EAST LANSING -- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo can sense the frustration level that Michigan State fans have for Russell Byrd.

His team captain tried to come back from three foot surgeries, only to come face to face with physical limitations, confidence issues combined with inaccurate shooting, and criticism from fans.

But Izzo said he'd go out on a limb and say that he still believes in Byrd.

"I guess it doesn't bother me if anybody believes in him, but give him a chance because this will be the first true summer where he is going to be 99 percent healthy," Izzo said. "There's no question that kid can still help us because we need a shooter.

"He lives, eats and sleeps the game, and then I have to listen to him talking to me about Twitter and how people are just ripping him on this and that -- people who have no clue and no understanding. Am I disappointed in Russell Byrd? Two hundred percent. I'm disappointed because I had a guy who was a gym rat, who loves the game, who is a good kid and was dealt a bad set of cards."

Byrd was 1-for-9 from 3-point range during the Big Ten season, and the season-ending loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament made it nine games in which he did not play in his redshirt sophomore year.

The buzz about Byrd in the preseason coming off some impressive summer-league performances didn't translate to the regular season. The accurate shooting from practice didn't carry over to when it counted and forced him to lose his rotation spot.

But after the Duke game, the former top-100 recruit who averaged 1.6 points spoke up and gave Izzo the sense that he still had what it took to ultimately overcome adversity.

"He was on the bubble, if you ask me. He was on the bubble," Izzo said. "And when he sat there in the locker room and said something after, I said, 'He's not on the bubble any more. He's going to be driven to get it done.' Will he get it done? I don't know, but most people can't get up that many times, and he has."

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