Malik Hall and Carson Cooper weigh in on Xavier Booker playing time

Malik Hall and Carson Cooper appeared on a recent podcast to talk about the season and Xavier Booker was brought up.

I think everyone who cares even a little bit about Michigan State basketball has an opinion on how Tom Izzo has handled Xavier Booker this year. Izzo and Booker have both spoken on the subject as well as every local media member imaginable. Even Draymond Green spoke on this topic as well.

However, we haven’t heard much from other players on the team. That is until Malik Hall and Carson Cooper spoke about it on a recent episode of The Spiro Avenue Show.

Why didn’t Xavier Booker play more against Ohio State?

Carson Cooper and Malik Hall weighed in on the hottest MSU topic. pic.twitter.com/iN6eIAwD8a

— Justin Spiro (@DarkoStateNews) March 2, 2024

Hall and Cooper comment on Xavier Booker’s playing time

In this episode of The Spiro Avenue Show, Cooper and Hall provided a very good perspective on the whole situation regarding Xavier Booker’s playing time. Cooper and Hall are there every day at practice, so they know more about what’s going on than anyone else.

When asked about Booker’s playing time, Cooper began by saying, “A lot of it is kind of matchups as well. I think Ohio State really was a good spot for him to gain that confidence to keep playing well.”

This is how a lot of fans, myself included, felt after the loss to Ohio State as well. We understand it depends on the opponent, but Booker seemed to match up well with Ohio State and was finding success, but he still didn’t play in the second half.

Carson continued by talking about the different looks that Booker gives the team, saying “It’s nice to have a guy like that available to us because it gives us different looks.”

Hall then quickly jumped in, saying “Everybody on our team kind of gives like a different look when they’re on the floor at the center position. For me regardless, I’m riding with coach’s decision.”

That last part is what’s the most important to Cooper and Hall. And that’s exactly how they ended the conversation about Booker’s playing time.

Both Cooper and Hall are riding with Izzo

Malik Hall really hit home regarding the fans’ criticism of Izzo’s handling of Booker during the Ohio State game. Hall shared “X would’ve given us a different look being able to play on the perimeter… but coach thought Mady was best so Mady was in the game.”

Cooper also jumped in again, saying “I think a lot of it was him (Izzo) trusting his veterans.” This was the best answer I could think of too after the OSU game as to why Booker didn’t play late. It still doesn’t make a ton of sense to me, but according to Malik, it doesn’t have to.

“At the end of the day coach is there watching us every day at practice.”

That’s where I always end up when thinking about this topic. Izzo is there with the team every single day, while we only see them during games. He must have good reasons why he isn’t playing Booker more. At the end of the day, we just need to trust him, because as fans that’s all we can do.

Izzo is a Hall of Famer for a reason, so maybe it’s time we start fully trusting him again.