Healthy Cleaves leads State

Mateen Cleaves has something he's never had during his Michigan State basketball career.

Good health.

When Cleaves, a sophomore point guard, announced in 1996 - during his senior year at Flint Northern High - that he would attend Michigan State, he was projected to continue a strong point guard tradition in East Lansing.

Cleaves was supposed to etch his name next to Michigan State point guard elites Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Scott Skiles, Mark Montgomery and Eric Snow.

But it wasn't going to be an overnight success.

"I had been a confident player all my life until last year," Cleaves said.

Cleaves was hampered through most of last season with the lingering effects of a back injury.

After recovering from the back injury last summer, Cleaves got what he describes as the scare of his summer when he injured his shoulder during a pickup game with teammate Morris Peterson in August.

"It was another one of those trash-talking games," Cleaves said. "I was scared for a quick second there. I was thinking, 'Not again.' I worked too hard to get hurt again."

Last year, he averaged 10.2 points and five assists per game and started in 24 of 29 games.

But things have changed. Cleaves insists that he isn't the same player from last season. Because he's healthy, he said, he'll be more explosive offensively and will become a better defender.

"Last year, people came down on me and they went wherever they wanted to go," Cleaves said. "I couldn't really get down into it. I couldn't really dictate which way I wanted people to go. Now, I think I can do that a little bit better this year."

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said the biggest change he sees in Cleaves is his appearance.

"Well, I see a lot less of him because he's a lot skinnier," Izzo said.

Cleaves played last season at 225 pounds, but trimmed down to 190 during the summer.

Izzo said he's looking for Cleaves' defense to improve Michigan State's overall defensive play. The Spartans were fourth in the Big Ten in scoring defense last season, giving up 65.6 points per game.

"It's hard to be a good defensive team if your lead guy, your point man, is not checking, because that's who everybody is going to look at," Izzo said.

With Cleaves heading the offense, Izzo said early in the year that he believed his point guard could be one of the best point men in not just the conference, but also the nation.

"I think there are very few true point guards left," Izzo said. "He's a true point guard, but he can shoot it. He's not one of those point guards like Eric Snow or Mark Montgomery."

In a modest tone, Cleaves said no comparisons can be made between him and other current point guards in the nation.

"There's no player out there I can compare myself to," Cleaves said. "I've got my own style."

02-17-98