EAST LANSING — It’s October, so it’s time for Tom Izzo to float the idea that maybe, just maybe, this is the year Michigan State basketball will play some zone defense.

He might be serious this time. And not just for one play in an exhibition, like the Spartans did last season as a tribute to former coach Jud Heathcote.

Izzo — who earned his Hall of Fame jacket with his teams playing hard-nosed, man-to-man defense — said Tuesday that he dispatched assistant coach Dwayne Stephens this summer to learn from other programs about how they run their zones. It is a pilot program that is under the control of Stephens, himself a former Heathcote player.

Will the Izzo really deploy the zone, or is it just something to keep in their toolbox to prepare for other teams?

“I hope it’s not a toolbox thing,” Izzo said after practice. “I swear every year, I’m gonna try to do a little more. So now, I did a better job than anything I could do — I removed myself from it.”

MSU only has been working on it for a few days in practice, which opened Thursday. That experimental 2-3 zone could potentially be on display during Midnight Madness on Friday. Doors at Breslin Center open at 8:30 p.m., and admission is free.

More MSU hoops:

Spartans return 'best' guys 'we’ve had in a while'

Next step for Cassius Winston: Be vocal leader

It has not been his primary teaching focus, but Izzo likes what he has seen so far.

“Any type of defense here is gonna be hard because of the way we really push and focus in on defense,” co-captain Joshua Langford said. “But I feel like we have a great coaching staff. If we can kind of mix in different things, because they can teach it so well, with the team that we have, we can really be receptive to different schemes and things that coaches throw at us.”

Practicing it, of course, does not mean the Spartans will all of a sudden turn into Syracuse’s 2-3 defense all the time during games. But they did struggle to score against and penetrate the Orange’s hallmark zone during their second-round loss in the NCAA tournament in March.

And that is something all of Izzo’s players are aware of.

“We look back on it, and we did a lot of great things last year, and I feel like we’re in a position where we can do even bigger things this year,” point guard Cassius Winston said. “There’s no way we’re not getting out of the first weekend (of the NCAAs) this year. That’s not gonna happen.”

The Spartans, who open this season against Kansas in the Champions Classic on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis, went 30-5 last year and won the Big Ten regular-season title outright. They lost to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament semifinals and then got eliminated by Syracuse, 55-53, at Little Caesars Arena with a poor outside shooting performance against Jim Boeheim’s zone.

That provided some of the impetus for Izzo to make some tweaks heading into his 24th season. But the Spartans also led the nation last season in field goal defense (36.7 percent) and blocked shots (7.2 per game), and they were second in defensive rebounds per game (29.54) and tied for 18th in scoring defense (64.9 points).

So maybe all of this zone talk is premature.

“I think it’s just something we want to have in our back pocket. I don’t know if it’s gonna be a go-to,” forward Xavier Tillman said. “But it’s pretty good. With Kenny (Goins), me and Nick (Ward) running the back side, we’re really, really long. So I mean, I think it could be tough if we used it.”

So maybe not.

“We put it in three days ago, so it’s not something that we’ve worked on a lot. But I am pleased with it,” Izzo said. “And yet, anytime I want to change a little something in some way, shape or form, I just look at the stats from last year and say, ‘Wow, we're so good defensively and so good in a lot of other ways.’ But there should be a little change and a few adjustments, and that’ll be one of them.”

One thing won’t change, his players realize. Whether or not they run some zone.

“We’re still going to be a man-to-man defense,” Langford said. “As much as I know Coach Izz and how he coaches, he loves mano a mano. So I feel like that’s what we’re gonna do. We’ve always been a great defensive team, because that’s what we know wins championships.”

McQuaid ailing

Co-captain Matt McQuaid suffered a slight hamstring injury and has not been practicing. He is day-to-day.

“I should be back soon, hopefully by this week or next week,” the senior shooting guard said.

Related stories:

Recruiting: Who are Izzo's top targets

Recruiting mailbag: Izzo has best chance to land this big

Izzo 'pleased' NCAA cleared him, program

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!