Izzo exercising caution with Jaxon Kohler return
EAST LANSING — As Tom Izzo looked for answers and Michigan State basketball struggled for answers in Sunday’s second half at Northwestern, he looked down the bench and made a decision.
With 12:41 to play and the Spartans trailing by 15 points, Jaxon Kohler was back in action, just like that.
Just as surprising as MSU losing its third straight game to the Wildcats — an 88-74 defeat in Evanston, Illinois — was Kohler’s 3-minute, 20-second return to the court for the first time since October foot surgery, based on how and when it happened.
“I don’t think any of us were expecting it,” sophomore center Carson Cooper said Tuesday. “I don’t think he was expecting it, to be honest.”
Kohler went through his first full practice Tuesday after being cleared to play in Sunday’s game, his first appearance since averaging 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 11.2 minutes a game last season as a freshman. But Izzo also said Tuesday he will be easing the 6-foot-9 sophomore forward into the rotation in the coming weeks.
And he cautioned MSU fans — and perhaps himself and his staff — to have patience with Kohler as he works his way back into game shape.
“There (will be) certain games that it’ll be easier to play him in than others, especially at the beginning,” Izzo said. “But you don’t miss two months to just come back. And so it’s going to be a process.”
Kohler’s comeback, regardless of his minutes, arrives at a pivotal point for the Spartans (9-6, 1-3 Big Ten) as they try to recapture the rhythm in the five games before their loss to Northwestern. MSU returns to the road Thursday to face No. 10 Illinois (11-3, 2-1), a 9 p.m. tipoff (FS1) at State Farm Arena in Champaign, Illinois.
Izzo and his team hope to get a jolt of scoring that has been missing in the paint with more defense- and rebound-oriented Cooper and Mady Sissoko manning center for the season’s first two months while Kohler recovered from the surgery to repair a stress reaction in his left foot.
“It was a mix of emotions,” Kohler said Sunday in Evanston about sitting out MSU’s first 14 games. “I mean, there was a bunch of negatives, but I’m trying to look at all the positives, The positives that kind of came out of this were that I was able to work on my strength, my upper body a little bit, trying to get into better shape the best way I can.
“Even though it took some time away from basketball, I tried to look at how to help the team when I get back — not just in the post, but looking for ways to pass, what can I get better at. It gave me a good chance to kind of step back and kind of think what I can bring to the table.”
Against Northwestern, Kohler missed his lone shot and had a
nice kick-out pass to Jaden Akins for a 3-pointer, which the junior guard missed. It was a brief exposure but one that did add a jolt of energy, and the Spartans trimmed a point off their deficit before his return to the bench.
“I felt good going in,” Kohler said Sunday. “I’m just happy to be back. I was happy to be on the floor and running and doing all the old stuff that I used to do. Just now, I’m just gonna put a day at a time and just try to continue to get to where I was.”
Cooper said Kohler’s return to full workouts Tuesday provided an “extra dose of energy in the practice.”
“With the situation we had (Sunday), the opportunity presented itself. So he came in and coach gave him an opportunity,” said Cooper, who had 10 points and six rebounds against the Wildcats. “And he came out and played hard while he’s in there. … You can tell he really wants to come back. He’s getting a lot more reps, which is good to see. And I can tell he’s excited to be back into rotation.
“But I think it’s just getting the rust off, for sure. He’s a basketball player. He’s been here, he knows what to do.”
Izzo raved about the job Kohler did in reshaping his body and getting into better shape during the summer, and the big man looked quicker and more agile during the Moneyball Summer Pro-Am league before his foot injury.
Kohler said he remains about 245 pounds, just as he was before the season began. The next step, though, is getting back into game shape for the up-and-down, physical pounding of the Big Ten season — without any nonconference games to ramp up.
“I would say confidently that over this whole injury that my weight didn’t get out of hand,” Kohler said. “In fact, it actually did a better job of going down but then coming back up in muscle. … Unfortunately, stamina is one of the things that you can’t just get back in a second. But I’m glad that I know that I have something to work on. I’ll keep developing until the time is right.”
Izzo said Kohler reaggravated his foot injury in December, which delayed his return out of an abundance of caution to make sure the Spartans have him for the stretch run. He also wants to continue to take the slow approach to reintegrating him.
“I’m excited to have him back,” Izzo said. “What he is, is he’s a guy that’s been in there watching film for two weeks, and he wasn’t even playing in some of the games. He really wasn’t gonna play. He is a basketball junkie, kind of a version of Jaden Akins, where he just lives, eats and sleeps it. And I think that is really important, it’s really needed.”