How to beat ... The Spartans

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory, a former assistant at Michigan State for Tom Izzo, talks about how to defeat a Tom Izzocoached team.

Like Duke, I think Michigan State will be a much different team later. They’ll be searching for that on-court leader, because losing (Big Ten player of the year) Draymond Green is going to be big. But I think they’ll be deeper and maybe more athletic than they were last year.

Anytime you play Mich- igan State, the three keys are your transition defense, controlling the backboards — which they’re great at — and then you have to win the special-teams battle.

You can’t let them score on their baseline and sideline out-ofbounds plays. You can’t let them come out of a timeout and get a wideopen 3 or score on a special play. You’ve got to win some of those battles, if you want to try to win the war against them.

You have to be ready to get in a wrestling match because they’re so physical. And they’re going to go every time to the glass. You won’t have to look around because they’re coming.

And so you’ll never have to say, “Coach, I didn’t know who to block out.” You’ll know who to block out because they’re coming.

Every program has non-negotiables; that’s a non-negotiable there. If the shot goes up and you’re supposed to go to the glass and you don’t go, you’re out. It doesn’t matter who you are.