im. Onwualu had been a receiver as a freshman before moving

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Miles Bridges may be the best player Hall of Famer Tom Izzo has coached in more than two decades at Michigan State.And, Izzo has had some good ones: Denzel Valentine, Draymond Green, Zach Randolph, Jason Richardson and Mateen Cleaves just to mention a handful. None of those former stars seemed to have Bridges combination of skills, size, speed and strength.The 6-foot-7, 230-pound freshman forward can run, jump and dunk in spectacular fashion. He can handle the ball well enough that he might even play point guard at times. A smooth shooting stroke allows him to score from the outside. His body looks built for Big Ten play and the rigors that come with it.In terms of talent, Izzo said Bridges ranks among the top couple of players hes had entering his 22nd season.I hate to put that kind of pressure on him, but hes got shoulders two axe-handles wide, Izzo said. I should be able to put that kind of pressure on him. Hes definitely up there. Hes different.Hes got that powerful explosiveness like Jason Richardson, who was one of the best. Miles, I think, can play both ends. Miles has a high basketball IQ. He can do some Draymond things where he can make passes and plays.If Bridges matches or exceeds the hype this season for the Spartans, he may be a one-and-done player in college.I just plan on leaving when Im ready, he said. When Im ready off the court and on the court and whenever that time will be, Ill know. But Im not rushing anything right now.Here are some other things to watch this season from the Izzo-led Spartans:HELP WANTEDMichigan States weakness will likely be its lack of size inside. Freshman Nick Ward, who is 6-8, 250 pounds, is the teams biggest player that will be available to play in Thursday nights exhibition opener against Northwood. Seniors Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter, a graduate transfer from UNLV, are both 6-9 and are recovering from knee surgeries. The Spartans plan to play two guards, two wings and a post player. Kenny Goins, who is 6-6, 230 pounds, will probably have to play in the post. The Spartans would have been in much better shape in the paint if Deyonta Davis returned for his sophomore season instead of entering the NBA draft. Davis was drafted in the second round by Boston and traded to Memphis.Theres no question the big loss we had of course was DD, Izzo said. Not only was he a big loss but it was a little bit of a surprise. Ive got to make sure I never get caught that way again.MAN TO ZONEThe Spartans have not played zone more than a couple possessions here and there, associate head coach Dwayne Stephens said Tuesday night. They might have to slip into a zone, though, and away from their traditional, man-to-man defense if Ward and Goins get into foul trouble or an opponent likes to pound the ball into the post to big men.NO-NAME CLASSBridges is the top player in perhaps Izzos best recruiting class that includes shooting guard Joshua Langford, point guard Cassius Winston and power forward Nick Ward. Izzo said he might end up starting all four together this season.The group does not have a nickname yet.Were just Michigan State, Bridges said. Thats it.GREEN LIGHTSenior guard Eron Harris averaged 9.3 points last season, more than any other returning player. The 6-3 shooting guard scored much more as a sophomore at West Virginia two years ago, averaging 17.2 points before transferring.He has put a lot of emphasis on the defense, now its time to put it back on his offense, Izzo said. Were going to need him to score.TOUGH SLEDDINGMichigan State opens the season Nov. 11 against Arizona in Hawaii, plays Kentucky in New York four days later, goes to the Bahamas a little more than a week later to potentially play Louisville and wraps up the month at Duke.The schedule in November will be brutal for me, and its going to be brutal for our players, Izzo said. Its 13,600 miles in 22 days. That is taking on something that weve never really taken on before.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage---AP college basketball website: http://collegebasketball.ap.org/Clearance Air Max . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Replica Air Max . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Cheap Authentic Air Max . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Air Max From China . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005.SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer took it upon himself to address the Fighting Irishs 1-3 start Wednesday, shouldering much of the blame as one of the programs leaders.My mentality heading into the week is just to play free, have fun, Kizer said. I get the opportunity to be the quarterback of University of Notre Dame. That is a privilege that people dream about, that I dreamed about, and I took the fun out of that.Thats my biggest regret in the first four games is I had so much love for this position, love for this team, that I took on a lot more than I ever should, which put a lot of pressure on my back, and thats something that Im going to have to remove and go back to just doing what I love and having a good time.When Im doing that, thats when were playing our best ball as a team. And I believe that our whole team is buying into that understanding and buying into that idea. And practice [Tuesday] was a blast. It was a good time to go out there and play football, to play free and have a good time. And todays practice will be the same. Saturday will be the same. And there will be a W on that column when we go out there and we play the way we know how to.Kizer agreed with coach Brian Kellys assessment earlier in the week that the quarterbacks play has been substandard. Kizer, a redshirt sophomore, has completed better than 62 percent of his passes for 1,096 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions, to go with 186 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He said his biggest personal room for improvement is in needing to play looser.At the quarterback position you naturally take on an extra dose of leadership, an extra dose of trying to take on everything that a coach should be taking on, Kizer said. You go and you idolize guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and all the best who have ever done it and you see how they approach the media, you see how they approach the game, you see how they approach their team.And theyre professionals. They get paid to do that. Theyre in completely different positions than I am. And therefore, they take on a little more responsibility than I do.dddddddddddd But me being the kid that I am, I wanted to be like them. I wanted to come up here and talk to you guys as if I was the head coach of this team.But Im just the quarterback. All I gotta do is go out and do whatever the guys upstairs are telling me to do and thats it. If Coach Kelly asked me to come do media, I do media. If Coach Kelly asks me to go throw a touchdown, I need to go out there and rip the ball and throw a touchdown. I dont need to do any more than that, and I think that was my biggest flaw in the beginning of the season is taking on too much. I just need to go out and play and have fun, challenge myself each day and just try to get better.Kizer added that fellow quarterback Montgomery VanGorder is his best friend at Notre Dame and that VanGorder has handled the past three days well after the program fired his father, Brian VanGorder, as defensive coordinator on Sunday.Senior linebacker and captain James Onwualu said he spoke with Brian VanGorder after the firing and thanked him for the opportunity to play for him. Onwualu had been a receiver as a freshman before moving to the defensive side of the ball when VanGorder came aboard in 2014.Everybody was talking about it -- even our student section seemed to have a strong stance on that, Onwualu said of the staff shakeup, which saw analyst Greg Hudson get promoted to defensive coordinator. It was shocking to me. Obviously, this is the only defensive experience Ive ever had. Hes really all I knew defensively. So its difficult for some older guys, you know, and me included to put that aside and just take the next step into something new.Ill continue my relationship with Coach VanGorder and possibly still learn things from him, but Im on to the next step and excited for Coach Hudson to get us rolling.Notre Dame plays 2-2 Syracuse on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ' ' '