Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans have a ton of respect for Caleb Wilson.
In fact, Izzo wasn't shy about saying how his team was focused on slowing down the five-star freshman, something the legendary head coach admitted was a collective effort that was strategically planned out.
Wilson scored 18 points but had to work extremely hard for them, as he connected on just six of 13 attempts from the floor while the Spartans brought tons of physicality his way. The freshman forward did capitalize at the free throw line, knocking down six of his seven attempts.
Following his team's double-digit victory over the UNC basketball program, Izzo assessed how his team did defensively against one of the best overall players in the country.
“I guess I’ll give us a little bit of credit, but ain’t going to hold that guy back much,” Izzo said. “He’s really good.”
The "Jordan Rules" strategy
The strategy that Izzo and Michigan State utilized was a game plan that NBA teams used to try and stop another former UNC basketball star:
Mr. Michael Jordan.
“It was the ‘Jordan Rules’ of Chuck Daly (former Detroit Pistons head coach), just because you can’t cover him one-on-one; I don’t think you can."
Michigan State knew coming in that it would be a full-team effort to try and slow Wilson down, but they had a plan in place to do so and capitalized on it well. Other than Wilson and big man Henri Veesaar (who did most of his damage in the second half), the Tar Heels struggled shooting the basketball, as the high level of attention on Wilson put the pressure on other guys to knock down shots.
Unfortunately for North Carolina, those shots weren't falling.
“We put what we call the six-eye effect on him every time that Wilson got it,” Izzo said. “We’re supposed to have six eyes. Sometimes it didn’t matter. Like that spin-move dunk, it was special.”
UNC must learn from this
It was all fun and games when Wilson was dominating early on, but now teams are basically going to throw the kitchen sink at him in hopes of at least slowing him down.
Now, North Carolina must adjust, figuring out a way to score the basketball effectively when there's so much attention surrounding Wilson.
It will be up to the guards to step up. If they continue to struggle shooting from beyond-the-arc, the paint is going to be clogged up for Wilson and Veesaar, as the offense won't be able to operate as effectively as designed.
This game was an eye-opener for the UNC basketball program in many ways, but it provides some very useful data as to how teams moving forward will likely look to contain Caleb Wilson.
Now, Hubert Davis and his staff must find ways to ensure that Wilson continues to cook and the Tar Heels offense can find ways to succeed around Wilson's production.