Tom Izzo discusses Jaxon Kohler’s health, Xavier Booker progression

Tom Izzo spoke to the media on Friday and discussed Jaxon Kohler’s health and Xavier Booker’s progression as a player.

These two topics are likely the most talked about recently by Michigan State fans, outside of actual game results. A lot of people are anxiously waiting for Jaxon Kohler to become 100 percent again after his injury, and even more think Xavier Booker should be getting more playing time from Tom Izzo.

In a recent press conference, Izzo discussed both of these topics with the media.

Jaxon Kohler injury update

As you are all aware, Jaxon Kohler has been dealing with an injury all season. He injured himself in the preseason and didn’t get back on the court until Jan. 7 against Northwestern. It’s been a slow process for Kohler getting back to his pre-injury self, and you can see that during games as he doesn’t look as sharp on the court as he was at the end of last season.

However, Tom Izzo shared that Kohler is “getting closer to 100 percent after his injury.” This is coming at the perfect time as the Spartans are coming down the home stretch of their season with postseason basketball right around the corner.

High praise for Xavier Booker’s development

Xavier Booker, on the other hand, hasn’t had to deal with injuries this season. However, he has been kept off the court more than people would like for other reasons, including defensive weakness and lack of rebounding.

But Izzo is loving the development that he has seen from Booker recently, saying he is “10 times better than he was a month ago.”

Booker’s improvement has translated onto the court as well. He had a nice little offensive spurt during the Michigan game and made a huge impact against Wisconsin late in the game that gave the Spartans a little (too late) hope. He is improving right before our eyes, and even Izzo is noticing that as well.

What do these developments mean for the team?

Kohler being close to 100 percent and Booker improving a lot in the last month is huge for this team. It’s no secret that the weakest point on this team this year has been MSU’s offensive post play. Carson Cooper and Mady Sissoko are good players, but they aren’t scorers that can be relied on offensively.

However, Kohler and Booker can be those guys. Kohler has proven he is elite in the post and can create his own shot whenever he wants. Booker also has shown flashes of his ability on offense, especially stretching the defense to the 3-point line. So having Kohler and Booker both being able to give Michigan State quality minutes is huge.

That added depth in the post raises the ceiling of this team immensely. Michigan State now has multiple options if it needs to score down low or defend the post at a high level. These options are something Michigan State didn’t have most of this year, but it’s all starting to take shape at the perfect time with March on the horizon.