. And it took a while for Jaeger to you know, rear back a little bit and realize that what you're doing is putting your own team at a disadvantage. And these guys that you're in practice with, and you're working your butt off with every single day, you know, you're letting them down. When you do that, and you're making them work harder, they got to work without a whole other teammate on the ice when you go get a penalty. And so I think he used that as a teaching moment for Jaeger to really have that realization firsthand. You know, he's not someone who should ever be a healthy scratch from the lineup. And so that that was kind of obvious when that happened. You know what the meaning was behind it. And like you said, it's worked so far. And that's another credit to Nightingale. He knows how to handle players. And he seems like a really good player's coach, and like the guys respect him and understand the lessons he's trying to teach them. And it's led to some success.
(Bella) Yeah, speaking on penalties. It's kind of going back to talking about the Minnesota series. Last time they played Minnesota, there were no penalties, the entire series, which I've never personally seen before,
(Brendan) there's that's great. I sure hope that doesn't happen again, because they're like not playing hockey at that point.
(Bella) I'm curious to see how it will play out. If they get penalties. I'm curious to see how that game will go. That was just a crazy thing that I never thought I would see happen. And I'm curious to see how it plays out this coming weekend.
(Brendan) Yeah, especially on the road to you know, hockey is one of those sports where it's, it's, I think it's a little more potent in sports, like maybe football or basketball, it feels like the home team gets an advantage. I don't know that that necessarily translates to hockey as much as other sports. But you never know. And with like you said, we have no gauge because there weren't any penalties in the first series. So we have no clue what to expect and how these teams are going to go against each other in the special teams. But that's been the focus for Michigan State. In practice lately. He's getting better on the power play getting better on the penalty kill. And especially the power play, they need a lot more offense there. They've been bad the past couple years in the power play. So yeah, we'll see how it goes. When that whistle hopefully evidently blows,
(Bella) One can only hope. Well, thank you, Brandon. Thank you, Jenna. I really appreciate guys coming on the podcast to talk with me. I'm Bella Johnson. This has been the sports roundtable podcast. You can catch it wherever you get your podcasts