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

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.